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Arab group bypassed
• THE Arab Advice Bureau is a registered charity and lead community group working mainly but not exclusively with members of the Arab, Berber and North African community in north London and especially in the Finsbury Park area, where it has been based and carried out most of its activities since its founding in 1998.
The Arab, Berber and North African community is a dominant group in Finsbury Park, both in terms of demographics and in the proportion of issues that it faces. Because of this, the Arab Advice Bureau has been carrying out tremendous amounts of work trying to solve the various problems the community faces and subsequently contributing a great deal to the improvement of the area.
Regardless of this, the activities of the bureau have not always been appreciated and rewarded and it has sometimes been bypassed when decisions regarding the community it represents were made. It has been awarded only a tiny fraction of the funds available for the area’s regeneration.
The best examples of initiatives from the bureau are the Blackstock Road festival and the CCTV installation project, both of which were initiated by it.
The bureau dealt unaided with the consequences of the controversial police raid that shocked the community and brought increased media pressure, which it also dealt with on its own. Unfortunately, it was never credited for this tremendous work.
The bureau considers itself one of the main players in the area as it is the legitimate representative of one of its main components. It would like to be treated as such and it would like its work to be recognised. It is necessary for it to access more funding to achieve its difficult and essential task.
The bureau would like to suggest a change in attitude in those who may have mistakenly failed to appreciate its efforts and credit it with its achievements. This is paramount, knowing the extent to which it is relied upon by other organisations and the importance of the community that it represents and works with.
M NACER
Seven Sisters Road, N4
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