Friday 26 November 2021
Starting tomorrow (Saturday 27 November) Havering Council is to provide free parking in all its car parks at weekends until 2 January 2022.
This is to help support local businesses in our high streets and town centres in the run-up to Christmas and over the festive period. It is also to encourage people in Havering to shop in our borough.
It has been a tough couple of years for many businesses and families because of the awful coronavirus pandemic. I hope that this move will just help a little in making the festive season more enjoyable for many this year.
I'd like to thank Living in Havering reader George for writing to me recently asking me to highlight another scam that has been attempted - this time related to parking in Market Place, Romford.
George and his wife parked their car with their blue badge and time set correctly. A young woman started to talk to them saying that blue badge holders must register their car details on the pay and display machine. She said they should use the machine in front of the church.
When this person then said they should put a debit card in the machine they realised something was wrong so didn't get the card out. The woman left quickly but George reported this to a group of PCO’s nearby who said that she was probably going to snatch the debit card and run.
If you are a vulnerable blue badge holder please be wary of anyone standing close by when using any cards for payments, and report any suspicions to the Police.
If you want to contact me directly, you can email me. Otherwise, have a great weekend, and stay safe.
Cllr Damian White
Leader, Havering Council
Havering Council has teamed up with local nightclubs, pubs and bars to help keep people safer against the threat of drink spiking and injections.
Spiking someone’s drink or injecting someone with drugs via a needle or syringe, has been a major concern across the country recently.
The Council is supporting venues across the borough that are doing their bit in helping to reduce the risk and help residents and those visiting the borough have a safe and enjoyable night out.
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Havering Council is supporting 16 days of action to work towards the prevention and the end of violence against women and girls.
The campaign began yesterday (25 November) with the annual White Ribbon Day.
Since 1991 thousands of bodies, including Amnesty International and the World Health Organisation have contributed to promoting and supporting this campaign. (Read why the campaign runs for 16 days).
It is said that one in four women and one in seven men will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime.
In Havering, there were 4,480 incidents of domestic abuse reported in the year to April 2020 and 4,410 incidents in the year to April 2021.
Meanwhile, the number of referrals into Havering Council’s domestic abuse support services continue to be the highest they have ever been.
As part of the 16 days of action, the Council will be hosting a special webinar for staff and partners working with the Council against domestic violence, plus supporting the national campaign.
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Advertorial
Are you a parent of a child aged three or four?
If so, your child is due to start at an infant or primary school in September 2022 and you should apply now for your child’s place.
If you live in Havering, you can apply online.
If you live outside of the borough you should apply to the local authority you pay your Council Tax to.
If your child attends a school nursery then please remember that you must still apply online for a place in the Reception year.
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 The national booking system is open to book an appointment for a booster dose if it's been at least five months since your second jab and you're in one of these groups:
- aged 40 and over
- aged 16 and over with a health condition that puts you at high risk from COVID-19.
If you go through the national booking system, you will be offered appointment dates that start from six months after the date of your second jab.
See the banners above and below for details of walk-in vaccine clinics in Harold Hill and Hornchurch and over the weekend.
For other vaccination sites you can book a jab online.
Havering Council runs a scheme to support local businesses and give shoppers the confidence they need to return to retail and hospitality in the area.
The aim of the Let's be safe together scheme, which is free to join, is to reassure customers that an establishment is going above and beyond to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
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Advertorial
Are you missing out on free childcare for your 2 year old?
You may be entitled to claim a maximum of 11 hours free childcare per week throughout the year, or a maximum of 15 hours per week during term time.
You may qualify if:
- you have a child aged two years (funding will be available from the term after their second birthday)
- your family is living on a low income or claiming income based benefits
For more information and to apply please visit www.havering.gov.uk/earlyyears
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One in five of the UK population live below the poverty line.
You can help during the festive season by donating to your local Food Bank.
Havering Council's Housing Community Engagement team will be based outside the Town Hall, Main Road, Romford, between 9am and midday on the next three Tuesdays - 30 November, 7 and 14 December.
Please drop off your donations with the team. Suitable items for donation include long-life fruit, sugar, tinned fish, UHT milk, coffee, biscuits and shower gel.
If you have any enquiries, please contact the Community Engagement team by email.
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 St Edward the Confessor Church in Market Place, Romford, is holding its Christmas Bazaar tomorrow (Saturday 27 November) between 10am and 2pm. There will be handcrafted gifts, refreshments and cake, bell-ringers, mulled wine and more.
The Collier Row Candyland Christmas event in Collier Row High Street takes place on Friday 3 December between 4 and 8pm. It's free to attend. You can enjoy Santa's Grotto, fairground rides, music, face painting, reindeer and arts and crafts, and meet Olaf and friends.
The Harold Hill Christmas lights switch on event is on Saturday 4 December. Running from 12 noon to 6pm on Saturday 4 December it takes place in the Harold Hill Shopping Centre, Hilldene Avenue. There will be a free Father Christmas grotto and face paints, Christmas market, food, music, entertainment, and dancing.
Havering U3A meets at 2.30pm on the second Wednesday of the month at St.Michael’s Church Hall, Main Road, Gidea Park. On Wednesday 8 December, hear from Daniela Bartlett with her talk "Tis the Season to Be Jolly". For more information see their website.
The Arts Society, Havering's next monthly lecture is on Tuesday 14 December. The title is Christmas at Covent Garden: 300 years of Christmas Shows at One of London’s Great Theatres. More details on the Society's website.
A market devoted to local arts, crafts and Christmas stallholders is open now in the Liberty Shopping Centre in Romford.
This indoor market can be found in the former Ernest Jones Unit.
Stalls vary day by day, and it is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9.30am until 5.30pm until Thursday 23 December.
For more information send an email to Havering Council's arts team.
Hornchurch Photographic Society is looking for new members. It meets on Monday evenings at 7.45 for an 8pm start. The meetings run until 10pm at Ardleigh House, 42 Ardleigh Green Road, Hornchurch RM11 2LG.
Membership is normally £40 a year plus £3 each week for tea or coffee and biscuits but it has been pro-rata'd to £20 for membership until April next year. Prospective new members can visit for three weeks to see if they want to join the Society. Contact the Chairman Jean McGowan by email or call 01708 727694, or the club's general secretary, Ray Sweetman, on 01708 449177.
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Havering Council’s annual Para Art Exhibition is now open for submissions.
To submit artwork, either take a good quality photograph of the work (ideally 1MB or larger), and email it, or deliver your artwork to Fairkytes Arts Centre, where it will be included in an exhibition in Fry’s Gallery.
Please check Fairkytes opening hours before visiting.
A Christmas Bazaar supporting Saint Francis Hospice will be held on Saturday 11 December at the Rush Green Community Association, Rush Green Road, Romford, RM7 0LB.
There's free entry to the event that runs from 1pm to 4pm. Car parking is available. Meet Father Christmas and enjoy a tombola, local craft stalls, sweet gifts and prize raffles.
The Havering Singers Christmas Concert is on Saturday 18 December. The show begins at 7.30pm at Holy Cross Church, 260 Hornchurch Road, Hornchurch RM11 1PX with the admission cost being £12 for adults or £5 for children.
It's a concert of traditional carols with a few musical surprises. See their website for more details. To book tickets send them an email or call 01708 341265.
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Romford BID has again teamed up with High Street Safari to run a free augmented reality trail in Romford Town Centre this festive season.
The trail is completely contactless and anyone with a smartphone can take part.
The use of augmented reality means that players can not only discover the characters in participating businesses windows, but they actually get to see them burst to life right in front of them.
The trail is a story-driven experience that players can complete in any order and, while being engaging and fun, is designed to encourage people to get out, do some walking, and discover hidden parts of Romford.
The trail takes about 45 minutes to complete but can be completed in more than one visit.
Finally, Everyone Active is hosting adult Just Play Football sessions in Noak Hill Sports Complex on Monday evenings, 7 - 8pm. The sessions cost just £3.50 and can be booked via the Everyone Active app, or by calling 03330 050448.
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A free online training session is being run by the Red Cross on Friday 10 December.
Tackling Loneliness is the title of the session that runs from 2pm until 3.30pm.
This training is recommended for community leaders, or anyone with an interest in learning more about how to counter loneliness within our community.
If you would like to join the session, please email Emily Knight, Havering Council's Prevent and Hate Crime Coordinator.
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Havering Council's Autumn Blitz of deep-cleaning activities across the borough, as part of its COVID-19 recovery plans, continues.
The campaign focuses on sprucing up Havering's streets with around 1,200 completed to date.
Recently, dedicated crews have been tackling fallen leaves, no small task given the 20,000 street trees in the borough. (Pictured: McIntosh Road, Romford)
Other work taking place includes weeding, grass cutting, and litter picking.
If you see fly-tips or other rubbish issues please report them using our website or the Love Havering app.
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£2.4 million of investment in protecting and restoring the local landscape has enabled new jobs to be created across the area.
The Land of the Fanns Landscape Partnership Scheme has operated since 2016 and covers an area spread over East London and South West Essex, including parts of Havering.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has part-funded the five year Land of the Fanns scheme which is now drawing to a close.
In a position part-funded by the Land of the Fanns, Alex Hewitt (pictured) was appointed as the Tree Nursery and Community Engagement Officer at Thames Chase Trust in 2019. This post and has now developed to include work on other local nature conservation projects.
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Congratulations to Lauren MacIntyre, (pictured).
The Director of Corporate Affairs and Company Secretary of North East London NHS Foundation Trust was named ‘Company Secretary of the Year’ at The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland’s 2021 Awards, which took place last week.
Congratulations also to Learning Resource Network (LRN), based in Romford. In April 2020, LRN received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise (International Trade). LRN was one of only 220 organisations in Britain to be recognised with this prestigious accolade. This was recognition of the expansion which LRN had brought to the overseas qualification market.
Earlier this week their award was presented to them by the Deputy Lieutenant Nick Bracken, OBE, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen.
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Havering Council gritting trucks (pictured) were out last night (Thursday) after reports of potentially icy weather. This was the first time this winter that the trucks have been called into action.
Springfield Gardens in Upminster will be closed at its junction with Corbets Tey Road for gas main replacement work until 5pm on Sunday (28 November), or the completion of the work, if sooner. A diversion will be signposted.
Essex and Suffolk Water will be working outside Latchford Farm, in St Marys Lane, Upminster, until this Sunday (28 November).
Station Road, Harold Wood will be closed between 8am and 4pm this Sunday (28 November) for overhead line work by Openreach.
Work to make a new gas connection in Broxhill Road, Havering-atte-Bower, will mean that two-way temporary traffic signals will be in use from Monday 29 November to Friday 3 December.
TfL will be carrying out night-time carriageway resurfacing work on the A12 Eastern Avenue eastbound until Sunday 19 December.
The work, between the junctions with Mawney Road and Pettits Lane will mean a closure of the eastbound carriageway from the junction with A1112 Whalebone Lane North to Straight Road each night during that period between 10pm and 5am.
During these times local bus routes 66, 103, 175, 247, 252, 294, 296, 365, 375, 499 and 651 may be on diversion and subject to delays. Please allow more time for your journey.
Gas main replacement work in Bridge Road at the junction of Brookdale Avenue, in Upminster, will require the use of temporary traffic signals and is expected to last until 6 December.
Heather Avenue, in Rise Park, will be closed between its junctions with A12 Eastern Avenue East and Heather Drive and Heather Glen for work by Essex and Suffolk Water, from Monday 6 December until 13 December, or the completion of the work if that happens earlier. Ashmour Gardens, also in Rise Park, will also be closed at its junction with Heather Avenue on the same dates for work by this company.
On the tracks
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Due to Network Rail engineering work, c2c services between Barking and London Fenchurch Street this weekend (27 and 28 November), will be diverted to start and terminate at London Liverpool Street station.
On Sunday (28 November), due to Network Rail engineering work in connection with the Barking Riverside project, Rainham line services will not be running. Rail replacement buses will run between Upminster and Grays via Rainham.
Advance warnings:
Travel to Heathrow Airport will be affected by planned closures throughout the festive period, from Friday 24 December to Monday 3 January. Check TfL's Festive travel page for more information.
On Saturday 25 December (Christmas Day) there will be no service on Docklands Light Railway, Greater Anglia, London Overground, London Trams, London Underground and TfL Rail services.
TfL Rail and Greater Anglia will not be running any trains on Boxing Day, Sunday 26 December.
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