April 2021

Diana Varakina, Co-op Member Pioneer for Wanstead and South Woodford, reports on the supermarket’s latest Local Community Fund awards and encourages applications for the new round

I want to thank everyone in this wonderful community where so many of you (too many names to mention) donated your knowledge, time, skills and resources over the last 14 months to benefit us all. It’s a difficult time for all of us and it is such an inspiring neighbourhood to live in. I am forever grateful I ended up living here by accident. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Today, I would like to bring to your attention the Local Community Fund initiative that Co-op has been running for a number of years now. Wanstead Parish is one of the beneficiaries of the fund’s Round 6, along with Snaresbrook Primary School. The first payout was at the beginning of April, and Snaresbrook Primary School was awarded £1,298 and Wanstead Parish £1,588.

Wanstead Parish will use the funds to support their outreach programmes. It is the second year of funding for the Snaresbrook Primary School PTA, and the money will be used to improve the fitness and well-being of children by laying protective surfaces on their new multi-use games area, as well as buying new equipment for nursery and reception classes.

Projects across the UK that Co-op members are passionate about are supported by the Co-op Local Community Fund. Every time a member buys selected Co-op branded products and services, two pence of every pound spent is returned as cashback, and we give the same to support community organisations and local causes. You do need to be a Co-op member to support your preferred cause. If you have a blue Co-op card, you should already be a member, but will need to register to be able to select your local cause.

Applications for the new Round 7 funding opens on 4 May. To be accepted, you must have a project in mind that will benefit your local community. Many applications are from charities or local community groups, but as long as your organisation isn’t run for private profit, you can apply. Your project should fit one of the following categories:

Fairer access to food.

Fairer access to mental well-being services.

Fairer access to education and employment for young people.

Once accepted, you will need to encourage Co-op members to select your cause by promoting your project on social media and in your community.

Shortlisting usually happens in September or October, and the first payout will be in April 2022, so any project should be able to support itself until then. Good luck, everyone!

For more information on the Co-op Local Community Fund, visit wnstd.com/coop or email diana.varakina@coop.co.uk

A volunteer who helps to look after Wanstead Park’s swans has published a love story about a pair in Hampstead.

”There’s Something About Wallace follows the lockdown romance of Mrs Newbie and Wallace. The couple met at The Swan Sanctuary last year and, after rejecting suitors for years, something about Wallace caught Mrs Newbie’s eye! Our book follows the highs and lows of 2020, including the arrival of seven cygnets,” said Louisa Green, who created the book with illustrator and author Dee McLean.

Copies are £12.50, which includes postage, and 50% from each sale will go directly to The Swan Sanctuary. Email lgreen2891@gmail.com to order.

A series of painted stones have started to be found in Wanstead Park again.

“We started decorating and hiding stones here three years ago. I first saw painted stones in Broadstairs and thought it was a great idea. The thrill of the hunt! We used to hide some each week until the pandemic took over, and have just recently restarted,” said Christine Howett.

Once found, the stones can be kept or rehidden, and finders are encouraged to post a photo on the Wanstead Park Tea Hut Facebook group.

Visit wnstd.com/teahut

The Redbridge For Education campaign to ensure all local schoolchildren have a device for remote learning has been going from strength to strength.

“Thanks to kind donations from our community, we have been able to provide equipment to more than 10 schools in the borough. One local charity, Stemettes – which promotes science, technology, engineering and maths to girls – donated 50 laptops… But there is still much work to do,” said Wanstead resident Vicky Taylor.

Visit wnstd.com/Red4Ed

Pupils from Nightingale Primary School have raised £2,200 for the PTA’s Covid Response Fund by taking part in a team ‘marafun’ challenge.

“Over the course of two weekends, each class worked as a team to complete a marathon between them. Armed with their personal trackers, they walked, hopped and skipped their way around Redbridge,” said a PTA spokesperson.

Together the children covered 842km, with the money raised paying for vouchers for school families hit hard by the pandemic.

The event was sponsored by local business North London Loft Rooms

Thomas Clarke is the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Havering & Redbridge constituency in this month’s London Assembly election. Here’s why he thinks he deserves your vote on 6 May

Wanstead was one of the first places I visited when lockdown restrictions were lifted – it is one of those fantastic places in London that has a buzzing High Street and stunning natural habitat. I am very passionate about green spaces, being chairman of the Essex Cricket League where Wanstead and Snaresbrook Cricket Club play – and have had great success. I look forward to meeting their members in our fixtures this summer.

I am proud to be standing as the Liberal Democrat GLA candidate for Havering and Redbridge. It is an area I have lived in for almost my entire life, and I want to be able to give the residents of the boroughs a different and viable option to that of the two tired traditional parties. I am a father to two young children and I want them to be able to enjoy a safe, healthy and successful life. Here are three ways I would commit to help that happen.

1. Help reinvent our high streets so they are once more a viable place for businesses to flourish. A part of this would be to fight for small business COVID compensation and also the ability for these businesses to unlock more apprenticeships.
2. I would help the Liberal Democrats put a stop to the current mayor’s polluting projects and invest in essential green infrastructure that will make the air we all breathe cleaner. The Lib Dems would stop the expansion of City Airport and the Silvertown Tunnel and spend instead on walking, cycling and green public transport.
3. I read in the Wanstead Village Directory recently about the 10 species at risk of extinction in Wanstead – it is a huge shame these vital parts of the ecosystem could be lost. One policy that could help halt this loss is an idea from Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Luisa Porritt, who has called on London to follow in the footsteps of Chicago and Copenhagen and commit to ‘green every roof’ in the capital. The policy would see buildings in the capital covered in vegetation and solar panels, leading to lower energy bills, creating a new city landscape and vital habitat for wildlife.

During lockdown, we all took more interest in and, for many, used our green public spaces a lot more than we had done before. For those residents without gardens these areas were places to go for exercise and to de-stress from the nightmare of juggling work and home schooling. I am passionate about protecting these areas in Redbridge and Havering while also allowing the businesses that neighbour them to thrive in a post-COVID world.

Havering & Redbridge constituency candidates for the London Assembly are: Thomas Clarke (Liberal Democrats), Melanie Collins (Green), Judith Garfield (Labour), Keith Prince (Conservative), Richard Tice (Reform UK) and Andy Walker (Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition). For more information, visit wnstd.com/LA

Melanie Collins is the Green Party candidate for the Havering & Redbridge constituency in this month’s London Assembly election. Here’s why she thinks she deserves your vote on 6 May

I am a community campaigner based in Havering. I volunteer for a health charity and local nature reserve, support local businesses, locally sourced and Fairtrade produce and advocate for environmental and animal welfare organisations. 

I entered Green politics in 2001, and was the Green Party’s General Election candidate for Hornchurch and Upminster in 2005, 2010 and 2015. I maintain a year-round community presence, helping residents with health, education, transport, waste and planning issues.

The Green Party has a wonderful record at these elections. Greens on the London Assembly have already made a difference at City Hall. With commitment and hands-on experience, they’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness, cut carbon emissions, combat dirty air and get a climate emergency declared in London. Green Assembly members have won respect across the political spectrum.

As the Covid-19 threat recedes, people will need to get out of their cars and back onto public transport. Most commuters depend on trains and buses to get around, but fares are not fair for everyone. Greens would work towards a single travel zone, so commuting between the City and outer London is less expensive, similar to New York and Paris.

Affordable housing and green jobs are also high on my agenda. I believe comprehensive insulation, solar panels and ground-source heat pumps should be part and parcel of new construction, with all new builds on reclaimed development, not Green Belt land. Of particular concern is protection of our Green Belt agriculture, horticulture and allotments, parks, playing fields and nature reserves.

The planting of bulbs and seeds in the fourth Grow Zone on Christchurch Green was a lovely community project. The seeding of tree pits with wild flowers, especially native species, would improve overall biodiversity, as well as helping pollinators like bees, butterflies and hoverflies. These hard-working little beasties are declining at an alarming rate due to habitat loss and human activities. Christchurch Green is a much-loved park, but the possible installation of a licensed cafe here risks undoing some of the benefits. Part of the success of Wanstead High Street is its proximity to the Green. Introducing a licensed cafe would create unwelcome competition, and the sale of alcohol is likely to change the nature of this much-valued green space. Why not work with the owners of a purpose-built establishment that’s already here rather than decrease the amount of green space in a conservation area on Christchurch Green?

Havering & Redbridge constituency candidates for the London Assembly are: Thomas Clarke (Liberal Democrats), Melanie Collins (Green), Judith Garfield (Labour), Keith Prince (Conservative), Richard Tice (Reform UK) and Andy Walker (Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition). For more information, visit wnstd.com/LA

Keith Prince is the Conservative Party candidate for the Havering & Redbridge constituency in this month’s London Assembly election. Here’s why he thinks he deserves your vote on 6 May

I am once again asking you to elect me as your Assembly Member for Havering & Redbridge. I believe I am the only candidate who can legitimately claim to have a close affinity with both boroughs. I was born and raised in Havering and brought my family up in Redbridge. I am, therefore, truly local to the whole constituency, naturally feeling a deep attachment to the area I live.

I served in both boroughs as a councillor, firstly in Havering and then for Redbridge Council, ultimately serving as council leader. I established the East London Rape Crisis Centre and delivered five years of zero Council Tax increases. Since then, Redbridge Labour and the mayor have delivered year-on-year Council Tax increases. Here are just some of my other achievements:

• Supported Redbridge residents to reverse Labour’s Low Traffic Neighbourhoods fiasco.
• Successfully lobbied the mayor to reverse Labour’s decision to build on Brocket Way Park in Hainault.
• Promoted an enquiry into excessive bus driver Covid deaths.
• Secured over 100 free accommodation units and grants for rough sleepers.

Wanstead has been the forgotten corner of Redbridge for too long! As council leader, I delivered a temporary pool for Wanstead and worked with residents to keep High Street parking free. Under Labour, all this has gone – they focus on the south of the borough.

The Mayor of London is determined to damage Wanstead with the Low Emission Zone for commercial vehicles now extending out to the M25. The next threat to Wanstead is the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), to be extended to the A406 in October. If your car doesn’t meet the standard, you will have to pay £12.50 a day. He is also planning a boundary tax! Any vehicle outside London will have to pay up to £5.50 to enter. It will devastate the outer London economy! He is a Zone 1 mayor and does not understand outer London.

I and Shaun Bailey (Conservative Party mayoral candidate) pledge to cancel the ULEZ expansion and boundary tax, deliver Crossrail, increase local bus services, provide more affordable housing, provide more local police bases and keep taxes low. I will fight to ensure the west of the borough gets a fairer share of investment from Redbridge Council and the Greater London Authority.

Havering & Redbridge constituency candidates for the London Assembly are: Thomas Clarke (Liberal Democrats), Melanie Collins (Green), Judith Garfield (Labour), Keith Prince (Conservative), Richard Tice (Reform UK) and Andy Walker (Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition). For more information, visit wnstd.com/LA

Andy Walker is the Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition candidate for the Havering & Redbridge constituency in this month’s London Assembly election. Here’s why he thinks he deserves your vote on 6 May

Some readers may question the need for another left-wing party. The move by Labour to focus on the soft Conservative vote to win the next election leaves space for a party to seek votes for workers, tenants and students. My expectation is the Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition will be the party to offer the best policies for these groups at the next General Election.

UKIP and the Greens have shown that parties do not need to win General Elections to influence policy, setting an example for the Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition to follow.

Stopping over-development and the campaign for a new wing at King George Hospital are the priorities for my campaign. The high-rise towers planned for Goodmayes and Seven Kings at the Tesco and Homebase car park sites will adversely impact on residents’ health due to traffic pollution and Crossrail noise pollution. They will also damage the quality of life for existing residents due to the extra pollution and the over-stretching of public services.

If elected, I will speak at Redbridge and Havering Town Halls on a monthly basis to provide a report of what I have been doing and take questions from the public and councillors. My reports will include health, crime, housing, education and the climate emergency.

Drilling down into data needs to be done to influence policy. For example, King George and Queen’s Hospitals had the worst Type 1 (the most seriously ill patients) A&E four-hour performance in England in January and February of this year. Research suggests long waits in A&E are linked to longer-than-average stays in hospital.

For years, I have been seeking death rates at King George and Queen’s via freedom of information requests (wnstd.com/walkerfoi). The information I seek is for the period 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020. I seek a breakdown of summary hospital-level mortality indicators, the number of patients discharged who died in hospital or within 30 days, the number of mortalities occurring in the hospital and the crude mortality rate. I seek the six diagnostic groups for each month. The refusal to supply these death stats is a cause of concern.

Every vote I get will bring pressure to bear on the NHS to provide these crucial statistics, which are likely to help the campaign for a new wing at King George.

Havering & Redbridge constituency candidates for the London Assembly are: Thomas Clarke (Liberal Democrats), Melanie Collins (Green), Judith Garfield (Labour), Keith Prince (Conservative), Richard Tice (Reform UK) and Andy Walker (Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition). For more information, visit wnstd.com/LA

Richard Tice is the Reform UK candidate for the Havering & Redbridge constituency in this month’s London Assembly election. Here’s why he thinks he deserves your vote on 6 May

No nonsense, woke-free, can-do attitude. That is my approach to how we can improve the way our beloved London is run. I am a confident leader who took over the helm of Reform UK earlier this year. As an Assembly member elected for the Havering and Redbridge constituency, you would find me keen to help, keen to make things happen, keen to make a difference.

You may know me as a committed Brexiteer. We need to make use of the numerous advantages of Brexit and its real potential for the UK and for London. The successful vaccination programme is the clearest example of the benefit of Brexit, as we had the independence and freedom, without pressure from Brussels, to make our own rapid decisions on buying and manufacturing vaccines. It shows how Britain can use its power as a strong sovereign nation.

Reform UK has announced a range of policies, including the need to get London open and moving again. We want all our freedoms back and are totally against domestic vaccine passports, which are discriminatory and divisive. Never again should we lockdown; the collateral damage has been huge and massively underestimated.

Our low-tax, simple tax, high-growth economic vision would reinvigorate the economy across London, including Wanstead and Redbridge. Our UK-wide plan involves freeing up six million of the lowest-paid from paying any income tax, freeing up over a million SMEs from paying corporation tax and abolishing numerous stifling taxes. Lower taxes, simpler taxes create higher growth, meaning better wages and more tax revenues to invest in healthcare and other services.

Our other plans for London include a bold, clear solution to end the cladding scandal once and for all, ensuring no leaseholder pays for historic fire defects. In addition, we will ensure Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are not forced on people like they were in Redbridge last year. We will campaign for more bobbies on the beat, not watching tweets. Lastly, Reform UK oppose the expansion of the ULEZ zone in October. This extension will be very bad for Wanstead and many other areas. This will be detrimental to all small businesses and the self-employed. Many will be forced to pay £20,000-plus for a new vehicle to fit the new criteria. Now is not the time to be making life harder for those people who have been hit the hardest since the start of the pandemic.

A vote for me and Reform UK is a vote to reopen London, and to rebuild London’s economy together. Let’s make this happen.

Havering & Redbridge constituency candidates for the London Assembly are: Thomas Clarke (Liberal Democrats), Melanie Collins (Green), Judith Garfield (Labour), Keith Prince (Conservative), Richard Tice (Reform UK) and Andy Walker (Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition). For more information, visit wnstd.com/LA

Judith Garfield MBE is the Labour Party candidate for the Havering & Redbridge constituency in this month’s London Assembly election. Here’s why she thinks she deserves your vote on 6 May

As a Wanstead woman, I want to inspire and encourage the next generation of women to feel confident, safe and enthused about entering public life. This is my story, just one woman’s journey into politics.

I am not sure if it was a single incident or the world around me that sparked my interest in politics. What I do remember is that it started at a young age. I came from a family where we were encouraged to appreciate the world around us, understand our role in it, and work towards making it a better place. It started when I was around 10, hearing talks about nuclear weapons. As a child, believing the world could be destroyed at any moment was scary. It dawned on me there were people around who judged others for their race, gender, faith, the way they talked, and a host of other physical and social characteristics.

Becoming a single mother also changed my outlook on life. It made me even more determined to make sure the world was a fairer place. Back then, if you wanted to stand for council as a woman, you had to pay up-front for childcare and then claim it back. Despite a lot of changes in the workplace for women, local politics in the late 1990s and early 2000s was still very much the fiefdom of men. I was first elected as a councillor in Newham and served for a decade. I was so proud to lead the first campaign in the borough for a new women’s GP centre and to chair a local Sure Start programme.

I found another outlet through my work with charities. As executive director at Eastside Community Heritage for 20 years, I have fought to get the voices of local residents and workers heard. Running a project that allows people a space to speak their truth has both enthused and allowed me to engage with a wide range of different views.

During COVID I have supported the Small Charities Coalition to help their members find ways to deliver and cope at this difficult time. I believe in being practical, which is why I am proud to help, support and fundraise for organisations like Havering BAME Forum and Redbridge Foodbank. I am also a trustee of Redbridge Rainbow Community. As an ally to the LGBT+ community, I want to play my part in addressing inequality and injustice.

I am delighted to be serving as a councillor for Barkingside. I want to make a difference for my neighbours and future generations, which is why I am prioritising the environment. I want to see a greener, cleaner, safer and sustainable borough. This is what motivated me to stand for the Greater London Authority.

Havering & Redbridge constituency candidates for the London Assembly are: Thomas Clarke (Liberal Democrats), Melanie Collins (Green), Judith Garfield (Labour), Keith Prince (Conservative), Richard Tice (Reform UK) and Andy Walker (Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition). For more information, visit wnstd.com/LA

Redbridge Council is seeking community input on how to improve high streets across the borough.

“We want to hear your views about cost-effective, high-impact changes that will create welcoming, safe and attractive high streets, improving the shopping experience for all… We are keen to work with you to improve our high streets and will consider all the responses we receive,” said a spokesperson.

Visit wnstd.com/highst