London

A Tower Hamlets road scheme could be dressed with colours from the Central Foundation Girls' School (CFGS) uniform, as part of innovative traffic calming measures designed to protect local school children and improve the look of the area. Harley Grove is home to CFGS, and suffers from congestion and road safety problems during the general mayhem of school drop-off and pickup times, which staff have been trying to marshal for a long time. Last year there were five crashes on Harley Grove, three involving vehicles failing to give way at the junction with Bow Road.  Project Centre was appointed to work with CFGS to come up with proposals for delivery by Tower Hamlets council that would address the ongoing traffic and safety concerns. Mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs, visited CF...

74 Bags of litter – including carpets, bedding and a motorbike cleared from Tower Hamlets streets and spaces. Over 80 volunteers through the week Key partners back the clean up Tower Hamlets' fourth week-long The Big Clean Up campaign was bigger than ever before with more volunteers collecting rubbish. The event underlined the real and tangible scale of the littering problem that affects the local community and the communities' determination to tackle it. At 11 events over a week, a total of 74 large bags filled with litter, were collected by 83 volunteers. In addition, larger scale items were found strewn across sites that regularly get cleaned and tidied. A range of locations received The Big Clean Up treatment. From estates and their surrounding streets, through to...

People in Tower Hamlets are being invited to contribute to a consultation on how the Coroner should prioritise reported deaths. The Senior Coroner for Inner North London, Mary Hassell, is creating a new protocol for the order in which deaths reported to her office should be considered known as the Protocol for Prioritisation. The Senior Coroner for Inner North London runs services for Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Islington and Camden. Coroner Hassell is inviting people from the four boroughs to share their ideas at a public consultation on Thursday 5 July at 6pm. It will take place at The Council Chamber, Camden Town Hall, Judd Street, London, W1CH 9JE. Anyone who is unable to attend can share their ideas by writing to St Pancras Coroner's Court, Camley Street, London N1C 4PP, to arrive...

Tower Hamlets Council is committed to protecting its residents from scams and will be sharing some top tips throughout June for Scam Awareness Month. The Council is supporting the Don't miss a trick, be scam aware campaign which was launched this month by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, Citizen's Advice and the Consumer Protection Partnership. The campaign aims to raise awareness of scams and to protect the public. The council is encouraging everyone to report suspected scams or fraudulent activity to Citizen's Advice. It's estimated that only 5-15% of scams are currently reported. Citizens Advice found that across the United Kingdom almost three quarters of people surveyed had been targeted by a scam between 2015 and 2017. Mayor John Biggs said: "We're supporting the Don't...

On the morning of 6 June 2018 over 100 people gathered in Meath Gardens, Tower Hamlets to commemorate the death of Indigenous Australian cricketer Bripumyarrimin (also known as King Cole), who passed away 150 years ago. Bripumyarrimin /King Cole was a member of the historic Aboriginal XI that toured the UK in 1868. They were the first organised Australian sports team to tour overseas – a decade before the 1878 Australian Cricket team tour that gave rise to test cricket. He fell ill during that tour and died in June, ultimately being laid to rest in Victoria Park Cemetery (which, years later, became Meath Gardens). The event was attended by the current Australian Indigenous Men's and Women's starting XIs, local residents and the Friends of Meath Gardens, as well as respected experts who h...

The upcoming Great Get Together (TGGT) weekend from 22-24 June is a great opportunity to get your neighbours, friends, family, community groups or colleagues together and share a meal or a cup of tea. TGGT is inspired by former MP Jo Cox who was killed on 16 June 2016. She was passionate about tackling loneliness and said 'young or old, loneliness doesn't discriminate.' Jo used her platform to raise the profile of the hidden crisis of loneliness and TGGT is a celebration in honour of her, bringing communities together to celebrate what unites us all. Tower Hamlets Council is encouraging residents to take part in the national campaign as an opportunity to involve those who might be vulnerable, lonely or isolated. The council is offering 30 FREE party packs with essential items ...

Thousands of carers, who provide unpaid support to a family member or friend, are being encouraged to stay healthy and connected themselves, as the nation marks Carers' Week from 11-17 June. A carer is someone who provides unpaid care and support to a family member or friend who has a disability, illness, mental health problem or who needs extra help, as they grow older. About 19,356 people in Tower Hamlets provide some form of unpaid care. And 3,326 of these are young carers under the age of 25. Although caring can be rewarding, the impact of caring on health and well-being cannot be underestimated. This year, Carers' Week is themed on building communities which support carers to look after their loved ones well, while recognising that they are individuals with health and wellbeing nee...

    London Mayor Sadiq Khan has accepted responsibility for the upsurge in violent crime across the capital as he blamed police cuts for making the situation worse. Mr Khan insisted the problem was not confined to London, but part of a national wave. Asked how he would respond to people who believe he bears personal responsibility for the surge in knife crime and violence, Mr Khan told LBC: I’m the Mayor of London, I’m the Police and Crime Commissioner I accept responsibility for what happens in our city. Security is the biggest concern that I have, it’s the one thing that keeps me up at night whether it’s terrorism threats, whether it’s the surge in serious violent crime. But I am not going to apologise for explaining the context. We have seen across the country an i...

    Around 120 firefighters and 20 fire engines have been called to a blaze at a five-star hotel in central London. Huge plumes of smoke were seen coming from the Mandarin Oriental building in Knightsbridge. London Fire Brigade said it was called shortly before 4pm and the cause of the flames was not yet known. Twenty fire engines are at the scene including crews from Chelsea, Kensington, Hammersmith and Battersea. London Ambulance Service said it had sent a number of resources to the incident including its hazardous area response team. Staff from the Mandarin Oriental hotel, which was recently completed the most expensive renovation in its 115-year history were evacuated to Hyde Park where they were being given bottles of water. One worker, who asked not to be name...

    House rent prices in London have soared by more than a quarter since 2011 with the average flat in the capital now £1,500 a month. That's despite wages rising by just 9.1% over the past six years, a report by trade union GMB found. In some boroughs, prices have jumped an incredible 50%, pushing small, cramped flats to well above £2,000 a month. The GMB - which represents more than 631,000 workers in Britain - has now called for employers to revise wages to support those battling poor pay with the rising cost of living. It said bosses who refuse to take action will face staff shortages in the long term, as workers are priced out of the city. It's report found that between 2011 and 2017, rent prices for 2 bedroom flats in London increased by 25.9% whilst over the ...