The Celeb FC founder has been writing (for months) to MP’s & Councillors in a number of the outer London Boroughs we work in (Merton & Sutton mainly), detailing the devastating impact ULEZ will have on Volunteers, Community groups & Charities if brought in in August 2023.
She has tried to convey the worry she has regarding the imminent loss of some of the most valuable people we have in this country.
Volunteers who live and work in the outer London suburbs.
Our founder not only runs Celeb FC, she also volunteers with a number of small charities and groups and as a part of these roles she has sensed a real rumble of panic amongst beautiful people with big hearts who not only commute to and from places to fulfil volunteer caring, retail, administration, support, roles (and more); but also who run vital outreach and support services.
Not only this, there is a real fear amongst those who access these services who are exhibiting genuine worries they are going to lose their support networks…
Worry that after August they cannot physically travel to centres / services any more and that the volunteers and people they know and trust simply wont be available to them..
Add to that, the issue that there are many small community groups / CIC’s / Non-Profits who provide services at heavily discounted rates because they love what they do, within London suburbs. Many are supporting families and groups that simply do not qualify for government support or they are picking up the short-fall when the support simply isn’t there!
There is one she works very closely with (as a volunteer) who provides animal therapy for care homes and children’s services etc. The ULEZ expansion has meant they have had to look at their ability to safety and efficiently provide services into the suburbs past August 2023, due to the huge financial penalty that will be levied on them.
Its truly astounding this hasn’t even been identified…
Having worried about this for many months, she has looked into why it should be a major concern for all, to protect the community and charity groups and their amazing volunteers.
Here are some important figures for you –
- Pensioner volunteers contribute over £48 Billion a year to the UK economy according to the centre for economic and business research.
- The voluntary sector has a workforce which is almost a million strong (950,000 workers) at the last estimate – about two-thirds the size of the NHS workforce – and has grown by more than a quarter (27%) in the past decade.
- Out of a total of 165,758 voluntary organisations in UK, the majority (80%) are small.
- 1 in 3 women in the UK volunteers at least once a year. Women make up two-thirds of the voluntary sector workforce.
- People recognised as having a disability / registered disabled are just as likely as non-disabled people to formally volunteer.
Look at those figures & then look at the following impacts of the ULEZ in the suburbs many pensioners, women and those with disabilities live and volunteer in….
Anyone who owns an older vehicle and who simply cannot afford the charge to use it to commute to their voluntary role will have to give up roles they love, become isolated and feel worthless when the ULEZ comes in..
Volunteers do what they do because they love to use their skills to support others – so we truly believe its absolutely blinkered to bring ULEZ in at a time when people need support from their peers the most.
The saddest part is – The London Mayor knows this is not warranted & NOT wanted..
He deliberately failed to take into consideration the replies to the ULEZ expansion consultation, where a resounding 28,120 (twenty-eight thousand, one hundred and twenty) or 68% said NO.
He has also failed to take into consideration, that Greater London has air quality that is legally within UK Government law as confirmed by DEFRA.
Please use the hashtag #STOPULEZ on every post about this tyrannical, short-sighted tax on the residents of outer London suburbs without the necessary public transport infrastructure, the aforethought for the impact on the voluntary sector and also without the actual pollution that is being touted as the reasoning for this tax.
Also – PLEASE keep signing this petition – We must be heard or this will be an absolute disaster…
Thank you.
