January 2025

Councillor Paul Canal shares his personal reflections on the moral dilemmas of assisted dying, the unpredictable beauty of life and the need to prioritise compassionate care over premature endings

Four years ago, the Wanstead Village Directory published a thoughtful article exploring the complexities of assisted dying. Among those mentioned was Paul Lamb, whose courage and story touched many. Sadly, Paul passed away just over a year later. Since then, the debate around assisted dying has persisted, culminating in a narrow vote by MPs in favour of the Assisted Dying Bill.

Recently, I was profoundly moved by the correspondence between Fr Martin Boland of Our Lady of Lourdes and Calvin Bailey MP. Fr Martin shared the story of his sister, who, under the proposed criteria, would have qualified for assisted dying. Yet, she went on to live another 12 years, embracing countless cherished moments with her family. This story resonates deeply, highlighting the unpredictable beauty of life.

In January 2024, my own father was placed in end-of-life care. Frail and in severe distress, he refused food, water and medication. By the standards of this proposed legislation, he, too, would have qualified for assisted dying – or, as Fr Boland aptly described it, “being killed.” Yet, to our immense delight, he made an extraordinary recovery. As I write this, he is preparing to spend Christmas surrounded by his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a gift none of us could have anticipated.

At the heart of this debate lies a profound moral question: what is the state’s role in preserving and improving life and should it ever have a hand in prematurely ending it?

While advocates of the bill point to ‘safeguards’, I remain deeply unconvinced. Safeguards, however well-intentioned, are inherently fallible. I fear family or societal pressures – on those whose lives may be deemed less ‘viable’ or ‘worthwhile’ – could subtly coerce individuals toward an earlier death. What begins as a trickle of tragic cases, limited to those in insufferable distress, could, over time, become a flood. As the costs of care rise and resources strain, the pressure to view assisted dying as a solution may grow.

One point of consensus across this debate is the undeniable inadequacy of access to high-quality palliative care in many parts of the UK. We do not need to legalise the deliberate ending of life by the state. Instead, we need to invest in systems and resources that affirm the value of life – even in its most vulnerable stages. My father’s story, like that of Fr Martin’s sister, reminds us that life, even in its frailty, can still hold profound joy and meaning.

To legalise assisted dying is to open a door that cannot easily be closed. Instead, let us work to close the gaps in care, ensuring no one is left to suffer unnecessarily. True compassion lies not in ending life prematurely, but in supporting it fully, to its natural end.

Paul Canal is a Wanstead resident and Leader of the Conservative Group on Redbridge Council. Visit wnstd.com/canal

In the 42nd of a series of articles, David Bird discusses the work of Redbridge Music Society and introduces Redbridge Music Service, whose students will be performing in Wanstead this month

Two central aims of Redbridge Music Society are to promote and support up-and-coming young musicians – especially those residing within the borough – and to bring a diverse range of musical styles and genres to the people of Redbridge. Both aims will be realised when the students of Redbridge Music Service put on a recital at the Churchill Room in Wanstead this January. 

Redbridge Music Service is based at the John Savage Centre in Hainault and throughout its long existence has nurtured numerous talented young musicians, very many of whom have gone on to pursue careers in music.

Redbridge Music Service is the lead organisation of the Redbridge Music Education Hub and is held in high esteem for its provision of exceptionally high-quality music education. A requirement of music hubs is that they establish local plans involving opportunities for students to progress and create music together, especially via live performances. To this end, Redbridge Music Service provides a wide range of instrumental and vocal tuition in schools throughout the borough – even at nursery and reception level – with instruments being available for hire from the service’s instrument centre.

Redbridge Music Service also provides opportunities for its students to perform music together and every year presents over 50 local concerts, ranging from events at the John Savage Centre to public recitals, such as our Wanstead Library event and other major events at Redbridge Town Hall. Every two years there is also the highly successful and well-renowned Redbridge Schools’ Choral Festival at the Royal Albert Hall.

Being involved in musical activities and the acquisition of performance skills can be highly beneficial for a young person’s development, and learning to play an instrument can significantly improve important developmental qualities, such as self-confidence, imagination, creativity, memory, coordination skills, communication and team and social skills – skills which also greatly benefit other areas in the school curriculum. 

Redbridge Music Service encourages its students to explore music from a wide range of historical periods and genres. This will certainly be evident at the recital at Wanstead Library when the students will perform an eclectic mix of musical styles. Their recitals are always a popular and well-attended event and are now a standard annual feature in Redbridge Music Society’s calendar. Please come along and support Redbridge’s exceptional young and home-grown talent!

Students of Redbridge Music Service will perform at Wanstead Library on 21 January from 8pm (tickets on the door: £9). Call 07380 606 767. Redbridge Music Society is affiliated to Making Music.

To celebrate the reopening of Notre-Dame, Valentine Singers invite you to join them for a day of singing in South Woodford as they prepare for a concert inspired by the cathedral. Oliver Mason reports

On 15 April 2019, Parisians looked on in horror as the roof of the cathedral of Notre-Dame was consumed by fire, and the famous flèche collapsed and crashed through the ceiling of the nave. The damage to the cathedral was extensive and regarded as a cultural disaster across France and the wider world.

Immediately after the fire, President Macron promised that Notre-Dame would be restored, and called for the work to be completed within five years. An international architectural competition was announced to redesign the flèche and roof. The work has now been completed, and the cathedral reopened in December.

To celebrate the reopening, Valentine Singers, with organist Jonathan Dods, will perform two works for choir and organ, which have close links with Notre-Dame: Louis Vierne’s Messe Solennelle and David Briggs’ Messe pour Notre-Dame. The concert will take place at St Gabriel’s Church in Aldersbrook on 15 March. But before this, on 18 January, we are holding an all-day open workshop, where we will be exploring and singing one of the works, the Messe Solennelle. This will take place at St Mary’s Church in South Woodford and anyone who enjoys choral singing – or would like to sample the experience of singing with a large chorus – is invited to join us (observers are also welcome). The day will be led by the choir’s musical director, Christine Gwynn, with pianist Tim Smith. 

Vierne composed his rich and thrilling Messe Solennelle in 1899, setting the mass text, minus credo, for choir and two organs. For practical reasons, arrangements of the mass for choir and one organ have since been published. The mass was premiered in 1900 at Saint-Sulpice, in Paris, with Widor and Vierne playing the glorious organ parts. By this time, Vierne had become organist of Notre-Dame, where he remained in post until his death in 1937. 

David Briggs studied with Jean Langlais in Paris and was profoundly influenced by the playing of Pierre Cochereau, organist titulaire at Notre-Dame (1955–1984). Briggs’ Messe pour Notre-Dame features four movements – the Introït, Offertoire, Élévation and Sortie. This is a mass with a difference: not only does it have four interpolated organ improvisations as part and parcel of the setting, but also the composer estimates that 15% of the scored material is ‘sampled’ from organ improvisations by Cochereau. 

Valentine Singers is a friendly choir based in Ilford. We relish the challenge of singing a wide range of choral music and we are proud to bring high-quality music to Redbridge for the local community to enjoy.

Valentine Singers will hold an all-day open workshop at St Mary’s Church, South Woodford on 18 January from 10.30am to 4.30pm (tickets: £25). For more information, call 020 8504 1261 or visit valentinesingers.org

Ingrid Howarth has transformed Wanstead Place Surgery’s backyard into a wellbeing garden much appreciated by doctors and staff

The Wanstead Place Surgery Patient Participation Group (PPG) decided last summer to create an outdoor space for wellbeing activities by improving the surgery’s backyard. The yard resembled a concrete jungle, invaded by weeds one metre high. The storage shed and timber fence panels were showing signs of rot and junior maple trees had begun life in the gutters of the shed. To make matters worse, there was no outside garden tap and therefore no direct access to water, vital for any garden.

As a Wanstead resident and patient of the surgery, I offered to take on the challenge and create a welcoming outdoor space suitable for the doctors, trainees and staff.

My work began in early June, lifting five-dozen concrete slabs to create an outline shape. Roughly two thousand wild garlic bulbs (half of which are probably still there) were lifted; weeds, old tree stumps and various other bits were bagged up for the fortnightly waste collections.

Once the areas for planting were established and cleared, a trip to Redbridge Garden Centre ensued to buy soil, compost and a host of plants and shrubs. Some patients and other Wanstead residents, encouraged by the project, kindly donated plants from their own gardens. A big thank you goes to a friendly neighbour who offered to remove over 200 kilos of rubbish and then installed a very useful garden tap.

Planting continued in earnest over a two-month period. The panels and gates were wood-filled and painted to add colour to what was a drab area. The storage shed was cleaned and painted brilliant white and an old bookcase, shoe stand and beer drum were upcycled and now act as plant stands for colourful potted plants.

The once dull outdoor space is now flourishing with colour and happiness, and with seeds and bulbs in place for the spring, the future is looking even brighter. The first summer has already provided a wonderful space for lunch breaks, staff and PPG meetings, as well as training sessions for GP trainees and medical students. There are growing ideas of offering the garden for wellbeing and other outdoor activities for patients in the coming years. 

Wanstead Place Surgery is a large practice with a vibrant clinical team of six senior GPs, four GP trainees, three nurses, two physiotherapists and a clinical pharmacist. This is a surgery of family doctors; some of them have been resident for over two decades and have witnessed previous youngsters become parents themselves.

The surgery is located at 45 Wanstead Place, Wanstead, E11 2SW. For more information, call 020 8989 1968 or visit wnstd.com/wps

At the end of this month, the Wanstead Society will cease to exist. It’s a sad farewell from Scott Wilding, who writes his final article as chair of the group that has sought to protect and preserve our local area since 1997

It is with deep sadness the Wanstead Society will finally close its doors on 1 February 2025. After almost three decades of seeking to protect and enhance the character of Wanstead, the executive committee took the decision to close in September 2024. 

The Society has had a good run, but like so many local groups, we have struggled to find new committee members to help run events and undertake the work we aimed to do.

Along with other issues, we have found it increasingly difficult to be heard by our elected representatives. The Society was first formed in 1997 to save the Evergreen Field from development. Last year, the council gave planning permission to build a block of flats on the site. This has led us to question how useful we might continue to be. And with a committee that isn’t as young as it once was, we felt our time had come to close. 

Over the last 27 years, we have had a real impact on the fabric of the area. We have planted over 40 trees right across Wanstead, including the ones which stretch from Snaresbrook Station to the junction of Hollybush Hill. These were installed in the late 1990s and are still going strong; it was one of our first projects. We have also planted bulbs on Christ Church Green, funded the Wanstead Community Gardeners, raised money for the refurbishment of the children’s playground on Christ Church Green, paid for bins and benches along the High Street, donated to local schools and community groups, commented on numerous planning applications, organised community clean-up days and helped pay for numerous community projects. The list could go on; we have always aimed to give something back.

None of our projects were ever possible without the help and support of Wanstead residents. As a volunteer organisation, we relied on our members giving their time for free. And it’s our members who, through their generous donations and selflessly giving up their free time, made our home just that little bit better. 

All of us would like to thank those who served on the committee, past and present, and to all the members who were so generous. We are holding our final AGM on 1 February, where we will formally say goodbye. Any remaining funds we have will be distributed to local charities, so in a way, our work will go on.

Wanstead has changed a lot since 1997. Back then, an average pint cost £1.10, a litre of petrol was around 70p and I was still at Wanstead High School completing my A levels! But we all sincerely hope the best years for the community – our home – are ahead.

The final Wanstead Society AGM will take place at The Cuckfield on 1 February from 12 noon to 1pm. For more information, visit wansteadsociety.org.uk. (The website will be removed on 1 February.) 

There was much excitement about recent sightings of otters in the River Roding. It was particularly astonishing given the state of the river, but is a reassuring sign of nature’s resilience, says Councillor Jo Blackman

The River Roding and its tributaries are critical features of Redbridge’s environment and a vital haven for a range of wildlife and biodiversity. They are also valued by residents and form a distinctive part of Wanstead Park and Roding Valley Park, as well as plans for the Ilford Arrival scheme, a Greater London Authority part-funded programme to open up access to the Roding near Ilford, and wider regeneration.

Sadly, the River Roding has suffered similar challenges to other waterways across the country and has some of the highest number of sewage discharges in London, after the Thames. Information on permitted sewage outfalls is now made publicly available on the Thames Water website. 

Recent testing undertaken by Thames21 and the River Roding Trust in collaboration with local citizen scientists shows levels of E. coli and intestinal enterococci bacteria regularly exceeded safe limits during dry weather conditions (sometimes by a factor of over 20). These results are likely evidence of Thames Water spilling untreated sewage in addition to the outfalls authorised by the Environment Agency. Thanks to the work of the River Roding Trust, we are aware of at least two unpermitted sewage outfalls (located on the Aldersbrook and at Little Ilford). Further work is needed by Thames Water to identify any other unknown outfalls in the Roding. 

Thames Water and Environment Agency officials recently appeared in front of the Redbridge Council’s External Scrutiny Committee, chaired by Wanstead Village Councillor Daniel Morgan-Thomas. The real special guest at the committee was the Roding itself. Paul Powlesland from the River Roding Trust brought a container of water from the Roding with him – a powerful reminder that we need to ensure all agencies are acting in the best interests of the river, which has too often been neglected.

Whilst some progress has been made by Thames Water, officials at the meeting were unable to provide the committee with much detail, nor was the Environment Agency able to tell us if they had taken any action against Thames Water for the pollution of the Roding. I have therefore joined forces with Calvin Bailey MP, Chairman of the Epping Forest and Commons Committee Ben Murphy and Redbridge Council Leader Kam Rai in a letter to Thames Water and the Environment Agency demanding urgent action in the interests of the environment, public health and our residents. 

If we want the otters and other wildlife to thrive in the Roding, we need Thames Water and the Environment Agency to step up and take action to address the sewage scandal.

Jo Blackman is a Labour councillor for Wanstead Village and Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability. Visit wnstd.com/blackman

Drivers in Wanstead are reminded to stay alert following the installation of new yellow box junctions on the High Street.

“We train learner drivers to read pedestrians’ body language before we reach zebra crossings, ensuring they are ready to stop if someone is close to the edge of the road. If you have followed us without being aware, you may end up in the yellow box and be fined. It is not our fault there is only room for one vehicle between the crossing and the yellow box,” said local driving instructor Diane Ward.

Recent changes to local bus routes have impacted the lives of many Wanstead residents, none more so than Lucille Grant, who believes her health has suffered as a result of the stress caused

I am 86, living in Wanstead, with several health issues after suffering four heart attacks. I believe my last heart attack was caused by stress due to the recent changes to local bus routes. Initially, I didn’t realise how my daily activities would become so difficult when the W12, W13 and W14 bus routes were changed by TfL in September 2024. I was shocked when I found out about the changes coming in. I was told the proposals had been online, but I struggle with computers.

I regularly used the previous W12 route; I was upset the original 15-minute W12 was reduced to just every half hour, but this was better than nothing. The bus was used by older people, those who have mobility difficulties, schoolchildren, mums with buggies and young people using Wanstead Youth Centre (when it was open). The new changes have totally disregarded those residents and we just struggle from one day to the other and nobody seems to care.

The new routes caused utter confusion using the original bus numbers W12 and W14, but going in totally different directions. I, too, have tried hard to cope with the hourly run W14 (replacement of the W12) that now serves the Nightingale Estate. However, being elderly and in poor health, I had to resort to using taxis, which I can ill afford on a minimum pension.

Recently, I waited for the W14 on Grosvenor Road, but it never arrived, and as it is only an hourly service, I decided I could not stand waiting in the cold, so had no choice but to walk, very slowly, back home in the dark, which took me about an hour. This made me anxious to go out, leaving me feeling confined in my home.

I now rely on friends who are still able to drive to take me shopping, to the doctor and other places, which does prohibit the independence I value.

So, please support the Save Our Local Bus Services campaign led by Liz Martins. There has been some success in getting TfL to review their changes sooner – in six months’ time instead of a year – but that is not good enough for residents like me who are suffering.

The campaign group are trying to garner the support of Calvin Bailey MP to help people like me by ensuring TfL immediately increases the frequency of the W14 and makes the following stops permanent: Wanstead Place, Woodbine Place, before South Woodford Station and inside Whipps Cross Hospital. That is the minimum we need. Finally, if you are able to assist with legal action, get in touch to let us know.

To view the petition, visit wnstd.com/bus

If you are affected by the local bus route changes, submit your experience to Calvin Bailey MP. Visit wnstd.com/busform

Members of the Wren Wildlife Group have been scything long grass in the Skylark nesting area on Wanstead Flats.

“This prevents the anthills from being shaded out by broom and brambles. The ants form a large part of Green Woodpeckers’ diet, and if their nest sites are shaded out, the ants desert them and the woodpeckers lose their food source. Mechanical mowing would risk damaging the anthills. Additionally, scything prevents coarser grasses taking over, which discourages Skylarks from nesting,” said Tim Harris.

A new mental health clinic will open in Wanstead this month.

“We are delighted to announce the opening of Wanstead Mental Health Clinic on 3 January, kicking off the new year with a dedicated evolution in mental health services. We will offer focused support, assessments, community seminars, walk-in support services and a weekly men’s peer support group called the Wanstead Man Cave,” said a spokesperson for Wanstead Wellbeing CIC.

The clinic is located at 11–13 Cambridge Park.

Visit wnstd.com/mhc

The George and Dragon pub in Wanstead will reopen in mid-January.

It follows a campaign to protect the historic venue from property development, which gathered 3,589 signatures. In a meeting with Calvin Bailey MP and campaign organiser Councillor Paul Donovan, new operators Urban Pubs and Bars outlined their commitment to preserving historic venues and enhancing local communities.

The reopening will create 60 jobs, including the return of over a dozen former Wetherspoons staff. 

Residents have several options for disposing of real Christmas trees this January.

Local charity Haven House will be collecting and recycling trees from 10 to 13 January (donation and booking required).

Redbridge Council will also collect real trees for free between 6 and 17 January. Collection dates will vary across the borough, so trees must be left at the property boundary by 6am on the first day of the service.

Christmas trees can also be taken to Chigwell Road Reuse and Recycling Centre.

Visit wnstd.com/treecollect