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The Epping Forest Consultative Committee addressed three issues for Wanstead Park last month.

“Firstly, the major work on the park’s lakes planned for 2024 has been reduced in scale following a recent flood risk assessment. Instead, a study into the relationship between the Ornamental Water and the River Roding was announced. Secondly, a new and expanded cycling policy will be introduced. Finally, the meeting proposed the adoption of a Conservation Management Plan for the historic Grotto,” said a spokesperson.

Artists and makers from Wanstead, South Woodford and surrounding areas have set up a virtual Christmas market on Facebook.

“Being a small business owner, around this time of the year I would normally be selling at markets and craft fairs, but due to the ongoing situation, I have not been able to do so. My family and I had the idea for a Facebook group, and we have been overwhelmed with the support shown,” said Hayley Bull, founder of Deck the Halls Virtual Christmas Market.

Visit wnstd.com/deckthehalls

Local filmmaker Marc Coleman has created a new comedy about a middle-aged man seeking redemption through the Finnish adolescent sport of hobby horsing.

“It is essentially dressage and show jumping, but with toy horses. It’s a real sport in Finland!” said Marc, whose new short film is a proof of concept for a feature film that has already been written, but requires funding. The film was shot at Redbridge Drama Centre, Wanstead Youth Centre and in Roding Valley Park.

Visit marcsspace.com

A drive-through collection for clothing and toiletries in aid of rough sleepers took place at Wanstead Cricket Club last month.

“The response was incredible, and The Corner House Project couldn’t be happier! In addition to an overwhelming response for the donation of clothing, toiletries and sleeping bags, we also received some generous cash donations, which we will use to buy further supplies,” said Julie Harvey.

Another collection will take place at the Overton Drive car park on 5 and 6 December.

Call 07943 717 963

Wanstead resident and keen amateur baker Paul Canal has relaunched his annual Christmas cake baking appeal in aid of Haven House Children’s Hospice, but with a difference.

“This year, I am seeking to match local volunteer cake bakers with eager Christmas cake buyers, with all proceeds going to Haven House. Several eager bakers and buyers have already signed up, with over 50 cakes pledged. If you would like to bake a cake – or buy one – please get in touch,” said Paul.

Email paul.canal@gmail.com

Age UK Redbridge, Barking and Havering is planning to reopen Wanstead’s Allan Burgess Centre on 5 October for lunches (11.30am to 2pm), after making the over-50s venue Covid-secure.

“We have made changes in order to keep our customers, staff and volunteers safe and look forward to welcoming people back. Some of our activities will be able to start again soon, providing social distancing is possible,” said a spokesperson.

To comply with maximum capacity guidance, booking is required.

Call 020 8989 6338

Woodford-based women’s organisation Soroptimist East London has a big idea and everyone is invited to join!

Members of the organisation are contributing their experience and skills to the #BigIdeasWeek, a week of motivating and stress-busting activities and webinars online with all monies going to charity. “There will be pilates classes, coaching, yoga, a chance to hear from a range of published authors and more,” said a spokesperson.

“Why are Soroptimist East London doing it? To help make other people’s big dreams come true. In this case, it’s the big dreams of The Ideas Partnership a Kosovo and UK based charity which works with the most marginalised communities in Kosovo including through education and income generation projects.  All donations made by attendees at the online events will go to The Ideas Partnership with Global Giving doubling the donations! Soroptimist members have been helping The Ideas Partnership in other ways too including providing online English conversation classes to The Ideas Partnership volunteers in Kosovo during covid lockdown.  In return, The Ideas Partnership have publicly celebrated the ladies as among their most committed volunteers during the covid lockdown which has affected Kosovo as well as the UK.”

Soroptimist East London includes members who live or work throughout East London.  The organisation focuses on empowering women to achieve positive change and sustainable development right here in East London as well as across the globe.

The week of activities is being held from 14 to 18 September 2020 online. Visit www.facebook.com/BigIdeasWeek

Wanstead Climate Action, the local affiliate of Extinction Rebellion, will be holding an event this weekend as part of the late summer rebellion.

“Members of our group will be parading down Wanstead High Street, accompanied by Rolant the Rebel Horse to bring attention to the government’s inaction when it comes to air quality in our local area and London in general. Air pollution has been linked with heart disease, strokes, and a myriad of respiratory disorders and even, in some cases, poor foetal development and reduced bone density. There have even been studies showing links to rises in COVID-19 deaths in areas of high pollution,” said a spokesperson.

Rolant the horse, local doctors and the other local rebels will set up a stall on Christchurch Green to discuss the current air quality situation and what needs to be done to secure a ‘breath of fresh air’ for the next generation. Rolant will have a very special message of his own and will be available to take part in photo opportunities.

The proceedings will take place on Sunday 6 September during the regular community market, meeting on George Green at 11am.

Rolant’s emissions will be donated to the Wanstead Community Gardeners.

“Social distancing will be observed, and masks encouraged.”

Visit www.wansteadclimateaction.co.uk

September is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) awareness month. PCOS is a condition that affects 1 in 10 women and AFAB (assigned female at birth) individuals in the UK and 70% of those with the condition don’t know they have it. Snaresbrook resident Kristine Stacke reports

I’m Kristine, I have PCOS. My PCOS journey started at the age of 13 when my periods stopped for 18 months. Before that, I’d been bang on the 28-day mark and my first period started on my first full day of lessons at secondary school… what a way to start! A lack of periods joined some already pretty dramatic mood swings that I started experiencing when I was 9. My mum is a nurse so she tracked everything going on with me and took me to the GP on multiple occasions to discuss this. Time and again it was put down to ‘just being a teenager’ but eventually they decided it was time to refer me on for testing and sent me off to gynaecology.

Low and behold, my appointment came and so did the first period in a year and a half. I was sent off for an ultrasound, internal examination and blood tests (ultrasounds are no longer recommended for teenagers suspected of PCOS). Everything came back inconclusive but with the possibility of PCOS. I was offered the pill to regulate my cycle but turned it down. Fast forward to being 15 and in a mock Biology GCSE exam when a period started (oh the irony) leaving me faint at my exam desk and I changed my mind.

I continued on with the pill for the next 5 years, changing from one to another as none of them quite suited me – mood swings (worse than before), bloating, acne – the list was never-ending. Finally, I settled on one at the age of 19 and I was doing great, but 6 months later I started experiencing migraines, something I had never experienced before. These continued for a number of weeks with me eventually heading off to A and E where my blood pressure was dangerously high and I passed out when they took my blood (still get clammy hands today!). Every other option was ruled out before my lovely junior doctor told me to come off my pill. I now know that those with PCOS are at higher risk of developing blood clots when on the combined oral contraceptive and last year witnessed first hand the devastation that can cause when I almost lost a close friend for that exact reason.

Fast forward another 6 months and I had gone up 2 dress sizes, broken out in acne, developed a moustache and become increasingly depressed… and my periods hadn’t come back. The GP sent me off for all the PCOS tests again and this time they came back with a confirmed diagnosis.

The thing about PCOS is there is no one size fits all treatment, no one quite knows what causes it and there is no cure. At this point, they didn’t really know what to do with me because I couldn’t take the pill anymore. PCOS gets highlighted in the media but usually under the media-friendly symptoms that are heartwarming, positive fertility journeys, or shocking weight gain and male-pattern facial hair. What the media doesn’t always tell you is that PCOS is a life long, chronic condition that you always have to manage. That as a community we have a higher than average incidence of depression and anxiety, body dysmorphia and disordered eating. That there is no ‘one’ specialist that you can go to to help you learn how to manage the condition and you get passed between different clinics. That the most common thing told to PCOS patients is ‘here’s the pill, lose some weight, come back when you want children’. This was what happened to me…but without the pill (and my weight was on the lower side so I couldn’t even be told to lose weight).

I am now 11 years on from my initial diagnosis and just about have my head around my own management. I have had to learn to advocate for myself fiercely – tracking all my symptoms and reading up on NICE guidelines and other regulations before appointments. I have my diet and exercise regime sorted, I have had therapy and CBT to help manage the psychological aspects and I am fully aware of the increased long term risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and endometrial (womb) cancer. It has taken a long time to get there and I am more fortunate than others in being relatively young when I was diagnosed and having stumbled across a supportive community of other PCOS sufferers via Verity, the UK’s only PCOS charity.

My journey isn’t complete though as I haven’t broached my fertility journey yet and I still have menopause to come, an area that is vastly under-researched anyway never mind in conjunction with other conditions such as PCOS. I hope that I haven’t scared anyone away with my diagnosis journey and that if you recognise yourself, a friend or a family member in this story and you aren’t diagnosed that it might encourage and empower you to get tested.

Wanstead teenager Grace Wolstenholme invites you to watch her YouTube channel for an insight into her life with cerebral palsy. In the second of a series of articles, the aspiring actor talks about Chicken Shed Theatre

I’ve been acting from the age of seven at Chicken Shed Theatre. I started in children’s theatre and took part in some Christmas shows, then I moved up to youth theatre and took part in a few more performances. My favourite show was Feel The Love because it was about all kinds of love and saying everyone’s equal, but I especially enjoyed the nightclub scene because I love a good party!

Chicken Shed changed my life. Before joining, I hated leaving the house as I was embarrassed for people to see me because I was ‘different’. Every time my mum tried to get me out of the house I would have a meltdown. I actually remember her forcing me to sit in my car seat to get me to my primary school, and one day, I was so strong she couldn’t physically get me in the car!

Then Chicken Shed called saying there was a space for me. My mum was in shock because she heard the waiting time can be up to 10 years. The reason I got in so quickly was because my mum took me to the children’s workshops on the weekends and they saw how bad I was. They thought Chicken Shed would really help build my confidence so they invited me to a week called Summer Shed. I remember kicking, hitting and biting my mum when she was trying to get me into the room. The lady in charge was expecting me, so when she heard screaming and crying, she knew I was there and came over. I even kicked her. Then she introduced me to my one-to-one and I went to the group, but I didn’t join in.

After a few months of going, I started getting more confident. After a year, you couldn’t get me away from Chicken Shed. I was enjoying it so much. I was only seven, but from that age, I knew I belonged and fitted in and I went to my primary school saying I was leaving and going to school at Chicken Shed, but that wasn’t true because it’s a college.

I went to a special needs secondary school,  which at the time was the best school, but after two years of being there it really changed. When I started, most people were like me, physically disabled, not mentally disabled. But that changed and most people were mentally disabled, so again, I just wanted to study at Chicken Shed. I was 14, so I still couldn’t go, and it got to a point where I wouldn’t go to school because I didn’t fit in.

Because my school was attached to a mainstream school, I used to talk to the ‘mainstream’ pupils through the fence. Then at the age of 15, I applied for Chicken Shed, and one day after school I got home to a letter saying I had an interview. My school did everything they could to help because I was quite naughty there, so the staff couldn’t wait to get rid of me! Three months later, I got another letter saying I got in. So, June last year I left school and started college. I finally felt I was getting somewhere in life.

Redbridge Cycling is keen to hear your feedback on proposals to open new cycle routes through Wanstead Park. Gill James and Haydn Powell report on an often contentious subject

The last few months have been tough for everyone, so it is good to have silver linings. During lockdown, Wanstead Park was a haven to those wishing to get some fresh air and exercise. Park wardens report a 122% rise in visitor numbers.

For the climate crisis, the exponential growth in the popularity of cycling has been another real positive.

At present, a 1950s by-law restricts cycling in the park to a 200m stretch from the entrance at Wanstead Park Avenue up to the tea hut, then bearing left along the north-eastern edge of the Heronry Pond. Cycling is forbidden in all other parts of the park, but the signposting is, at best, erratic.

The Friends of Wanstead Parklands Facebook page witnessed some lively discussion, including complaints about cyclists not sticking to the sole designated route. Offline, users have also reported more serious incidents, including an altercation between a cyclist and a dog walker, and bikes being ridden in Chalet Wood, home to a notable colony of bluebells, which are easily damaged by trampling.

Since the park’s keepers began returning to work, the by-laws have been more rigorously enforced, notably around the Ornamental Water, where cycling is off limits.

At a meeting in July, the Friends of Wanstead Parklands committee members discussed the possibilities of expanding cycling in the park. The current situation is an area of dissatisfaction for all parties. Cycling has become a free-for-all, which is antagonising some pedestrians. In contrast, government and local council support for increased use of bikes has stoked demand for improved cycle routes through the park.

The Friends of Wanstead Parklands committee supported, in principle, the opening up of a shared-use route between the gate at Wanstead Park Avenue to the gate at Warren Road. This would make a good general ‘artery’ route for crossing the park.

Other proposed shared routes which Redbridge Cycling would like considered are:

The wide path between the River Roding and the Ornamental Water, connecting Warren Road with an entry from the Ilford side of the park. This route is good for family cycling.

A small section of pathway from the southern tip of the Ornamental Lake to the tea hut, north of Perch Pond. This would complete a circular leisure cycle route, which would be a tremendous benefit to safe family cycling. Resurfacing would also improve access for wheelchair users.

Redbridge Cycling wants to hear your views on the concept of new cycling routes around Wanstead Park.

Vintage trader Karen Stuckey took over the running of Wanstead Vintage fairs earlier this year. Although her first event in May was a victim of lockdown, the new Wanstead Vintage era starts now

Hasn’t lockdown been so difficult for everyone? What would have been my first Wanstead Vintage event in May, after taking over the fairs at the beginning of the year, had to be cancelled due to the current pandemic. However, I am delighted to say we will finally be open for business again this month. It is a really exciting year for us as it is our 10th anniversary as well. 

I first became interested in vintage over 10 years ago. I had just come out of the City after working as a training manager for JP Morgan for 15 years. I wanted a change of career, away from the corporate world. Whilst walking around Loughton, I came across Boningtons, the auctioneers. I went to their next viewing and auction and found it really exciting, so the following day I took my CV into their offices.  My timing was perfect and I started as office manager the following week!

I worked at Boningtons for five years and learnt so much. I will always remember doing the internet bidding on one particular lot which achieved just shy of £30,000! It was so exciting, the room erupted with applause when the hammer went down.

Working in an auction house really piqued my interest in vintage items and I started buying and selling myself. Of course, I got to the stage where I was running out of room at home as I was buying far more than I was selling, so I decided to attend vintage fairs. I now also have a space where I sell at Crews Hill Vintage Emporium in Enfield. This is rather nice because it gives me a base and has meant I have met more fellow traders.

It is now more important than ever to repair, reuse and recycle. The damage we have already inflicted on the planet is obvious to see and we can’t wait any longer to address it. Buying pre-loved is the way forward. It has all the excitement of a new purchase with the added bonus of helping the planet and knowing you’re recycling.

I was delighted to take over Wanstead Vintage this year – it was the perfect fit for me. I knew a number of the regular stallholders and my best asset is organising. We are really fortunate to hold these fairs in Wanstead United Reformed Church, a beautiful Grade II listed, recently refurbished building, which is incredibly light and airy with the sun streaming through the huge colourful stained glass windows. The church has two halls, which we fill with an array of stallholders, some of whom have been with us since 2010. They will be selling, as they always do, a huge variety of genuine vintage items: homewares, jewellery, handbags, posters, textiles, vinyl and books to name a few – everything you need for your home and wardrobe.