News and other Busyness

Social Exclusion Unit Visit Exodus

Squall 16, Summer 1998, pg. 10.

AN ENVOY from the Government's new Social Exclusion Unit visited the Exodus Collective in May to examine their initiatives on behalf of unemployed youth.

Angela Sarkis, a probation officer and Chief Executive of the Church Urban Fund, spent the whole day at HAZ Manor, a housing project run by Exodus on the edge of Luton. Sarkis was to have visited a warehouse which Exodus hope to turn into a community centre for Luton youth.

Situated on Luton's Marsh Farm Estate - scene of inner city disturbances in 1995 - the warehouse became empty when Coulter Electronics shut down at the beginning of May rendering 240 people redundant. Exodus contacted the site manager and arranged for Sarkis to visit the site. However, on the evening before her visit the Coulter management rang to cancel, saying they would refuse entry to both Exodus and Sarkis. "It was actually a good way for the Social Exclusion Unit to see just what sort of obstacles are put in our way," said Exodus spokesperson Glenn Jenkins.

Sarkis was impressed by Exodus's unusual approach and suggested the liaison might well go further than merely a visit.

"She saw that the Exodus Collective may have been socially excluded but that we've actively re-included ourselves on our own terms. She told us that she'd never seen anything like Exodus before."