Save The African Caribbean Centre
Donation protected
Save our Centre – African and Caribbean Community Centre Glasgow
Please help us raise £10,000 within the next 2 weeks to save the centre. Read below full story.
Despite all attempts to settle an ongoing rent arrears dispute with City Property Glasgow LLP, a commercial organisation of the Glasgow City Council, the African Caribbean Centre at Osborne Street, Glasgow is facing forcefully evicted. The Chair of the African Caribbean Network, Chief Suleman Chebe, believes that the African and Caribbean Community has been robbed, victimised, abused and perhaps racial discriminated. Suleman believes that after the ACN has invested over £100,000 of public money; £54,000 of which was used on structural work to make this previously derelict building safe for usage, City Property wants to take back the building at all coast because the building now has a good commercial value. The debt we owe is less than £60,000 due to arrears accumulated during the time of repairs. We have asked City Property to consider the £54,000 we have spent on structural repairs to be off-set against our rent arrears. We have enslaved and toiled on this building and have worked hard to make it safe for our community usage and it will set off the African Community several years back if this action is not stopped immediately.
A number of Glasgow City Councillors have seen our Business Plan and debt settlement plan, including Nina Baker, a City Councillor in Ward 10 (Anderson). A few days ago Councillor Baker wrote to City property “I understand that this organisation has been making efforts to restructure, build skills and capacity and make interim repayments on the debt. They also say they have not had face-to-face meeting with City Property since last year. It seems to me that they are making efforts to be in a better position to repay the debts and become viable, including getting some high profile event bookings. Please can you meet with them this week in the hope that their proposal could be sufficient to put off the implementation of the eviction order.”
According to Chief Chebe the current Chair of the African Caribbean Network, "the only possible explanation that can be given for the refusal of City Property officials to meet us, despite repeated attempts to meet them since last year, is of no other reason than selective discrimination. This is the sad state of politics where they say we are all in it together or Scotland is a multicultural society but at the same time no effort is made to support the aspirations of the African and Caribbean community in Glasgow. An emergency appeal and public campaign is being mounted to stop the unfair victimisation and eviction of the African Caribbean Community this important cultural and art venue which contributed in no small way to welcome and demonstrate to Commonwealth country visitors the true and positive image of Glasgow as a proud multi-cultural city in Scotland.
"The sad thing is that it was only two years ago when the ACC was recognised officially by the Glasgow City Council game organisers as a legacy centre in 2014 and it will be ashamed four that legacy to be a closure today," said Harriette Campbell, current vice president of the African Caribbean Network and board member of West of Scotland Regional Equality Board.
You can read a newspaper article on the herald at the link below -
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14405606.display/
Please help us raise £10,000 within the next 2 weeks to save the centre. Read below full story.
Despite all attempts to settle an ongoing rent arrears dispute with City Property Glasgow LLP, a commercial organisation of the Glasgow City Council, the African Caribbean Centre at Osborne Street, Glasgow is facing forcefully evicted. The Chair of the African Caribbean Network, Chief Suleman Chebe, believes that the African and Caribbean Community has been robbed, victimised, abused and perhaps racial discriminated. Suleman believes that after the ACN has invested over £100,000 of public money; £54,000 of which was used on structural work to make this previously derelict building safe for usage, City Property wants to take back the building at all coast because the building now has a good commercial value. The debt we owe is less than £60,000 due to arrears accumulated during the time of repairs. We have asked City Property to consider the £54,000 we have spent on structural repairs to be off-set against our rent arrears. We have enslaved and toiled on this building and have worked hard to make it safe for our community usage and it will set off the African Community several years back if this action is not stopped immediately.
A number of Glasgow City Councillors have seen our Business Plan and debt settlement plan, including Nina Baker, a City Councillor in Ward 10 (Anderson). A few days ago Councillor Baker wrote to City property “I understand that this organisation has been making efforts to restructure, build skills and capacity and make interim repayments on the debt. They also say they have not had face-to-face meeting with City Property since last year. It seems to me that they are making efforts to be in a better position to repay the debts and become viable, including getting some high profile event bookings. Please can you meet with them this week in the hope that their proposal could be sufficient to put off the implementation of the eviction order.”
According to Chief Chebe the current Chair of the African Caribbean Network, "the only possible explanation that can be given for the refusal of City Property officials to meet us, despite repeated attempts to meet them since last year, is of no other reason than selective discrimination. This is the sad state of politics where they say we are all in it together or Scotland is a multicultural society but at the same time no effort is made to support the aspirations of the African and Caribbean community in Glasgow. An emergency appeal and public campaign is being mounted to stop the unfair victimisation and eviction of the African Caribbean Community this important cultural and art venue which contributed in no small way to welcome and demonstrate to Commonwealth country visitors the true and positive image of Glasgow as a proud multi-cultural city in Scotland.
"The sad thing is that it was only two years ago when the ACC was recognised officially by the Glasgow City Council game organisers as a legacy centre in 2014 and it will be ashamed four that legacy to be a closure today," said Harriette Campbell, current vice president of the African Caribbean Network and board member of West of Scotland Regional Equality Board.
You can read a newspaper article on the herald at the link below -
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14405606.display/
Organizer
Serign B Sanneh
Organizer
