Sadly many homes and buildings were destroyed or damaged by the fires as the Leader of Havering Council, Cllr Ray Morgon, saw for himself during a visit yesterday (pictured).

Watch Cllr Morgon's video message recorded during his visit.

Road closures

A number of roads around Wennington village are likely to remain closed throughout today. 

At the time of writing, these roads include Lambs Lane at its junction with New Road, New Road at its junction with Sandy Lane, Wennington Road at its junction with New Road, East Hall Lane at its junction with New Road, and Eastwood Drive.

Village reopened

The emergency services and Havering Council have worked hard to make Wennington village safe and this afternoon (Thursday) were able to open the village to residents whose homes were evacuated but not destroyed by the fires.

Access will be on foot only. Residents should park their cars at Willow Farm Premier Inn. Havering Council has arranged shuttle buses that will take those residents to their homes if they are unable to walk.

There will be Havering staff on site to support residents and further information will be provided about ongoing support to those affected within the community.

Power supplies

Emergency electricity has been restored to the properties that weren’t destroyed in the fire. Unfortunately, some properties still have no gas supply at this time. The gas provider Cadent will be on site to provide support in the meantime with temporary measures including electric hobs.

Please be aware that the electricity supply is a temporary emergency supply and returning residents are therefore advised to try and use as little electricity as possible until normal supply is restored.

Emergency contact numbers for the power supply companies are published on our website.

Clean up

Teams of Havering Council workers are now beginning the clean-up operation including putting hoarding around the affected buildings, clearing up debris, removing spoiled food left in undamaged houses that had to be evacuated, and setting up traffic lights to ensure safe pedestrian crossings.

If you have been displaced by the fire in Wennington but don't have access to a car and need transport, please call Harrow Lodge Leisure Centre on 01708 454135 to arrange that for you.

Keeping in touch

If you are a resident who has been evacuated from the Wennington fire area but are not receiving Havering Council's special text messages for those directly affected by the fire, then please email us with your name, address and telephone number and we will make sure you are added to the list of people receiving those messages.

If you can't email us, call 01708 432824 (9am to 5pm weekdays) or 01708 433999 (5pm to 9am and at the weekend). Please share this message with anyone you know who has been affected. 

How you can help

Lastly, the response to this tragedy has been overwhelming with many kind-hearted residents and shops donating items and wanting to help those recovering from the effects of the fires by setting up online fundraising campaigns.

Specifically, Havering Council will be looking to assist those residents whose homes have been damaged or destroyed and who don't have insurance.

The Wennington Fire Support Fund, set up by The Salvation Army and supported by Havering Council, will coordinate and distribute support to the families and individuals impacted by the fires and provide some extra help to those in need.

The funds raised will be allocated by a panel which will include representatives of the Council, The Salvation Army and trusted partners to ensure all funds go safely to the right places and people. 

As the community tries to rebuild and restore, the fund will build on the acts of kindness and donations that have already been seen since the fires. 

If you wish to help those most in need please donate to this fund and share the details with friends and family who may not receive this newsletter. 

Donate

In happier news for the south of the borough, despite the COVID-19 pandemic good progress is being made on the construction of Rainham's new leisure centre (pictured).

The build, which began in January this year, has its steel frame and concrete base in place as visible signs of progress.

The Leader of Havering Council, Cllr Ray Morgon, Cabinet members, and local councillors visited the site last week to see what has been achieved so far.

The new centre is being built using a modern design structure and will include a range of facilities such as a six-lane swimming pool, dance and spinning studio and a 72-station fitness suite.

It is expected to be completed and handed over to Everyone Active, the company that runs leisure centres on behalf of Havering Council, in June 2023 and open to the public shortly afterwards.

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The vast majority of households living in Council Tax properties banded A to D have now received their £150 Energy Rebate to help with the rising cost of energy bills.

If you haven’t received your Energy Rebate payment because you don’t pay your Council Tax by Direct Debit, you can still check if you are eligible and apply now.

If an eligible household doesn’t claim the money by the end of July it will be credited to their Council Tax account instead.

If you need help contact Havering’s Council Tax customer services on 01708 433997.

Due to the extreme hot weather earlier this week, refuse collections in Havering are beginning an hour earlier than usual this week.

So if your usual collection day is Friday please make sure you have your black and orange sacks out by 6am tomorrow (Friday 22 July).

Due to the fire in Wennington earlier this week, and some road closures still in place in the area, there may be some delays to waste and recycling collections in Rainham tomorrow (Friday).

Please still have your bags out by 6am and any delays to collections will be posted on our website. Thanks for your understanding.

Collections will go back to the usual 7am start from Monday (25 July).

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Over eight million UK households on means-tested benefits will automatically get the first Cost of Living payment instalment of £326 this month. 

This means that, combined with other support, millions of low-income households across the UK will receive at least £1,200 from the Government by Christmas to ease cost of living pressures. 

The £326 payment – the first of two cost of living payments – will automatically hit most eligible people's bank accounts by 31 July. Those on Tax Credit and no other benefits will receive their first payment by the autumn. 

A second payment of £324 will follow from the autumn, with separate payments for pensioners and disabled people also coming later this year.

If you are eligible for this financial support you don't have to do anything.

You don't have to apply for the payment and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that is making the payments will never ask for your personal details by SMS text message or email.

Scammers are attempting to obtain personal information from customers by sending out texts suggesting that customers who are eligible for these payments need to make applications. Ignore any such emails or texts. 

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Free swimming for school-aged children during school holidays has returned for the summer.

Bookings can be made this week for sessions from Monday 25 July.

Book

As we have seen this week with the horrendous events in Wennington and elsewhere, fire is a real risk when the ground is so dry.

A small fire broke out in Dagnam Park last weekend and while thankfully no one was injured, it did damage a tree and also areas where wildlife live (pictured).

While you may want to eat al fresco (outside) in warm weather, cooking on a barbecue or a fire is illegal in our parks.

Camping and unlicensed music events on Havering's parks are also not allowed.

Please help us keep our parks a safe place to be as we prepare to mark Love Parks Week, backed by the Keep Britain Tidy campaign.

Parks give our communities, our children, and our pets a vital space to play, grow, and bond.  

Love Parks Week (29 July to 5 August) is set up to celebrate and support the efforts of volunteers and workers who maintain and protect our green spaces.

If you're planning to enjoy our parks this weekend, please remember to think about what you do with your litter. Discarded glass and cigarette butts can cause wildfires.

If a bin is full, find another or take it home.

Our staff are doing their best to empty bins as much as possible, but please help us keep Havering clean.

Havering’s Safer Neighbourhood Board (SNB) discussed tackling crime, anti-social behaviour and more, at its conference last week.

Speakers at the event, held at the Salvation Army, Romford, included the Police Borough Commander for East Area, Stuart Bell, who outlined his vision and commitment on crime prevention and solving crime for the borough.

Chris McAvoy, Havering Council’s Head of Environmental Enforcement and Community Safety (pictured), talked about the ways in which the Council is tackling crime and disorder, and how they work in partnership with the police and other community groups.

There were also talks on being aware of cyber and fraud crime, information on the Online Watch Link (OWL) messaging service for Neighbourhood Watch groups, and the work of our local Neighbourhood Watch groups. The event was hosted by Shelley Hart, SNB Chair.

Find out more

The number of people with COVID-19 in London is high and rising.

As the graph shows, 5.3 per cent of Londoners were estimated by the Office for National Statistics to be infected with COVID-19 on 6 July.

Don't let COVID-19 ruin your summer plans. Vaccinations reduce your chances of being ill and passing on the virus. It's not too late to get vaccinated.

Book your jab

The architecture, sounds, and voices of nearly 100 people all form part of a new, temporary art installation in Romford Market Place.

Called The Rising Sun, it's designed to represent a public house on the outside.

Inside spectators will be bathed in a haze of light that follows the movements of the sun (pictured).

The Rising Sun has been created by David Shearing, a Romford-based, award-winning artist and is funded by Arts Council England, Romford BID, and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

The project is supported by Havering Council, Havering Changing and Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch.

The Rising Sun will be open until Saturday 30 July.

You can find it at the top end of the Market Place in Romford near the clocktower (pictured).

A Nature fun day for families will be held this Sunday (24 July) from 10am to 3pm at Thames Chase Forest Centre, Upminster, RM14 3NS.

You will be able to go on a wild minibeast safari, discover the aquatic creatures living in the river, follow the nature trail, learn about your discoveries and more.

It's a free drop-in event.

Go to the web page for more details and to book your attendance.

Havering Fabian Society is holding an open meeting on Monday 25 July with guest speaker Barking and Dagenham Councillor Andrew Achilleos talking about climate change.

The meeting at 7.30pm will be held at Fairkytes Arts Centre and will be chaired by Havering Council's Cabinet Member for Climate, Cllr Keith Darvill.

If you are feeling isolated and would like to meet some new people then the Romford Shopping Hall's friendship group is for you. It’s free to attend - you just pay £1 for tea.

The group is made up of a bunch of Havering residents aged 55 plus, who love to get out and about. They meet every Thursday morning between 10am and 11am at the Sunrise Café on the first floor of the Shopping Hall. They also hold quizzes, invite speakers and arrange days out.

To find out more call Michelle on 01708 740492, or just turn up.

Next week, between 10am and 3pm, from Tuesday 26 to Friday 29 July, on the ground floor of the Romford Shopping Hall in Market Place, you can swop all sorts of school uniform including blazers, shirts, blouses, ties, trousers, PE kits and shoes.

It's just £2 to enter and it's first come, first served.

Lastly, this month Queen's Theatre Hornchurch celebrates 30 years of nurturing young acting and performing talent.

To mark this achievement, a new show called Never Never was commissioned.

This will be the Theatre's biggest youth theatre production to date, and will feature 180 young people aged from six to eighteen, representing every part of Havering, pictured below.

Never Never is on from 28 to 30 July for just four performances. For tickets call the Box Office on 01708 443333 or buy online.

Romford BID are bringing a festival to the streets of Romford across the weekend of 9 -11 September.

There will be a carnival procession on the afternoon of Sunday 11 September following a route around the pedestrianised areas of the town. There will be prizes for the best group or individual entry.

Local schools, community groups and talent are welcome to be a part of this walking parade, and help to make it as colourful and entertaining as possible.

The festival marks the 775th anniversary of Romford Market which originally began life as a cattle market.

There will be marshals and stewards in attendance, but they will not be responsible for any under 18s taking part in the event.

If you would like to take part in the parade, any other part of the weekend, or would like further information, send Romford BID an email.

All entry enquiries must be received by 31 July.

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Last Friday (15 July) Havering Council's Cabinet Member for Climate, Cllr Keith Darvill, and the Mayor of Havering, Cllr Trevor McKeever, visited Coldharbour Lane in Rainham.

They were among a group of visitors taking a look at ongoing work to convert waste ground into a wetland extension of the Purfleet RSPB nature reserve (pictured).

Some residents in the area had been concerned as to what substances were being spread over the ground. Some thought it may have been lime, but civil engineering company Land & Water told the visitors that it it was chalk, dug out from the new super-sewer project in central London.

The material is mainly brought in by barges to a nearby jetty, to make it more environmentally friendly than truck deliveries.

The new man-made lakes are lined with clay and then filled by rainwater. Reeds, grasses, and shrubs will grow around the lakes to improve biodiversity and encourage the wading birds which the RSPB expects to use the site.

The whole project is due to be completed by 2040.

Globe Road in Hornchurch will be resurfaced from Monday to Wednesday next week (25 to 27 July).

Following carriageway resurfacing to the majority of Kenilworth Gardens, in Hornchurch earlier this year, works are now planned to complete the resurfacing of the road up to the junction with Tindall Mews.

This work will take place during the day on Thursday 28 July.

Lake Avenue, Rainham, (between Thorn Lane and Abbey Wood Lane) will be resurfaced from 29 July to 2 August, Clyde Way, in Rise Park, on 3 and 4 August, Murfitt Way, Upminster, on Friday 5 August between 8am and 5pm, and Princes Road, Romford, from 8 to 11 August.

Road resurfacing work is scheduled to take place in Corbets Tey Road, Upminster, between The Approach and number 130 Corbets Tey Road from 7.30pm on Friday 12 August until 6am on Saturday 13 August.

Havering Road, leading from the A12 to Havering-atte-Bower, will be resurfaced from 15 to 17 August with work taking place between 8am and 5pm on each of those days.

Lastly, South Street in Romford, between its junctions with Victoria Road and Eastern Road), will be resurfaced in overnight work that will begin at 7.30pm on Thursday 18 August, and should be complete by 6am on Friday 19 August.

Public transport

This Sunday, 24 July, there will be no Elizabeth line service between Liverpool Street and Shenfield.

You are advised to use London Underground connections between Liverpool Street and Stratford.

Replacement buses will operate between Stratford and Romford, and between Newbury Park and Shenfield.

Due to Network Rail undertaking overhead line work between Ockendon and Pitsea this Sunday (24 July), c2c's Ockendon line trains will start and end their journeys at Grays.

Rail replacement buses will run between Ockendon and Pitsea via Tilbury.

More overhead line work between Barking and Grays, also on Sunday (24 July), means that c2c services on the Rainham line won't be running that day. Rail replacement buses will run between Upminster and Grays via Rainham.

Havering Volunteer Centre (HVC) is encouraging you to help nature and wildlife survive this summer's hot weather.

They are asking you to give trees in your street a couple of buckets of water a day, and to put out fresh water in bowls for wildlife to drink.

If you would like to get involved in more acts of kindness contact the HVC by email or by calling 01708 922214.