» The Rev. Henry Wagner
Brighton and Hove City Council leader Mary Mears on a very influential vicar
I was absolutely delighted to hear last week that the number of young homeless people in the city has fallen by a massive 79 per cent in the last four years. This is largely as a result of some excellent ‘early intervention’ work which council officers are doing to help prevent family breakdown, such as opening a new supported housing project for teen mothers and tackling the underlying causes of youth homelessness – mental illness, drugs and alcohol dependency. This difficult, and often unseen, work is now starting to pay real dividends.
Providing decent housing for young people and families in the city is an issue which is really close to my heart and so this is really encouraging news, particularly at a time when the effects of the recession are hitting hard.
On the subject of young people, I had the pleasure of once again seeing the Brighton Youth Orchestra perform at the weekend for their end of term concert. I try and catch them whenever they play and I would recommend anyone going to see them. They truly are a fantastic advertisement for the young talent we have in this city. If we could bottle and sell their enthusiasm, commitment and flair we would be very rich indeed!
Finally, I attended the unveiling of a Blue Plaque memorial to one of Brighton and Hove’s lesser known, but nonetheless highly influential, sons – the Rev. Henry Wagner. He was vicar of Brighton way back in 1824, right up until his death in 1870. But he left his mark on the city, which lasts to this day. During his period in office he had six churches built to enable the poor of Brighton to attend services, including two which still survive to this day – St. John the Evangelist and St. Paul's. The diversity of faith groups and churches in the city has increased significantly since his time, of course, but one thing has remained constant – the fantastic (and often unheralded) charitable work they carry out with disadvantaged communities in the city. Long may it continue!
