October 2025

Local resident Shreena Patel reflects on a lifetime of witnessing racism evolve in East London, and explains why she’s now helping to lead the Wanstead and South Woodford Against Racism campaign

Iwas born in Leytonstone and I now live in Wanstead with my partner and two children. I am British-Asian, and for a small but vocal section of society, Britain is not my home and I do not belong here.

I grew up in East London in the 1980s and 1990s; my first experience of racist abuse was at aged five from someone in my class in primary school. The way racism manifested evolved as I grew up and it became socially unacceptable to be overtly racist. However, I feel that has shifted in the past few years, which is why I became involved in the Wanstead and South Woodford Against Racism campaign.

There has been a significant rise in far-right nationalism and populism in the United Kingdom over the past few years, which has been fuelled by the anti-immigrant rhetoric platformed by mainstream political parties. This has recently culminated with the largest far-right protest in Central London, and a campaign known as ‘Operation Raise the Colours’, which has seen St George and Union Jack flags illegally flying from lampposts. (The Highways Act 1980 prohibits placing or attaching anything to a public highway without consent and bans the placing of any items that could cause danger, obstruction or distraction.) Flags have also been painted on public structures across the country, including in South Woodford, Woodford, Epping and Leytonstone. This campaign has been positioned as an act of patriotism, but the intention is intimidation and division within communities. There has also been an uptick in race-related hate crimes nationally, which is reflected in the experiences of business owners and members of the public within Wanstead and Woodford.

Wanstead and South Woodford Against Racism is an initiative that was born from the broader campaign set up in Leytonstone in response to the St George’s Cross being illegally painted across the area. Wanstead and South Woodford Against Racism sets out to amplify the voices of the quiet majority that support and celebrate the existence of our diverse communities in East London. As a starting point, we have rolled out a poster campaign to counter the far-right narrative and show that our communities will not stand for any form of racism across religious or ethnic lines. You may have seen our posters in shopfronts along the High Street in Wanstead and George Lane in South Woodford. We have had a huge, positive response from businesses, particularly in Wanstead, but we still have more people to reach.

Our campaign is run by local volunteers and we are always looking for more people to get involved. Do get in touch if you would like to display a poster in your home or business.

The campaign is run by local volunteers and are looking for more people to get involved. Please contact wansteadagainstracism@gmail.com

If you would like to display a poster in your home, please visit the distribution hubs listed below. There is also have a GofundMe page if you would like to donate to support the activities www.gofundme.com/f/Wanstead-and-South-Woodford-Against-Racism

• Bare Brew, 7 High Street, London E11 2AA
• The Cuckfield, 31 High Street, London E11 2AA
• The Bull, 129 High Street, London E11 2RL
• Daisy, 121A High Street, London E11 2RL
• Harveys, 6 Clock House Parade, London E11 2AG
• Bal Beauty, Unit 1, The Cuckfield, Wellington Rd, London E11 2AL
• Touch of Class Drycleaners, 12a Station Parade, High Street Wanstead, London E11 1QF
• International Supermarket, 146-150 George Lane, E18 1AY
• XGadgets, 166 George Lane, E18 1AY

A 20mph road safety zone is to be introduced in the Wanstead Park ward, covering all roads south of the A12 and north of Wanstead Flats.

We’re now working on the detailed plans, starting with signage and road markings. Once those are in place, we’ll move on to installing traffic calming measures [including speed humps on residential roads],” said a Redbridge Council spokesperson.

A consultation on similar plans for the Wanstead Village ward is expected to take place before Christmas.

Visit wnstd.com/20mph

Londoners are urged to help fill available blood donation appointments across the capital.

“Currently, there is a particular need for more O negative and B negative donors, as well as more donors of black heritage… By giving an hour of your time, you could save up to three lives,” said an NHS Blood and Transplant spokesperson.

Local donation venues include Hawkey Hall in Woodford and Westfield Stratford City.

Visit blood.co.uk

Wanstead resident Catherine Grout won a silver award for Best New Business at the Best Businesswomen Awards 2025, held in Daventry earlier this month.

“I launched my business as a personal stylist and colour analyst in September 2023. Since then, I’ve been helping women and men to look and – even more importantly – feel their best, so it’s wonderful to receive this recognition,” said Catherine.

The Best Businesswomen Awards launched in 2015 and is open to all female business owners across the UK.

Visit wnstd.com/grout

Three English Longhorn cows – named Jolly, Kite and Lazy – arrived in Wanstead Park earlier this month for another season of grazing.

“Grazing the acid grassland is highly beneficial for the park’s ecology. Cattle help maintain biodiversity by controlling the growth of dominant plant species, allowing rarer wildflowers and grasses to thrive. Their hooves also create small patches of bare ground, providing habitats for insects and ground-nesting birds,” said a spokesperson for the City of London Corporation.

A record 950 people attended the third Wanstead Beer Festival in the halls and garden of Christ Church earlier this month.

“The festival welcomed attendees from across the generations. The bar was busy all day; the people of Wanstead certainly like their beer! Now it is onto the fourth festival next year,” said organiser Paul Donovan.

All profits from the event will be shared between three nominated local charities: Wren Wildlife and Conservation Group, Wanstead Community Stables and Christ Church.

Can you spare a few seconds to vote for us in the Redbridge Social Value Awards 2025?

Click here, fill in your name and email, scroll down and add a comment if you wish (all other info will be prefilled). Many thanks for your support.

An application has been submitted to Redbridge Council to increase the capacity of the former St Joseph’s Convent School in Wanstead, with a view to converting it into an Islamic faith school and associated place of worship.

The site – located at 57 and 59 Cambridge Park – has been vacant since the Catholic school closed in July 2020. Records show the former school could accommodate up to 150 pupils, with the application for a Lawful Development Certificate seeking to increase this to 260.

Click here to view the application for place of worship.

Click here to view the application for increased capacity.

A double rainbow over Wanstead Park’s tea hut and the bluebells of Chalet Wood are among the images featured in a new Epping Forest calendar for 2026.

“Last year, we sold around 770 copies, raising just under £5,000 for the Epping Forest Heritage Trust, The Swan Sanctuary and Epping Forest’s own charity arm. With 17 stunning images, including five of Wanstead Park, I’m hopeful to raise even more this year,” said Don Taylor, who compiled the calendar.

A4 (£10) and A3 (£12) sizes are available.

To order, email taylordong365@gmail.com

The Wanstead and Woodford Marie Curie fundraising group will be hosting a quiz night at Wanstead House on 8 November.

“This will be a great opportunity to get together with friends and neighbours and test your knowledge. We’ll provide all the tea and coffee you can drink and all the cake you can eat, and you can bring your own refreshments and alcohol,” said a spokesperson.

The quiz will start at 7.30pm (tickets: £10).

Call 07957 760 071

Julian Walker invites you to celebrate the art of publishing at Wanstead’s first-ever independent book fair next month

In 2023, I started printing short fiction in the form of handmade booklets, working from my studio in Gants Hill, using the design of early children’s books as a model. This developed into StuffLikeThat books, an imprint for my own work and that of other writers, avoiding the world of digital publishing in favour of the hand-crafted book. As new technology, particularly AI, threatens the integrity of texts and writers’ and makers’ rights over their own work, handmade work has taken on a greater importance, an alternative to quick-fire and low-impact online publishing.

StuffLikeThat will be running the first Wanstead Independent Book Fair at Wanstead Library on Saturday 1 November, showcasing and selling the work of London-based small presses, zine-makers, book artists and local, independently published authors. Zine fairs and indie book fairs are growing quickly in popularity, and Wanstead, with its book festival, popular library and Oxfam Bookshop, is an ideal location for independent-minded book-lovers to come and enjoy the energy of this area of book culture.

Zines, which began decades ago as photocopy-printed fanzines, are a space for the weird and wonderful, using printing techniques ranging from typewriters to risograph and rubber stamps. Produced without expensive equipment, they blend the skills of the writer, artist and graphic designer, mixing social commentary with fiction and ephemera, and providing spaces for emerging and marginalised writers and artists. Provocative, funny and with exciting designs, zines are now a worldwide publishing phenomenon.

Book art is a recent and fast-growing field of visual art, pushing the format of the book to new levels, incorporating different ways of printing, paper-folding, pop-ups, fold-outs, bindings and formats. Book art moves the book into the realm of interactive sculpture.

Small presses and printing workshops keep alive the rich design and tactile qualities of letterpress. The Tiny Press, which produces pamphlets and short texts exploring aspects of language, will be bringing a small printing press, and the Walthamstow-based Paekakariki Press will be showing fine editions of new poetry.

Also participating are Chrissie Nicholls (Inkpotandpen), who makes small handmade books directing a close eye at details and hand-drawn maps folded and turned into books; and Abigail Thomas (Moripaper Studio), who uses diverse papers and collage materials in her bookmaking. The Less Than 500 Press creates “zines, poetry books, art, photography, travel, satire, cultural detritus and other nonsense,” an eclectic outpouring of found images and texts collated into bizarre and wonderful little books.

StuffLikeThat’s publications range from new fiction to essays on slang and miniature books. Mandy Brannan’s work uses Japanese and Western papers to highlight structure, texture and design in sculptural bookworks.

A couple of bespoke poets, writing to demand, will make the fair fully interactive.

The Wanstead Independent Book Fair will take place at Wanstead Library on 1 November from 10.30 am to 4.30pm. For more information, visit wnstd.com/book