 The family of Zara Aleena organised a silent march on Saturday 2 July on Cranbrook Road to finish Zara's journey home to Gants Hill, following the tragic incident on Sunday 26 June.
Thousands of people from the local community including staff, turned up wearing white to pay their respects and join the march which began at 2.17pm (Zara was attacked at 2.17am) and ended just after 3pm.
Our Chief Executive, Claire, who attended said the march “was respectful and dignified…I’d like to thank colleagues from across the council for their excellent collaborative working following the incident. In particular, those from Community Safety, HR, Communications, the Redbridge Staff Women’s Network, CCTV, Enforcement and Civic Pride. Colleagues worked out of hours and tirelessly in the days that followed to support Zara’s family and local partners like the police, the local community, and staff.”
Women’s safety is an important priority for us and we’ve been working closely with Redbridge Police following the murder of Zara Aleena.
There are two final ‘Walk and talks’ this week where Redbridge Police will be providing safety advice, panic alarms, and listening to concerns from the local community.
Female staff and residents are welcome to join the walks below which will be led by a female police officer.
- Thursday 7 July, 8pm to 9pm
- Friday 8 July, 8pm to 9pm
The meeting point will be outside the Bestgrade Education Centre on Beehive Lane, by the junction with Cranbrook Road. The walk will be along Cranbrook Road itself.
There is also a Walk and Talk taking place in Seven Kings on Sunday 10 July from 11am to 12pm. We will be meeting at the ‘bandstand’ and walk around Seven Kings park.
For further information, please email our police contact Reshma Sher.
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The Redbridge Staff Women’s Network have organised two more Women’s Safety sessions - one for female colleagues only, and the other session for all.
The first session (held Thursday 30 June) was well attended and the engagement was high, which tells us there is a need to provide safe spaces and ongoing support.
The next session will be held on Monday 11 July from 10am to 11am and is for female colleagues only to provide them with an opportunity to share how they’re feeling about the devastating incident, raise concerns around women’s safety and receive peer support. Find out more on the events calendar and join via Teams.
The following session on Monday 18 July from 12pm to 1pm will be open to all colleagues, including male allies. Join via Teams. This is a hybrid meeting so for those who would like to attend in person, you can join us at the Floor 4 Rear Meeting Room 1 in Lynton House. Find out more on the events calendar.
It will be an opportunity for women and allies to come together to think about the practical steps we can take as staff and residents to support women’s safety in the borough.
The session will focus on women’s safety concerns and recommendations raised during the safety walks and the women only discussion sessions, and a discussion on how we can work together to identify practical actions we can take forward together.
More sessions will be added so please keep an eye out.
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Don’t miss out! Have your say before we roll out the council’s plan for the future.
There are a few Corporate Plan 2022-26 ‘Problem Solving’ sessions left. The next one is this Friday 8 July from 12pm to 1.30pm.
Join the session to:
- find out more about our ambitious new plan for the next four years
- share your success stories that can be used to shape how we work and deliver our plan
- share your ideas on how we can build on our resilient and collaborative nature to address some of the challenges that we’ll face over the next few years
Please visit the intranet calendar for event details and to get a date in your calendar.
You can find further information about the new plan on the intranet.
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Nominate a colleague for June’s Star of the Month award before the nominations close on Friday 15 July.
In 2022’s Annual Staff Survey, you expressed that it was important for you and other colleagues to be given recognition for the ongoing hard work. Our Chief Executive, Claire, agreed that staff recognition is incredibly important and relaunched the monthly awards to shine a light on colleagues.
Please take this opportunity to nominate a colleague who you think has gone beyond their role. You can nominate for lots of different things, from outstanding customer service to innovative ways of working within the Council.
Nominations can be made using the online form. For staff who don’t have access to a work computer, printed nomination forms are available at various offices.
Please visit the intranet for more information and get nominating!
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What key events are taking place this week? What support is the council providing staff? Keep up-to-date with Council information by watching Claire’s weekly video blog (vlog) which is released each Monday.
You can catch up on previous vlogs on the intranet.
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To ensure that IT systems continue to operate effectively, essential maintenance is scheduled to take place on Sunday 17 July as detailed below:
- VMWare Remote Desktop Solution – 8am to 5pm
- Netloan Service – 8am to 9am
- Always on VPN and DirectAccess – 12pm to 2pm
- Revenues & Benefits System – 8:30am to 10am
- Housing System – 9am to 10:30am
- Planning – 9:30am to 11am
- Agresso – 10am to 12pm
- Redirect & File Server Upgrades – 8am to 5pm
There may also be some general disruption to other IT systems during this period (8am to 5pm). To minimise impact, we recommend that you avoid using these system for those hours, but if you have no alternative then please ensure you save your work regularly.
Please contact the IT Service Desk if you have any further queries.
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On Saturday 2 July, our LGBT+ Network marched in this year’s London Pride Parade to show that Redbridge Council celebrates equality of the LGBTQ+ community. The parade (which was cancelled the last two years because of COVID-19) was attended by thousands of people.
Pride celebrates equality, acceptance and love of the LGBTQ+ community. It honours the work and education in LGBTQ+ history and raises awareness of issues that still affect the LGBTQ+ community.
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Friday 1 July marked National Registrars Day, an annual event to recognise and celebrate the contributions of the registration service.
Officiating ceremonies, registering births and supporting families with the loss of a loved one are just some of the things our registrars do.
External Affairs Board Member, Mohamed Omer MBE, expressed gratitude to our Registrars team on behalf of the Muslim community in his blog.
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Pop down to the first floor at Lynton House today, Thursday 7 July from 1pm to 3pm to join the Career Development Forum’s public speaking event.
Our ‘table topics’ event will provide colleagues a chance to practise their public speaking skills in a casual setting. Volunteers will be given a random topic to speak about for two minutes – questions along the lines of ‘Do you prefer jelly or ice-cream?’
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Happy Eid-ul-Adha! On this blessed occasion of Eid which will take place on Saturday 9 July and for a further three days, the Redbridge Staff Faith Network would like to wish you and your family joy, happiness, peace, and prosperity!
Eid ul-Adha is the second of two religious holidays celebrated by Muslims worldwide each year. Eid al-Adha honours the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his promised son, Ishmael (Ismail) as an act of submission to God’s command, before God then intervened to provide Abraham with a lamb to sacrifice instead. Eid-ul-Adha also marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.
Traditionally, Eid is an opportunity for people to come together to celebrate but also reflect about how we can help others less fortunate than ourselves.
We wish all Muslim colleagues well in celebrating this joyful occasion and wish a safe journey to Muslim colleagues who are travelling for Hajj this year.
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Monday 11 July marks the 27th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, the worst atrocity on European soil since World War Two, in which over 8,000 men and boys were massacred over their faith.
This year’s Srebrenica Memorial Day Theme is ‘Combatting Denial: Challenging Hatred’. Please join us on Monday 11 July outside the Town Hall at 1pm as we raise the Srebrenica Flag and hold a minute’s silence to reflect and commemorate the victims and survivors.
By remembering the lives lost, especially those that have been affected by hate crime, we will send a clear message that Redbridge is committed to eliminating discrimination and hatred and to building stronger, safer, and more tolerant communities.
To find out more please visit the Remembering Srebrenica website.
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Chief Executive, Claire Symonds, will be the keynote speaker at the latest Lean In Circle event on Wednesday 13 July where she will be sharing her experiences.
Come join us from 11am to 12pm in the Rear Board Room 2 on Floor 5 of Lynton House or via Teams. Everyone is welcome, regardless of gender and whether you have already joined a previous Lean In Circle or not.
For more details on the event and our Lean In Circle initiatives, organised by the Women’s Network, please visit the intranet.
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If you’re looking for a new opportunity, or know someone who is, then pop down to our upcoming job fair outside Redbridge Town Hall on Thursday 14 July, from 10am to 4pm.
The event is open to all, and the council welcomes people with disabilities, job seekers, career changers, school leavers, those seeking apprenticeships, college students and university graduates alike.
Current opportunities on offer include:
- Social Workers (both newly qualified and experienced)
- Passenger Transport Drivers
- Office Administrators
- Digital Apprentices
- Family Support Workers
- Enforcement Officers
- Occupational Therapists
Please visit the Redbridge website for more information.
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South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM) was first celebrated in 2020 and runs from Monday 18 July to Wednesday 17 August.
SAHM seeks to understand and commemorate South Asian cultures, histories, and communities, and the diverse heritage that continues to link the UK with South Asia.
This year, for the first time, the Redbridge Staff BAME Network are collaborating with Vision Libraries and the Children Centre to organise a series of events for staff to learn more about the experiences of our diverse South Asian communities and celebrate our colleagues. Events are open to all staff.
We will be kickstarting the events with our book club on Wednesday 13 July from 12.30pm to 1.30pm, discussing ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’. Join meeting
To view more events over the next month, please visit the intranet.
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Redbridge Council is installing more than 100 new cycle racks offering safe and secure parking spots for bicycles to encourage more eco-friendly trips to our offices, local high streets, and nearby amenities.
The move comes as part of the council’s commitment to developing the borough’s cycling infrastructure to support employees and residents to adopt greener and healthier travel choices.
Last week, we posted a blog with colleagues explaining why they love cycling to work – hopefully the new cycle racks will be another incentive to get more colleagues on their bike!
Find out more on our Redbridge website.
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Mental illness is just as important as physical illness. Therefore, it’s important for us to provide support to colleagues who may not be doing as well as they could be.
We have our very own group of certified Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) who will provide initial support to staff who are struggling with mental health issues. They will promote a workplace culture where staff are free to discuss their mental health openly and feel supported by colleagues when they do so.
The support is offered to:
- A person showing signs of developing a mental health issue (i.e. constantly anxious or worried, emotional outbursts...etc)
- A person experiencing a worsening of an existing mental health issue or who is in a mental health crisis
For more information on MHFA, please visit the intranet.
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