December 2021

Wanstead’s Big Issue vendor, Monica, who recently received indefinite leave to remain in the UK, can now accept contactless card payments.

“This is great news. Monica is so kind, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who is often prevented from buying from her due to a perpetual lack of cash! There’s also a facility to add a tip,” said local resident Amy Schwarz.

More than a third of all the magazine’s vendors now accept card payments, and statistics show those who do so earn an average of 30% more.

Lorna Paterson, the organiser of the Wanstead British Sign Language (BSL) Project, is encouraging residents to urge their MP to vote for the British Sign Language Act on 28 January

Eleven million people watched deaf EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis win Strictly Come Dancing 2021, in spite of not being able to hear the music. Her triumph proves that with the right support, deaf people can do anything. One way hearing people can help the deaf community to achieve their ambitions is by learning conversational British Sign Language. That’s why I started the Wanstead BSL project.

The objective of our project is to make awareness of basic BSL signs a feature of the Wanstead community. I am a teacher with a BSL Level Two qualification who has lived in this area for 40 years. In March 2020, the onset of COVID-19 meant people began to wear masks in shops and cafés. This was a disaster for the hearing impaired, because lip-reading became impossible. An article in the Wanstead Village Directory produced a positive response, but before long we had to stop meeting in person because of the pandemic. Unfortunately our online sessions were not accessible to everyone in the group, but a few of us were able to cover several topics: finger-spelling, weather, family, numbers, time.

Proposals for a British Sign Language Act, submitted by Labour MP Rosie Cooper, will be discussed in the House of Commons on 28 January. If passed, this bill would give legal recognition to BSL as a minority language. It would also allow for wider use of BSL in the public sector. Please spread the word and encourage your friends to ask their MPs to support the bill. The email address of our local MP, John Cryer, is john.cryer.mp@parliament.uk

Would you like to learn some conversational BSL when Omicron permits? There will be no charge, because this is a community initiative. Email patersonloarn@gmail.com

Santa toured the streets of Wanstead last week and raised over £800 for The Corner House Project.

“Chauffeured by local legend, Elf Steve in his festive Parker Dairies milk float, Santa (Dennis Weeks, from North London Loft Rooms) waved to delighted onlooking children. Elves from Wanstead Church School, Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School and Nightingale Primary School came together to support this community event,” said organiser Amy Moore from Wanstead Church School PTA.

Visit wnstd.com/tchp

A planning application to build five flats on a strip of land between Draycot Road and Seagry Road, adjacent to the A12, was refused last week.

“This small patch is home to many mature roses, shrubs and wild flowers and is therefore an important spot for biodiversity, so Redbridge Council were right to stop this development. As more and more of us pave our front gardens or put down artificial grass, small patches of land like this are a crucial safety net for nature,” said Vanya Marks from Wanstead Climate Action.

A burglary prevention webinar hosted by Redbridge Council is available to watch on YouTube.

The event, which was held on 18 November, features a series of crime prevention tips, with a foreword by Cabinet Member for Crime, Safety and Community Cohesion, Councillor Khayer Chowdhury.

Detective Inspector Louise Giles also offers an insight into burglary statistics and explains how to ensure your home isn’t vulnerable.

Visit wnstd.com/bpw

The Wren Wildlife Group, London Wildlife Trust and Wild Wanstead have compiled a list of 10 species at risk of local extinction. In the last of a series of articles looking at each species in turn, Susie Knox explains why she’s bats about pipistrelles

Pipistrelles are small bats with brown fur and a black face and wings. Their wingspan is about 20cm and they weigh no more than a pound coin. Pipistrelles roost (spend the day) hidden out of sight, singly or in small groups, in crevices in buildings, tree holes and bat boxes. They emerge to feed around 20 minutes after sunset, dining on flies, midges and mosquitoes.

Pipistrelles fly in a fast, jerky way, two to 10 metres above the ground as they pursue small insects, which they catch and eat on the wing. A single bat can consume up to 3,000 insects in one night.

There are two different species of pipistrelle bat in Wanstead: the common pipistrelle and the soprano pipistrelle. Common pipistrelle bats have a slightly lower-pitched voice than their soprano cousins.

Common pipistrelles normally breed in autumn and winter, but will not give birth until the following summer. Males establish courtship territories, which they patrol while emitting high-pitched calls to attract the attention of females. When ready to give birth, females gather in large maternity roosts. Typically, they have one baby (pup), which is fed on its mum’s milk for the first few weeks. The young bats can fly at around three weeks old and by six weeks they are fully independent.

The best time to spot pipistrelles is April to September. They hibernate between December and March, finding a crevice in a building where it’s warm and sheltered.

Pipistrelles are the most common and widespread bats in Britain, but like other species, they’re coming under pressure as land is developed and the wooded areas, ponds and open green spaces they rely on for hunting shrink. It’s unclear how their numbers are holding up. We know from scientific evidence and the absence of bugs on our car windscreens that there have been very significant declines in flying insects, their food source. Another potential threat is the loss of roosting sites due to modern construction and insulation methods reducing the gaps and crevices where bats can shelter.

The Wanstead area is blessed with several lakes surrounded by woodland – ideal places for pipistrelles to hunt at night. Hollow Pond on Leyton Flats and Perch Pond in Wanstead Park are both very good, but there is evidence that numbers there have declined in the last few years.

How to help

• More trees! They’re really important for common pipistrelles. Trees provide cover as bats emerge from their roosts and they often follow treelines to help navigate when out hunting. Plant new trees at the back of your garden and nurture any mature trees you’ve got – they have nooks and crannies where bats can roost.
• Make your garden an oasis for flying insects. Fill it with dense foliage and pollinator-friendly plants like aubretia, jasmine and Michaelmas daisies. Have a wild area with food plants for moths, such as honeysuckle, hawthorn, ivy and sweet rocket.
• Install a wildlife pond and create a long grass area.
• Reduce light pollution by ditching unnecessary night lights in your garden – it disorientates bats and is thought to be contributing to the dramatic decline in insects.
• Put up bat boxes.
• Don’t use pesticides and lobby the council against their use.

For more information about the 10 species under threat of extinction in Wanstead, visit wnstd.com/the10

Wanstead teenager Grace Wolstenholme invites you to watch her YouTube channel for an insight into life with cerebral palsy. In the 11th of a series of articles, Grace brings us up to date with her latest modelling work

Hey everyone. I do apologise for not writing very regularly lately; it’s been so hectic with university and social media, which is like a full-time job, as I mentioned last time. So, whenever I have time off from university, I am working on my socials.

Even my tutors at university have to tell me to get off the socials because I aim to go live at least once a day. I try to go live in many different situations to show my followers what I do in my day-to-day life. I go live on my break with my mates and we just talk or go around the university to show what goes on at a drama university, or I try to go live in lessons to show what I do and how I actually do the lessons with cerebral palsy, but then the teachers notice I’m talking to my phone, filming myself, which isn’t too good! Although it does depend on the teacher. Some are calm about it. Some tell me to “get off your bloody TikTok, talking to a thousand people when you’re in the lessons!” The teachers do let me film the classes for vlogs. Well, I say they ‘let’ me; they probably just don’t see my phone filming!

I have been working on a secret project for about the past eight months with quite a big, well-known special needs company called Leckey. Leckey is a special needs equipment company from which I’ve been getting all my equipment for my whole life, from standing frames (a standing frame is something you’re strapped to that helps you stand and it stretches your muscles because people with cerebral palsy get really tight muscles; the standing frame helps keep your muscles as flexible as possible) to walking frames.

Most people will probably think of a walking frame that elderly people have, but the Leckey walkers are a bit different. They’re actually similar to the standing frame in that you are strapped in and it holds you up so you can try to walk.

Now for my favourite. Leckey also make supportive seating for people to use indoors instead of their wheelchairs, for a change of positioning. They have just brought out a new indoor chair called the BeMe (an ‘infinitely configurable seating system’), and I have been working with them for a while now testing the chair out for feeding and, of course, for doing my make-up in. I also modelled BeMe, which is on Leckey’s website (leckey.com).

So, that’s what I’ve been working on lately and why I’ve been so quiet here. I hope you enjoyed our catch-up and I hope to see you all soon.

To watch Grace’s videos about life with cerebral palsy, visit wnstd.com/grace

To follow Grace on TikTok, visit wnstd.com/gracetiktok

Three separate shopping fairs and a Christmas market will all take place in Wanstead on 18 December.

“This year, don’t feel pressured to travel on crowded transport to packed shopping centres on the last Saturday before Christmas. Instead, enjoy buying gifts closer to home,” said Donna Mizzi, organiser of the Flamingo Fair at Wanstead Library’s hall, which will be joined by Pandora’s Antiques fair at Christ Church hall, the Wanstead Vintage fair at United Reformed Church and a Christmas market on the High Street.

Iain Ambler was one of 15 plot holders who recently restored the Redbridge Lane West allotment pond, ensuring it remains a haven for wildlife all year round. Photo by Stephen Lines

The pond – situated in one corner of the Redbridge Lane West allotment site – was created over 20 years ago. It is as big as the back garden of an average terraced house, and so is perhaps one of the bigger wildlife ponds in the borough, apart from those in Wanstead Park and on Wanstead Flats or Hollow Pond.

Why did we act?
In recent years, the pond had been dry for long periods of time, probably negatively impacting wildlife. For example, our site previously had common newts, but these hadn’t been seen this year.

Over the summer, I heard of English Cricket Board research which suggested April and May had recently become the driest months of the English year – these are the critical breeding months for our native amphibia and insects. Ponds typically act as a magnet on any wildlife site – for example, they will attract insects, which in turn bring amphibia, bats and birds. So, we wanted to do something to continue our allotment’s tradition of doing its bit for urban wildlife. The site has a history of engagement with and encouragement for wildlife conservation with many plot holders taking part. And, of course, we wanted to restore the pond for the sheer joy of it! In conversation with one Wanstead resident, she said how in the past on an early summer’s evening, she walked along one of the roads adjacent to the allotment and enjoyed, as she put it, “the frog chorus.”

What did we do?
Over the summer months, we cleared the pond and surrounding area of scrub and re-landscaped and relined it with a butyl liner (so it should stay permanently wet). We then added many pond plants, including irises, water lilies, marsh marigolds and oxygenators. We also added natural refuges for wildlife (hibernacula), to allow wildlife to enter and exit from the pond under cover, safe from predators. Finally, we added plants to the raised bank around the pond and started to create mini wild flower meadows to attract pollinators and insects.

This has been a joint project with Simon Litt, Vision RCL’s allotments officer and his team, who contributed the pond liner and plants. Many Redbridge residents kindly contributed underlay for the pond liner following a social media request.

We’ve also had some great expert advice from, among others, Froglife (the UK nature charity for amphibia), Tim Harris from the Wren Wildlife Group, Susie Knox from Wild Wanstead and Enid Barrie from Essex Botany.

What will the benefits be?
We hope that by restoring the pond, we can attract and increase the number of insects, amphibia, birds, waterfowl and mammals that use the pond and site. In addition, we think the pond is a beautiful ‘jewel within a jewel’ on our site, and will inspire both plot holders and the wider community to connect with wildlife and nature.

For more information on allotments in Redbridge, visit wnstd.com/allotments

Fourteen-year-old Wanstead resident Layla Badowska reflects on her participation in the recent Miss Junior Teen GB pageant, and thanks her supportive family and local businesses

Miss Junior Teen GB was definitely one of the greatest experiences of my life and I can’t wait to share my journey with others! This pageant distinguishes itself from a traditional beauty pageant as it promotes a celebration of teenagers and their life achievements.

My initial application was sent in by my mum without me knowing, and the empowering journey of self-confidence evolved after!

I managed to raise quite a large amount of money for the charity Together for Short Lives during the Covid pandemic. I was also able to come forward with my own partial sponsorship with funds generated through my Instagram page offering beauty bundles (@laylas_beautybundle) and with cash saved up from tutoring. I was also sponsored by Mortgage Choice Services in South Woodford.

My family and I drove over 250 miles to Lancashire to the famous seaside town of Blackpool after I landed a spot in the grand final at The Globe Theatre. We stayed in the amazing Village Hotel resort.

I still feel the thrill of making it to the finals. It was an unforgettable and life-changing experience that helped me explore my inner beauty by participating in several of the fun challenges, such as a pyjama party with previous winners and different workshops. I made many new friends.

I would like to give special thanks to local businesses such as G-Fashion for my gorgeous dresses, Polished by Jo for amazing nail care and Lillies of Wanstead for supplying a beautiful fresh bouquet that lasted a staggering three days.

Most of all, I wish to encourage all girls to discover how great participation in a similar pageant can be. Not only will it change your own life but it could also be life-changing for others through charity work.

My next project for Christmas will be linked to my mum’s fundraising campaign for homeless people on Wanstead High Street and a Christmas gifts project for local people in need.

Do get in touch with me if you would like to fulfil your own beauty pageant dream, or wish to get some unique tips on how to make the most of this amazing experience.

Finally, I would like to thank my family for supporting me throughout this whole journey. My brother Liyan especially, as he missed a couple of his football training sessions, and my mum for devoting all her spare time to helping me become a lot more confident.

For more information on Miss Junior Teen GB, visit wnstd.com/missteengb. For more information on Layla’s participation in the competition, visit wnstd.com/layla

A Christmas stone hunt will take place in Wanstead Park this month.

“There will be 80 painted stones featuring a candy cane image hidden throughout the park on 19 December. Find a stone and take it to the Tea Hut for a reward (maximum two stones per finder),” said Christine Howett, who has been decorating and hiding stones in Wanstead Park for over three years.

“I do hope all park visitors, young and old, enjoy this festive challenge, and I would like to wish everyone a happy, peaceful and healthy Christmas and New Year.”

The Thames21 project is making improvements to the River Roding adjacent to Wanstead Park. In the first of a series of articles, Catchment Partnership Development Officer Will Oliver explains the background

The River Roding is London’s third longest tributary of the Thames. It rises in Essex before flowing 50km south, through east London, meeting the Thames at Barking.

Like many of England’s rivers, the Roding is suffering. Historically, the river has been straightened and widened, losing much of the natural connectivity to its floodplain that would otherwise support a range of biodiverse wetland habitats. Combined sewer overflows (CSOs), road run-off and agricultural inputs have caused a decline in water quality and barriers – such as the Redbridge gauging weir – block the movement of migratory fish species.

On its journey through London, the River Roding forms the eastern boundary of Wanstead Park. In its natural state, the river here should appear ‘untidy’. The channel should meander across the land and provide deep, slow pools interspaced with fast, shallow riffles and glides. Aquatic plants should be found throughout and there should be areas of clean, loose gravel for fish to spawn in. Take a look at the river next time you walk along its banks here and you’ll see that, instead of this complex mosaic of habitats and flows, the channel resembles a canal. It follows an unnaturally straight course characterised by a uniform shallow, lazy glide and lack of aquatic plants. This means the river only has limited value to fish, birds and insects.

Fallen trees would have once been common within a river. As water worked its way around them, deep scoured pools, fast runs, shallow riffles and areas of slack, sheltered water would form. In this way, fallen trees act as the engineers of a healthy river and provide vital habitats for fish and aquatic life. Historically, fallen trees have been removed from rivers to ease the passage of water downstream.

Thames21 is an environmental charity and member organisation of the Rivers Trust. Our goal is to put healthy rivers at the heart of community life. Working in partnership with the City of London (Epping Forest), Vision RCL and the local Friends of Wanstead Parklands and WREN Wildlife groups, Thames21 is developing a project to improve the habitat within the Roding adjacent to Wanstead Park.

This project will add strategically placed fallen trees to this stretch of the river. These trees will help to restart natural processes and encourage more diverse and improved habitats to form. They will be secured in place to ensure they do not pose a flood risk, with all works reviewed and approved by the Environment Agency. The project will enlist the help of local volunteers and is scheduled for completion in early 2022. Many thanks go to Essex and Suffolk Water and Britvic for funding these improvements.

For more information and to get involved with the Thames21 project in Wanstead Park, email will.oliver@thames21.org.uk