Chuka Umunna MP

Chuka and Keith Hill, Member of Parliament for Streatham, headed down to enjoy and lend their support this afternoon to Brixton Splash, the Brixton street festival.   The festival includes live music, poetry, art exhibitions, street theatre, crafts, children’s activities, food sales, sound systems and domino competitions.  The event aims to involve people from all walks of life, providing something for everyone to participate and enjoy themselves.

 More Brixton Splash 2009 photos can be found here: Brixton Splash

Chuka joined in the fun at the Mount Ephraim Lane Street Party yesterday where the local community came out despite the dodgy weather. Many thanks to the organising committee, a group of local mums with young children, for putting on such a fantastic event.

Last week’s Urban Art fair in Brixton was opened by Rachel Agnew, who Chuka met at the event.

Rachel was was chosen this year as the winner of a nationwide search for a new panellist on ITV’s Loose Women.

Urban Art is held annually on Josephine Avenue in Brixton, transforming the tree-lined street into an outdoor art fair. The event gives artists from across south London and beyond the opportunity to exhibit their work, showcasing a fantastic range of affordable art on sale to the public. This year, over one hundred artists exhibited and 10% of Sunday’s proceeds were donated to Trinity Hospice.

Chuka, Cabinet Minister Tessa Jowell MP, and Cllr Rachel Heywood, Lambeth’s Cabinet Member for Culture, talk about culture and the Olympics at the Lambeth Country Show.

The Streatham Festival is under way.  To lend their support and enjoy what it has to offer, Chuka and Streatham MP, Keith Hill, visited one of the events - the Streatham Artists Exhibition - yesterday.  The exhibition showcases some of the best art Streatham has to offer. More details about the Streatham Festival activities taking place over the next week are here: Streatham Festival.

Local artists will showcase their work to the public next weekend, unveiling a a range of contemporary art including paintings, photographs, print making and sculpture. This gives people the opportunity to buy directly from up-and-coming Streatham artists.

The event, which Chuka will be attending and is part of the Streatham Festival, will take place at ASC studios in Streatham Hill, opening on Friday evening and 11am-5pm on Saturday and Sunday. For more details and a list of artists taking part, check out the Streatham Artists website. The Open Studios weekend will be accompanied by a number of local events over the coming weeks, including a seminar on art in Iraq and a collograph print demonstration.

On the 18th and 19th of July, Josephine Avenue in Brixton will be transformed into a free outdoor art fair, Urban Art 2009. In October, artists across the borough will open their doors as part of Lambeth Open.

As this weekend’s summer heat wave descended over London today, Chuka took some time out with Cllr Florence Nosegbe (far right), Labour’s Deputy Cabinet Member for Youth in Lambeth, to catch up with residents of Blenheim Gardens Estate at their fantastic Fun Day in Brixton Hill ward!  Here they are in the estate garden, overseen by Simon Ghartey (crouching).  Chuka finished up the day at the Abbeville Fete in Clapham, once again successfully organised by The Church of the Holy Spirit.

Chuka was a guest on BBC One’s Politics Show on Sunday, discussing Boris Johnson’s cancellation of Rise Festival and promoting the UpRise campaign to save the anti-racism event. To see Chuka’s appearance, follow this link (the Rise feature is at 48mins in)

This week, Chuka attended the launch of Votematch, a new application which aims to boost turnout at the upcoming European elections. The event, organised by the pressure group UnlockDemocracy, was held at Apple’s flagship Central London store in Regent Street and hosted by actor and comedian Stephen Fry.

The event showcased the Votematch application, which allows people to see how closely aligned their own views are with parties standing in the European elections. After answering a series of policy-based questions and deciding which issues matter most to them, users can see how their responses compare with party positions on each issue, and how closely each party’s manifesto as a whole matches their own views, with the aim of encouraging them to vote in the European elections. Introducing the application, Stephen Fry described it as being “like a dating site for voters”.

Commenting on the launch and on his support for Votematch, Chuka said: “Anything that can help boost voter turnout is a good idea, and combining democracy and new technology will help engage people who might not have voted otherwise, especially young people. For the European elections, it is imperative that all mainstream parties encourage people to get out and vote, not least so that we can prevent the BNP from gaining representation.”

Vote Match is accessible both online and via handheld devices such as the iPhone, and has been successful in boosting voter turnout elsewhere in Europe. Take the Votematch test here.

Chuka is supporting the campaign to save Rise Festival, London’s annual anti-rascism event, which has been cancelled by London Mayor Boris Johnson. The UpRise campaign has been formed in response to the decision, setting up an online petition against the cancellation.

Rise, previously known as the Respect Festival, was first organised by the TUC in 1996 to promote an anti-racism message and celebrate London’s unity in diversity. It also provided space for charities and community organisations to highlight and promote their work. From 2001, Mayor Ken Livingstone took charge of the festival, increasing its size and profile. Featured acts have included the Wailers, Public Enemy, Graham Coxon and De La Soul. Last year’s event was held in Finsbury Park and headlined by reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, with over 60,000 in attendance. However, Boris Johnson was criticised for watering down the festival’s anti-racist message.

Commenting on the cancellation, Chuka said: “The decision to cancel the Rise Festival at a time when all mainstream political parties, including the Mayor’s own party, are fighting to prevent the rise of the far right in the forthcoming European Elections is crazy – he should think again.”

Please sign the Save Rise Festival petition and check out UpRise’s Facebook group.