May 2025

The practice team at Aldersbrook Medical Centre has been awarded a permanent contract to run the surgery.

It follows a year of uncertainty after the NHS reduced the surgery’s budget, forcing providers Richmond Road Medical Centre to hand in their notice and enter into a new procurement process. “We are delighted! We now have certainty the services we receive will continue,” said Terilla Bernard from the patient participation group.

GPs will host a prostate cancer awareness talk at St Gabriel’s Church from 7pm on 1 July.

Redbridge Council has confirmed any fines issued as a result of offences at the now-removed yellow box junctions on Wanstead High Street will not be cancelled.

“Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued while the boxes were in place remain valid. The regulations around box junctions are clear, and all PCNs were correctly and legally issued under existing traffic enforcement legislation,” said a spokesperson.

Councillor Paul Canal, leader of the council opposition, is calling for all fines related to the two junctions to be refunded.

Two yellow box junctions were removed from Wanstead High Street earlier this month.

It follows an independent road safety audit at the junctions with Woodbine Place and Grove Park.

“While the report recognised the benefits of the yellow boxes, it also highlighted that their placement in proximity to a zebra crossing was causing confusion for some drivers and potential safety concerns. In light of this, the decision was taken to remove the boxes,” said a Redbridge Council spokesperson.

The two box junctions were installed in October 2024.

Mathematics: reasoning
The June 2025 issue of the Wanstead Village Directory uses 21 sheets of paper per copy. Each sheet makes four pages in the magazine. A total of 7,000 copies are printed and packed into boxes. Each box can hold 80 copies.

How many pages will be printed in total?

Show answer

588,000 pages

[2 marks]

How many boxes will be needed to hold all the copies?

Show answer

88 boxes

[1 mark]

English: grammar, punctuation and spelling
Olivia heard the rattle of the letterbox – a copy of the Wanstead Village Directory had landed on the doormat. She picked it up and read an article about the community gardeners. Inspired, she sent an email to the group, offering to help. The following week, she found herself wearing gloves whilst enthusiastically digging, planting and chatting with new friends.

Find two proper nouns in the passage.

Show answer

Olivia and Wanstead Village Directory

[2 marks]

Find one adverb in the passage. 

Show answer

Enthusiastically

[1 mark]

Marian Temple invites you to join the Wanstead Community Gardeners on two evening ‘trundles’ this June to hear the stories behind the patches, meet the gardeners who created them and discover the blooming heart of Wanstead’s community spirit. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson

Wanstead Community Gardeners have been super active for a good ten years now, but it all started in 2003 with the Corner House Garden at the Age Concern Luncheon Club. At that time, the garden was a sorry sight indeed, but was to become Wanstead’s iconic cottage garden on the High Street.

Since then, there’s been no stopping us. We now have over 40 patches of former SPPS (sad patch of public soil), from tree surrounds to full-sized gardens. We took them under our trowel and the resulting patches help make Wanstead the special place it is. Want to join in the fun? Ask one of us or send us an email.

We’ve been doing the Wanstead trundles for some time now because people are really interested in our patches of gardens and want to know how they came about.

This year, it will be two trundles because us Community Gardeners now have so many patches all over the place that it’s not possible to cover the ground in one session!

There are two dates for a leisurely evening guided walk with the stories of how each patch came into being and a chance to meet the gardeners who created them. Entertainment guaranteed.

The first trundle will take place on Monday 2 June; meet at Snaresbrook Station for 7pm if you’d like to join us. At this end of the High Street, there were no obvious sad flower beds for us to adopt, so we looked skywards. Lots of interesting stories to be heard about the Hanging Gardens of Snaresbrook. We’ll have a quick look at Solly’s Patch, the raised street planter at the end of Lonsdale Road. This was due to be flattened when its occupant, the Horse Chestnut tree, died, but the council let us have it, complete with tree stump, so the well-loved patch of colour on the corner was created. We’ll finish at the Wanstead Clinic Garden on Wanstead Place, another delight and work in progress.

On Monday 9 June, we’ll be meeting at 7pm again, this time at the Belgique Bed, which is at the end of George Green, on the opposite side of the road to Belgique. We’ll have a look at that border, the Gravel Garden, the mini meadow behind that, then cross George Green to Ingrid’s Isle (pictured here), that amazing traffic roundabout turned garden, much beloved by drivers and footsters alike. We’ll finish this second trundle at the Corner House Garden, opposite the Co-op, where this whole story started 22 years ago.

No need to book, just turn up. Each walk will probably take about two hours, but people are free to join or leave as they wish. Join us for a chance to find out about this little niche of Wanstead history.

Happy trundling!

To contact the Wanstead Community Gardeners, visit wnstd.com/wcg

Redbridge Council is proposing to introduce a road safety zone covering Aldersbrook and parts of Wanstead.

“As part of its draft Sustainable Transport Strategy, the council has committed to the implementation of road safety zones… to contribute to the goal of Vision Zero, which is the elimination of road deaths and serious injuries by 2041,” said Councillor Jo Blackman.

The Wanstead South safety zone – one of three across the borough in the first phase of the project – will see a speed limit of 20mph on all roads south of the A12 and north of Wanstead Flats. Implementation is expected within the current financial year, with additional zones set to follow for the rest of Wanstead and South Woodford.

Redbridge has an average of two road deaths and 88 serious injuries each year. If a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle travelling at 20mph there is a 2.5% chance they will be fatally injured, compared to a 20% chance at 30mph.

Visit wnstd.com/20

From Wanstead walks to life-changing work, Misha Gondhia shares her rewarding experience fostering Ralph, a guide dog in training and future companion to someone living with sight loss

My name is Misha Gondhia, and I am writing this article to share with you my journey as a local volunteer dog fosterer at Guide Dogs.

I love living in Wanstead; it’s the perfect balance between a city and a small-town feel, with greenery just steps away from the central London buzz. Last year, I found out the Guide Dogs centre in Woodford Green was recruiting dog fostering volunteers and I was very happy to discover that Wanstead (being only 15 minutes away from the site) is a key area in which volunteers are needed. I had always wanted to foster a guide dog in training, and it seemed like the perfect time to try, so I made the leap.

Before starting my role as a dog fosterer, I completed training and was provided with lots of important information. I felt supported in every step of my onboarding journey and I felt prepared for this rewarding role. The Guide Dog’s YouTube page also has lots of insightful videos on the journey of a guide dog, which I would highly recommend watching.

Ralph, a beautiful Labrador cross Golden Retriever, came to live with me from July to September last year. On Mondays, I would drop Ralph off at the Guide Dogs centre in the morning and have a chat with the health team about how Ralph was doing and laugh about any of his cheeky moments over the weekend. The local team is lovely and always answered any questions I had. I’d then collect Ralph at the end of the day and keep the same routine for the rest of the week, with evenings consisting of lots of rest and cuddles.

Ralph was a big fan of both Costa and City Place coffee shops on Wanstead High Street, which we would visit on weekends when he wasn’t in training. As a dog fosterer volunteer, you still get to do fun things in your free time, and for me, it was lovely having a dog accompany me around town.

The first thing people asked me when I told them I was applying to be a dog fosterer was how would I be able to give the dog up when it’s time? It was difficult; a dog comes into your home and very quickly becomes a part of the family. There were tears when Ralph left, but it was time for him to move on and have a huge positive impact on someone else’s life. Knowing that I was a part of that journey really did help.

So many people rely on the services provided by guide dogs and without people volunteering, the process will only take longer. Reminding myself of that and the fact that I can do something which contributes to changing someone’s life is incredibly empowering. I know there will be another dog on their journey in need of a loving foster home that I can go on to help next.

For more information about fostering a guide dog, visit wnstd.com/gdfoster

In the 14th of a series of articles featuring wildlife images from Wanstead Park and Wanstead Flats, Kevin Wright presents three images taken as part of a weekly photo challenge

Sometimes, you need to make time. I have been photographing as a hobby for 18 years on digital, and before that on film when I was a teenager. I’m a member of Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society and for a few years now, some of the members have been participating in an online photography challenge called 52 Frames, which sets a weekly challenge.

As I’m still working, I never thought I would be able to find the time to get involved with the challenges. This year, however, I joined anyway. Surprisingly, I haven’t dropped out yet or missed a week. I have managed to find the time. The challenges are varied and push you into doing things photgraphically that you may never have tried. Some examples so far are self-portraits, mood and levitation! Often, you don’t feel inspired or motivated straight away.

One particular week in March, all I had to achieve was a photo with a shallow depth of field. That usually means a sharp subject with a blurry background. I’ve shot a lot of sport before, so that was doable. Then, all that week, whilst cycling home from work past Alexandra Lake on Wanstead Flats, there had been geese and ducks sitting on a spit of land which appears as the higher water levels of winter subside. So, that Saturday evening, I grabbed my camera and telephoto lens and headed to the lake to get some shots. When I arrived, all that was there was a badly placed duck! I almost turned around but decided to go and have a closer look. Maybe I could convince the duck to move? As I got closer, I was very surprised to see a large Red-eared Terrapin basking in full view. Who needs geese and ducks? I set up the camera and tripod, keeping a decent distance. People passing by were also intrigued. I had a conversation with a lady who was convinced it wasn’t real, and another with a guy and his friends who said they had never seen one in 20 years.

I’m no wildlife expert. However, I do know that Red-eared Terrapins are not native to the UK. I briefly looked into it and it seems they were probably set free in the nineties; people had them as pets, possibly linked to the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Apparently, they can be quite easily seen in the pond in the City of London Cemetery and also in Wanstead Park. This one must have been around a while as it was quite big, its shell being eight to nine inches in length.

While I was there I got some other shots at the other end of the lake. First, an Egyptian Goose (bottom photo), which are also non-native and first established themselves in the London area in 1990, and later on Wanstead Flats in 2011. My last shot was of a Coot. I know they are not exotic but they do make a characterful subject.

I was glad I found the time.

For more information on the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society, visit wnstd.com/wwps

Kavita Rana from local solicitors Edwards Duthie Shamash explores the complexities of disputes relating to the right to inheritance after death and challenges to the validity of wills

Disputes concerning wills and inheritance can be tricky and sensitive. When a person dies, their estate is administered in accordance with their wishes in the will. If the deceased does not have a will and dies intestate, the intestacy rules govern the distribution of the estate.

There are a number of grounds to contest a will. One ground considered by the courts is whether the deceased had the relevant mental capacity to understand their decisions at the time the will was signed. A person making the will must be of ‘sound mind, memory and understanding’. Dementia and old age is often a common complaint in deciding whether the deceased had capacity, but it is not the only factor. A failure to satisfy the test could result in the will being invalid.

It is important that any lawyer advising on the will checks whether the person making it understands the consequences of their actions and is of sound mind. If this did not happen, you may have a claim of negligence against the professional.

A will can also be overturned for undue influence. If you feel the deceased was pressured, forced or coerced into making the will or the content of it, this may give rise to an action to declare the will invalid.

If an individual feels they have been inadequately provided for in a will, this might result in a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. The law allows close family members and dependents to apply to the courts for reasonable financial provision from the estate where there is inadequate provision in the will. Here, the will remains in place but the law protects individuals in certain circumstances. The court’s award will depend very much on the individual facts.

If an individual relied on the deceased’s assurance of property and acted to his detriment as a result, the courts have jurisdiction to enforce the promise and order the property be transferred from the estate to the individual, even if the will does not provide for this.

In the case of Gee vs Gee (2018), the court found in favour of a son who was cut out of a promised inheritance of farmland worth in the region of £8m. John worked on his father’s farm since the 1970s for low pay and gave up his own career in reliance on his father’s promise that he would receive “the lion’s share” of the farm. Before he died, the father transferred the asset to his other son, Robert, in 2014. Despite this, the court awarded John a 52% controlling interest in the farm and a 48% interest in the land.

Edwards Duthie Shamash is located at 149 High Street, Wanstead, E11 2RL. For more information, call 020 8514 9000 or visit edwardsduthieshamash.co.uk

After years of responding to emergencies across East London, Inspector Nick Sutton is now proud to be part of neighbourhood policing in Wanstead and all other Redbridge wards north of the A12

After over two decades on the frontline in East London, I’ve now stepped into the role of inspector for Redbridge North. For the past 18 months, I’ve served as the Acting Chief Inspector for Redbridge’s emergency response teams, so I know this borough well; its challenges, its complexity and most importantly, its people, both in the community and in the teams who serve it every day. Taking on this new neighbourhood role is a genuine privilege. But I don’t want to use this space to talk about me – I want to tell you about the team I’ve joined.

Neighbourhood policing has faced relentless pressure. Like many other areas, we’ve been impacted by financial constraints and frequent abstractions – with officers regularly redeployed to support emergency response teams or central London operations. Despite this, the Redbridge Neighbourhood Police Teams have stayed focused on what truly matters: their communities.

They continue to show up, stay visible, and engage with those they serve. They solve problems quietly but effectively. They work with council and housing partners, tackle antisocial behaviour, engage with schools and youth groups and remove dangerous offenders from our streets. They do all this with limited resources and without ever seeking the spotlight. That level of commitment deserves recognition.

My role now is to support and champion their work. I want to protect their ability to focus on the issues that matter locally – to give them the time, tools and encouragement to continue building trust and delivering real results. That means enabling their ideas, reinforcing the impact they make and ensuring neighbourhood priorities are not overshadowed by competing demands.

Neighbourhood policing might not always make headlines, but it’s the foundation of public confidence. It’s what reassures residents, prevents harm and creates safer, more resilient communities. I’ve spent my whole policing career on the frontline and seen time and again how strong local relationships can make the difference in preventing crime and building lasting trust.

In my first few weeks, I’ve spent time listening to officers, to partners and to the people we serve. The message is clear: there’s more to do, but there’s a strong base to build from. The challenges are real. But so is the dedication of this team. They’ve stayed committed, focused and deeply connected to their communities. That’s something I’m proud to be part of.

To contact Wanstead Village SNT, call  07766 247 245 or visit wnstd.com/snt

To contact Wanstead Park SNT, call 07769 498 676 or visit wnstd.com/snt

To join the Met’s WhatsApp channel for Redbridge, visit wnstd.com/rwa

A Wanstead resident has launched a free weekly Zoom chat group for dads.

“As a new dad myself, I’ve really felt that safe spaces for dads to talk and grow are missing – so I wanted to create one,” said Matt Lo, who has named the group The Dad Table. “No pressure, no advice-giving, just a space to talk, share a bit or even just listen in if life’s been feeling a bit full-on. If you’re a dad juggling a lot or just need some headspace with others who may be going through the same thing, you’ll be made very welcome.”

Visit wnstd.com/dads