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Friday 6 January

Revised bin collection dates

Happy New Year to you. We hope you all enjoyed the festive season with your family, friends and neighbours.

Don't forget to jot down your revised bin collection date this week and next as it will be different to your usual collection day until Saturday 14 January because of the festive break.

Christmas tree recycling is back

Our Christmas Tree collection is back. Now that the festivities are over, we’ll collect real Christmas trees for FREE and recycle them .We’ll be collecting between Monday 9 January and Friday 20 January. 

To ensure collection: 

• Leave your tree at the boundary of your property by 6am on Monday 9 January

• Remove all decorations 

• Ensure your tree is clearly visible 

Alternatively, you can take your tree to Chigwell Road Reuse and Recycling Centre.

Met Commissioner and Mayor of London visit Redbridge as part of crackdown on street robbery

The Met Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, was joined by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and Council Leader, Cllr Jas Athwal, to meet town centre teams and schools officers in Ilford as part of a new crackdown on violent street robbery.

Recent figures show that a third (36%) of robbery victims in Ilford are 18 or under, with young people being targeted for new mobile phones and high-value clothing, particularly after school.

Officers across the Met are leading proactive and high-visibility patrols to help keep young people safe from robbery after dark.

The Leader of Redbridge Council, and London Council’s Lead on Community Safety, Cllr Athwal, said: “We have a very strong partnership with our colleagues in Redbridge Police, and our crime reduction strategy is already having a positive impact.

"As part of this partnership, our enforcement officers assist Met Officers as they carry out proactive and high-visibility patrols to help keep local people safe from robbery.

“This visit was a great opportunity to show the new Met Commissioner and the Mayor of London around Ilford and share the work we are doing to make the town centre safer for our neighbours.”

Budget: tell us your thoughts

This coming year, we need to save over £20m to balance our budget.

This is your chance to tell us what we should be prioritising and to think about the tough choices we have to make.

We must make tough choices with the budget as we try to manage the impact of inflation and the growing demands on vital council services.

Most of our money comes from the Government and has been significantly reduced over a decade of austerity.

As a council, we look after vulnerable children and adults; we manage parks and libraries; we oversee all bin collections and keep our streets clean. In total, we run over 400 different services.

Please tell us where we should make savings. The closing date is Friday 20 January.

New year, new challenge

I will save more money. I will eat more healthily. Why not make a new year’s resolution which will change a life? Over 300 children cannot stay with their families in Redbridge each year and need a secure, stable, nurturing home.

If you have a place in your heart and are considering fostering, please email  or call us on 020 8708 6068. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Hear more about the Hainault Hub scheme

Do you live in Hainault or Fairlop? Find out more about the proposal for the new Community Hub scheme on Manford Way, Hainault, how these are being shaped with people from Hainault and Fairlop and how you can feed in.

Register for the online webinar on Monday 9 January at 7pm to hear more 

Views needed for new housing strategy

We're asking residents to help develop a new five-year housing strategy and action plan. 

We need to determine how our housing services will be shaped over the next five years, and we would like local people to give us their views across four key areas.

1. Increasing the supply of housing
2. Housing & homelessness
3. Improving the quality of homes
4. Putting residents first 

The new strategy will aim to respond to the many challenges we face as a borough, such as homelessness and increasing housing supply, whilst building on the foundations and achievements of our last strategy.

The closing day for responses is Friday 10 March. 

Managing your money events

Redbridge Institute of Adult Education is running a number of free sessions on how to manage your money more effectively.

Come and join one of their friendly taster sessions at the Stem Lab in Redbridge Central Library on one of the following dates:

Tuesday 17 January - 12pm-2pm
Tuesday 24 January - 10am-12pm
Friday 27 January - 10am-12pm
Tuesday 31 January - 12pm-2pm

To book your place, please email

Beware of car thieves, this new year

During the festive season, there were nearly 130 incidents in Redbridge of vehicle crime, including theft of a motor vehicle, theft from a motor vehicle and interfering with a motor vehicle.

Here are some top tips from the Metropolitan Police to improve your car’s security:

1. Park in a well-lit area
2. Always lock your car
3. Remove valuables
4. Use a steering lock
5. Have an immobiliser installed – these work by having a transponder installedin the key (or as a separate fob) and a receiver within the car. If the receiver is unable to detect the key, the car will not be able to start
6. Invest in a signal-blocking pouch if you have a key fob
7. Install CCTV at your property
8. Install a motion sensor light at your property

Anyone with information about vehicle crime is being asked to report it by calling the Metropolitan Police on 101 or online via the Metropolitan Police website

Rough sleepers' event

We recently held our second ‘Rough Sleepers Healthcare’ event.

The event was a great success and of real value to our service users. We had a range of service providers present, including Haircuts4Homeless, Healthwatch Redbridge, Community Dental, Positive East, NHS Health Checks and more.

Many positives came from this day, including seven GP registrations and new client health checks, nine dental referrals, and nearly 30 people being given COVID vaccinations.

We will be holding further events this year.

Zumba Dance Fitness Festival coming