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A South Woodford artist who specialises in painting large urban scenes in watercolour will be holding an exhibition of his latest work at Broadway Market on 7 December.

“Entitled Re:View East, these paintings are inspired by the East End of London, from Bethnal Green to Hackney Wick. I love the energy and vibrancy of this part of London that you don’t find anywhere else, and this is combined with a real sense of authenticity and history,” said Darren Evans, a member of Woodford Arts Group.

Visit thesuburbanartist.co.uk

There’ll be plenty of festive cheer in South Woodford this November and December, with a number of events on offer for all the community to enjoy. Kris Kringle reports

As the winter chill settles in and the scent of cinnamon lattes fill the air, South Woodford prepares for a new round of festive events. A time to enjoy the spirit of togetherness and community celebration. 

Woodford Christmas Craft Market
25 November; 10am to 3pm (free entry)
Woodford Memorial Hall, High Road, E18 2PA
Providing local creatives with a platform to showcase their wares.

Christmas lights switch-on
1 December; from 3.30pm (free)
George Lane roundabout, South Woodford
The switching-on of South Woodford’s Christmas lights will be followed by a jolly singalong of festive songs. As well as local dignitaries, there will be panto characters mingling… and Santa will make a special visit!

Haven House Christmas Fair
2 and 3 December; 10am to 3pm (£8)
Haven House Children’s Hospice, IG8 9LB
Children can immerse themselves in the magic of the grotto (£15 per child), where they will spend time with Santa and receive a present. Outside in the grounds, adults can indulge in mulled wine and mince pies while the little ones enjoy the woodland activity trail, make crafts or bounce in the inflatable snow globe!

Sneak and Peek
1, 2 and 9 December; various times (tickets: £12)
Redbridge Drama Centre, South Woodford
This endearing and entertaining musical for children of all ages will capture the magic of Santa’s world while showcasing the determination and heart of two young elves striving to become real undercover agents. They learn essential spy skills, like gift-wrapping without making a sound and navigating rooftops with grace. So, gather round and let the spirit of Sneak and Peek fill your hearts with joy.

Santa’s Christmas Workshop
16 and 17 December; various times (tickets: £15)
Redbridge Drama Centre, South Woodford
Come and visit Santa’s workshop, where Santa and his hard-working elves are busily getting ready for the big day. All the boys and girls need to write a letter to Santa and post them in Santa’s postbox. They can then help the elves get ready for their Christmas party; decide what songs they’ll sing, learn their dance routines and join in the party games. Santa will be on hand to join in the fun and give every child a gift.

South Woodford Christmas Market
17 December; 11am to 5pm
George Lane, South Woodford
The monthly community market will be a family-friendly event with Christmas fayre, activities and entertainment.

Local school and church events
Festive fun, gift stalls, special events and services – too many to include here, so check the full listings to see what’s on.

For more information on these and other Christmas events in South Woodford, visit swvg.co.uk/hohoho

Local resident Red Willow reflects on her ambition to encourage variety in cooking and eating, a seven-year adventure which has led to the publication of her vegetarian cookbook, inspired by the seasons

May I introduce A Year of Veggie Adventures? Four scrumptious seasons of palate-pleasing pleasures. She is peppered with poetry, tall tales, handy hints, elegant scenes, and spans 17 countries of truly delicious dishes.

My intention was simply to encourage variety in cooking and eating. Although the tide is now turning, cookbooks, magazines and TV shows previously put a lot of emphasis on meaty cooking. 

Ever since I first began eating out in the mid-90s, I noticed restaurants and pubs always lacked any decent vegetarian food, often offering just one ‘option’, and that was usually mushroom risotto or vegetable penne pasta. Unbelievably, I still sometimes see those on the menu! 

Being a chef, and a curious traveller, I knew there were so many more ingredients that were being ignored. In conversation, I found many people were unwilling to widen their food choices due to having no knowledge of how to use grains, beans, vegetables, spices and herbs. I also noted that cookbooks had become more about the photographic styling than the food. The current fashion is bold, bright and blocky, with top-down messy Instagram-style photos. There’s also the puzzling phenomenon of that antique-looking spoon that seems to make its way into every photo, sitting in a strategic smudge of the relevant sauce. 

Well, I’ve never been one to follow the crowd. My goal was to craft a work of art, something beautiful and inspirational. I intended to express the energetic quality of the seasons and highlight the intrinsic bond between our lives, our food and Mother Nature’s cycles.

It has certainly been an adventure bringing her to life. I began in 2016 and first compiled four separate e-books to sell online before reformatting them all into one file, creating the cover and getting the whole thing print-ready. The cover is just one of the things that make Veggie Adventures so unique. It is a lovely, hand-painted watercolour, with prints and collage, using items found in our garden. This delicate, circular entwining of nature’s gifts spans both sides of the cover. If you open it out, you can see the full glory of the year.

Unusually, the adventure begins in autumn, nature’s most abundant harvest, and cycles through to summer. Every page is seasonally themed with vibes of nostalgia and good times. Also, there are no photos of the completed dishes in the book itself. Instead, I put photos in a gallery on my website, and saved page space for the all-important recipes, over 150 of them inspired by my global travels.

For now, I’m feeling accomplished, but pretty soon, it’s likely I’ll embark on the next adventure.

A Year of Veggie Adventures by Red Willow is available in hardback (£30). For more information, visit swvg.co.uk/ayova

Gardening at Christmas will be the theme for a National Trust talk in South Woodford on 12 December.

“The festive season is usually regarded as a horticultural hiatus. But in this illustrated talk, we’ll see Christmas offers much to the gardener. We’ll look at colourful plants that brighten both indoors and outdoors, and study the most beloved Yuletide plant: the Christmas tree. Lavishly sprinkled with bad jokes!” said Nick Dobson, whose presentation will take place at the Woodford Memorial Hall from 10.30am (visitors: £3).

Call 07774 164 407

South Woodford resident Michael Walford-Grant is using his recent book publishing deal to raise funds for The Compassionate Friends, an organisation that supports bereaved parents

In 2002, on a cold, dark November morning, my wife and I lost our beautiful boy, William. He was 13 years old, doing his paper round on his bike before school to save up enough money to go on holiday to Disney World in Florida. He was our only child. The loss was devastating. The memory of the policeman arriving at our front door at 7.30 in the morning will remain with me forever.

Since then, my wife and I have rebuilt our lives, one slow, painful step after another. We have both experienced some very dark moments along the way. 

In 2017, I joined The Compassionate Friends as a helpline volunteer. The charity provides a range of support services for bereaved parents and siblings. I help most Monday evenings. Because all the volunteers have experienced the loss of a child, the parents calling the helpline really appreciate the fact that when they call, they get to speak to someone who has gone through something similar to them. The work is very satisfying, albeit emotional at times. 

Away from the charity, in November of last year, I signed an international book publishing deal with an American publishing house. I am not an author, so securing the contract was, and is, very exciting. I am an experienced sales professional, and after a career of working for companies, I decided to start my own sales consulting practice. One month before the pandemic hit, so not great timing!

However, it is through this that I came up with the idea for the book Sales Unplugged: The Invaluable “Go To Guide” for Busy B2B Salespeople. It is a book of sales best practices, targeted at business-to-business sales professionals. It took about nine months to put together and draws upon a vast array of materials and experience, acquired and collated over a career spanning more than 30 years. Part two of the book is a collection of stories and anecdotes, ranging from the dramatic to the funny to the deeply personal. The locations for the stories include Dublin, New York, Abu Dhabi and Austria, plus, of course, my home town, London. 

I am proud of my profession and passionate about giving something back after experiencing my loss, which is unlike any other type of bereavement. So, I am using my book to raise funds. 

The charity is always in need of money to enable us to continue to support bereaved parents and siblings with a comprehensive range of support services. My target is to raise £1,000 by the end of the year.

If you would like to donate, and optionally acquire a copy of the book, it would mean a great to deal me. Thank you.

For more information and to donate, visit swvg.co.uk/tcf

Faiza Shaheen, the Labour Party’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green, responds to Sir Iain Duncan Smith’s article in the last issue about local policing

Since 2010, under successive Conservative governments, we have seen unprecedented real terms cuts in multiple areas of public services. The police system has not escaped this short-sighted and dangerous experiment.

The police force was cut savagely in the 2010s, with some recovery in numbers in the last few years once the damage was becoming clear. The shortfall is still evident, with analysis of Home Office figures finding that overall, there has been a cut of over 10,000 neighbourhood officers and PCSOs from frontline policing since 2010, even after the recent uplift is factored in. Government funding for policing has fallen by 20% since 2010, with London being particularly hard hit. 

The impact is devastating for our sense of safety and the functioning of the police. Nearly 95% of crimes went unsolved by the police between April 2022 and March 2023. Add to this the cuts to the criminal justice system, youth services, mental health services and legal aid and you start to get the picture of the extent of the damage to an ecosystem that is meant to be designed to uphold safety and address criminality.

For Iain Duncan Smith to blame Sadiq Khan for the closure of the police station in Woodford given this context is both misleading and hypocritical. The majority of Sadiq Khan’s policing budget comes from central government, and just like Boris Johnson before him, he has been forced to close police stations across London as a consequence of cuts by the Conservatives. And after holding on to Uxbridge in the recent by-election, the Conservatives see political currency in bashing and blaming Sadiq Khan at every turn to avoid scrutiny of their own record – but the truth is police stations have been closing at the rate of one a week across the country since 2010.

If I am elected as the MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, the area I grew up in and live in, I want to bring a different brand of politics. One not about blatant lies and misinformation, but about a focus on the solutions and working with the community to bring positive change for our neighbourhood. Too many of us have faced cars being stolen or homes being broken into. I back Labour’s plan to restore neighbourhood policing with 13,000 new officers and PCSOs. My priority will also be on tackling the root problems by fighting for more youth spaces, like the one that has just been opened at the housing development at the former dog racing stadium after community pressure and funding from Waltham Forest Council. The UK economy is still faltering from the disastrous tenure of Liz Truss – who was Iain Duncan Smith’s favoured candidate for Prime Minister – but with a new government and a new MP, we will finally have the fresh start we so desperately need.

Faiza Shaheen is the Labour Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green. For more information, visit swvg.co.uk/shaheen

Local resident Delia Ray, a volunteer for countryside charity CPRE London, explains how the people of Wanstead and Woodford can help with a bold plan to mitigate the impact of climate change on the capital

Imagine a ring of trees providing shade and tranquillity in a seamless circle around London. Linking with existing areas such as Epping Forest, the woodland would absorb pollution, cool the environment and provide safe passage for local wildlife. 

It sounds like a dream, but countryside charity CPRE London is working with expert partners (such as The Woodland Trust) to make this ‘M25 of trees’ a reality. By planting saplings or reforesting neglected sites, gaps will be filled and access enhanced across the green belt.

We now need help from people in outer London areas such as Wanstead and Woodford with the first step: mapping areas which offer potential for planting. These places could include overlooked plots of land near existing woods, empty borders of a park, or fly-tipped scrubland. They could be council land, privately owned or part of the estate of schools or churches.

One site already highlighted to the team in Redbridge is the stretch of the River Roding near Chigwell Road (as pictured here). Borderland such as this could host new trees linked to neighbouring woodland, reducing run-off and flood risk. Other possible locations are the patch of overgrown land behind Eagle Pond, within the grounds of Snaresbrook Crown Court, and the land between Wanstead Park and Valentines Park, especially the overgrown spaces adjacent to the Roding. Can you identify any more locations? At this point, we’re simply mapping possible sites, and we will find out who owns them in follow-up stages. 

The next step will be planting. Like a natural forest, the new tree ring community forest will contain native trees, but also hedgerows, open plains, and even cultivated areas such as orchards, areas of nut trees and wooded margins for nature-friendly farming.

The forest will build on existing woodland in the green belt. The project directly addresses key requirements of the London Urban Forest Plan to create more woodland, especially species-rich woodland, in London. It encourages biodiversity, supporting vulnerable species such as the hedgehog and Pipistrelle bat. It will also help residents to enjoy access to nature – essential for the 1.8m Londoners with no garden, including an estimated 100,000 in Redbridge.

Currently, swathes of London’s green belt are under threat. The tree ring will therefore also help the green belt do its job. Without it, London could have spread out like Los Angeles, potentially sprawling across an area from Cambridge to Brighton.

Can you help bring this vision to life? If you know of possible locations for new woodland creation, please get in touch. There are also lots of opportunities to donate or get involved in other ways.

For more information and to submit your ideas, visit swvg.co.uk/treering

Residents are invited to help improve habitats and food sources for pollinators by taking part in Redbridge Council’s tree pit adoption and Pollinator Pathways schemes.

“When tree pits are adopted, the individual pits go onto the no-chemical spray list. In the case of Pollinator Pathway streets, the whole street goes onto the no-spray list,” said a spokesperson. Last year, over 560 tree pits were adopted in the borough, boosting biodiversity by growing wild flowers around the trees. Applications close on 31 December.

Visit swvg.co.uk/pits 

Volunteer bakers will be selling Christmas cakes this December to raise money for Haven House Children’s Hospice.

It follows the success of last year’s appeal, which saw 40 cakes sold in exchange for a donation to the Woodford Green charity, raising £1,288. “Thanks to all who continue to support us. If you would like to order a cake, please get in touch by 3 December. The suggested donation is £20 for a plain cake or £25 for an iced cake,” said organiser Sarah-Jane Mendonça.

Email havenhousechristmascakes@gmail.com 

A South Woodford organisation which supports children who have experienced domestic violence has launched a fundraising campaign.

“Our ‘Children Are Victims Too’ campaign highlights the impact of domestic abuse on long-term mental health and well-being. We want every child affected to be supported, which is why we are raising funds for our ‘practitioner pot’ to help us provide more hours of therapeutic counselling sessions,” said a spokesperson for Free Your Mind CIC.

Visit swvg.co.uk/fym

Often too busy to visit his Woodford constituency, Churchill would send his wife in his place. Now, director Chris Jaeger is bringing the play Mrs Churchill – My Life With Winston to South Woodford this November

Winston Churchill is one of the most famous Englishmen that has ever lived. Several years ago, he was voted first in a top 100 Englishmen poll. He is often portrayed as a bulldog because of his tenacity as a politician and his toughness on the international stage.

He was an MP for 62 years but there were many other sides to him. He was a talented painter, he wrote many books, winning a Nobel Prize for literature; and, of course, nobody could forget his biting humour (eg. Nancy Astor: “If I were married to you, I’d put poison in your coffee.” Winston: “If I were married to you, I’d drink it.”)

They say that behind every great man, there is a great woman. Was this true in Churchill’s case? What of Clementine, his wife of 56 years? Did he bully her like he did so many other people? Was he as grumpy and irascible at home as he often was in the House of Commons? Given his strength and conviction, did Clem have any influence on him at all? Or was she ‘the little lady at home’? The clue lies in another of Winston’s quotes. He said: “My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.”

Despite his bullish and aggressive reputation, when Clem first met him, he was a tongue-tied, stammering young man with few social graces. Yes, he was already a war hero. Yes, he was already an established politician. But these were men-dominated areas and he’d had little contact with women. Clem was very unimpressed with him and they did not meet again for four years. It was better the second time, and despite Winston treading on her feet several times while dancing, they talked and talked and found they had much in common. Within six months, they were married.

In truth, Clem was really the only person who could control him. It didn’t happen very often, but when she put her foot down, he rarely went against her. A prime example was the D-Day landings. Winston wanted to be in the lead boat, but the navy was very unhappy about that and talked to Clem. She told him he wasn’t going… and that was that.

In the play, not for the first time, Winston is too busy to attend his local Woodford constituency and is sending Clementine. She says: “Tomorrow, I shall thank the good people of Woodford for their loyalty and their kindness. You have taken us both to your hearts and I’m delighted we’ve been able to serve you for 30 years and more.”

But what of her children, her life and her grief at his death? All these questions will be answered, and many more, in Liz Grand’s superb, moving, funny, sensitive and informative portrayal of Clementine Churchill. This was one of the great love affairs of all time.

Mrs Churchill – My Life with Winston will be performed at Redbridge Drama Centre in South Woodford on 17 November (7.30pm; tickets: £16.50). Visit swvg.co.uk/mrsc

Services of remembrance will take place across Wanstead and South Woodford this November.

Two events will take place on Armistice Day. The first will be at the Woodford War Memorial, outside St Mary’s Church in South Woodford (arrive by 8.40am). This will be followed by a service at the Snaresbrook Garden of Remembrance, off Snaresbrook Road, opposite Eagle Pond (arrive by 10.45am).

A final gathering will take place at the Wanstead War Memorial on the High Street on 12 November (arrive by 12.15pm).