Wanstead’s Christmas lights will be switched on this month.
“The Wanstead Christmas lights switch on will return in-person on Friday 19 November at 4.30pm. There will be traditional music from local schools and performers, the cast of the Kenneth More Theatre pantomime and hopefully our star local milkman from 4pm on George Green. We’ll look forward to seeing you there!” said the Wanstead Village councillors.
© European Union/Mallika PanoratThe recent end of UK operations in Afghanistan meant we all saw heart-breaking footage of families who had worked with the UK-backed government, women in positions of power, translators and interpreters, joining the scramble to board flights to safety. Many of us watching wondered how we might be able to directly assist families to start a new life in a place of safety.
The UK government recently released details of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, which will help to relocate some of these families to the UK. In part, the scheme will rely on local authorities to accommodate and resettle families, but the programme will also have a voluntary element. This means all of us in Wanstead and surrounding communities can help Afghan refugee families start a new life, through support and donations, but especially through Community Sponsorship. The scheme will work in the same way as that which helped a group of us to welcome a Syrian refugee family to Wanstead in early 2021.
Our Community Sponsorship journey began in 2019 when a group of volunteers were put in touch by local churches, formed Refugee Welcome Wanstead and applied to the Home Office to support a family for their first two years in the UK. The goal of the project is to support a family towards developing the skills and knowledge needed to live an independent life after their two years with us.
The application process involved fundraising, sourcing suitable accommodation and liaison with the council and other local service providers. We were then matched to a registered refugee family by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration, considering property size, additional needs, and existing links or language compatibility with the host country.
We are currently six months into working with our family, with support from the charity Reset UK, and they are progressing remarkably well. This scheme has helped hundreds of Syrian refugees in the UK, and similar schemes worldwide have enabled thousands of vulnerable refugees to flee the Syrian conflict.
It is clear that, in the coming months, the need for volunteers who can help to support a family fleeing the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan will be greater than ever. There are lots of ways you can help to welcome Afghan refugees to safety. If you would like to hear more about our experience working directly through the Community Sponsorship scheme, please get in touch.
To help welcome an Afghan refugee family, visit wnstd.com/reset
For more information about Refugee Welcome Wanstead, visit wnstd.com/welcome
It’s ironic that one of the UK’s favourite wild animals is also one of the most endangered – as the plight of the hedgehog is a direct result of, you guessed it, us!
As hedgerows have been ripped out in the countryside to make way for industrial farming, and greenery has been ripped out in the cities to make way for patios and cars, these charismatic little creatures have struggled to find a place to call home amongst us. Hedgehogs are classified as vulnerable to extinction on the Red List of British Mammals. Numbers have been dropping for many years now, and even in the past decade, we have lost over a half of rural hedgehogs and a third from towns and cities. This isn’t sustainable and means we could lose hedgehogs for good in the UK.
The decline in towns and cities seems to be slowing, but the situation in the countryside is a real concern. In Wanstead, there are still a few hedgehogs around, but the only known remaining stronghold is in the area around the City of London Cemetery. They are dying here because of factors like traffic, loss of habitat and use of garden pesticides.
One of the reasons hedgehogs have struggled with the modern way we manage our land is that they roam widely during the night in search of food – often by as much as two to four kilometres. This means they need access to space that’s well connected and easy to move around. Roads, fences and walls all create a direct barrier that blocks their ability to forage.
Hedgehogs are fascinating animals. If threatened with danger, they raise their 3,000 to 5,000 spines and curl up into a tight ball. Between November and March, when food is in short supply, hedgehogs hibernate in a nest in a hedgerow, compost heap, or under a thick layer of leaves or logs. Their body temperature drops and breathing almost stops. Hedgehogs are awake again and ready to breed in April. The female makes a nest of leaves and grass and has three to five babies. At first, the young are blind and pink, but soon sprout soft white spines. By four weeks old, they’re ready to go foraging with their mother, and in another 10 days, the offspring go their separate ways. If you’re interested in finding out more, Hedgehog Street is a great organisation trying to save our spikey friends that has lots of information on their website.
How to help
For more information on helping hedgehogs, visit hedgehogstreet.org
For more information about the 10 species under threat of extinction in Wanstead, visit wnstd.com/the10
The site for the new Wanstead Park play areaIn September, some handsome wooden direction signs appeared in Wanstead Park. Some of the signs point to a ‘Play Area’. This has many people bemused. Where is it? What play area?
The site is well hidden, set back from the path and hidden by trees behind the Temple, so as not to detract from the natural ambience and beauty of the Park, but accessible by the main path near the toilets.
A roughly spider-shaped pile of large logs has appeared in this secluded unused site, all cut from the forest’s fallen trees. This interesting climbing structure is the first of the play features to be installed in the new woodland playground.
There are lots of ideas that will be developed to create a natural play area, mainly using materials from Epping Forest. Play zones will cater for different age groups, from two to age 10. A new connecting path within the site will be wheelchair and buggy accessible, linking the play zones with picnic tables and a seating area.
The next phase, after finishing the log climbing structure, will be building a woodland trail. Around 40 large logs will be buried in the ground to make the steps, with a log wobble beam for balancing, monkey bars, balance ropes and the like, all sourced in-house – or in-Forest – to make an exciting trail through the woods between the yew and the oak tree.
As well as the nature trail and the large tree trunk climbing structure, there will be a trip-trap bridge and balance rails over a small pit, which will be guarded by a chainsaw-carved troll, large rocks to climb on, and a woodland train for the little ones to drive, all in a tranquil woodland setting. More play structures will follow as funding allows.
We love Wanstead Park, and by creating a natural play area, we can make it an even better place for local families to enjoy together. To make the play area a reality, we need voluntary donations, starting with a crowdfunding campaign which will launch early next year (minimum pledge just £2). The total cost of the project has been calculated as £45,565 and Redbridge Council will provide match-funding if we raise at least £11,391.
The proposal is supported by the City of London, who own and manage Wanstead Park and who are contributing materials and installation of natural play features.
A link to donate to the campaign is expected to go live in the new year.
The PTA at Nightingale Primary School threw open their gates on Halloween and invited children across the area to a spooky pumpkin walk.
Parents at the school created an immersive experience. Children dressed up and helped Wanda the forgetful Witch remember her spells and picked their favourite pumpkin.
“We were over the moon that hundreds of children came and joined in the fun, and thanks to The Stow Brothers’ support, we were able to offer the event for free,” said a PTA spokesperson.
An update from the Tin in a Bin network: “We’re still supporting Redbridge Foodbank, but as they’re short on storage space, we tend only to supply things they ask us for.”
“We also support another nine organisations. We have a partnership with Forest School, who run Foodbank Fridays, and we’ve received donations from Wanstead Church School as well. Plus, we continue to have great support via our 60 or so collection points. And all from a very simple idea started by Julie Harvey,” said James Paterson.
The Tin in a Bin network is based at St Mary’s Church, Wanstead, where donations can be made on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
Visit wnstd.com/tinabsites
Wanstead-based knitting group Social Knitworks has created a new range of woolly poppies.
“All poppies cost £4 each and are available from Heads N Tails (21 High Street, Wanstead), or you can buy direct from me. All of the purchase price will be donated to the Royal British Legion. We also have blue poppies, with proceeds from those donated to an animal charity to help honour animals who gave their lives helping protect people in the UK,” said Liz Hickson.
Email lizzieofizzie@gmail.com
Wanstead Players’ 2016 production of Blithe SpiritWanstead Players is reputed to be the oldest amateur drama group in east London and Essex. After successfully performing at the Kenneth More Theatre in Ilford for 43 years, the company is moving to a new venue at the Redbridge Drama Centre in South Woodford. We have marked this revitalising new venture by rebranding ourselves as WP Drama (not having been based in Wanstead for some time).
Wanstead Players has always been noted for producing high-quality, wide-ranging tragedies, comedies, dramas and musicals by such authors as Wilde, Dickens, Ibsen, Priestley, Shaw, Godber, Shakespeare and Coward. Members of the company have even written their own plays.
Our company includes members from teenagers to senior citizens, many of whom not only act but also provide backstage expertise, and we constantly welcome new members. Some of the company have been encouraged to tread more exalted boards, including Louise Jameson, Tony Robinson, Don Henderson and Ricky Groves, who started his career as Gary in Eastenders. We are now hoping that relocating to a new venue will provide an opportunity not only to broaden our audience but to attract new talent to join us as actors, directors, technical managers and crew.
Loot by Joe Orton was intended to be performed back in March 2020, but with two weeks to go, COVID intervened and we were locked down and out. Instead of giving up, it was merely moved to the back burner, and we are very happy to announce that it will now be our first show as WP Drama in our lovely new venue, a fresh start all round.
During COVID lockdown, members kept in touch by ‘cinema evenings’ organised by the director of Loot, Brian Seaton. People met in the virtual Zoom bar before the show to catch up. YouTube then provided the platform for a screening of a past Wanstead Players production; audiences reconvened in the Zoom bar afterwards to share happy memories or relive disasters. There are always a few of those!
Loot is a black, outrageous and anarchic comedy satirising the mismatch between the way society dictates people should behave in religious and secular situations, and the reality. It takes a shot at the Church, attitudes to death and bereavement and the corruption of the police force. Premiered in 1965, it reflects some of the attitudes of the day which are less acceptable to current audiences, but its themes remain relevant and topical.
We are delighted by the welcome we have received from Redbridge Drama Centre and look forward to exciting times.
WP Drama will perform Loot at Redbridge Drama Centre from Thursday 18 to Saturday 20 November (tickets: £13). Call 020 8708 8803 or visit wpdrama.co.uk
Wanstead Park users will have been drawn to the elegant new fingerpost signs dotted strategically around the entrances and grounds. These are the culmination of a £4.1k project, with the funding obtained by the Friends of Wanstead Parklands (FWP) and installed by Epping Forest.
The FWP stall at the Wanstead Festival highlighted the other recent voluntary and financial contributions made by the Friends: £10k funding for work on the Grotto; £900 towards new entrance noticeboards; and the organisation of 40 marvellous volunteers to oversee the stewardship of the much-loved longhorn cattle over the summer.
In my June article for the Wanstead Village Directory, I referred to the evolving funding model for the Park, and the developing need for the Friends to collaborate more closely in fundraising with Epping Forest, whose responsibility it is to manage the Park.
It is not universally recognised that Epping Forest is itself a registered charity. During 2020/21, its income streams have decreased due to the impact of Covid, and as a consequence, new ways of raising cash have had to be identified.
One of these is the pay and display parking policy introduced to parts of the Forest earlier in the year, and to the Park’s Warren Road car park anytime soon. This step change in strategy has infuriated regular Forest users, but it is a done deal and although opposed, was steamrollered through by the Epping Forest Commons Committee.
Organisations such as the Friends face a difficult choice in positioning their relationship with the City: opposition or pragmatism?
For now, outside of the core Park maintenance, which Epping Forest provides, projects are increasingly subject to funding applications and work partnerships with third parties. Since the Friends successful joint initiative with the Heritage of London Trust, both the FWP and Epping Forest have turned to funding bids from disparate sources. Earlier this year, Epping Forest made a significant £600k bid to the Green Recovery Challenge Fund for monies to carry out wetlands restoration, pumphouse replacement and land drainage. The bid was ultimately unsuccessful but indicated the direction of travel.
More recently, a project initiated by the Roding, Beam and Ingrebourne Catchment Partnership, working with the City of London, has been funded by Essex and Suffolk Water: The Thames 21 Project. Its objective is to provide water environment improvements for the benefit of wildlife and biodiversity along the River Roding at Wanstead Park. The work is targeted to be carried out between now and January.
The planned natural play area in the Park to which the Friends have committed £2k will be subject to a funding bid to the City of London Central Grant Programme for essential cash.
Other funds also exist to support green initiatives. So, at the next Friends committee meeting, we will be focusing on developing a funding strategy for 2022.
Membership income and successful fund applications will be increasingly important to the FWP as we seek to improve the Park for all.
This is now what we need to do!
For more information and to become a member of the Friends of Wanstead Parklands (individual: £10 per year; household: £15 per year; lifetime: £90), visit wnstd.com/joinfwp
Wanstead resident Paul Canal is seeking to help children understand refugees by circulating a book among the community.
“I have bought eight copies of the children’s book My Name is Not Refugee by Kate Milner to lend to local families. I am hoping people will read it and pass it on to a new family, and so on. It may help our children understand, in a positive way, why they have a new friend in class from a different country,” said Paul, who suggests a donation to the Tin in a Bin network for each loan.
A monthly antique and craft fair has resumed its events in Wanstead.
“I was overwhelmed by the huge footfall we had at our opening fair at the end of September. The people of Wanstead have really missed our shopping experience, with two halls full of vintage and retro artefacts. I think we will be going from strength to strength in future months,” said Rita Adams, organiser of Pandora’s Antiques and Collectibles Fair.
The next event will take place on 27 November at Christ Church hall (9am to 4pm; entry: £1).
Call 07980 987 367