November 2026

Paola Noto reports on a new home for the Haven House Santa’s Grotto and a magical Christmas trail through the charity’s Woodford Green woodland, raising vital funds to help seriously ill children

A much-loved Christmas tradition is moving to a new home this December as Haven House Children’s Hospice brings its popular Santa’s Grotto to Redbridge.

Following the closure of Northfields Nursery in Waltham Abbey, where the grotto has welcomed families for many years, the charity has found a new home for its festive attraction at Redbridge Garden Centre on Roding Lane North.

Thanks to the generosity of the garden centre, the grotto will continue to bring Christmas magic to local families, with a fresh setting and plenty of festive surprises. Running on selected dates from 5 to 23 December, the experience will include a festive walkthrough, Christmas crafts, photo opportunities and, of course, a special visit with Father Christmas, complete with a gift for every child.

The festive celebrations will begin even earlier at the hospice itself, when Haven House opens its beautiful four acres of woodland grounds in Woodford Green for its Christmas Trail on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November. Families can follow a magical trail through the winter woodland, discovering festive sights, games and activities along the way. There will also be Christmas crafts, seasonal treats and a special gift bag containing an Advent calendar to take home.

While both events promise plenty of Christmas cheer, they also have a much greater purpose. Based in Woodford Green, Haven House provides specialist care and support to more than 450 seriously ill babies, children and young people and their families across North East London, West Essex and East Hertfordshire. Its services include specialist nursing, respite and end-of-life care, alongside music therapy, physiotherapy, counselling and support for brothers and sisters.

Whether caring for children at the hospice or in their own homes, Haven House helps families make the most of their time together, offering practical and emotional support when they need it most.

With the number of families receiving care increasing by 52% over the past year, the charity’s services are needed more than ever. It costs approximately £9m annually to provide this care, with fundraising and community support playing a vital role in keeping services running. Events such as the Santa’s Grotto and Christmas Trail are therefore about more than festive fun. They offer local families an opportunity to make wonderful Christmas memories while helping Haven House continue supporting children and families facing serious illness.

In the 12th of a series of articles featuring images by the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society, Anuraj Theivendram introduces wildlife photographer Ed Adamson

This month, the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society is delighted to spotlight a local photographer who finds extraordinary beauty right on our doorstep: Ed Adamson. In fact, every stunning image featured in this article was captured in Wanstead over the past year.

Ed’s photographic journey began in the 1990s when his father let him look through the viewfinder of his camera. Fascinated by the ability to see the world from a different perspective, Ed harboured childhood dreams of becoming a wildlife photographer. Although he stepped away from photography for many years as his career led to a busy desk job, a poignant turning point arrived recently. After his father passed away, Ed picked up a camera once more. At 45, he invested in a macro lens and set out to reconnect with his lifelong passion for the natural world.

For Ed, macro photography serves as an antidote to the screen-heavy reality of his day job. Getting behind the lens offers a mindful escape into a “flow state.” He is drawn to the macro world because it reveals the small, often weird, but always fascinating details right under our noses that we often miss in our busy lives, whether it’s a spider spinning a web, the delicate structure of a butterfly’s wings or a snail’s curious eyes on stalks! Ed’s captivating portfolio is a true celebration of our local Wanstead environment. Whether he is exploring Wanstead Park, where the changing seasons reveal new species and behaviours, or stepping into his own back garden, which he intentionally lets grow wild to encourage insect life, his work is a testament to the biodiversity around us that we should all be proud of and strive to protect. Through his lens, Ed invites us to slow down, step out of our heads and into the miniature worlds hidden in plain sight all around us.

We are proud to have Ed as part of the WWPS family, and we look forward to sharing more of his work with our members. If you are interested in joining WWPS or would like to learn more about what we do, please visit our website.

This month’s Remembrance Sunday service in Wanstead will be the most inclusive it has ever been. This is a welcome milestone, says Paul Kaufman, chair of the East London Humanists

The Wanstead War Memorial was unveiled in April 1922. It is worth reflecting on why local war memorials were erected. World War One was devastating. The Wanstead memorial records 199 names of local lives lost from Wanstead Urban District alone. Subsequent research shows the total was nearer 320. The memorial wording doesn’t touch on the many more who survived but bore dreadful mental or physical scars. The then official policy of not repatriating the dead made local memorials the focus of grief and remembrance. Local relatives of victims attend the Wanstead service to this day.

Remembrance services hold a unique place in this country’s DNA and in the life of our local communities. They have been held each year without fail for over 100 years in just about every corner of the land. This is thanks to the hard work and dedication of those who voluntarily put time and effort into ensuring this tradition continues. Local resident and former councillor Colin Cronin shouldered the responsibility in Wanstead for many years. This year, Colin handed over responsibility to James Gilder, Rector of St Mary’s with Christ Church.

The last 100 years have seen many changes in our culture and communities. It is important that this is reflected in services. The Royal British Legion website points out the actual Act of Remembrance is brief and non-religious. It then says that, while the accompanying service can be assembled freely to make it relevant to a community, “ceremonies should be inclusive of all members of the community.”

Some advance was achieved in 2025. The Wanstead service, which remains largely Anglican in character, included spoken contributions from the Catholic Church, the United Reformed Church and Quakers. I was honoured to be the first member of the non-religious community to take part. Several hundred people attended the service. The response was overwhelmingly positive. This year, around 10 different faiths and beliefs will be represented. This is a far better reflection of local diversity. For example, there will be representatives for the first time from the local Sikh, Hindu and Muslim communities. The role the massive Indian army played fighting for the allies has too often been overlooked.

Remembrance Sunday is a time to remember all the victims war brings in its wake. It also reminds us of the terrible consequences if we can’t solve our differences peacefully, and the importance of striving for peace and reconciliation. Remembrance Sunday is possibly the largest public civic event in Wanstead. In a time of much division, it is an opportunity like no other to bring all our community together.

Wanstead’s Remembrance service will take place at the Wanstead War Memorial on the High Street on 8 November from 12.30pm (arrive by 12.15pm).