CWP Statement

HELPING BUSINESS STAY THE COURSE

Finsbury Park Business Forum

The big voice for local businesses in Finsbury Park and surrounding boroughs. The Finsbury Park Business Forum is a one stop-shop not only for local businesses but also for national and international businesses. The Forum is funded by subscription, Sponsorships, Donations and Grants.

Contact us - info@finsburyparkbusinessforum.co.uk/ admin@finsburyparkbusinessforum.co.uk

Community Work Placement
The Business & Community Warden Program Oppose any Bullying or Sanctions.

The Finsbury Park Business Forum runs a programme called the Business and Community Wardens. Most of the Wardens are volunteers who come to us as participants on Community Work Placements. They currently operate around Finsbury Park Station and its vicinity with opportunity of expansion of the programme to other areas in the near future. The Warden Programme was initially begun as a response to crime and anti-social behaviour in Finsbury Park but the Wardens also act as a resource for information and travel directions for commuters and visitors to the area. We use the word 'volunteers' because although the Wardens are part of the C.W.P they are not, as some seem to believe, forced or compelled to come to us. We only accept - and we want to make this perfectly clear - those people who express an interest in becoming a Warden, either because this is a similar role to previous jobs they have had or it will help them to find work of a similar nature in the future. The Business Forum in no way condones the use of forced labour which is why the people who come to us are offered a two-week trial-period to assess whether or not the Wardens Programme is right for them. If after this period a person decides that the role of Warden is not for them he/she will be found something more suitable to their aspirations and will not be penalised or sanctioned because of it

Whatever your views of the C.W.P - and these are many and varied - the fact remains that this is a provision first and foremost to help people back into work. It is also, as its name implies, about helping the Community. The Business Forum is a Community oriented organisation and so we have no qualms about employing volunteers to work in the community sector. As a non-profit organisation the Business Forum does not profit from this in any way: we recieve no money for the people we accept onto the programme. Many do actually join because they like the idea of working for the community and thereby enhancing community relations, and others because they want to gain experience in security or customer service. Of course there are negative issues regarding the C.W.P and some organisations do mistreat or abuse the people they employ. But the Business Forum is emphatically not one of these. We always treat the people who come to us with dignity and respect because we know that being unemployed is difficult enough. We do not want to make people's lives any worse than they actually are. Accordingly we take only those people who are willing to do the job. It would be counter-productive to do otherwise.