Friday 28 May 2021
 Today (Friday 28 May) is the first day of the Great British Spring Clean. This is an annual campaign run by the environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy.
We have a great community of volunteers in the borough and this involves litter picking. Therefore we would like to work with residents again to keep our borough clean and tidy so that everyone can be proud of living, working and going to school in Havering.
If you can support that effort by grabbing a litter picker and help clean up your community we would be so grateful.
Now the sun is finally shining, let's see Havering at its best. You can read more about this year's campaign, and how you can borrow litter pickers, gloves and waste bags from the Council to help in your local clean-up efforts, in the article later in this newsletter.
Last Friday I met members of our street triage team in South Street, Romford (pictured). As lockdown eases we know that more people will want to visit Romford's brilliant range of pubs and restaurants.
The street triage team will not only play a crucial role in helping people, they will also be helping ensure police officers’ time is freed up to focus on tackling crime.
They will be able to make sure that ambulances are not unnecessarily called to the town centre on Friday and Saturday nights. Read more on the scheme below.
Lastly, if you want to contact me directly, you can email me. However, please be patient as there may be a delay in getting back to you due to the volume of messages I am receiving.
Stay safe and have a great Bank Holiday weekend.
Cllr Damian White
Leader, Havering Council
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Havering Council and Romford BID have teamed-up to run a street triage team in Romford on Friday and Saturday nights.
The team, consisting of two medics and a security guard, offers support to injured or unwell people on nights out in the town centre.
It will act as a first response for police, pub and restaurant staff, and street pastors who work to keep the town centre safe at weekends.
As the roadmap out of lockdown continues, the team will play a key role in keeping people safe on nights out, and reduce the amount of unnecessary ambulance trips, freeing up important NHS resources.
The scheme is partly funded by Romford BID, an organisation working to improve Romford Town Centre for visitors and businesses.
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As pandemic restrictions ease, Havering Council has been asking local young people what life in lockdown has been like for them.
We asked them to tell us in stories, videos and poems, how they coped and share their insights and inspirations.
Young people between the ages of eight and 17 told us how they learned new skills, got fit, set up new initiatives, got closer to their family, and even attended a round table event with London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Their stories are now featured in a new virtual booklet – Life in Lockdown.
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Pay your Council Tax by Direct Debit and you can choose from three different dates: the first, fifteenth or twenty-first of each month.
Simply complete an online form.
This is a safe, simple and secure way of making payments plus you are covered by the Direct Debit guarantee for a refund if something goes wrong.
Full details of all the help currently available, including if you are facing financial hardship, can also be viewed online.
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If you are aged 30 or over, or will be by 1 July this year, you can book your COVID-19 vaccination now.
Take up of the vaccine is a key way in helping to get things back to normal and will protect you, your friends and your family.
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To help make sure you're not passing on COVID-19 without knowing, regular, twice-weekly rapid testing for people without symptoms is available for everyone in Havering.
You should still use testing even if you have had one or both doses of the COVID-19 vaccination.
You can order home test kits or pick them up from test centres, some libraries and most pharmacies. There are over fifty places in Havering. Find your nearest testing site and collection point.
If you aren't sure how to do a rapid test at home, visit one of these centres first and be shown by the professionals. You can then take a test kit home with you to use in subsequent weeks.
You can also order a test kit online.
Have symptoms?
It remains vitally important to book a test if you have COVID-19 symptoms.
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Once you have been vaccinated you can check and show your COVID-19 vaccination status by using an app.
You can view and download your COVID-19 vaccination status using the NHS App.
You need to create an NHS login to use the NHS App, if you do not have one already.
NHS login registrations may take longer than usual when there are high numbers of requests. If you are thinking of using this app to demonstrate your COVID-19 vaccination status you will need to register at least two weeks before you want to use it.
This app is NOT the NHS COVID-19 app.
The NHS App is available on iOS and Android. To use it you must be aged 13 and over and registered with a GP surgery in England.
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Havering Council is again supporting The Great British Spring Clean, an annual campaign run by the environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy.
The campaign runs from today until Sunday 13 June.
This year you are encouraged to grab a litter picker and help clean up your community.
Residents can borrow up to six litter pickers, gloves and waste bags from the Council. To book them send us an email. Once confirmed, residents can collect the pickers from the Harrow Lodge Depot, Hornchurch Road, RM11 1JU, between 9am and 3pm Monday to Friday.
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 The Land of the Fanns Partnership project is running a photography competition for amateur photographers.
You could win one of three prizes in vouchers (1st prize £80, 2nd prize £50, 3rd prize £20).
Your photos should be taken from any part of the Land of the Fanns area using ‘Wish for the future’ as your theme.
Photographs from the competition will be used in Land of the Fanns marketing, social media and on its website.
To enter email your photo(s), which must be at least 1MB in size, along with a title, brief description, your name, address, telephone number, with the date and location of the photo by 30 June 2021.
The Partnership project has also organised a series of walks around our local beautiful countryside.
These walks will be led by experienced walkers who can share local knowledge.
Here are some of the upcoming dates:
Saturday 29 May 10am at RSPB Rainham Marshes.
Friday 4 June 10.30am at Bedfords Park and Walled Garden (family friendly).
Friday 4 June 2pm at Dagnam Park.
All walks need to be booked via Eventbrite.
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Local Area Coordination is a new service in Havering to support people in the community.
This service can help people make links in their community, or help with personal challenges such as mental health struggles.
The service is currently available in Harold Hill, Rainham and South Hornchurch.
Local Area Coordinators are now being recruited for the Havering Park and Mawneys wards. Could that be you? If you think it could, email Amanda Flower.
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If you’re an EU citizen and were living in the UK by 31st December 2020, you need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, even if you have permanent residence.
You, a relation, neighbour or friend can call the helpline on 0300 123 7379 to get practical advice on the application process.
Don’t leave it any longer, the deadline is 30 June 2021.
There are still cases of local residents coming to light where people affected by the upcoming deadline were not aware that they had to make an application to the EU Settlement Scheme. This includes an 80-year-old Swedish man living in Rainham
If this affects you, or you know someone who may need assistance, let them know that free advice and help is also available from HoPEC's office in the Mercury Mall, Romford. It's open on Mondays, and Wednesday to Friday between 10am and 4pm. Alternatively you can call 07869 558880 or send them an email.
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Wrexham Road in Harold Hill is closed at its junction with Woodbridge Lane due to widening of the road. The work is expected to be completed by 5pm tomorrow, Saturday 29 May.
Fyfield Road in South Hornchurch will be closed at its junction with Rainham Road tomorrow (29 May) for the installation of a traffic island.
On the same day, Saturday 29 May, Market Link in Romford Town Centre will be closed between Ducking Stool Court and Market Place from 7pm until 11pm. This is to enable the dismantling and removal of a crane.
A special anti-skid surface will be laid in Slewins Lane on the approaches to The Drill roundabout and Ardleigh Green Road on Tuesday 1 June. During the work, which will be carried out overnight, Slewins Lane will be closed to through traffic with diversions in place.
In late May and early in June parts of Upper Rainham Road will be resurfaced. The overnight work means that the road will be closed to through traffic between Roneo Link and Elm Park Avenue with diversions in place on the nights of 28 May, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 8 and 9 June. Then on the nights of 10 and 11 June, Upper Rainham Road will be closed between Elm Park Avenue and Wood Lane with diversions in place.
Early in June parts of Upper Rainham Road will be resurfaced. The overnight work means that the road will be closed to through traffic between Roneo Link and Elm Park Avenue with diversions in place on the nights of 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8 June. Then from 7.30pm on 9 June, until 6am on 10 June, Upper Rainham Road will be closed between Roneo Corner and Wood Lane.
From Saturday 5 June until Friday 11 June temporary traffic lights will be in operation at the junction of Haven Road and New Road in Rainham. This is for resurfacing and drainage works associated with the Bellway Homes development.
Part of the Romford ring road between its junctions with Main Road and North Street will be resurfaced in mid-June. The work on St Edwards Way will take place at night.
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Due to Network Rail undertaking track maintenance work between Barking and London Fenchurch Street from 8.40pm on Monday 31 May, c2c services will be diverted to start and terminate at London Liverpool Street.
c2c tickets will be accepted on District Line services between Tower Hill and Barking, and Jubilee Line or Docklands Light Railway services between West Ham and Stratford.
On Sunday 30 and Monday 31 May there will be no District Line tube service between West Ham and Edgware Road.
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