Community champions from South Woodford were recognised at the 2023 Redbridge Mayor’s Awards. Elaine Atkins – herself part of the award-winning South Woodford Society – reports on the achievements
Local community champions were honoured at the 2023 Redbridge Mayor’s Community Awards, held at Redbridge Town Hall at the end of March.
Lydia Fraser-Ward was awarded for her voluntary work, campaigning for better air quality in the borough via Mums for Lungs Redbridge. Lydia initially became concerned about air pollution in outdoor children’s play areas back in 2020, particularly in Elmhurst Gardens, South Woodford, which borders the North Circular. She set up the new Redbridge branch in 2022, and the group actively campaigns throughout the borough for more air quality monitoring in outdoor areas. With the support of local residents, environmental groups and schools, Lydia successfully applied to the Breathe London community programme for an air quality node for Elmhurst Gardens. The data recorded by the node will be used to inform whether further measures are needed to protect park users from the busy North Circular’s toxic air. A second node has since been awarded for the playground at Ray Lodge Primary School, situated alongside the M11. Lydia also initiated a campaign for the local authority to apply to DEFRA’s Air Quality Fund, which has led to Redbridge Council being awarded more than £300,000 for clean air projects at schools across the borough.
Congratulations also to six-year-old Alfie Thorn-Brown from South Woodford, who was the winner of the Recorder and Redbridge Rotary Young Citizen Award. Only two weeks after learning how to cycle, he raised more than £1,000 by doing a sponsored bike ride. The money raised was put towards buying a new sensory board for dementia patients at Chadwell House care home in Romford, where his great-grandmother was a resident.
And last but not least, the South Woodford Society was thanked for its wholehearted efforts towards making our local community better. The Society was formed in 2015 to make South Woodford an even nicer place to live, work and visit. Working closely with the South Woodford Gardeners, the Society is setting out to re-green our environment, initially with the creation of our community orchard and more recently Eastwood Green (alongside the George Lane roundabout), to improve biodiversity and to help to lower pollution. But one of the main aims of the Society is to create a Neighbourhood Plan. This is a document that will clearly state what we, as a community, want to see happen in South Woodford. The plan can include things such as more affordable housing, protecting our green spaces and improving the variety of businesses in our shopping areas. Anyone who lives, works or visits South Woodford can be a member of the Society.
For more information on Mums for Lungs, visit swvg.co.uk/lungs
For more information on the South Woodford Society, visit swvg.co.uk/sws
