Outreach

The Poverty Alliance is the anti-poverty network in Scotland. We bring together community groups, organizations, academics, trade unions - all working with the Government to try to find better solutions to poverty. We have an informal membership of between 130-140, but we have a much wider network - over about a thousand contacts with whom we are in regular contact. We work formally with a whole range of community organizations and members as well as a informal contact with a wide range of groups.

Twelve Stroud High School girls represent the whole of the UK in the European Parliament The European Union is often discarded as unimportant and unnecessary by the young people of today. This attitude is one that Euroscola aims to change. Twelve girls from Stroud High School Sixth Form were selected to represent the United Kingdom in this annual event that endeavours to unite youths from all over Europe to debate and discuss the pressing issues of today’s society.

EUCLID (European & International Information Services for arts & culture) provides a range of European & international information, research & consultancy services.

EUCLID has been appointed by the UK Department for Media, Culture & Sport and the European Commission as the official UK Cultural Contact Point, in particular to promote the EU’s funding programmes for culture.

Working together to bring Europe closer to its citizens: Van den Brande meets EP President Buzek

Luc Van den Brande, President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), met yesterday with Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, to discuss the cooperation between their institutions at the beginning of the EP's new legislature. Van den Brande used the opportunity to highlight the two EU bodies' key role in connecting Europe with its citizens, and emphasised the CoR's readiness to strengthen the links between Europe's regional and local representatives and the Members of the European Parliament.

The NHS European Office was set up to represent NHS organisations in England to EU decision makers. We do this through monitoring and engaging with EU policy and legislative developments which have an impact on the NHS as a provider and commissioner of healthcare, an employer and as a business. Although each EU country has its own unique healthcare system, we share common values and objectives and so often work together at EU level. We frequently build alliances and work closely with other like-minded organisations in order to have a stronger voice in EU decision making.

In 2009,The Salvation Army is active in 28 countries around the EU and 117 countries globally. 'There is increasing recognition that the EU shapes the UK and ultimately affects all of our lives. It is our responsibility as citizens to ensure all society’s interests are represented and responded to. Failure to participate entails failure to achieve.', Tim Stone says.

Steve Elliott, CIA Chief Executive is based in London but spends a great deal of his time in Brussels because the majority of policy, legislation and regulation that impacts the chemical industry originates from the institutions of the European Union.

The Hansard Society's Citizenship Education Programme is facilitating mock elections in schools throughout the UK to coincide with the European elections on 4th June. The election provides a perfect opportunity for schools to explore issues surrounding democracy and justice at a European level. Teachers can get hold of everything they need to run a mock election by visiting the Y Vote website and by registering they receive additional resources and support, all for free.

David Orr is Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation which represents 1300 independent not-for-profit housing associations in England.


He is also President of CECODHAS, the European Liaison Committee for Social Housing which represents 46 regional and national federations across 19 EU member states providing 22 million homes to 70 million Europeans.

Aidan Stradling works as a consultant, trainer and adviser with organisations across North East England, the UK and the EU. He was previously Europe and Government Liaison Manager at the regional assembly in North East England, where he was secretary to the region’s European Strategy Group, lead support officer for local councillors on the EU Committee of the Regions, and chair of the English Regions Network Europe Group. He has also worked in UK central government on European issues with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Home Office.

The UK national winner of the Charlemagne Youth Prize for 2009 is the Talita Kum project, entered by Lewis Ross from Inverness. The other team members are Phi Macdonald, Mhairi McGowan, Kayleigh Berg, Daniel McWilliams, Fraser Kane and Sarah-Jane Savage - all from Millburn Academy.

Tony Coleman has not always worked for local government. In fact for most of the past twenty years he has been an actor, producer and director at home in Ireland and in the US. What made him make such a dramatic change of career? He recently did an MA in Cultural policy and management and sees a great similarity between the arts and politics. That similarity is engagement.

If ever you visit the UK Office of the European Parliament, you can ask to see the published reports, photographic journals, diaries and from later this year for the first time, DVDs produced by the winners of the Peter Kirk Travel Scholarship. And if you do spend an hour or so browsing these records, you will find something unique and worthy of what the fund set out to do in memory of Peter Kirk.

This month in our "Face to face ..." section we talk to Ian Thomson President, European Information Association.

In our Trends and Opinions section read the thoughts of our recent Swedish stagiaire Anna Kjällström on living and working in London