A Tower Hamlets Residents’ Manifesto

A Tower Hamlets Residents’ Manifesto

10 ideas for a brighter, poverty-free future that we shape together

April 2022

Read the full Residents’ Manifesto
Residents Manifesto Drone image for Tower Hamlets

We are a group of 30 Tower Hamlets residents, working together with the research and policy team at Toynbee Hall. Many of us are community researchers in our borough, investigating the issues that are important to us, like poverty, safety and housing.

Over the last five years, we have shaped, conducted and analysed much of the research in this manifesto, and developed proposals that addresses the main priorities and the issues that people are facing in the borough. This manifesto highlights 10 ideas for the next Mayor of Tower Hamlets, to create a brighter, poverty-free future that we shape together.

Ahead of the local elections in May 2022, we need the next Mayor of Tower Hamlets to have big ambitions for the residents of this borough. We believe this can be achieved by supporting and taking action on our proposal priorities developed by the people who know best what they need – our residents. We have tested out the support for these proposals through a survey conducted over two weeks with over 180 local residents, and this input has shaped our manifesto priorities.

This is our manifesto.

Download the full manifesto

Support the Tower Hamlets Residents’ Manifesto and sign the petition

Please share the petition with your family, neighbours, and community. We will present the petition to the winning candidate and ask them to work with us to put the proposals into practice.

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Sign the petition - Tower Hamlets residents

Why local residents support the manifesto:

One of my favourite manifesto proposals is that large employers should employ Tower Hamlets residents, mainly from low income families, as that would really help to improve the lives of people in Tower Hamlets.”

There’s too many kids that don’t have enough of anything, or a community to go to, or somewhere to go to if they don’t have their family that they can lean on.”

We need to be able to breathe safely outside and go to work and not feel scared… sometimes I go out at like 6 or 7 o’clock I’m looking over my shoulder to see if anyone is following me… so that’s my favourite Manifesto proposal, the one on women’s safety.”

I support the Residents’ Manifesto because there’s a really concerning rent affordability crisis that needs to be tackled by increased rent control powers.”

I believe that it’s important to have accountability in the Council and to make sure there’s actually someone to be held accountable so that residents actually have someone to talk to about their problems and then they can have their issues solved.”

It affects children as they grow up in overcrowded housing. I’ve got a 16-year-old who’s doing GCSEs, who shares a room with his 12-year-old sister, and his 8-year-old brother.”

If you have any questions, comments or ideas, we’d love to hear from you at research@toynbeehall.org.uk

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