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Steve Peake replies:
When it was first established, the Synergy Project was genuinely not-for-profit and donated £20k to a genuine charity - the Synergy Centre.
>> which you, steve, "just happened to run".

In 2005, the original not-for-profit company, Synergy Communities, was dissolved and the name illegally transferred, without the founder's permission, to a for-profit company, The Synergy Community Ltd.

Since then, not a single penny has been spent on a good cause, the prices have been put up from £15 to £20, and over £20k profit has been made - the destination of which is unknown.

Concerned at the commercialisation of the Synergy Project, the original founder has asked the current team to stop using the name for profit and to return Synergy to its original not-for-profit status.  They have refused, and permission to use the name has therefore been withdrawn.
>> the man's hypocrisy knows no bounds!  see the response below.

Some of the Synergy crew are now engaging in a vicious and libellous campaign against the founder - accusing him of taking over the Project.  They chose not to tell the public that, had they agreed to restore the not-for-profit status, they would have been allowed to continue using the name.
>> but under your control, bah!

The Synergy Project will soon be relaunched, restored to its original not-for-profit status, run in real partnership with campaigns and charities to whom a significant proportion of the profits from the night will be donated.

Don't believe the lies...
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Brian Viziondanz replies:
steve, firstly the event and all of the good that it brings into people's lives is the good cause, the point being that we do not have to look for government hand-outs or use other people's efforts to finance what we are doing, it is self sustaining.
>> "Funded" = Fun Dead" as i told steve at one of the debates.

is it a lie that when you set up the company (because, in your own words, y0u "knew how to set up companies") you put your mates names down as the owner instead of making the 2 people that you set the project up with co owners.  an oversight you say, which you are now exploiting to takeover the project that you were forced to resign from years ago.

is this ethical business practice?  are these the actions of a community-minded trustworthy individual?

people are coming out of the woodwork, and have a lot to say about you and your "business practices."

the truth is that, one way or another, you were booted out of the project because of your unacceptable psychopathic behaviour,and you have never gotten over it and are using every and any possibility to claw your way back cos you just can't let go.

the project has bent over backward to work with you, but you have no idea how to sit as an equal with your peers.

let go steve, the project will be happy to work in harmony with the centre as an independent entity, the two organisms can compliment each other well, but not while you seek to have power and control over the project
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Steve Peake writes:
You can dig all you like into my business practices - the fact is that I am trusted and respected in our local community - where the police, the council and the youth offending team all work with me. I am also working with the governments of Namibia and Ghana on projects, as well as with numerous other local agencies both in Africa and in London. I have worked with Drop the Debt (Genoa G8 2001) and Make Poverty History (Edinburgh 2005), with Save the Children, Oxfam and Christian Aid, all of whom respect me and my work.

I run two genuine charities, both of which deliver real benefit to people suffering disadvantage and have taken a group of Ghanaian drummers from poverty and obscurity and helped them become the leading African drumming group in Europe.  In my days in the protest scene, I worked alongside and supported the Freedom Network (anti CJA), the Newbury Bypass Campaign and Reclaim the Streets.
>> since he's brought them up, would anyone in these orgs d like to illuminate us all about steve's practices ?  
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Brian Viziondanz replies:
steve you forget, you left the project, and everyone was relieved and delighted.

you used £20,000 of the Project's money to set up the centre, it was supposed to be a loan, but the steering committee was so happy you'd gone they decided not to press you for the money back.
>> this rings so true.

when you left, the project was broke, yet we continued to put on extremely high budget events, and made them work - pay for themselves - and the moment you heard we'd actually made a profit you came back to drain more money.

you attempted to force us to have a relationship with you that no one wanted - been there done that and brought the t shirts, and when we wouldn't have that relationship you used threats of legal action and exploited a legal loophole that you created when you set up the project - sleight of hand and totally underhand.

the bottom line is that your are like a jilted lover stalking your ex attempting to force a relationship and, if you you can't have it, you will destroy us.

is this healthy behaviour?

We have run two Trees for Cities stalls at Synergy and both have been a real success, surpassing our expectations in every way.

We had (literally) hundreds of people signing up to give us their email addresses, and almost everyone we spoke to had a genuine enthusiasm for urban tree planting.

To be able to talk to people on their terms, discuss things (often with very well informed people), and capture their details for future campaigns or fund-raising initiatives was our aim, and we certainly succeeded.  We did not go there to change anyone's opinions, but to raise awareness of what we do.
>> this is a critical point.  steve, the politico, continues to regard the hippy-raver-idealists who attend such events as ignorant public in need of education.  i never, ever, saw it that way.  i saw them as the vanguard of the new era we are moving into and offered edutainment to swell the ranks of NGOs and other orgs with specific aims.

We were treated with respect by the organisers who immediately asked for feedback and suggestions on how to make things better.

For us, Synergy was the most productive marketing event we have been involved with.  And we are sad to see it go.  On a personal note - nothing to do with Trees for Cities - I think what Steve has done is disgusting.  Anyone who has felt something special at Synergy should not work with him out of principle.  He has destroyed something beautiful for his own agenda.
Suzanne Fane-Saunders//Trees For Cities.
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I am part of an ngo called circus2iraq, we have been involved in 3 synergy project evens, each one raised some money for our group.

we first became aware of the Synergy Project after attempting to hold a fundraising event at the Synergy Centre - which resulted in my signature being forged on a licence application I was told they already had, the event being cancelled by steve 2 days before it was due to go ahead, and all of my closest friends having bought train/bus tickets to get to london being pretty pissed off, the circus not getting any money, the crew working for two days for nothing, and me feeling properly screwed over. enough so to want to write publicly about it!
Ruth James, circus2iraq
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I call for steve peake to resign from the (anti) synergy centre, his continued presence there is dividing the creative community and threatening the well being of the Centre and all the good work that individuals have done there.

or change the name to the Steve Peake Centre.
brian, london.
>> u heard of peak oil?  well, this is Peake Centre!
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hi steve,
i haven't got much time to reply i am very busy at the moment with my full time job as a teaching assistant for kids with learning disabilities.
i just wanted to say: LEAVE US ALONE!
the Synergy Project got much better after you left, and whenever i have been to a Synergy Centre event it has been crap to put it bluntly.
the Synergy Project has finished, leave all this in the past and move on, we all have!
Louise Gandolfi, London.
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The counterculture is much bigger than the Left.  The counterculture recruits from mass society.  The Left recruits from the counterculture.
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