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The Heartfelt Funeral Company will host ‘A Heartfelt Christmas’ event in aid of Haven House Children’s Hospice on 13 December.

“We have planned a truly festive and family-friendly afternoon, including a magical Santa’s Grotto, horse and carriage rides and two gentle donkeys for children to meet and pet. There will also be a variety of refreshments, such as hot chocolate, Christmas cupcakes, mulled wine, and mince pies,” said a spokesperson.

The event will take place on Saturday 13 December, from 1pm to 5pm, at 271 High Road, Woodford Green, IG8 9EG. The Mayor of Redbridge will be visiting at approximately 2:30pm.

Markets, music and magical moments will make South Woodford merry this festive season. It’s time to celebrate with the community. Kris Kringle reports

A s frosty mornings paint the rooftops white and fairy lights brighten the early evenings, South Woodford readies itself for a season of festive delight. It’s a time to connect with neighbours, enjoy traditions and share in the celebrations. Here are some local festive events you can enjoy with family and friends.

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

Christmas Bazaar
29 November; 11am to 3pm (entry: £2)
Woodford Memorial Hall, High Road
Father Christmas visits also available (£5 per child; includes gift).

Christmas Light-Up
5 December; from 3.30pm (free)
George Lane roundabout, South Woodford
Join Santa for the switching on of South Woodford’s Christmas lights and a jolly singalong of festive songs with Oakdale Choir, Redbridge Music Lounge and Brook Brass. Meet some surprise Christmas visitors and enjoy festive refreshments.

Jack and the Beanstalk
5 December; 5pm to 6pm (tickets: £12.50)
Redbridge Drama Centre, South Woodford
A pop-up panto.

On-screen festive performances
from 7 December; (tickets: from £15)
Odeon, High Road, South Woodford
From André Rieu’s dazzling Christmas concert to Royal Ballet and Opera’s performance of The Nutcracker, enjoy festive live shows from the comfort of your local cinema.

Santa’s Christmas Workshop
from 13 December; various times
(adults: £7; children: £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. Elves will welcome you to their magical interactive Christmas show, after which Miss Christmas will take you to the workshop, where you will be able to make a Christmas decoration and write your letter to Santa. Next, you will be invited to meet Father Christmas himself in the grotto. His helpful elves can then take your photo with your own phone or camera.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
from 14 December; various times
(adults: £17.50; children: £15)
Redbridge Drama Centre, South Woodford
This Christmas get ready to twirl through a twister and land in the colourful Land of Oz, where magic sparkles, friendships grow and anything is possible! A Redbridge Creates production.

South Woodford Christmas Market
21 December; 11am to 4pm
George Lane, South Woodford
The monthly community market – offering a wide range of food and craft products – will be a family-friendly event with live music, festive stalls and Santa’s Grotto.

Dick Whittington
from 1 January;
various times (£19)
Sir James Hawkey Hall, Woodford Green
A production by the award-winning Woodford Pantomime, which has brought joy, laughter and magic to the community since the 1960s.

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/christmas25

In the first of a series of articles  presenting the work of Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society members, Anuraj Theivendram delves into the group’s archives

Founded in 1893, the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society is one of the UK’s longest-running camera clubs, but there’s nothing old-fashioned about it!

Today’s members bring fresh perspectives, bold creativity and a shared passion for photography that spans genres, generations and skill levels. From street scenes to studio portraits, Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society is where ideas spark, techniques evolve and great images come to life.

We welcome photographers of all ages (18 and over) and experience levels, from curious newcomers to confident hobbyists and lifelong enthusiasts. Whether you’re picking up a camera for the first time or refining your creative style, Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society offers a welcoming space to learn, share and grow.

Looking to sharpen your skills, explore new genres or share your work in a supportive environment? We run workshops, provide mentoring and host lively discussions that inspire and connect. Monthly competitions, in both print and projected digital image formats, are a cornerstone of club life. They challenge members to refine their craft, experiment boldly and receive thoughtful critique from experienced judges. From wildlife to still life, each competition invites members to push their creativity and share their unique perspective.

Standout images regularly feature in regional exhibitions, where our group proudly represents our local community and showcases the vibrant photographic talent across Woodford and Wanstead.

This article marks the beginning of a new series celebrating the fantastic image-making of our members. Each feature will spotlight standout photographs and, we hope, spark your interest in joining us. If you’re passionate about photography, or simply curious, we invite you to reach out, visit, connect and be part of our evolving story.

For more information on the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society, visit swvg.co.uk/wwps

If you are a first-time buyer and wondering what you need to buy a house or flat, here are some handy tips from Daveena Seepaul of local solicitors Edwards Duthie Shamash

Before looking at properties, you need to have organised your deposit. As a general rule, you need a deposit of at least 5% to 20% of the cost of the home you would like. You should seek financial advice in respect of the mortgage; you may need to find out in advance how much you may be able to borrow.

You will need to budget for your disbursements, such as search fees, land registry fees and any mortgage valuation fee or arrangement fee that might need to be paid up front.

One of the first stages in the conveyancing process, after instructing your solicitor, is to provide them with your ID, both photo and proof of address. It is also a legal requirement that a buyer provides adequate proof of the source of their funds to their solicitor.

Your conveyancing solicitor will obtain the contract and title paperwork from the seller’s solicitor, who will send your solicitor the contract with a copy of the title deeds of the property, along with supporting documentation.

Your solicitor will also apply for the searches, including the local authority search, which reveals any rights over the property – public rights of way, planning permissions or notices, for example. Once you have paid for your search fees, your solicitor can start the search applications.

If you are not buying a new build and the seller is living at the property, they may have a related purchase that would need to complete simultaneously. You can only exchange contracts after your solicitor is satisfied with the searches, replies to enquiries, a formal mortgage offer has been received and arrangements made for the agreed deposit, payable on exchange. When you exchange contracts with the seller, you become legally committed to buying the property, and they are legally committed to selling it to you. At the point of exchange, the date is set for the legal completion. You are advised not to book a removals firm until you have a completion date finalised! If the date changes further down the line, it could cost you to cancel or rearrange.

You need to ensure you take out buildings insurance for the property from the date of exchange of contracts, as you are responsible for it from then on, unless the property is in a block of flats.

Completion is when you pay for the property and take ownership. On the day of completion, money is transferred and the deeds of the property are transferred, all dealt with by the solicitors.

Edwards Duthie Shamash is located at 149 High Street, Wanstead, E11 2RL. For more information, call 020 8514 9000 or visit edwardsduthieshamash.co.uk

The UK’s oldest competitive music and drama festival will be taking place locally in 2026.

The Stratford and East London Music Festival – which was founded in 1882 – will be held at St Mary’s Church in South Woodford and at the Redbridge Music Service in Hainault in February.

“We welcome performers of all ages and abilities, from those performing at the highest levels to those who want to be involved in non-competitive classes,” said a spokesperson.

The deadline for entries is 31 December.

Visit swvg.co.uk/selmf

Some South Woodford scribbles from DD, our resident diarist and observer of all things local. Illustrated by Evelyn Rowland

When my late husband suffered a massive stroke 30 years ago, our life completely changed. I became his chief carer. Throughout the next seven years till his death, I began to write to my son and daughter, my nephews and nieces and many of their young friends who asked to come on board. I took it as a compliment when one of them referred to my letters as “Much ado about nothing.” I tried always to make them upbeat, but admit that tears were mixed in with laughter. I thought you might like to read one.

Dear friends all,

There have been important happenings since my last letter: Patsy and Philip got married. Toby and Helen had eight puppies. Andrew landed a leading role in The Full Monty. But, as you know, important happenings generally occur off-stage in my letters. My dramas, such as they are, centre on the daily round that hits no headlines… or even footnotes.

The world that Alastair and I inhabit is inevitably different from the one you are familiar with. I vividly recall an experience just a few weeks after Alastair’s stroke: I was cleaning one of the front windows when a family party came strolling past on their way to town for “a day out.” They were lamenting that it wasn’t as sunny as they would have liked. For my part, I was still at the banging-my-head-against-the-wall stage, in deep mourning for normality. I wanted to shout out to the sun-seekers and revise their perspectives for them. I didn’t, though.  And I try not to. As the years go by, I have developed strategies for acceptance of our strange one-day-at-a-time life together. New strategies replace old ones. Some help out for a few hours: I think of Christopher Reeve’s remark to David Frost: “I try to look upon bad days as good days in disguise.” Some remain apparently inexhaustible. Amongst them you. Did you realise you were “a strategy”? My letters to you are lifelines.

The Church Harvest Supper was well up to scratch. We munched our way companionably through the salmon mousse, roast pork and fruit crumble. Relaxed. At our ease. Regrettably, at the same time, other evening revellers were rifling their way through our drawers and cupboards at home in quest of hidden hordes of cash. Bras and briefs were being tossed like so much confetti around the bedrooms. But, as the nice fingerprint lady explained later, South Woodford tends to attract a careful class of thief: they all wear gloves.

The shock of returning to a fully lit house with possessions strewn around every room was mildly alarming, I must admit. I awaited the arrival of the redoubtable night-carer, Geoffrey. I could tell he was seething with disappointment not to have let himself in an hour earlier in time to grab and dislocate, or worse, a pilfering arm before our return. A friendly duo of detectives put in an appearance about 10 minutes later. Alastair seemed to be under the impression that they had come along to have a chat about Arsenal’s chances in the Cup. But by the next day, when we hosted a visit by a volunteer from the Victim Support charity offering good cheer, we were more or less back on an even keel emotionally and getting used to the mess. Their leaflet explained that “people react in different ways to burglaries: some experience burglary as an irritating inconvenience while others feel frightened and angry.” I don’t think I was frightened. I was quite angry. But in the end “an irritating inconvenience” probably comes nearest to how I feel. And now that I’ve filled up the claims forms and tidied round, it will soon be forgotten. As Alastair remarked, philosophically and with a highly unusual show of public-spiritedness: “the burglars of this world presumably need their harvest too.”

On one recent visit to the Post Office, I collected my ‘freedom pass’! It’s a sort of bitter-sweet occasion, granting you free travel throughout London with one hand and reminding you of your senior citizenship on the other! I couldn’t help remarking that the Post Office public relations training is somewhat haphazard: when I went in ahead of my birthday to ask about the procedure for getting a pass, the ‘lady’ who served me said: “‘Ave you ‘ad one before?” I was mortified. When I went back the following week with my photos and form all filled in, the ‘gentleman’ who served me said” “Oo’s this for then, yer mum?”

I have suddenly realised that I can see the Millennium Dome under construction from my bedroom window. I was standing on the windowsill with my head half-out of the skylight and using binoculars to survey the distant scene when I made the dome-discovery. If the roof of the dome is eventually lowered onto its supporting structure on a fine day, I could probably sell tickets to view. I could make a small charge, especially if I threw in a cream tea. I enjoy making scones. I think I shall write to Mr Mandelson to ensure he authorises nothing without Met Office clearance. To miss all the fun in a fog would be unfortunate, not to say financially disadvantageous.

Suddenly, I’m accruing certificates. The Stroke Association has sent me a handsome piece of cream parchment certifying that I have been nominated for one of their ‘Life After Stroke’ awards. I’ve “enabled a stroke-sufferer to go on living.” I’ve been “highly commended”. I’m “a special person” and “an example to others.” I’m grateful, of course. But all the same, I was nearer to laughing than crying when I eased the contents out of their impressive reinforced envelope. Neither Alastair nor I want to be “an example” to anybody! We dream of once more passing unnoticed amongst the able-bodied majority. With me looking up at him, as I have through the past 30 years, not down.

Love and thanks to you all.

To contact DD with your thoughts or feedback, email dd@swvg.co.uk

A double rainbow over Wanstead Park’s tea hut and a sunset over Hollow Ponds are among the images featured in a new Epping Forest calendar for 2026.

“Last year, we sold around 770 copies, raising just under £5,000 for the Epping Forest Heritage Trust, The Swan Sanctuary and Epping Forest’s own charity arm. With 17 stunning images, including five of Wanstead Park, I’m hopeful to raise even more this year,” said Don Taylor, who compiled the calendar.

A4 (£10) and A3 (£12) sizes are available.

To order, email taylordong365@gmail.com

Applications are open for residents to adopt the tree pits on their streets and plant them with wildflowers in 2026.

“This year, more than 300 residents adopted tree pits across the borough, boosting biodiversity and helping our streets bloom… We are committed to improving habitats for pollinators to reverse their rapid decline and recover nature,” said a Redbridge Council spokesperson.

The scheme runs alongside year-round applications to remove entire roads from chemical weed control spraying.

Visit swvg.co.uk/treepits

Local artist Mark Lewis has opened an exhibition of his work at the Epping Forest Visitor Centre in Chingford, featuring drawings inspired by the local landscape.

“Images depict the rampant chaos of nature, particularly in the summer; a time when one becomes aware of the silent, relentless energy of unbridled natural growth. I am also interested in depicting the juxtaposition of manmade urban structures that encroach on the natural wilderness and the sense of mystery created by the contrast of strong light and shade. The exhibited drawings have evolved from rapidly executed sketches and black-and-white photographs which inform bold and expressive, mark-making images that sometimes push towards semi-abstraction,” said Mark, who lives in Woodford Green.

As well as painting and drawing, Mark is also a designer-maker specialising in silversmithing and jewellery. He studied at the School of Jewellery in Birmingham and has won several local and national design awards. Mark ran his own workshop and studio in the London Docklands for several years before entering full-time teaching. He has lectured in the Sir John Cass Department of Art at London Metropolitan University, Birmingham City University, the University of Creative Arts and the Goldsmiths Centre and many other colleges in London. His educational activities also extend to offering bespoke workshops and training courses on drawing, design and digital painting.

The exhibition is on show at the View Gallery, Epping Forest Visitor Centre, Ranger’s Road, Chingford, London E4 7QH until 30 November (open Tuesday – Sunday, 10am-4pm)

Visit www.marklewisart.co.uk

Discover the creativity and community behind floral art with national demonstrator and Wanstead House manager Kathryn Stangaard, who will be presenting to the Woodford and District Floral Arrangement Group this festive season

For over 20 years, I have been incredibly lucky to be a part of the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies (NAFAS). This has taken me to many places here and abroad as a national demonstrator, speaker, judge and teacher.

The world of floral art, which incorporates flower arranging and floristry, covers a huge range of art and craft techniques, environmental designs, period history and contemporary techniques from around the world. It is as diverse as the people involved.

In my time, I have arranged flowers at Westminster Abbey for both Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III, for services such as Armistice Day, Epiphany, RAF celebrations and Commonwealth Day. I have been involved with huge installations in Selfridges for Chelsea week and exhibited in some of the most prestigious venues in the country. Flower arranging really does get you into places you wouldn’t normally get to see!

Flower arranging is also know to be extremely therapeutic, relieving stress and anxiety, and is also very sociable. We run a class at Wanstead House Community Centre every Friday morning and this is a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours playing with flowers and socialising. Our class was recently involved with the flower festival at Christ Church for the Wanstead Festival and produced some fantastic exhibits around the theme of children’s books.

There are many different periods throughout the year when it’s a busy time with flowers for certain celebrations and holidays, but Christmas is usually one of the busiest. From swags, garlands and table centres to trees and door wreaths, it is the time when most people like to ‘have a go’ themselves, and you can always find classes and workshops locally.

Woodford and District Floral Arrangement Group meet on the third Monday of every month (except December and January), where we have different demonstrators each time who transform flowers and foliage before your eyes into wonderful designs that are then raffled off, so you could be lucky enough to go home with a beautiful arrangement.

This year, for our Christmas meeting, I will be demonstrating some of the latest ideas and techniques, but also showing you some traditional designs for your Christmas décor. So please do join us; all are welcome for fun and flowers, mince pies and a glass of something festive!

The Woodford and District Floral Arrangement Group Christmas event will take place at Wanstead Library on 17 November from 7.30pm (visitors: £9). For more information call 020 8508 9765

For more information on classes at Wanstead House, call 020 8989 3693

Snaresbrook is among 17 London Underground stations that will be assessed for step-free access upgrades.

The shortlisted stations will now undergo detailed feasibility studies, although any future work will be subject to TfL’s finances.

“While TfL will fund these additional studies, the subsequent development and delivery of schemes will be dependent on TfL’s future funding position, with deliverable schemes prioritised where there is significant third-party funding available,” said a spokesperson.

A survey has shown people are unhappy with TfL’s reorganisation of local buses.

Over 80% gave a rating of two stars or less, while 55% expressed complete dissatisfaction, giving zero stars. Within a week, the survey received 150 responses.

Comments included: “This public body is abusing its powers.” “My elderly neighbour is unable to reach a GP.” “My son can no longer get a bus to school – I have to stop work to drive him.”

The survey was run by residents in September on the first anniversary of the W12, W13 and W14 bus route changes.