Barry Albin-Dyer diagnosed with brain tumour

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From the blog of well-known local funeral director Barry Albin-Dyer:

I have personally also had some difficult news as I have been diagnosed with a tumour in the brain. Initially the news was not good but it improved greatly yesterday when the surgeon gave me hope after telling me that he will operate and remove as much as possible and anything that is left will be treated accordingly. So I will be out of action now for a while as I am going into hospital to have the operation next Tuesday (9th), but with God’s help and your best wishes which I am so grateful for, I will as ‘The Terminator’ says ‘return’ after some recuperation.

In the meantime the business will be in the very capable hands of my two sons Simon and Jonathan and my wonderful staff who are lovingly supporting me at this very difficult time. Huge thanks to the staff and especially to my sons and to Jackie who have as ever been by my side.

 

Local Girlguiding group receives Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

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Southwark guiding group celebrate their ‘MBE for volunteering groups’ – the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

The 1st St James’ Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and members of the Senior Section (STARS) and their Leaders could be the newest MBE holders in Southwark. They celebrated in style on Tuesday 2 July as they received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2013, an award for voluntary groups which is equivalent to the MBE for individuals.

Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, members of the Senior Section and Leaders celebrated at Bacon’s College in Rotherhithe with Girlguiding chief executive Julie Bentley. The award was presented to the group by deputy lieutenant Jenny Bianco.

More than 160 girls from around Southwark meet at the same time every week. This includes 33 Rainbows, 56 Brownies and 63 Guides, and a team of 26 volunteer leaders supported by 30 members of the Senior Section of whom 18 help every week! This means they are one of the biggest guiding groups in the entire UK, giving girls the space to have fun and a chance to make their own choices and have their voices heard every week.

Shania, 10, from 1st St James’ Brownies, said: “I loved the presentation evening tonight – the best bit was seeing the Award and reading the letter from HRH Countess of Wessex. It made me feel really proud to be part of something so big. Our leaders are great fun and make our meetings really exciting.”

1st St James’ guiding family of units is led by Lesley Marsh who said: “The award nomination is made by a member of the local community so we were very surprised and delighted when we found out. Some of the leaders were invited to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace and when we told the girls they decided that it would be great to have another celebration and say “thank you” to our local community. The girls asked if we could have a cake to celebrate and we did!”

Pip McKerrow, chief commissioner of Girlguiding London and South East England, said: “What an incredible achievement for an amazing group of Girlguiding leaders and girls. We’re proud of the 1st St James groups who offer girls their own space to build friendships, have fun and develop their own voices week-in, week-out, with some of the largest guiding groups in the region!”

Convoys Wharf: what impact will 3,500 new homes have on Rotherhithe?

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SE16 residents may wish to pay attention to the outline planning application for the redevelopment of Convoys Wharf over in Deptford – with 3,500 homes planned, there are bound to be implications for Evelyn Street / Lower Road and Canada Water infrastructure.

With so much development on the Southwark side of the boundary, it’s easy to lose track of what’s happening over in Lewisham.

Southwark Park’s coronation tree rededicated

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Coronation Tree Photo 5 19 06 2013 Coronation Tree Photo 2 19 06 2013

A chestnut tree planted by London County Council in Southwark Park in 1953 to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II has been rededicated to mark its 60th anniversary.

The rededication ceremony took place on 19 June  which also coincided with the 140th anniversary of the opening of Southwark Park.

A plaque and new railings were unveiled by  Jenny Bianco, deputy lieutenant for Southwark.

Gary Glover, chair of the Friends of Southwark Park, said:  “It was a lovely to have the Queen’s representative to unveil the the new plaque and railings to celebrate the Queen’s accession to the throne.”

He said that the 60-year-old tree is “as strong as ever” even though it was nearly lost in the great storm of October 1987.

 

 

New home for Fisher FC at St Paul’s Field

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Proposals have been announced that would see Fisher FC return to Rotherhithe as part of a new development involving the disused Surrey Docks Stadium and St Paul’s playing field sites.

Fairview New Homes  have agreed to buy the freehold of the former Surrey Docks Stadium from receivers appointed by Ulster Bank. Fairview are proposing a development of the stadium site, and a linked development of St Paul’s playing field on Salter Road , that would see the disused playing field site turned into a brand new football facility that would serve as a home ground for Fisher FC.

On the site of the Surrey Docks Stadium, home to Fisher Athletic until 2004, a landscaped community park will be created while there will be a residential development on the ‘yard’ area of the stadium site.

At the AGM of Fisher Society Ltd last week Fisher members gave unanimous support to the proposals.

Welcoming the members’ decision, Fisher FC chair Ben Westmancott commented: “After nearly a decade in exile from our Bermondsey and Rotherhithe home, and four years after reforming Fisher as a supporter-owned club, we now have a fantastic opportunity to bring Fisher FC back home and to establish a base at the heart of our community.”

The planned facility at St Paul’s would form a home not just for Fisher’s first team but also for the many youth teams that the club runs. A state of the art 3G pitch would be installed, to help ensure that the wider community also benefits from the investment. Mr Westmancott explained:

“We’ve had really positive discussions with officers at Southwark Council, who own the freehold of the St Paul’s site, and they have assured us that the new facility will be Fisher’s home. But they are also clear that the benefits that this investment will bring must be shared with the wider community. We completely support their position on this, and as a club one of our constitutional objectives is to enable wider participation in football in our community.

“With those aims in mind, a 3G pitch is a necessity. A number of clubs have shown just how well they can work including Maidstone United, and we will be able to use the surface in the league as well as the FA Vase, and FA Cup qualifying rounds.”

While Fairview New Homes Ltd will be providing £500,000 funding for the development, via payments made to Southwark Council, there will still be a requirement for Fisher and Southwark Council to access additional grant funding to ensure that the anticipated total cost of circa £0.75M can be covered. Mr Westmancott explained:

“Fisher will need to a make a financial contribution to the development and there is now lots of hard work to do to access the opportunities we have identified for grant funding – and the club will also be undertaking fund raising initiatives.

“The development is of course subject to obtaining planning permission, and even if everything goes according to plan we still have two more tough years to survive by ground-sharing. We need our members, supporters and friends in the community to come together and help us get through these two seasons while we work hard on making a new home on Salter Road a reality.

“I’d like to put on record our thanks to Fairview New Homes Ltd and Southwark Council who have worked positively and constructively with us over the last few months. We have also received outstanding practical support from Supporters Direct, the national organisation that supports and encourages fan-ownership of football clubs.”

Simon Hughes MP said: “There will no doubt still be discussion and further developments of the plans for Fairview New Homes to develop the old Fisher Football Club ground in Salter Road.

“But the dramatic disappearance into administration of the company which was Fisher’s previous owner has given a great chance for the Fish to return to Salter Road, although on a new site on St Paul’s playing fields.

“The club, the council and Fairview are to be congratulated on working together to give a great new opportunity for a new start for Fisher in Rotherhithe.

“All being well a good deal can be done in the months ahead which will deliver a decent number of affordable homes, new green space and above all a new and welcoming home for the much loved Fisher Football Club.”

Rotherhithe Police Station front counter closes

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Rotherhithe Police Station

Rotherhithe Police Station closed its doors to the public for the last time this week.

A new police ‘contact point’ – open for just three hours a week – has been introduced at Canada Water Library.

Officers will be available at the library on Wednesday and Thursday evenings between 7pm and 8pm and on Saturdays from 2pm to 3pm.

The police station closure is part of the Met’s new local policing model which sees Safer Neighbourhood Teams reorganised into clusters to cover a number of wards.

Assistant Commissioner Simon Byrne said: “We’ve listened to the public and understand people just want to know police are close by. So we are changing the way we do things to make neighbourhood policing our priority

“We will now have around 200 places for the public to access police, in more convenient locations and at differing times.

“We are telling Londoners exactly where their police will be and when, making it clearer what the best way to access police is depending on what their need is.”

Simon Hughes MP said: “In my March response I stated my support for Walworth police station to remain accessible for 24 hours a day and for Southwark police station to remain one of the principal police stations in the borough. I said that I was willing to support the change to only one 24 hour accessible police station provided the counter service was significantly improved at all police stations and bases which have front counters and which are accessible to the public.

“I said that I did not object to the plan to close Rotherhithe police station provided that a replacement permanent police base for Rotherhithe, equally or more accessible to the public, is provided before the present station closes. I also made clear that there must continue to be a police front counter in SE16.

“I therefore welcome the fact that Walworth police station, in my constituency, will remain open to the public 24 hours a day and that Southwark police station, in my constituency, will remain a principal Southwark police station with the front counter open during day time.

“It is not acceptable that there is not as of today a replacement front counter open for the people of SE16 to replace Rotherhithe police station.”

Mr Hughes said that the Canada Water Library contact point is “not a reasonable substitute” for the police station.

He added: “This is a clear failure of the Mayor of London and the Met police to honour the commitments they gave locally that no police station would close without adequate police presence to replace them.

“Of course it is welcome that crime figures are falling significantly in Southwark as elsewhere in London. And the commitment to increase the number of officers doing neighbourhood policing is also welcome.

“On behalf of the people of Bermondsey and North Southwark, I will now hold the police to account to make sure we have the number of inspectors, sergeants, constables and police community support officers promised in our area and we will go on pushing the police to agree with the council or another landlord to get the level of police counter service for SE16 which the community needs and expects.”

Rotherhithe Police Station is to be sold by the Met and it is expected that a new local base for officers on patrol will be provided at Seven Islands Leisure Centre.

 

Bee Observation Centre at Stave Hill

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Children from St John's Primary School attend the official opening of the Bee Observation Centre in Stave Hill Ecological Park VF_01_bees
The Bee Observation Centre officially opened at Stave Hill Ecology Park last week and provides a safe way for children and members of the public to watch a working glass fronted hive from a wooden hut without the risk of getting stung.
The kids who came to the opening were the reception year (4-5) from St John’s Primary School in Rotherhithe .
The hives are cared for by beekeeper of the year Sharon Bassey.
Thanks to Vicki Flores of What’s in Wapping for the pics.

Man cautioned for false report of theft at Bermondsey tube station

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British Transport Police  officers have issued a reminder about the consequences of falsely reporting crime.
False crime reports divert police attention from passengers and railway staff who really need it. People who are found wasting police time or perverting the course of justice can find themselves facing arrest.

On Monday a man was handed a formal police caution after boasting on Twitter that he had lied to police about having his wallet stolen, with BTP officers quickly picking up on the messages.

The 23-year-old man, from Benfleet in Essex, told police that he had his wallet snatched out of his hand whilst on board a train at Bermondsey Tube station.

But the man soon tweeted about how he had lied to BTP about the incident and had in fact forgotten his wallet.

The tweets were picked up by BTP’s control room and he was arrested a few hours later for perverting the course of justice, before being handed a formal police caution.

BTP Superintendent Matt Wratten said: “This man wasted valuable police time by falsely claiming his property had been stolen. He then had the audacity to brag about it on social media.

“Thanks to the quick actions of the staff in our Force control room, and the man’s tweets, we were able to quickly identify that the theft hadn’t taken place.

“We know the majority of people report crimes openly and honestly, and we will always treat every report as genuine. I hope this man and others who are considering making a false claim now think twice about doing so.”

Supt Wratten added: “BTP recently launched Operation Magnum to tackle theft and already we’re arresting more offenders.

“Our plain-clothes officers patrol the Tube network every day and are highly-trained in spotting the kind of behaviour that tells them someone is intent on theft.”

Boris’s 2020 vision for London includes academic centre at Canada Water

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King’s College London’s plans to establish a major new campus at Canada Water are included in the Mayor of London’s  2020 Vision – The Greatest City on Earth: Ambitions for London document.

Boris Johnson wrote:

As UCL expands to the east, and Imperial College to the west, so King’s College, another internationally renowned university is reaching across the Thames to Canada Water. This will help develop a new science cluster with potential for 2,500 new homes and 2,000 new jobs.

In the document the Mayor also makes positive noises about the prospect of an eastern extension of Barclays Cycle Hire.