January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Cabinet Office rally postponed (Update)
THURSDAY, NOV. 10, 2:30PM UPDATE: A rally to highlight cutbacks to a programme for at-risk teenagers has been postponed, organizers said today.
The planned all day-event in the grounds of Cabinet Office in Hamilton was scheduled for next Tuesday to highlight the work of the Mirrors programme, which lost around $870,000 after Government budget cuts earlier this year.
The move came after an e-mail was sent by the Mirrors Alumni and Friends Association to members asking for their views on the planned rally.
Organizers wrote to supporters yesterday: “The majority of responses said to postpone the action and work with the Ministry and the Mirrors programme to continue to raise awareness of the programme.
“We have not cancelled it, it is postponed. The board is going to look at other opportunities and possibilities to share islandwide.
“We’re looking at the possibility of moving the location because the connotation of the Cabinet Office grounds tends to make it look like a protest when it isn’t.”
The rally was scheduled for the day a residential personal development programme for youngsters was due to start. The programme, however, was cancelled due to the cuts in funding by the Ministry of Youth, Families and Sports, headed by Glenn Blakeney.
Ruth Moran, chairman of the board of directors of the Alumni and Friends Association, said that Mr Blakeney had offered time on the Government’s CITV channel to promote the work of Mirrors.
She added: “The ultimate goal of the alumni is to continue to support the Mirrors programme and its sustainability. The members of the board were concerned that it appeared it was ‘us against them’ when we are working with the Ministry and the Mirrors programme and looking at options to keep it as powerful as it was in the past.”
The Bermuda Sun made it clear in the story that the cancellation was for this year only and quoted a Mirrors alumni spokeswoman to the effect that it was hoped to resume a full programme next year.
• Editor’s note: The Bermuda Sun is happy to clarify that the headline ‘We will picket Cabinet Office’, which was used on a previous story about the event mentioned above, did not represent a direct quote from any of the organizers but was used to summarize what we understood to be their intention.
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2:30PM UPDATE: The Minister of Youth, Families and Sports Glenn A Blakeney today moved to clarify the Government’s position regarding the Mirrors Programme.
Minister Blakeney noted that it had been previously publicized on October 17th 2011 that the 6-day residential for 15 to 18 year old youth which was scheduled for November 2011 had been deferred, and not cancelled as reported by the Bermuda Sun in an article printed on Wednesday November 9th 2011.
As a result of the Bermuda Sun article which reported that the Mirrors Alumni and Friends Association would hold a protest at Cabinet Office next week, the Minister of Youth, Families and Sports, in conjunction with the Minister of Community Development, held a meeting with representatives of the Mirrors Alumni and Friends Association to clarify the Mirrors Programme’s objectives.
Minister Blakeney wishes to make it clear that there is no threat to the Mirrors Programme, and that the Ministry of Youth, Families and Sports looks forward to working with the Mirrors Alumni and Friends Association to ensure that the Mirrors Programme continues to be supported, and that appropriate awareness of the Mirrors Programme’s significant success and effectiveness is publicly understood and appreciated.
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