Common Purpose - Revision history

Tamasin Cave at 21:17, 10 August 2015

2015-08-10T21:17:32Z

Melissa Jones at 11:52, 12 July 2011

2011-07-12T11:52:31Z

Melissa Jones: /* Staff */

2011-07-12T11:44:56Z

Staff

Melissa Jones at 11:43, 12 July 2011

2011-07-12T11:43:56Z

Melissa Jones: /* Corporate Sponsors */

2011-07-12T11:40:52Z

Corporate Sponsors

Melissa Jones: /* Citizen's Connection project */

2011-07-12T11:39:13Z

Citizen's Connection project

Melissa Jones: ref style updated

2011-07-12T11:38:06Z

ref style updated

Melissa Jones: ref style updated

2011-07-12T11:36:42Z

ref style updated

Melissa Jones at 11:34, 12 July 2011

2011-07-12T11:34:10Z

Melissa Jones: /* Senior management */

2011-07-12T11:32:56Z

Senior management

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-[[Common Purpose]] (CP) is a not-for-profit organisation that was started by [[Demos]] trustee [[Julia Middleton]]. It has been around for sometime but gained much funding with the advent of New Labour and its service towards business elites. Initially money was put in by [[David Bell]], the Chairman of the [[Financial Times]] (and the [[Millennium Bridge Trust]]).
+[[Common Purpose]] (CP) is a not-for-profit organisation that was started by [[Demos]] trustee [[Julia Middleton]]. It has been around for sometime but gained much funding with the advent of New Labour and its service towards business elites. Initially money was put in by [[David Bell]], the former chairman of the [[Financial Times]] (and the [[Millennium Bridge Trust]]).
 ==Board==
 ===Current members===
-*Sir [[David Bell]] - Chairman, [[Financial Times]] Group
+*Sir [[David Bell]] - former chairman, [[Financial Times]] Group
 *Albert Tucker - Independent Consultant
 *Chris Mathias - Founder, [[Arbor Ventures]]

@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 Funded by big business and public bodies (everyone from arms companies, banks to curiously the [[Scottish Arts Council]]) CP operates for their benefit while its constitution maintains that they seek "the advancement of education for the public benefit... to educate men and women from a broad range of geographical, political, ethnic, institutional, social and economic backgrounds."
-Former trustees include [[Gerry Robinson]], the ex-[[Coca Cola]] salesman who is now chairman of the [[Arts Council of England]] and [[Janet Paraskeva]], the director of the [[National Lotteries Charities Board]] (the 'independent organisation' which distributes National Lottery money supposedly to charities and community groups). <ref> Changed its name to the 'Community Fund' </ref> CP has specialised in channelling money away from genuine charitable causes. [[Demos]] is also partially funded directly via the Arts Council/Lottery 'New Opportunities Fund'.
+Former trustees include [[Gerry Robinson]], the ex-[[Coca Cola]] salesman and former chairman of the [[Arts Council of England]] and [[Janet Paraskeva]], the director of the [[National Lotteries Charities Board]] (the 'independent organisation' which distributes National Lottery money supposedly to charities and community groups). <ref> Changed its name to the 'Community Fund' </ref> CP has specialised in channelling money away from genuine charitable causes. [[Demos]] is also partially funded directly via the Arts Council/Lottery 'New Opportunities Fund'.
 ==Citizen's Connection project==

@@ Line 80: / Line 80: @@
 *[[Marie Mohan]] - Operations Director
 *[[Oliver Mack]] -Curriculum, Marketing & Alumni Director
-*[[Sue Crawford]] - UK Office & Administration Director
+*[[Sue Crawford]] - UK Office & Administration Director <ref> [http://www.commonpurpose.org.uk/about/governance Senior Management Team], Common Purpose website, accessed 12 July 2011 </ref>
 ===Former staff===
 *[[Nelisha Wickremasinghe]] - (2005-09)
 ==Notes==
 <references/>

@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 Funded by big business and public bodies (everyone from arms companies, banks to curiously the [[Scottish Arts Council]]) CP operates for their benefit while its constitution maintains that they seek "the advancement of education for the public benefit... to educate men and women from a broad range of geographical, political, ethnic, institutional, social and economic backgrounds."
-Former trustees include [[Gerry Robinson]], the ex-[[Coca Cola]] salesman who is now chairman of the [[Arts Council of England]] and [[Janet Paraskeva]], the director of the [[National Lotteries Charities Board]] (the 'independent organisation' which distributes National Lottery money supposedly to charities and community groups). {{ref|13}}  CP has specialised in channelling money away from genuine charitable causes. [[Demos]] is also partially funded directly via the Arts Council/Lottery 'New Opportunities Fund'.
+Former trustees include [[Gerry Robinson]], the ex-[[Coca Cola]] salesman who is now chairman of the [[Arts Council of England]] and [[Janet Paraskeva]], the director of the [[National Lotteries Charities Board]] (the 'independent organisation' which distributes National Lottery money supposedly to charities and community groups). <ref> Changed its name to the 'Community Fund' </ref> CP has specialised in channelling money away from genuine charitable causes. [[Demos]] is also partially funded directly via the Arts Council/Lottery 'New Opportunities Fund'.
 ==Citizen's Connection project==
-The illusion of independence from funders and government was abandoned with CP's biggest project,'Citizen's Connection'. Tony Blair's old flatmate [[Lord Falconer]]'s [[New Millennium Experience Company]] (NMEC) said that: "Camelot, NMEC and Common Purpose created...[[Citizens Connection]]." {{ref|14}}
+The illusion of independence from funders and government was abandoned with CP's biggest project,'Citizen's Connection'. Tony Blair's old flatmate [[Lord Falconer]]'s [[New Millennium Experience Company]] (NMEC) said that: "Camelot, NMEC and Common Purpose created...[[Citizens Connection]]."
 But the legal position of the [[Camelot Group plc]] is this: as the operator of the UK National Lottery it is supposed to be "not responsible for the allocation of funds raised". Except when it is. The NMEC was (is?) an extraordinary concoction. According to their press release the "NMEC is a non-Departmental Public Body and a company, independent from government with one shareholder, Lord Falconer". This makes it an Anstalt, a financial vehicle more commonly associated with Swiss Bank accounts and money laundering. The 'off-shore account' was pioneered by the Mafia: their Lotteries ('the numbers racket') were deemed illegal because of the evidence that they preyed upon the poor - the National Lottery magically does the reverse.
@@ Line 88: / Line 89: @@
 ==Notes==
 <references/>

@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 Funded by big business and public bodies (everyone from arms companies, banks to curiously the [[Scottish Arts Council]]) CP operates for their benefit while its constitution maintains that they seek "the advancement of education for the public benefit... to educate men and women from a broad range of geographical, political, ethnic, institutional, social and economic backgrounds."
-With former trustees such as [[Gerry Robinson]], the ex-[[Coca Cola]] salesman who is now chairman of the [[Arts Council of England]] and [[Janet Paraskeva]], the director of the [[National Lotteries Charities Board]] (the 'independent organisation' which distributes National Lottery money supposedly to charities and community groups). {{ref|13}}  CP has specialised in channelling money away from genuine charitable causes. [[Demos]] is also partially funded directly via the Arts Council/Lottery 'New Opportunities Fund'.
+Former trustees include [[Gerry Robinson]], the ex-[[Coca Cola]] salesman who is now chairman of the [[Arts Council of England]] and [[Janet Paraskeva]], the director of the [[National Lotteries Charities Board]] (the 'independent organisation' which distributes National Lottery money supposedly to charities and community groups). {{ref|13}}  CP has specialised in channelling money away from genuine charitable causes. [[Demos]] is also partially funded directly via the Arts Council/Lottery 'New Opportunities Fund'.
 ==Citizen's Connection project==

@@ Line 70: / Line 70: @@
 A very similar organisation to 'Citizen's Connection' already existed with [[Lord Young]]'s [[School for Social Entrepreneurs]], which is funded by [[HSBC]], the National Lottery and the [[Esmee Fairbairn Charitable Trust]], run by the wife of the former chairman of the [[SAC]], [[Magnus Linklater]].
-CP projects have been criticised as extensions of PR exercises run by big companies, for example the 'Your Turn' project, which was directly run by [[BT]]'s PR consultants. Yet despite CP receiving millions for its website - 'Your Turn' was specifically given additional funding by the [[National Lottery Charities Board]], which as we have seen with former CP board member, [[Janet Paraskeva]] represented a possible conflict of interest.
+CP projects have been criticised as extensions of PR exercises run by big companies, for example the 'Your Turn' project, which was directly run by [[BT]]'s PR consultants. Yet despite CP receiving millions for its website - 'Your Turn' was specifically given additional funding by the [[National Lottery Charities Board]], which given former CP board member, [[Janet Paraskeva]]'s position, represented a possible conflict of interest.
 ==Staff==

@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 CP's list of corporate sponsors is impressive and they say they have offices in every UK city. CP says it tries to promote 'corporate community engagement', and a synergy with big business. Relationships between corporate CP funders such as [[BAe Systems]], [[Royal Ordinance]] and [[GEC-Marconi]] and, say, the work of CP trustee [[David Grayson]] of the [[National Disability Council]] are unexplained. The idea is to accentuate the positive. The real value of CP must be measured by its closeness to power. For example former board member [[Gillian Ashmore]] from the Cabinet Office:
-:Gillian Ashmore is currently on secondment from the [[Department of Transport]] to the [[British Railways Board]] working on railway privatisation. She joined the Civil Service in 1971 and has worked variously in the Departments of the Environment, Transport, Employment and Trade and Industry. On the Transport side, she has worked mainly in the public transport field. In the latter two Departments she was Deputy Director of the Enterprise and Deregulation Unit. Mrs. Ashmore has also been a non-executive director of [[P & O European Transport]].{{ref|11}} <ref> [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199394/cmhansrd/1994-02-08/Writtens4.html Gillian Ashmore]
+:Gillian Ashmore is currently on secondment from the [[Department of Transport]] to the [[British Railways Board]] working on railway privatisation. She joined the Civil Service in 1971 and has worked variously in the Departments of the Environment, Transport, Employment and Trade and Industry. On the Transport side, she has worked mainly in the public transport field. In the latter two Departments she was Deputy Director of the Enterprise and Deregulation Unit. Mrs. Ashmore has also been a non-executive director of [[P & O European Transport]].<ref> [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199394/cmhansrd/1994-02-08/Writtens4.html Gillian Ashmore]</ref>
 CP's constitution states that the organisation:
-:"is diverse and non-aligned. It draws on the widest possible variety of sectors, areas, and social groups and recognises only peer level and geographical boundaries as common factors to each group. It is always independent, always balanced and owes no historical or other allegiance to any other organisation. Common Purpose works for the benefit of society as a whole..." {{ref|12}}
+:"is diverse and non-aligned. It draws on the widest possible variety of sectors, areas, and social groups and recognises only peer level and geographical boundaries as common factors to each group. It is always independent, always balanced and owes no historical or other allegiance to any other organisation. Common Purpose works for the benefit of society as a whole..." <ref> [http://www.commonpurpose.org.uk/Public/jobs/pforum.htm.] Barclays also sponsored Common Purpose's Alchemist Awards to various friends including the Founders of [[Jubilee 2000]] which aims to ask the banks to abandon third world debts.</ref>
 It has been argued that CP creates the illusion it is for ordinary people, yet it is both run by an elite and caters its projects exclusively for an elite:
@@ Line 88: / Line 88: @@
 ==Notes==
 <references/>
-#{{note|12}} http://www.commonpurpose.org.uk/Public/jobs/pforum.htm. Barclays also sponsored Common Purpose's Alchemist Awards to various friends including the Founders of [[Jubilee 2000]] which aims to ask the banks to abandon third world debts.
 #{{note|13}} Which recently shiftily changed its name to the 'Community Fund'. Monopoly anyone?
 #{{note|14}} http://www.camelotplc.com/press/archive/pressreleases/pressczclaunc.asp

@@ Line 74: / Line 74: @@
 ==Staff==
 ===Senior management===
-*[[Julia Middleton]]
+*[[Julia Middleton]] - Founder and Chief Executive of Common Purpose
-Founder and Chief Executive of Common Purpose
+*[[Adirupa Sengupta]] - International Director
-*[[Adirupa Sengupta]]
+*[[Anila Hussain]] - Finance Director & Company Secretary
-International Director
+*[[Marie Mohan]] - Operations Director
-*[[Anila Hussain]]
+*[[Oliver Mack]] -Curriculum, Marketing & Alumni Director
-Finance Director & Company Secretary
+*[[Sue Crawford]] - UK Office & Administration Director
 <ref> [http://www.commonpurpose.org.uk/about/governance Senior Management Team], accessed 12 July 2011 </ref>