May 2020

Redbridge Council has unveiled a new scheme to provide funding to local groups who are helping those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Redbridge Social Action Fund will provide grants to support not-for-profit groups, including an initial funding pot of £10,000,” explained a spokesperson. Any not-for-profit organisation is eligible to make an application as long as their income in the last financial year did not exceed £100,000.

The first deadline is 5 June, and then fortnightly through to 31 July.

Visit wnstd.com/rsaf

Local councillors across Wanstead and South Woodford are hosting advice surgeries online, in addition to supporting residents by phone and email.

With a spike in their casework, councillors from Wanstead Park, Wanstead Village, South Woodford and Churchfields wards have replaced their face-to-face surgeries with Zoom meetings and digital surgeries using Microsoft Teams.

Wanstead Village ward
Councillor Jo Blackman, Councillor Paul F. Donovan and Councillor Daniel H. Morgan-Thomas
Surgeries on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, between 10am and 12noon. Contact a councillor above for details.

Wanstead Park ward
Councillor Sheila A. Bain and Councillor Paul J. Merry
Surgeries on the first and third Saturdays of the month, between 10am and 11am. Contact a councillor above for details.

South Woodford ward
Councillor Beverley L. Brewer, Councillor Michael Duffell and Councillor Suzanne M. Nolan
Contact a councillor above for details of their surgeries.

Churchfields ward
Councillor Rosa Gomez, Councillor Stephen K. Adams and Councillor Clark E. Vasey
Councillor Rosa Gomez hosts online surgeries on a weekly basis on Mondays and Fridays at 3pm.
Contact the other councillors above for details of their surgeries.

Organisers of the monthly farmers’ markets in Wanstead and South Woodford are preparing to return in June.

“Our first event will be on Sunday 7 June on Wanstead High Street. We will be following a strict social distancing criteria for our traders and customers,” said a statement from Ace Events Ltd.

The South Woodford market – which takes place on George Lane – is scheduled for the third Sunday of the month (21 June).

Visit wnstd.com/farmers

A mobile coronavirus testing unit will be in Redbridge on Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 May. 

“Residents can apply now for testing but you may not see the Redbridge mobile unit appear on the booking system right away. If it doesn’t, please check back later,” said a Redbridge Council spokesperson.

Anyone who has coronavirus symptoms can ask for a test and you need to get tested within the first five days of developing symptoms to be effective.

For more information and to apply for a test, click here.

In the first of two articles, Dr Colin Runeckles discusses his findings following research into a Wanstead and Woodford Borough Council building survey carried out in 1949

While I was putting together my January talk on ‘Building Wanstead’, Sue Page at the Heritage Centre in Redbridge Central Library handed me an archive box and wondered whether I would be interested. Inside was a survey carried out after WWII about the condition of every building in the Wanstead and Woodford Borough Council area. The area that I have so far input into a spreadsheet – nearly 5,500 entries – covers Wanstead and Snaresbrook.

The date of the survey appears to be late 1949. There are no building dates after 1949, and on the second from last page, there is a note to the effect that a Ministry of Labour camp on Wanstead Flats is “Now redundant at 27.10.49.” I haven’t managed to ascertain whether this survey was a local initiative or part of a national review. Although all buildings have an original or rebuilding date for those suffering excessive bomb damage, some of the older dates are dubious given other evidence, such as building plans or where they appear on old maps.

What does it tell us about the damage to buildings in WWII? There are 50 vacant plots listed due to buildings being destroyed by enemy action and relating to 43 houses, five shops and houses (49–57 High Street Wanstead), Park House on the corner of Blake Hall Road and Overton Drive that had been converted into flats shortly before the war, one block of The Shrubbery on Grosvenor Road, and the Isolation Hospital close to Wanstead Park. A further 103 buildings had already been fully repaired. Again, this mainly relates to houses, although it also includes one of the parts of Woodford House on the corner of Eagle Lane. Over 2,800 are shown as having “Substantial war damage repairs”, and when I eventually get to building plans of the post-war period, it will be interesting to make a comparison of the two sets of data. All of those fully rebuilt or showing vacant plots could be plotted on a map to show a more detailed picture of the significant areas of damage caused by enemy action in Wanstead. For example, 54 Hermon Hill is extremely close to houses destroyed in Sylvan Road (36–38 and 23–25) and almost certainly due to the same incident.

But there was some building carried out in this period – two canteens (presumably for workers in the underground tunnels) for Plessey’s were built around 1940 – one in the car park of The George, the other in Highstone Avenue. A building on the High Street shown on post-war maps just north of Clockhouse Parade is revealed in the survey to be a British Restaurant (communal kitchens set up by the Ministry of Food).

Next month’s article will look at what the survey can tell us about post-war building developments.

The leader of the Wanstead and Woodford Rock Choir will take part in a 24-hour fundraising event tomorrow (19 May) in aid of Mental Health Awareness Week.

Rock Choir, which has 32,000 members nationally, will host #RockChoir24, a non-stop event via their Facebook page from 11am on Tuesday 19 May to 11am the following day.

Throughout the day and night, the Rock Choir team will host an energetic schedule of dynamic singing sessions, themed musical events, songs from the decades and social musical events as well as sessions aimed at teenagers and younger children. There will be something for everyone to enjoy. A virtual music Rock Choir festival, which can be experienced from the comfort of everyone’s own home,” said a spokesperson.

Nicola Cain, who looks after the choirs in Woodford and Wanstead, Ealing, Hampstead and Marylebone, will be leading some of the live sessions in the fundraiser.

The event is aimed at the general public and not just Rock Choir members. Donations can be made via the Facebook donate option on Rock Choir’s Facebook page as well as a text option, which can be made by texting SING5 to donate £5 or SING10 to donate £10 to 70500.

Rising at Molehill Green in Essex, the River Roding passes through the Wanstead and Woodford area en route to the Thames, bringing with it a very real flood risk to local homes. In the ninth of a series of articles, Laura Hepworth from the Environment Agency reports on the River Roding Project, which aims to reduce that risk

The River Roding has a long history of flooding causing devastating and widespread impacts to north-east London. With the impact of climate change, flooding is predicted to happen more frequently unless we act now. This project will reduce flooding to over 2,000 homes by 2080 and improve the resilience of businesses and infrastructure to flooding incidents in the Woodford and Ilford area.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are continuing to deliver our flood risk management projects where it is safe for our teams and delivery partners to do so. The safety of our staff, partners and the communities we work in remains a priority for us. This includes undergoing critical activities to operate, maintain and develop key flood assets and respond during flooding events. In these difficult times, we will ensure that any work done will be within Public Health England’s guidelines.

A great way to prepare for flooding is to create a personal flood plan, allowing you to have useful information ready to use in an emergency. This includes taking measures such as:

• Preparing a bag of essential items to take with you if you have to leave your home, including medication, warm and waterproof clothing, phone chargers and important documents like passports, insurance documents and contact numbers. Keep this in a safe place!
• Creating a checklist of things to do to protect your family, such as turning off the electricity and gas to prevent a fire.
• Consider moving sentimental items upstairs.
• Check your building and contents insurance policy covers flooding.
• Look at the best way of stopping floodwater entering your property and how to use appropriate property protection products, such as flood barriers or air brick covers. A directory of these products is available from the National Flood Forum (bluepages.org.uk).
• Make sure you understand the flood warning codes.

You could also create a community flood plan to coordinate responses and to decide what practical action to take to support each other before, during and after a flood. Plans like these are great in helping the community get back on its feet after a flooding incident.

If your property is at risk, you can sign up to get free flood warnings by phone, email or text message. This is beneficial as you will have time to prepare in case of a flooding incident and be able to warn your neighbours to help better protect your local community.

We are always looking for local residents to be our eyes on the ground, checking and reporting on river levels and providing photographic evidence. If you are interested in getting involved, please get in touch.

Wanstead resident Andy Nutter had no hesitation in volunteering to help the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic

The creation of the NHS in the aftermath of the Second World War was a monumental achievement, and the NHS has grown to be our most treasured national asset.

Today, it employs over a million people and provides a vast range of services to all of us, sending us out healthy when we are young, mending our injuries and curing our illnesses. It is there for us at every stage of our lives.

The NHS now faces its most difficult challenge since its formation, so when the call went out at the end of March for volunteers to help, it was of little surprise that over 700,000 people signed up.

Living close to Whipps Cross Hospital, I wondered if there was an opportunity to help out at the hospital where my three children were born, and where we have been looked after for the last 25 years. A quick online search found their appeal for volunteers to help them deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

I completed an occupational health questionnaire, a DBS check and watched a series of training videos, answering some simple questions on each.

My start date arrived. Bring some ID. After four years of retirement, it felt like one of those long-forgotten first days at a new job. Exciting, with a few nerves thrown in to spice it up.

Myself and five other new volunteers were given a tour of the hospital and an explanation of the types of work we might be asked to do. The welcome was warm and friendly and we were immediately made to feel appreciated.

The aim is to use volunteers to do those tasks which take clinical staff away from providing care. Whether fetching medicine from the pharmacy, equipment from stores, moving documents around the hospital, taking food and drinks to staff, or even doing their personal shopping, we do anything that helps a medical professional to spend more of their time directly treating patients.

Our wellbeing is paramount to the hospital. Whipps, like all hospitals, are experts in keeping people as safe as possible, and I don’t feel any more likely to catch Covid-19 inside the hospital than in a supermarket. I may catch it. I expected to catch it anyway. But if you have anxieties about catching it, then volunteering in a hospital may not be for you.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my first week. The people are inspirational; the volunteers, the staff who lead and teach us, the staff we are supporting. They form one enormous team all pulling in the same direction and being supportive of each other at this difficult time.

Why don’t you come and join us?

Artists have always sought isolation to find their muse – but it is very different when isolation is thrust upon you! Woodford Arts Group was set up to keep local artists in touch, and that ethos continues in lockdown, says Julia Brett

A lot of artists have home studios or areas to work in, but some forms of artwork need to be done in professional workshops. Artists, like writers, try to have a schedule, a discipline, although by its very nature, the muse strikes when least expected. It doesn’t keep office hours.

Having recently moved more into printmaking, I regularly book studio time at a printmakers. This is because the techniques I’m using involve a lot of hazardous chemicals and acids. It also gives me access to a large press, but more than that, it also allows me to mix with a small community of other printmakers who share their techniques and enthusiasm. This is, of course, on hold for now. Luckily, I do have a smaller press at home which allows me to continue working. I work on copper and other metals.

The Mersea Oyster Shed shown here is a copper etching with aquatint and was completed before the restrictions were put in place, but I have managed to print a limited edition of prints at home.

Another method of printing, which can be done without a press, is called mono printing. For all those people stuck indoors, this is an easy way to get creative and stave off boredom. It’s something parents can do with children, from the very simple art of potato stamping, which many would remember from school, to the more sophisticated. There are lots of free YouTube videos that show this easy technique.

YouTube is also a great source of free art lessons. Plus, Facebook and Instagram are awash with artists offering free tuition at the moment.

The shutdown has affected many of us in different ways. Woodford Arts Group member Darren Evans had just opened his exhibition at Lopping Hall when it was cancelled. Our own travel-themed exhibition planned for the end of May will no doubt also be cancelled. But hopefully, we will put this exhibition on later in the year. This will take us out of Woodford to all corners of the globe and we have all been continuing with our art in its many forms. In the meantime, we will be putting on a virtual exhibition and will publish details of this nearer the time.

Fellow member John Rowlands is a metal sculptor and has recently finished a piece of work of rugby players in action. He is now working on a large commission in his garden. You can see John in his workshop on our podcast page on our website. These podcasts are a work of art in themselves as Cheryl Gabriel, who was a BBC producer-turned photographer, has used her considerable skills to ‘produce’ us!

Other members of Woodford Arts Group are also still working from home. David Varney continues to work on his resin pieces, which can also be seen on our podcast page.

Many members’ plans have been disrupted, and to quote Ged Rumak: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Ged planned lots of open-air painting at the coast but is now working from sketchbooks. Plein air sessions were something else we as a group planned to do more of this season, especially around Woodford, to get the community involved.

Alison Stenhouse has also been working on a coastal theme of the east coast, while Emma Liebskind has been making use of her garden, pondering natural forms and structures that represent home and places of safety.

All in all, we are keeping in touch and encouraging each other until we can get together again and get our Travellers’ Tales exhibition back on the road.

Residents with any dental concerns during lockdown are invited to contact local dentist Dr Amjad Malik for advice.

During this COVID-19 pandemic, dental practices have been closed by Public Health England, and many patients have been left unable to access dental care. But Dr Amjad Malik of Improve Your Smile is available to take calls and video calls (even if you are not a patient of the Woodford Green practice) if you have any issues with your teeth or need urgent dental advice.

“Many people have contacted us for a video consultation to discuss tooth whitening, teeth straightening, replacing old mercury fillings with white composite and many other concerns they have about their dental health. If you want to know about your options then please call me to arrange a video call from the comfort of your own home,” said Dr Malik.

Call Dr Amjad Malik on 07597 208 432

To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of VE Day on 8 May, a new online film exploring Ilford, Wanstead and Woodford during the Second World War has been released.

Researched, written and produced by Redbridge Museum staff, the film (watch below) looks at the outbreak of the war, evacuation of local children, the Home Front, the contribution of local industries, the damage caused to the local area by air raids, victory celebrations and the bittersweet aftermath of the war.

Victory in Europe – VE Day – was declared on 8 May 1945, a day after Germany surrendered. The Prime Minister (and local MP for Woodford) Winston Churchill gave his iconic BBC radio broadcast to the nation announcing the German surrender. The news of Victory in Europe sparked street parties all over Ilford, Wanstead and Woodford.

“In our current challenging times it is poignant to commemorate the hardships of the wartime generation who fought so bravely for the freedoms we take for granted today. Redbridge Museum hopes the film will provide a unique insight into how the war affected the borough and will be both a valuable educational resource and a fitting tribute to local residents. We hope you enjoy the film and will share with friends and family,” said Gareth Morley, Head of Culture & Libraries for Vision RCL which manages the museum.

“I hope you all enjoy Friday’s celebrations. Let’s take time to remember those who risked their lives to protect our freedom and pay our respects to our Armed Forces community, past and present, by sharing two minutes silence on our doorsteps at 11am,” added the Leader of Redbridge Council, Cllr Jas Athwal.

Redbridge Council’s recycling and green garden waste collections will resume this month.

Fortnightly green garden waste collections will start from Monday 11 May. Weekly household recycling collections will begin from Monday 18 May.

“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the council made the difficult decision to stop separate recycling and green garden waste collections at the end of March to concentrate on household rubbish. This is because there were not enough staff and drivers available to carry out all the collections safely, as many were self-isolating due to the government’s COVID-19 national guidance,” explained a spokesperon.

When the services restart, residents should leave their recycling out on their normal collection days (check your’s here) and can start separating their recycling once again in the black and blue boxes.

Chigwell Road Recycling and Reuse Centre will also reopen from 11 May, but with long queues expected, residents are urged not to make any unnecessary trips to the site.

“While Chigwell Road RRC is reopening, I would urge residents to not make any unnecessary trips to drop off rubbish, unless they absolutely have to. Our refuse crews will be collecting household rubbish, recycling and green garden waste, so please be patient and bear with us as we catch up. We may not be able to take all your green waste or recycling in one go. We will collect as much as we can and take what remains on your next scheduled collection date. You should only visit Chigwell Road RRC if you have waste that may be harmful to your household, such as dangerous DIY materials, or broken items that have sharp edges and could hurt your family or pets,” said the Leader of Redbridge Council, Councillor Jas Athwal.