Outreach

In 2009,The Salvation Army is active in 28 countries around the EU and 117 countries globally. 'There is increasing recognition that the EU shapes the UK and ultimately affects all of our lives. It is our responsibility as citizens to ensure all society’s interests are represented and responded to. Failure to participate entails failure to achieve.', Tim Stone says.

Steve Elliott, CIA Chief Executive is based in London but spends a great deal of his time in Brussels because the majority of policy, legislation and regulation that impacts the chemical industry originates from the institutions of the European Union.

The Hansard Society's Citizenship Education Programme is facilitating mock elections in schools throughout the UK to coincide with the European elections on 4th June. The election provides a perfect opportunity for schools to explore issues surrounding democracy and justice at a European level. Teachers can get hold of everything they need to run a mock election by visiting the Y Vote website and by registering they receive additional resources and support, all for free.

David Orr is Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation which represents 1300 independent not-for-profit housing associations in England.


He is also President of CECODHAS, the European Liaison Committee for Social Housing which represents 46 regional and national federations across 19 EU member states providing 22 million homes to 70 million Europeans.

Aidan Stradling works as a consultant, trainer and adviser with organisations across North East England, the UK and the EU. He was previously Europe and Government Liaison Manager at the regional assembly in North East England, where he was secretary to the region’s European Strategy Group, lead support officer for local councillors on the EU Committee of the Regions, and chair of the English Regions Network Europe Group. He has also worked in UK central government on European issues with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Home Office.

The UK national winner of the Charlemagne Youth Prize for 2009 is the Talita Kum project, entered by Lewis Ross from Inverness. The other team members are Phi Macdonald, Mhairi McGowan, Kayleigh Berg, Daniel McWilliams, Fraser Kane and Sarah-Jane Savage - all from Millburn Academy.

Tony Coleman has not always worked for local government. In fact for most of the past twenty years he has been an actor, producer and director at home in Ireland and in the US. What made him make such a dramatic change of career? He recently did an MA in Cultural policy and management and sees a great similarity between the arts and politics. That similarity is engagement.

If ever you visit the UK Office of the European Parliament, you can ask to see the published reports, photographic journals, diaries and from later this year for the first time, DVDs produced by the winners of the Peter Kirk Travel Scholarship. And if you do spend an hour or so browsing these records, you will find something unique and worthy of what the fund set out to do in memory of Peter Kirk.

This month in our "Face to face ..." section we talk to Ian Thomson President, European Information Association.

In our Trends and Opinions section read the thoughts of our recent Swedish stagiaire Anna Kjällström on living and working in London