Blog | Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency

Is COVID-19 the great leveller?

31 March 2020 - 1:45pm

The link between the Marmot Review 10 years on and COVID-19 - deprivation, poverty and health inequalities.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people (loved ones) are going to die due to the pandemic of COVID-19. The media, politicians and health experts have implied the effects will be across all strata of society, but is this disingenuous?

“If anyone kicks off with me, I’m walking out.” Using the arts to engage

22 January 2020 - 2:41pm

Guest blog by Jane Gray, Co-Director, Creative Learning North East

“If I’m bored, I’m walking out.”

“OK – that’s fine.”

“If anyone kicks off with me, I’m walking out.”

“That’s fine too. Thanks for letting us know.”

“I’m not performing. No way.”

“That’s ok. We can do it however you want to do it.”

Collaborate – why should we?

21 November 2019 - 12:25pm

Collaborate: “two or more people working together towards shared goals”

At a time when resources are limited and need is increasing, we need to work differently if we hope to make a reasonable impact on the society we exist to serve.

Money is in short supply; people with energy, ideas, skills and empathy are not. We can work differently together to make the best use of what is available – but we can only achieve that if we share what we have with others.

Guest blog: Reporting Anti-LGBT+ Hate Crime

14 October 2019 - 1:34pm

Guest blog by Andrew Towers, LGBT Action Development Worker, Hart Gables

Last month I was on a bus on Stockton High Street. We were parked at a bus stop. I shouldn’t judge on appearances but the two people who were sitting right in front of me looked like a respectable young couple. They were smartly dressed and soft-spoken. They were laughing between themselves, looking at the woman’s mobile phone. Then they lifted the phone and took a picture through the bus window.

Guest blog: Is one week to mark hate crime enough?

14 October 2019 - 1:27pm

Guest blog by Sara Mirsalehi, Operational Manager- Linx

12th-16th October is marked as a week of raising awareness of Hate Crime.

Is this enough? Do we as services only deal with Hate crime incidents during this week? You, of course know the answer yourself.