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Friday, 16 June 2023

Meet our new Redbridge Community Protection Taskforce

If you're out and about in the borough over the coming weeks, say hello to our new team of Community Protection Taksforce officers. They are here to tackle anti-social behaviour and ensure our borough is the best place to live, work & visit.

If you want to meet the team, they will be in Ken Aston Square, Barkingside, at 5.30pm today (Friday, 16 June).

The Community Protection Taskforce (CPT) will provide an enforcement presence to tackle unlawful street activity and anti-social behaviour, including begging, sexual harassment of women, street prostitution & street drinking.

We understand that anti-social behaviour can harm people and communities, and feedback from residents tells us it affects their satisfaction with their local area and how safe they feel.

Anti-social behaviour includes:

• Unlawful street activity – begging, street drinking, sexual harassment and prostitution
• ASB activity around licensed premises

We have also introduced a new website reporting form, which will make it far easier to report anti-social behaviour.

Stop and say hi if you see our friendly CPT Officers out on your travels. They will be only too pleased to talk to you.

Redbridge summer holiday fun

Redbridge’s Holiday, Activities and Food (HAF) programmewill run for four weeks this summer and provides free places for eligible children to enjoy enriching activities and healthy food. 

There will be a range of activities to get involved in, including football and basketball, arts and crafts and drama. There is also an opportunity to learn about food and nutrition and make new friends. Children will also receive a hot healthy meal each day.

The programme will be available Monday to Thursday with part and full-day sessions from Monday, 24 July to Thursday, 17 August, at several schools and youth centres across the borough.  

HAF is available for children in Reception up to Year 11 and receiving benefits-related Free School Meals (FSM). We offer a limited number of additional places to children and young people who do not meet the above criteria but are vulnerable. Referrals are considered from education, health and social care professionals.

Please email haf@redbridge.gov.uk 

Booking is essential. To find out more information, visit the link below. 

Have your say on Redbridge’s Local Flood Risk Management Strategy

Redbridge’s Local Flood Risk Management Strategy is being updated, and we want to hear your thoughts on it. 

The purpose is to specify which public bodies are responsible for which types of flooding and set clear objectives for managing local flood risks. 

Your feedback on the strategy will help us shape how flood risks are managed in the borough. 

Green fingered locals help brighten up the borough

Community spirit was blooming as gardening enthusiasts of all ages and abilities came together to plant more than 500 flowers to brighten up their neighbourhoods.

Our Neighbourhoods Team led the Community Planting event, which provided those taking part with hi-vis wear, gloves, trowels, and training.

The fun-filled event attracted nearly 200 green-fingered locals who helped fill 19 planters, in total, in Barkingside and Seven Kings.

Fly-tipper prosecuted

We recently successfully prosecuted a fly-tipper after he illegally dumped bags of rubbish outside Chigwell Road Reuse and Recycling Centre after arguing with staff.

The Council took action against the man after being alerted to the fly-tipping incident by staff at the waste disposal centre. 

Redbridge Life: Summer edition out now

Do you live in Redbridge? Our magazine, Redbridge Life, is published four times a year and delivered door-to-door to all homes in the borough. It provides residents with information about services and events in Redbridge.

The summer edition of Redbridge Life will be distributed from Monday, 12 June and should be with every Redbridge household within 14 days.

Keep an eye out to discover what’s happening on your doorstep this summer.

If you don’t receive your copy by Friday, 23 June, please email Redbridge Council Communications Team. 

Be the role model they need: Foster for Redbridge

Are you interested in becoming a foster carer and providing a loving, stable home to a vulnerable child? 

If you are, it can change your life and be extremely rewarding for you and your family.

Children need role models in their life to help to shape their morals, beliefs and behaviour. Over 300 children in Redbridge cannot stay at home for various reasons and need foster care. Be the positive role model they need and help change their lives.

If you have space in your heart and home to foster for Redbridge Council, please call us on 020 8708 6068 or email or join us on our next virtual information session on 23 June 2023 from 10am to 11am. 

New HMO licensing scheme

We recently approved a new borough-wide Additional HMO Licensing scheme. This has extended licensing to all Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).

The introduction of this new scheme comes after a full consultation. Overall, it was found that there are significant issues such as poor housing conditions, ineffective management, crime, and anti-social behaviour persisting within HMOs in the borough.

Donation drive to support children during the summer holidays

Redbridge Council and a Wanstead charity, Tin in a Bin, are launching a new campaign to help raise money to ensure children and young people don't go hungry during the summer holidays.

The Council and Tin in Bin recently raised over £4,000 to support 350 children during the Easter holidays and are launching a new summer campaign to build on this vital work. 

The fundraising campaign aims to provide children who don't qualify for free school meals but are struggling with the cost of living with food boxes containing ingredients and recipes for meals that can be made together as a family.

This will provide them with healthy, homemade meals when schools are closed for summer and is in addition to supporting the families eligible for free school meal vouchers.