This blog has published an extensive number of stories about a guy called Neville Meredith, formerly the Diversity Officer of Herefordshire County Council and his quest to impose a mosque on the people of the county even though there appear to be many who object to this proposal. There have also been stories about how this character manages to hang round the diversity sphere like a publicly funded bad fart, despite there being significant cuts to other areas of public spending, other more worthy areas, such as public toilets. He’s managed to screw funding for him and his diversity hobby-horse from the local authority, various other public sector sources, the police (allegedly) and now the National Lottery. If there was an award available for clinging tenaciously to the taxpayers teat then Neville Meredith would win it hands down.

Neville Meredith and the small but politically influential diversity obsessives in Herefordshire have a history of unhelpful, potentially destructive and sometimes expensive minority-related activities, including actively assisting a slippery and untrustworthy (shariah court in the Marches anyone?) Islamic group, to find a place where a mosque can be imposed.

Now one of my contacts in Herefordshire has passed me an example of Neville Meredith’s latest money-wasting propaganda exercise, a free (at least to those who pick it up) magazine called ‘Here For All’ (which at least to me sounds like the slogan of a failing comprehensive school).

My first impressions of it was that textually the whole dual language English/Polish thing was extremely patronising. I’ve met loads of Poles in Britain of all generations both those who came over after WWII and those who’ve come over more recently, and I’ve not met many who can’t at least ‘get by’ in English. Even some of the more elderly and more alcohol-fuelled Poles I’ve encountered can do a days work and converse acceptably with other people in English. It’s shockingly patronising to Poles, many of whom work in front line customer facing positions where English is accepted and expected to be presented with this guff. This sort of bilingual spoon-feeding might have been acceptable among the political Left during the early days of identity politics back in the 1980’s, but it really is not acceptable now. There are growing calls for a move away from what are euphemistically called ‘community languages’ and providing literature in these languages and more emphasis on the unifiying factor of a common language, English. The irony here is that a magazine with the strapline ‘Let’s Integrate’ is still following the divisive path of patronising bilingualism.

As for design, it’s OK I suppose but it does however have a feel of the 1990’s council worker playing around with an Apple Mac running Quark Xpress about it.

The issue of ‘Here For All’ magazine that I’ve been sent is a special edition for the famous Three Choirs Festival that takes place in the area. All I can say is that if this is the ‘special’ edition, I’d hate to see what the rest of the issues are like. I’m not surprised that it is being given away in Herefordshire libraries and children’s centres and the like, as it’s not the sort of thing that you’d ever consider paying for (what’s that, oh you have already paid for it, if you play the National Lottery that is).

Now for a slightly more detailed examination of some selected content. The whole magazine is available from this blog as page separated pdf files at the bottom of the page.

Page one is the cover (reproduced at top of this article), not much to say about that apart from a bit busy and doesn’t really grab immediate attention.

Page Two contains, in English and Polish, a statement that integration is the thing only for the writer to contradict herself by saying that this can be done by delivering local information in Eastern European languages.

Page Four and Five is information about the Three Choirs Festival again in English and Polish, information that could have been obtained by those who were interested in whatever language they chose from the internet. It’s not as if there is a shortage of information out there about the Three Choirs Festival both in English and in other languages.

Then on page 7 comes an advertorial for a ‘middle-eastern dance class’ and later on in the magazine an article on the Isle of Wight for some inexplicable reason, as the Isle of Wight is nowhere near Herefordshire. Not even an Uber driver would get that one wrong.

Various groups and companies take up a few pages for advertising and advertorial and this comprises various solicitors ads and ads and features from third sector organisations some of whom more than likely have local and/or central govt funding. I must question the wisdom of organisations such as Herefordshire Carers Support having a whole bilingual page in this magazine, and am hoping that they didn’t pay for the privildge of inclusion in it, as no doubt they may have got a bigger bang for their publicity buck by going elsewhere.

The rest of the mag is community writing such as poems etc and the local Christians doing their evangelism thing. You can see why this is publicly funded, it’s publicly funded because people wouldn’t part with their hard-earned in order to have it.

Looking at this magazine it is difficult not to conclude that this Here for All project is not something that is being called for by the community, but rather is a make-work project for Mr Meredith and his chums in the local diversity industry. When you think of the ‘good causes’ that the National Lottery is supposed to help, many will imagine hospices, playgroups, OAP clubs, libraries, national heritage and the arts. They are unlikely to imagine this sordid piece of multicultural propaganda or the public sector teat-suckers who put it together, as meeting the definition of a ‘good cause’. ‘Good causes’ are things that benefit the nation as a whole, they are not there to provide Neville ‘shut up and enjoy the diversity‘ Meredith and his clique with a wage.

Note:

Neville Meredith is asking for input to the Here For All magazine and is looking to meet ‘new friends’. Maybe readers of this blog who disapprove of such wasteful vanity projects such this should contact him using the details below and politely and of course legally, give him your opinion.

Neville Meredith

Telephone: 01432 267 307

Email: nmeredith@herefordshire.gov.uk

Links

Below are other mentions of Neville Meredith from the Fahrenheit 211 website

Diversity officer’s attitude comes across as ‘Shut up and enjoy the enforced diversity’

https://www.fahrenheit211.net/2014/12/29/british-neville-chamberlain-award-for-november-2014-this-one-could-be-called-shut-up-and-enjoy-the-enforced-diversity/

How much money are diversity projects going to cost Herefordshire taxpayers

https://www.fahrenheit211.net/2015/01/11/how-much-money-will-this-guff-cost-herefordshire-taxpayers/

Islamic group has another attempt at building a mosque in Herefordshire

https://www.fahrenheit211.net/2014/12/12/these-mosque-e-teers-never-give-up-do-they-muslim-group-and-non-muslim-quslings-having-another-crack-at-imposing-a-mosque-on-hereford/

What would you rather spend money on, public toilets or diversity officers?

https://www.fahrenheit211.net/2013/06/28/throwing-out-the-baby-and-keeping-the-afterbirth-a-classic-example-of-local-governments-wrong-priorities/

Herefordshire’s ‘useful idiot for Islam’ promotes mosque plan.

https://www.fahrenheit211.net/2012/09/18/herefordshires-useful-idiot-neville-meredith-community-integration-and-race-equality-development-officer/

Here’s the different pages of the Here For All magazine from page one to page twenty four.

Here for all page 120150821_13101306

Here for all page 220150821_13135085

Here for all page 320150821_13165449

Here for all page 420150821_13194779

Here for all page 520150821_13443997

Here for all page 520150821_13474779

Here for all page 720150821_13573455

Here for all page 820150821_14005170

Here for all page 920150821_14034601

Here for all page 1020150821_14065057

Here for all page 1120150821_14100973

Here for all page 1220150821_14201536

Here for all page 1320150821_14233072

Here for all page 1420150821_14283676

Here for all page 1520150821_14311356

Here for all page 1520150823_12392406

Here for all page 1720150823_12441662

Here for all page 1820150823_12591575

Here for all page 1920150823_13015500

Here for all page 2020150823_13195408

Here for all page 2120150823_13155856

Here for all page 2220150823_13462176

Here for all page 2220150823_13500889

Here for all page 2420150823_15242332