Features

Following a recent announcement that funding for a new Whipps Cross Hospital has been secured, John Cryer MP reflects on an East London institution and vows to hold ministers to account

With Wanstead Park’s new Woodland Play Area finally open, Gill James reflects on a 22-year campaign by the Aldersbrook Families Association

The Save Our Wanstead Youth Centre campaign has issued an open letter in response to the Leader of Redbridge Council’s article in last month’s issue of the Wanstead Village Directory, in which it was announced the future of Wanstead Youth Centre will be decided at a council meeting in September Jas Athwal, the Leader of the Council, has confirmed in the article that the future of Wanstead Youth Centre will be made at the Cabinet meeting in September 2023. The SOWYC Group thank councillors, Young People and the wider community for their support in achieving this positive response. We want to re-iterate our request for the council to grant a moratorium, of at least 12 months, to allow further time to explore and pursue other options and funding streams to retain the only remaining youth centre of its kind in the borough.  And to make available, as previously requested,  the necessary financial documents to allow this to happen.  We remind the council that over 5,000 people signed the petition to oppose the closure of the centre; and at the public meeting in March many young people spoke about the importance of the centre to their physical and mental health. We...

Wanstead House art tutor Karina Laymen has illustrated a ‘grown-up’ children’s book entitled Daisy Dresser’s Miracle by Tricia Exman, aimed at anyone who needs inspiration to let go of their ‘false self’

Ahead of the Wanstead Wildlife Weekend, James Heal offers his tips for birdwatching on the local patch Some of the local birders (me included) have been around for a while. I will spare the blushes of one of my fellows who has been ticking stuff locally since before I was born. There are a range of capabilities and specific interests (some of us like gulls, some like surveying breeding birds, some use nocturnal migration recorders and heat sensory binoculars, and some like taking the best photos of birds possible), but this group of core local birders have kept the records flowing over the last decade and more and found some amazing birds. I dread to think about the number of combined hours we have put into birding Wanstead Flats and Wanstead Park – it would be a very large figure indeed. Most of us are out at least weekly, and some of us almost daily! Birding is about so much more than numbers, but there are few committed birders who are not at least somewhat interested in the numbers game. Birders, as we know, like lists, with several of us now contributing regularly to centralised applications, most notably eBird, which enable...

The Wren Wildlife Group will host the Wanstead Wildlife Weekend this month. Everyone is invited to join them in Wanstead Park and on Wanstead Flats to get a little closer to nature. Gill James outlines the events taking place

Humanist Heritage Project coordinator Madeleine Goodall will be the guest speaker at the East London Humanists’ June event. Group chairperson Paul Kaufman previews the history that will be discussed

Derek Inkpin from local solicitors Axiom DWFM looks at the use of signatures and explains how typing your name at the end of an email can also be legally binding

In the fourth of a series of articles featuring the images of local photographers who document the wildlife of Wanstead Park and the surrounding area, Alessandro Riccarelli presents his shot of a Grey Heron

Two members of Wanstead Climate Action won a visit to the Jenkins Lane Reuse and Recycling facility in April. The litter-strewn approach gave a dystopian glimpse into our world of waste, says Diane Molloy

Ivor Peters – aka the Urban Rajah – will be showcasing his cooking skills at a Bollywood-themed event in Wanstead this month. Here, the chef, food author and traveller explains how Indian food unites people

Having been named Secondary School Teacher of the Year at the Redbridge Education Awards, Wanstead High School music teacher Ian Sweet reflects on his pathway into the profession he almost gave up

Redbridge Council’s Flood Awareness Roadshow will visit Wanstead this month. Head of Highways Dhiresh Bhatt reports on what the sessions will offer local residents

In the first of a series of articles by those who have benefitted from the existence of Wanstead Youth Centre – which is under threat of closure – Kate Sloan reports on the situation so far

Wanstead resident Geoff Horsnell writes in response to an article published in the Evening Standard entitled ‘Three pools planned in East London to capitalise on demand for open-air swimming’

The Leader of Redbridge Council, Councillor Jas Athwal, responds to residents’ concerns over the future of Wanstead Youth Centre and addresses the council’s budgeting for leisure facilities in the borough

Sarah Thornley from Thames21 invites you to help clean up a stretch of the River Roding adjacent to Wanstead Park as part of Plasticblitz 2023, an annual mass cleanup of UK water bodies

A number of residents from the Aldersbrook and Lakehouse Estates are preparing to open their gardens again this summer for the annual Aldersbrook Open Garden Trail. Ruth Martin reports

The latest novel by Peter Chegwidden is a tale of love and tragedy which draws on memories of growing up in Wanstead and South Woodford in the 1950s and 1960s. Here, the author shares some of those memories

Wanstead Park has been a constant for the whole of my life, yet it’s a place of evolving change, reflects Paul Donovan, who believes humankind must take a step back to move forward

Wren Wildlife Group member Sybil Ritten needs help surveying Wanstead’s stag beetle population this summer

Since 2013, a seller is required to state whether Japanese knotweed is present on their property. Derek Inkpin from local solicitors Axiom DWFM looks at the legal implications of this invasive weed

Ann Holmes reflects on 100 years of lawn bowling at Wanstead Bowling Club, and invites residents to have a go at this historic sport at this month’s open day event

In the 32nd of a series of articles, David Bird discusses the work of Redbridge Music Society and introduces Belgian harpist Lise Vandermissen, who will be performing in Wanstead this month

On 27 May, the St Mary’s Church organ will be 100 years old. A weekend festival of music will celebrate this centenary and Michael Blighton – who tunes the organ – will give a talk about the instrument