Home Office Minister and Coventry North East MP Bob Ainsworth will be taking part in a public debate for the BBC Voices Project to be held at the Wood End Community Centre on Friday 16th May 2003 from 6pm.  Other members of the debate include John Morris - The Director of New Deal for Communities, representatives from Whitefriars Housing association, the police and Bob Brolly who will Chair the event.

The public debate will be one of the highlights of the Voices Project which BBC West Midlands have been running in Wood End.  This Project is part of a nation wide BBC initiative that not only gives a voice to the under-represented people across the UK but that also helps to regenerate socially deprived areas and projects them in a more positive image.

Bob Ainsworth says about the project “I welcome being part of this community debate that gives people an opportunity to have their say in important areas of concern to them.  People in Wood End put up with a lot.  They live with the problems that exist in the area and get blamed by others for being the cause of those problems.  If people who are taking decisions don’t listen to those who live in the areas concerned all their plans are doomed to failure”

This event will provide local residents with the opportunity to raise questions of social importance with the members of the debate on issues such as juvenile crime and housing that will have an impact on the future of Wood End.