Saturday 23 April will see Romford Market celebrating St George's Day.

Visitors will be able to enjoy FREE face painting, The Royal British Legion Band and Corps of Drums Romford, The Hornchurch Drum and Trumpet Corps, The Haverettes All Girls Marching Band, Rock Band Nice n Sleezy, and the Town Crier in fine voice.  Two artists from the Romford's Talent Event are also appearing - Aaron Floyd (Winner) and Sammy-Jo Evans (from BBCs "The Voice ").

​Havering Council is promising to come down hard on fly-tippers after ten tonnes of rubbish (pictured) was dumped in Little Gerpins Lane, Upminster on Thursday 7 April.

​The massive fly-tip, which was nine feet high and 23 feet long, completely blocked the road. Initial estimates suggest that it will cost more than £10,000 to remove and dispose of correctly.

The Council has successfully prosecuted 10 fly-tippers in the past year resulting in several thousands of pounds worth of fines and costs to be paid by those responsible.

Residents can help by reporting fly-tipping here as soon as they see it. If they see it happening, they should dial 999 and tell the police. If they can safely take photographs, including vehicle registration numbers, to send to the Council that is helpful as evidence for subsequent court cases.

If you have any details about this massive fly-tip please contact us. Click here for more information about this incident and report fly-tipping incidents here.

Havering Council has had another successful prosecution of a Designated Premises Supervisor for selling alcohol to someone under the age of 18 years.

On Friday 15 April at Barkingside Magistrates Court Mrs Jagruti Patel, of Sheena News, 129 Wennington Road, Rainham was ordered to pay £1,000 for selling a bottle of Kopperberg cider to someone under the age of 18 on Wednesday 3 June 2015. Mrs Patel pleaded guilty and was fined £135, ordered to pay £845 in costs and a victim surcharge of £20, a total of £1,000.

As part of the Safer Havering campaign test purchases will continue across the borough. Licensees must make sure staff are properly trained to avoid breaking the law. Find out more here.

On Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 April, junior doctors will be staging a full walk-out. This is different from previous strike action because, until now, junior doctors have still provided emergency care. During those two days care at Accident and Emergency departments will be limited to only the most critical cases.

During this period you may find that previously booked appointments have been cancelled and alternatives to Accident and Emergency, such as walk-in centres, GPs and urgent care centres will be busier than normal. During the strike, information will be available here on the details of the strike and what to do if you need medical advice or attention.

FreeSport is offering grants of up to £1,500 for sports organisations. FreeSport, in association with Coca-Cola Zero ParkLives, funds sports clubs, youth groups and community organisations to provide free sports activities for Londoners.

Applications are now open for grants to run activities between Monday 18 July and Monday 31 October, which includes the school summer and autumn half-term holidays. Deadline for applications is Monday 9 May. Click here for more details and to apply.

The Raphael Park and Romford Tennis League is inviting residents of all ages and abilities to join the local tennis league which will run from Thursday 28 April until Wednesday 22 June. Matches will take place at Raphael Park.

To take part you must sign up here by Monday 25 April.

The next event at Fairkytes Live, as part of Jazz Appreciation Month is on Friday 29 April, when Leandra Varanda (pictured) and Jonathan Preiss will be performing. Book your tickets here.

See details of other events in the Fairkytes Live programme here.

Sign up here for a  new email update being launched this month to give regular information about concerts, events, workshops and courses at Fairkytes Arts Centre.

Havering Local Studies and Family History Centre, based at Romford Library, is looking for volunteers to help local people with their research, catalogue and archive artefacts and help arrange exhibitions. If you are interested please complete the online form here for more details.

(Pictured: Romford Branch Library c1950)

Havering is representing London in the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Britain in Bloom competition 2016 and we need your help to win. We are calling for all residents, community groups, schools and businesses to plan a project. This can range from adding flowers to all front gardens on a residential street or creating a community allotment to grow vegetables. Find out more about what Havering is doing for the competition here.

We are also asking residents to send in gardening tips and photos of outstanding gardens, creative business greenery, school or community groups taking part in gardening activities, unusual plants/green spaces or any photographic images that you think might be the Photo of the Week (Pictured: Forsythia in Lodge Farm Park). You can also like our Facebook page here.

Azra Karatay is the proud winner of the Council’s Britain in Bloom Schools Logo competition. The Mayor of Havering, Councillor Brian Eagling, presented Azra, age seven, with a certificate and voucher for £50 (pictured left).

The Mayor of London and London Assembly elections are on Thursday 5 May. A by-election will also take place in the Heaton ward on the same day, following the resignation of Philip Hyde.

The Referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union will be on Thursday 23 June.

You need to be on the electoral register to vote. You can register to vote here.

If you need to update your details or if somebody has moved out, you can email the elections team.

Find out more about these votes and the deadlines, how to be added to the register or how to apply for postal or proxy votes here. 

Havering Council’s adult social care commissioning team is inviting people and organisations which provide social care to attend an engagement and consultation forum on Monday 25 April to help plan adult social care priorities.

Attendees will have the opportunity to influence the priorities and how we'll be moving forward. Book your places here or fill in our online sign-up form to create your account.

If you own a dog a new law, which came into force on Wednesday 6 April, means it must be micro-chipped.

You can get your dog micro-chipped at your local vet or by The Dog’s Trust. More details of free microchipping sessions in Havering here.

More than 99,900 subscribers now receive the award winning email updates from Havering Council including:

NEW THIS MONTH

Launching this month is a new email update for Havering Music School giving details of concerts, classes and other news. Sign up here to receive your copy.

The full list of award winning email updates currently produced by Havering Council can be seen here.

You can access information on everything happening in Havering by visiting our website.

You can also follow us on Twitter @LBofHavering, check out the Havering YouTube channel, see us on Instagram and stay up-to-date with Havering events on our Facebook page.