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In the second of a series of articles by Refugee Welcome Wanstead – a community group planning to welcome a Syrian refugee family to Wanstead – Eleanor Taylor celebrates the group’s first milestone

The Refugee Welcome Wanstead project – which is made up of five churches: St Mary’s Woodford, Wanstead Parish, Our Lady of Lourdes, St Gabriel’s and St Peter’s-in-the-Forest – has achieved its first milestone, and raised the minimum funding needed to apply to welcome a Syrian refugee family to our community.

Covid-19 has presented us with some unforeseen hurdles, but we’re pleased to be able to let you know how we’re getting on, and to thank everyone who has supported us so far. The Covid-19 outbreak has had a real impact on our project. Plans for fundraising activities this summer have had to be shelved, making it harder to raise vital funds. Our volunteers have also found themselves juggling new working and home arrangements, and volunteering locally for the fight against the virus. However, the pandemic has also brought to life one of the reasons why our project is so important.

The danger posed by Covid-19 in refugee camps is dire. The majority of displaced people in the world already contend with underlying health conditions, malnutrition and poor sanitation, worsening the threat of the virus. Social distancing is impossible when access to necessities involves standing in queues for hours, and hand-washing is difficult when access to clean water and soap is severely limited. Access to medical treatment for those who do catch the virus is restricted, and for the most severely affected, the chances of being able to access adequate facilities are slim.

That’s why it’s more important than ever that we keep working to take a Syrian refugee family out of danger and welcome them into our community here in Wanstead. We’re currently working to finalise our formal application, to get the wheels in motion.

The Community Sponsorship Scheme can take up to six months to be processed by the Home Office. Our detailed application is submitted and checked, then the Home Office, along with the UNHCR, begin to identify a family whose needs we will be able to support. Although we don’t know what the long-term delays caused by Covid-19 will mean for our planned timetables, we’re getting on with submitting our application, so we can be ready whenever we are needed.

We’ve been overwhelmed by the support we’ve already received from people in Wanstead and Woodford, and beyond; you’ve all been so generous with donations, encouragement and offers of help. Once we know more about when we can expect a family to join us, we will need lots more help and support, especially from people who have experienced the system or who have relevant language skills.

Thames Water has established two large Grow Zones covering over 3,400 square metres at the pumping station by Redbridge Roundabout.

“The areas will be left to flower and set seed throughout the summer months to create a meadow habitat supporting our declining pollinator and wild flower species,” explained a spokesperson. The Wild Wanstead project, Redbridge Council and Vision RCL have been collaborating to create a network of Grow Zones, sites where the grass is left to grow long to naturalise with wild flowers.

Visit wildwanstead.org

A network of foodbank collection points at homes across Aldersbrook, Wanstead and South Woodford collectively received over five tonnes of donations in the first five weeks of the initiative.

The Tin in the Bin Network was established in April by Wanstead residents Julie Harvey and James Paterson, with 34 volunteers providing a drop-off point at their home to fill the gap left by the closure of regular collection locations.

“We’ve now dropped over five tonnes to Redbridge Foodbank and that continues to be more than a tonne per week! There’s a list of food the foodbank has sufficient stocks of, and we’ve had at least a further few hundred kilos of those supplies, so these have gone to support other initiatives in the community, looking after people in immediate need,” said James.

For a list of addresses, visit wnstd.com/food

Redbridge Council has unveiled a new scheme to provide funding to local groups who are helping those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Redbridge Social Action Fund will provide grants to support not-for-profit groups, including an initial funding pot of £10,000,” explained a spokesperson. Any not-for-profit organisation is eligible to make an application as long as their income in the last financial year did not exceed £100,000.

The first deadline is 5 June, and then fortnightly through to 31 July.

Visit wnstd.com/rsaf

Local councillors across Wanstead and South Woodford are hosting advice surgeries online, in addition to supporting residents by phone and email.

With a spike in their casework, councillors from Wanstead Park, Wanstead Village, South Woodford and Churchfields wards have replaced their face-to-face surgeries with Zoom meetings and digital surgeries using Microsoft Teams.

Wanstead Village ward
Councillor Jo Blackman, Councillor Paul F. Donovan and Councillor Daniel H. Morgan-Thomas
Surgeries on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, between 10am and 12noon. Contact a councillor above for details.

Wanstead Park ward
Councillor Sheila A. Bain and Councillor Paul J. Merry
Surgeries on the first and third Saturdays of the month, between 10am and 11am. Contact a councillor above for details.

South Woodford ward
Councillor Beverley L. Brewer, Councillor Michael Duffell and Councillor Suzanne M. Nolan
Contact a councillor above for details of their surgeries.

Churchfields ward
Councillor Rosa Gomez, Councillor Stephen K. Adams and Councillor Clark E. Vasey
Councillor Rosa Gomez hosts online surgeries on a weekly basis on Mondays and Fridays at 3pm.
Contact the other councillors above for details of their surgeries.

Organisers of the monthly farmers’ markets in Wanstead and South Woodford are preparing to return in June.

“Our first event will be on Sunday 7 June on Wanstead High Street. We will be following a strict social distancing criteria for our traders and customers,” said a statement from Ace Events Ltd.

The South Woodford market – which takes place on George Lane – is scheduled for the third Sunday of the month (21 June).

Visit wnstd.com/farmers

At a recent virtual meeting of the South Woodford Business Forum, participants were introduced to the ShopAppy initiative.

“ShopAppy helps communities to shop locally and to support their high street, especially at this difficult time. The site showcases independent shops and businesses – giving access to information, products and services that are available to buy or book,” explained a spokesperson. Residents and businesses are encouraged to express their interest through the site.

Visit shopappy.com

Redbridge Council has obtained funding to progress plans to plant a community orchard in South Woodford.

“The strip of land alongside the flyover on Mulberry Way and Primrose Road has been designated as the perfect site, and we hope that apple trees will be planted there during the October 2020 to March 2021 season… Plans are also afoot for cider making with any money raised going straight back into community projects,” said a spokesperson for the South Woodford Society.

Email e18society@gmail.com

A mobile coronavirus testing unit will be in Redbridge on Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 May. 

“Residents can apply now for testing but you may not see the Redbridge mobile unit appear on the booking system right away. If it doesn’t, please check back later,” said a Redbridge Council spokesperson.

Anyone who has coronavirus symptoms can ask for a test and you need to get tested within the first five days of developing symptoms to be effective.

For more information and to apply for a test, click here.

In the first of two articles, Dr Colin Runeckles discusses his findings following research into a Wanstead and Woodford Borough Council building survey carried out in 1949

While I was putting together my January talk on ‘Building Wanstead’, Sue Page at the Heritage Centre in Redbridge Central Library handed me an archive box and wondered whether I would be interested. Inside was a survey carried out after WWII about the condition of every building in the Wanstead and Woodford Borough Council area. The area that I have so far input into a spreadsheet – nearly 5,500 entries – covers Wanstead and Snaresbrook.

The date of the survey appears to be late 1949. There are no building dates after 1949, and on the second from last page, there is a note to the effect that a Ministry of Labour camp on Wanstead Flats is “Now redundant at 27.10.49.” I haven’t managed to ascertain whether this survey was a local initiative or part of a national review. Although all buildings have an original or rebuilding date for those suffering excessive bomb damage, some of the older dates are dubious given other evidence, such as building plans or where they appear on old maps.

What does it tell us about the damage to buildings in WWII? There are 50 vacant plots listed due to buildings being destroyed by enemy action and relating to 43 houses, five shops and houses (49–57 High Street Wanstead), Park House on the corner of Blake Hall Road and Overton Drive that had been converted into flats shortly before the war, one block of The Shrubbery on Grosvenor Road, and the Isolation Hospital close to Wanstead Park. A further 103 buildings had already been fully repaired. Again, this mainly relates to houses, although it also includes one of the parts of Woodford House on the corner of Eagle Lane. Over 2,800 are shown as having “Substantial war damage repairs”, and when I eventually get to building plans of the post-war period, it will be interesting to make a comparison of the two sets of data. All of those fully rebuilt or showing vacant plots could be plotted on a map to show a more detailed picture of the significant areas of damage caused by enemy action in Wanstead. For example, 54 Hermon Hill is extremely close to houses destroyed in Sylvan Road (36–38 and 23–25) and almost certainly due to the same incident.

But there was some building carried out in this period – two canteens (presumably for workers in the underground tunnels) for Plessey’s were built around 1940 – one in the car park of The George, the other in Highstone Avenue. A building on the High Street shown on post-war maps just north of Clockhouse Parade is revealed in the survey to be a British Restaurant (communal kitchens set up by the Ministry of Food).

Next month’s article will look at what the survey can tell us about post-war building developments.

The leader of the Wanstead and Woodford Rock Choir will take part in a 24-hour fundraising event tomorrow (19 May) in aid of Mental Health Awareness Week.

Rock Choir, which has 32,000 members nationally, will host #RockChoir24, a non-stop event via their Facebook page from 11am on Tuesday 19 May to 11am the following day.

Throughout the day and night, the Rock Choir team will host an energetic schedule of dynamic singing sessions, themed musical events, songs from the decades and social musical events as well as sessions aimed at teenagers and younger children. There will be something for everyone to enjoy. A virtual music Rock Choir festival, which can be experienced from the comfort of everyone’s own home,” said a spokesperson.

Nicola Cain, who looks after the choirs in Woodford and Wanstead, Ealing, Hampstead and Marylebone, will be leading some of the live sessions in the fundraiser.

The event is aimed at the general public and not just Rock Choir members. Donations can be made via the Facebook donate option on Rock Choir’s Facebook page as well as a text option, which can be made by texting SING5 to donate £5 or SING10 to donate £10 to 70500.

Rising at Molehill Green in Essex, the River Roding passes through the Wanstead and Woodford area en route to the Thames, bringing with it a very real flood risk to local homes. In the ninth of a series of articles, Laura Hepworth from the Environment Agency reports on the River Roding Project, which aims to reduce that risk

The River Roding has a long history of flooding causing devastating and widespread impacts to north-east London. With the impact of climate change, flooding is predicted to happen more frequently unless we act now. This project will reduce flooding to over 2,000 homes by 2080 and improve the resilience of businesses and infrastructure to flooding incidents in the Woodford and Ilford area.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are continuing to deliver our flood risk management projects where it is safe for our teams and delivery partners to do so. The safety of our staff, partners and the communities we work in remains a priority for us. This includes undergoing critical activities to operate, maintain and develop key flood assets and respond during flooding events. In these difficult times, we will ensure that any work done will be within Public Health England’s guidelines.

A great way to prepare for flooding is to create a personal flood plan, allowing you to have useful information ready to use in an emergency. This includes taking measures such as:

• Preparing a bag of essential items to take with you if you have to leave your home, including medication, warm and waterproof clothing, phone chargers and important documents like passports, insurance documents and contact numbers. Keep this in a safe place!
• Creating a checklist of things to do to protect your family, such as turning off the electricity and gas to prevent a fire.
• Consider moving sentimental items upstairs.
• Check your building and contents insurance policy covers flooding.
• Look at the best way of stopping floodwater entering your property and how to use appropriate property protection products, such as flood barriers or air brick covers. A directory of these products is available from the National Flood Forum (bluepages.org.uk).
• Make sure you understand the flood warning codes.

You could also create a community flood plan to coordinate responses and to decide what practical action to take to support each other before, during and after a flood. Plans like these are great in helping the community get back on its feet after a flooding incident.

If your property is at risk, you can sign up to get free flood warnings by phone, email or text message. This is beneficial as you will have time to prepare in case of a flooding incident and be able to warn your neighbours to help better protect your local community.

We are always looking for local residents to be our eyes on the ground, checking and reporting on river levels and providing photographic evidence. If you are interested in getting involved, please get in touch.