Friday 4 June 2021
 It's Fry Day and it's National Fish and Chip Day.
The day is designed to celebrate our iconic British dish from fish and chip shops, pub chains, retailers and restaurants, to the fishermen and women and farmers who provide the sustainable and natural ingredients needed to create this family favourite.
I hope, like me, you can support one of the many small businesses in our borough serving great British fish and chips.
Yesterday I visited Rock and Roe on the A12 in Harold Wood (pictured). If they continue to provide fish and chips as tasty as those I enjoyed this week, they won't have any difficulty in attracting customers.
Unfortunately, it's not such good news for our very popular Langtons Summer Concert, which usually takes place this month. It won't go ahead this year due to continuing COVID-19 restrictions on large scale events.
The event requires months of preparation before it is held, and the uncertainty as to whether mass gatherings can take place this summer, meant that the planning for it could not take place.
I am hopeful that with the success of the vaccination programme we will be able to enjoy events like the Langtons Summer Concert again in 2022.
Lastly, if you want to contact me directly, you can email me.
Stay safe and have a great weekend.
Cllr Damian White
Leader, Havering Council
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Over 35 miles of roads and 25 miles of pavements have been improved and repaired since Havering Council launched its £40m highways investment programme.
In 2019, after listening to residents who said a priority for them was to see pavements and roads improved, the Council committed to ploughing £10 million a year over four years, to invest into these works across the borough.
The aim is to make it easier and smoother for residents to get around the borough, see the pavements outside of their homes looking smart and safe to walk on, plus making them prouder of where they live.
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Havering businesses that paid for certain licences in the last year can now apply for a refund as part of the Council's comprehensive support package for local small businesses.
Businesses that paid for Special Treatment Licences, Pavement Licences, or Premises Licences for Marriage or Civil Partnership venues are eligible for a full refund on those fees.
To be eligible, licences must have been in effect during the pandemic.
Businesses can claim back the licence fee paid for the last year, as well as up to one renewal - even if the licence has not yet been renewed. For many businesses, this will mean that the Council will cover the licence fees for two years.
Eligible businesses need to claim their refund no later than 5pm on Friday 18 June 2021.
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As part of Carers Week (June 7- 11) Havering Carers' Hub is running online sessions via Zoom.
These sessions cover topics ranging from managing stress, to working carers' rights, to well-being yoga classes.
If you would like to join these sessions please follow the instructions on page 4 of the Havering Carers' newsletter.
If you are a carer and require support, want to discuss current issues, or to speak to fellow carers, contact the Havering Carers' Hub.
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 As part of the opening of the first Community Hub in the borough in Harold Hill on Tuesday (8 June), the Community Food Shop also opens up its doors for the first time.
The shop, managed by Peabody, will help families and individuals make their money go further, providing access to good quality food for less.
Members pay £5 per shop and choose ten or more grocery items, worth approximately £15. The Community Food Shop aims to help a weekly food bill go further and is open to anyone in the area every Tuesday from 1 to 5pm.
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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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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If you are aged 30 or over, or will be by 1 July this year, you can book your COVID-19 vaccination now.
You can also book a vaccination if you're a frontline health or social care worker, or you get a Carer's Allowance, get support following an assessment by your local authority, or your GP record shows you're a carer.
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.
Remember that you don't have full protection until you have received both doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
The vaccination centre at Hornchurch Library is closing on 30 June as a permanent COVID-19 vaccination site. Staff and volunteers there have done a superb job helping Havering to be one of the most vaccinated areas of London.
Hornchurch residents will still be able to get their vaccine in Havering either at the Liberty Shopping Centre in Romford, or the Day Lewis Pharmacy in Gooshays Drive, Harold Hill, which began offering vaccination appointments this week.
Both of these sites are available to book on the national booking site although you will only see the site that is giving out the appropriate vaccine for your age group or condition. Anyone having difficulty on the national site can call 119.
Closure of the Hornchurch library site will enable the NHS workforce staffing the vaccine centre to continue to cater for the primary care needs of the local population, and support people with long-term conditions and urgent care needs.
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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 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 Sycamore Trust UK supports families and individuals in Havering for whom Autism is part of daily life.
As we emerge from lockdown, Sycamore Trust have resumed their youth clubs for young people with Autism.
The Havering youth club meets on a Wednesday evening in Rainham.
Young people with high functioning Autism aged 10-16, who attend a mainstream school are invited to attend a lively group that teaches important life skills, improves communication and boosts self-esteem.
New members are always welcome. For more information, visit their website or send them an email.
Havering Singing for The Brain 2020 (pictured) is a weekly social and musical group for people living with dementia and their carers.
New members are very welcome and invited to enjoy live music with an entertainer and perhaps even dancing.
COVID-19 restrictions permitting, meetings are due to restart on Wednesday 23 June, 10.30am – 1pm, at St Michael’s Church, Main Road, Gidea Park, Romford, RM2 5EL.
Each session is £5 per person, including refreshments. First session is free for new members.
If you're interested, please see their website for further information and contact details.
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From Monday, 7 June, the children’s Emergency Departments at both King George and Queen’s hospitals will be open around the clock, seven days a week.
On the same day a Children and Young People’s Assessment Unit (CYPAU) will open at Queen’s Hospital in Romford.
The CYPAU is a purpose-built space to assess children and is designed to stop them from being admitted to hospital unless it's absolutely necessary. Instead, young people can be assessed and treated at the CYPAU before returning home.
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Overnight resurfacing work in Upper Rainham Road 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 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.
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.
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On Thursday, 17 June, 4-way temporary traffic lights will be in use between 9.30am and 3pm at the Waterloo Road roundabout in Romford near Queen's Hospital. This is to allow the Council's street lighting contractor, Volker Highways, to repair a damaged lamp column (pictured) and install new bollards.
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.
Oldchurch Road in Romford will be resurfaced later this month. Work on the section between Rom Valley Way and Crow Lane will begin on 23 June, and on 29 June for the section between Waterloo Road and South Street.
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Due to Network Rail undertaking track maintenance work between Barking and London Fenchurch Street on Saturday 5 June, 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.
Due to Network Rail undertaking engineering work in connection with the Barking Riverside Project, c2c services will not run on the Rainham line on Sunday (6 June). Rail replacement buses will run between Upminster and Grays via Rainham.
District Line tube trains will not run this weekend (5 and 6 June) between Earls Court or Kensington Olympia and Dagenham East. Replacement buses will operate.
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