Nick Buckley

Nick Buckley MBE from Manchester, England, who was appointed to the Order of the British Empire as a Member on the Queen’s New Year honours list in December 2019. He spent 15 years working with the homeless.

For other people named Nick Buckley, see Nick Buckley (disambiguation).

In 2011, he founded Mancunian Way, a charity which fired him in 2020. However, following a public outcry, the board of trustees resigned and Nick Buckley was reinstated.

Career

Buckley's career with the Manchester City Council started as a youth intervention officer.[1] In 2011, Buckley's job as a Community Safety Co-ordinator, which he held during the 2011 Manchester riots, was terminated by the City Council due to budget cuts. He was offered an alternate position; instead of taking it, he took his severance and used it to found a charity named Mancunian Way,[1][2] which worked to reduce antisocial behaviour[3] via prevention and intervention.[4]

In 2018, Buckley stood as an independent candidate in the Local Council elections in the Deansgate ward of Manchester.[5] Nick Buckley received 164 votes in total, and did not gain office. The election was won by three Labour candidates.[6]

Buckley was recognized at the 2018 NW Charity Awards with the "Small Charity Big Impact Award" and at the 2019 SME News Finance Awards 2019, winning "Greater Manchester Homeless Project of the Year."[7] While Buckley was CEO, the charity he founded was recognised as "Community Project of the Year award" in 2015.[8]

In 2019, Buckley, who spent 15 years "working directly" with the homeless, explained on BBC Radio that individuals handing out food to the homeless has unintended consequences, including preventing them from getting the necessary support and help to get off the street.[9][10] Buckley criticized Lucy Powell, saying her "words would have a negative effect on teenagers from deprived backgrounds."[11] One of Buckley's projects, Change4Good, "placed 28 homeless or vulnerable individuals into employment" that year.[12] In 2019, Elizabeth II awarded the MBE to Buckley.[13][7][14]

In 2020, Nick Buckley was the centre of a controversy linked to an article he authored and posted on medium.com and shared with Mancunian Way staff and on the professional networking site LinkedIn. The article was critical of the Black Lives Matter movement. It was described as upholding inequalities by those calling for his dismissal via an online petition.[15] The article was later taken down.

The trustees of Mancunian Way dismissed Buckley on 19 June 2020, announcing that the charity had severed their relationship with Nick Buckley's company BNB services Ltd.[16]

Nick Buckley was reinstated after reaching a pre-lawsuit agreement with the existing trustees, which saw them step down en masse to be replaced by a new set of trustees.[17]

Personal life

Buckley is 52–53 years old.[1] He grew up in the Longsight area of Manchester.[1]

References
  1. "Caring, the Mancunian Way: Axed community worker uses pay-out to set up charity for troubled teenagers". Manchester Evening News. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  2. Mike Munn (16 November 2017). "Working with Mancunian Way". News. ARCON Housing Association. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020. Mancunian Way, a multi-award winning charity for troubled teenagers, set up six years ago by its CEO, Nick Buckley. Nick worked as a Community Safety Co-ordinator, for Manchester City Council, at the time of the riots, in Summer 2011.
  3. "ON THEIR OWN TURF: STREET-BASED YOUTH ENGAGEMENT". Newground. 10 October 2018. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020. project led by antisocial behaviour reduction charity, Mancunian Way, set out to tackle the issues that local residents raise, as well as supporting young people to make informed choices that improve their own life outcomes. “In no way is this project trying to get kids off the street,” explains Mancunian Way founder and CEO, Nick Buckley. “Instead, we’re working hard to build positive relationships with young people
  4. Phoebe Walters (6 December 2019). ""We try to find young people in the most need" Stay Safe MCR on helping the youth of Salford". Salford Now. Retrieved 3 July 2020. Nick Buckley, Chief Executive and Founder of Mancunian Way, spoke on prevention and intervention being important in keeping young people out of trouble. He said: “We concentrate on young people because I’m a big believe in prevention and intervention.
  5. Jennifer Williams (16 January 2018). "Frustrated charity worker running for council vows to tackle 'out of control' homelessness crisis". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20180924224815/https://www.manchester.gov.uk/directory_record/315222/local_elections_2018/category/1392/local_elections
  7. Nigel Barlow (30 December 2019). "Charity leader Nick Buckley awarded MBE for services to the community". About Manchester. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  8. Luke Andrews (11 April 2018). "How homeless people are building Manchester's future". MSN. Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 3 July 2020. “They apply to us and we go from there,” said Mancunian Way CEO Nick Buckley. “It’s about making sure you pick the right person for the right position.” Nick, a former local authority community safety manager, founded the charity using a redundancy payout after witnessing the 2011 riots. Mancunian Way won the Community Project of the Year award in 2015 for its work.
  9. Stephen Lewis (29 December 2019). ""Don't give food to homeless people," says Manchester charity boss". I Love MCR. Retrieved 3 July 2020. “People seem to know that handing out money doesn’t help but think handing out food is kind”, says Nick Buckley, CEO of Mancunian Way on Feeding the Problem, a 30 minute programme broadcast on Radio 4 over the holidays. Giving food to people on the street has unforeseen consequences and is actually doing more harm than good, says Nick
  10. "Feeding the Problem". BBC Radio 4. BBC. 28 December 2019. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020. Nick Buckley has spent 15 years working directly with rough sleepers, and he wants the British public to stop handing out food to people on the streets.
  11. "'We have suffered heart-breaking losses twice', Yousef Makki's sister calls for re-trial following self-defence verdict". ITV News. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2020. Nick Buckley from Mancunian Way, an antisocial behaviour reduction charity, told ITV News Ms Powell's words would have a negative effect on teenagers from deprived backgrounds. "If you're a 13-year-old black boy now in Greater Manchester and you read that, you're going to be thinking 'wow, the government, the world, everyone's against me'. And that's not the case," he said.
  12. Harriet Whitehead (2 January 2020). "Charity leaders recognised in New Year Honours List 2020". Civil Society Media. Retrieved 3 July 2020. Nick Buckley, founder of Manchester’s anti-social behaviour reduction charity Mancunian Way, has also been awarded an MBE for his dedication to voluntary services and the local community. The charity runs a number of community projects such as Change4Good, which successfully placed 28 homeless or vulnerable individuals into employment in 2019.
  13. Steve Robson; Charlotte Dobson; Andrew Bardsley (27 December 2019). "Oldham boy, 13, is youngest person in country on New Year Honours list after raising thousands for charity". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 3 July 2020. Nick, 51, is being recognised for his belief in giving young people hope with an MBE in the New Year's Honours list
  14. "Well deserved MBE for Nick Buckley". Celebrating Inspiring Women. Inspire Awards. 28 December 2019. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020. #NickBuckley for receiving his MBE for services to the community, particularly for homeless people. Nick Buckley is the CEO of #MancunianWay Charity. Mancunian Way describes itself as being born out of the ashes of the riots in the summer of 2011, from a mother called ‘austerity’ and a father called ‘budget cuts’.
  15. "25 times cancel culture was real". Spiked-online. 14 July 2020. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020.
  16. David Scullion (2 July 2020). "Charity boss fired after criticising Black Lives Matter". The Critic. Retrieved 3 July 2020. An award-winning charity boss who prevented thousands of young people joining gangs has been sacked
  17. "Fired charity boss restored".
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