Only 1-in-5 of new ‘donors’ have actually given blood

Posted on February 15, 2023 by insidecroydon

NHS Blood and Transplant is urging anyone considering becoming a blood donor to make 2023 the year they save lives.

Lifesavers: The NHS is appealling for more blood donors from black heritage to come forward

New figures reveal around 235,000 people who signed up to give blood last year are yet to make their first donation.

During 2022, more than 60,000 people registered with Give Blood in Greater London but only around 22,000 of them have taken the next step and attended an appointment.

The first amber alert on blood stocks shortages during October sparked a huge response from the public wanting to help and led to 11,932 people in Greater London registering over the four weeks. But only 1-in-5 has donated so far. Continue reading →

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Council Tax hike petition’s strongest support in Croydon South

Posted on February 15, 2023 by insidecroydon

More people in Croydon South have signed the Parliamentary petition opposing Mayor Jason Perry’s 15per cent Council Tax hike than any other constituency in the borough.

That’s according to official figures on the parliament.uk website.

By noon today the petition, which was published only yesterday, was already halfway towards reaching the 10,000 signature threshold which will force the Conservative government to provide a formal response to those who oppose the imposition of the 15per cent Council Tax increase. Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Get started with Ratio Apps software development agency

Posted on February 15, 2023 by insidecroydon

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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Mayor to let people’s petition be presented before budget

Posted on February 14, 2023 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘It is clearly in the public interest for this petition to be heard before the budget is set,’ Jason Perry has said, clearing the way for the people’s petition opposing his 15% Council Tax hike to be presented before he sets his 2023-2024 budget.
By STEVEN DOWNES, Editor, Inside Croydon

The petition opposing the inflation-busting 15per cent Council Tax increase that was launched by this website just a week ago will now be presented at the Town Hall budget-setting meeting on March 1.

With more than 20,000 signatures so far, Mayor Jason Perry has been forced to listen to the overwhelming opposition of ordinary, hard-working Croydon residents, who have declared that enough is enough, and are demanding that the council’s Conservative leadership negotiate a better settlement with central government. Continue reading →

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Inside Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mayor forced to U-turn over councillor allowances increase

Posted on February 14, 2023 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Jason Perry blames council staff for a report recommending a 4.04% increase in allowances for him and the borough’s 70 councillors. By our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE

Pork barrel politics: Tory Mayor Perry allowed a report to come forward recommending a pay hike, and then promptly said he opposes it

Just a week after Tory Mayor Jason Perry got permission from the Tory government to hike Croydon’s Council Tax by 15per cent, Fisher’s Folly today published an official report which recommended that the Mayor’s allowances should be increased to £84,123.36.

In most respects, Perry has already had a massive pay rise courtesy of the council this year. The Mayor has been paid £81,000 per year in allowances since his election last May. Allowances previously paid to the council leader came to less than £55,000 per year.

The proposed generous increase for the Mayor is part of a package which if approved would see overall spending on councillors at the cash-strapped council rise to £1.5million per year.

Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, General Purposes and Audit Committee, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Fixing our ‘home grown’ problems has to start right here

Posted on February 14, 2023 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Having sought government permission to increase Council Tax from April by three times the nationally capped level, Conservative councillor JASON CUMMINGS sets out his reasons why

Inflation-busting: the borough’s Conservative Mayor has been given permission for a 15% Council Tax hike

We have all watched with a sense of horror over the last couple of years as Croydon Council has gone into financial meltdown.

There are many reasons we are in the position we are now and these have been covered in the Reports in the Public Interest and played out in the media. Brick by Brick, the Fairfield Halls, Croydon Park Hotel, Croydon Affordable Homes and yes, changes in government funding, have all played a part in creating the challenge we face today.

It is important to note though, that there are 32 London boroughs. All have had their funding reduced in the same way as Croydon. Of those 32, Croydon sits 20th in terms of funding from the government. Of the 20 outer London boroughs, Croydon is eighth, above average.

If our problems here in Croydon were down to government funding alone then many other London boroughs would also be in this position. They are not. This crisis was made here in Croydon and, at least in part, the solution has to come from Croydon as well. Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Meeting over Council Tax hike over-subscribed within hours

Posted on February 14, 2023 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: All places at a public Q&A session about the Tory Mayor’s 15% Council Tax increase were snapped up within hours of being released – even though the council gave the event little publicity.
By STEVEN DOWNES

An online, remote meeting to discuss the Tory Mayor’s budget and his 15per cent Council Tax hike has had to close its registrations five days in advance, such has been the demand from the Croydon public to put questions to the people in power.

The meeting, to be held via Zoom tomorrow night, February 15, is the idea of Labour councillor Rowenna Davis, the chair of the council’s scrutiny and overview committee. Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

42 evacuated as candle causes Lansdowne Road flat blaze

Posted on February 14, 2023 by insidecroydon

Some 42 people had to be evacuated when fire broke out in a building in central Croydon last night, prompting the London Fire Brigade to issue another warning about the dangers of careless use of candles.

A small part of a two-roomed flat in a five-storey residential building on Lansdowne Road was damaged by fire. There were no reports of any injuries.

“The fire is believed to have been accidental and caused by a candle,” the Brigade said today.

The Brigade was called at 11.05pm and the fire was under control by 11.49pm. Continue reading →

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Campaign against the 15% Council Tax hike goes national

Posted on February 14, 2023 by insidecroydon

As the petition to Croydon Council opposing Tory Mayor Jason Perry’s 15per cent Council Tax hike topped 20,000 signatures overnight, the residents’ campaign calling for fairer funding for our borough is going national.

The House of Commons, after a little to-ing and fro-ing over the drafts of the petition, has today published our parliamentary petition.

The rules of Parliament do not allow them to accept petitions from other web platforms, nor to piggy-back other petitions.

Inside Croydon has already appealed to all 20,000 signatories of the council petition to sign the parliamentary petition as well, and to share it as widely as possible.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/632944

And this is why we are doing this: Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Inside Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

London Stadium deal could give Crystal Palace new lease of life

Posted on February 13, 2023 by insidecroydon

After decades of damaging dither and delay, might an eclectic coalition of bodies, including a Premier League football club, be about to come up with a plan, and the cash, to revive the NSC? By STEVEN DOWNES

Neglect: a newspaper report hints there are the beginnings of a plan to revive  Crystal Palace NSC

Might there be a glimmer of hope for the future of sports provision at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre?

For some newspaper readers at the weekend, they might have thought that they had been presented with The Times’s obituary for the NSC, as a lengthy article recounted the waste, neglect and broken promises suffered by the centre over the past three decades.

But buried deep in an article full of fond memories from the paper’s chief sports correspondent, Matt Lawton, were one or two not-so-subtle hints that there might be a change of fortunes on the way, brought about by an eclectic coalition of the Mayor of London, British Athletics, Sport England and, most unlikely of all, even West Ham United.

Continue reading →

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Boris Johnson, Business, Community associations, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Sport, Swimming | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Parents facing ‘hollowed-out’ half-term of council activities

Posted on February 13, 2023 by insidecroydon

Week off: parents seeking inexpensive activities for their children in half-term are likely to be disappointed

When Jason “It’s going to get worse before it gets better” Perry referred to the “hollowed-out council” that he took charge of last May, the Tory Mayor must have had in mind the borough’s library service, which has been run into the ground over 13 years of Tory government austerity.

Only three of Croydon’s 13 public libraries are staging events for the borough’s children this week, during the annual February half-term. And at one of those, there’s just a single activity session: to “make a frisbee”.

Discount charges for swimming sessions for under-16s – just £1 – are available at some of the council-owned leisure centres, but only before 10am each day. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Children's Services, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, GLL - Better, Leisure services, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, Schools, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council appeals for early applications for Coronation parties

Posted on February 13, 2023 by insidecroydon

Croydon Council has today announced that it is open for applications from neighbourhood groups and communities who might want to stage Coronation parties in May.

Party spirit: one of the community parties staged for last year’s Jubilee. Fancy a knees-up for the Coronation..?

“The Coronation Big Lunch Event is being held over the weekend of Saturday May 6 to Monday May 8 and to make the events as easy and accessible as possible, there will be no council charge for Traffic Management Orders to close roads for those wishing to hold street parties,” council officials said. Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Community associations, Croydon Council | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Friends of Norbury Park Clean-up event, Feb 25

Posted on February 13, 2023 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

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Artist’s sister helped him become poster boy of Victorian age

Posted on February 12, 2023 by insidecroydon

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: With the discovery in the Minster archive of a century-old clipping from a magazine, DAVID MORGAN traces the Croydon woman who was the muse for the world-famous Woman In White

Acclaimed Victorian: Frederick Walker ARA

Opening up a folder in the Croydon Minster archives recently, a small piece of paper fell out onto the table. It had been cut from the edition of The Connoisseur magazine dated January 1926. The cutting contained the news of the death of Mrs Robert Hill on November 29 1925. Mrs Hill, who had lived on Tavistock Road, it turned out, was part of a very creative family.

She was born Mary Walker in Marylebone in about 1840. Her father, William, was a designer of jewellery who died when she was still quite young. This left her mother, Ann, struggling to bring up seven children on her own. Her mother completed pieces of embroidery in order to bring in money for the family.

Mary must have learned embroidery and stitching skills from her mother, as later in life she completed a lenten altar frontal for Croydon Parish Church. It was said to be one of the finest pieces of ecclesiastical needlework in any of the cathedral churches in England and was first used at a memorial service in the church held for the Duke of Clarence – grandson of Queen Victoria and the eldest son of the then Prince of Wales, who would become Edward VII – when he died in 1892. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

£495,000 for a flat – this is Brick by Brick’s ‘affordable’ housing

Posted on February 11, 2023 by insidecroydon

Sky-high prices: how Notting Hill Genesis started marketing their Coulsdon flats this week. But Croydon Council remains schtum about how much they sold the development for

The argument that the council-owned property developer was somehow the answer to the borough’s housing crisis appears lost among the high cost of its properties in Coulsdon. By BARRATT HOLMES, housing correspondent

Flats in Coulsdon that were built by council-owned Brick by Brick went on the market this week with a retail value of £53.4million.

Three-bedroom flats in the development are being offered for shared ownership, with a total price of nearly half-a-million pounds.

But any revenues from the sale of the 157 flats on Green Lion Lane won’t be helping to pay off the cash-strapped council’s mountain of debt, at least not immediately, because the properties are being marketed by Notting Hill Genesis, one of the country’s largest housing associations. Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, Housing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mayor Perry: ‘It’s going to get worse before it gets better’

Posted on February 11, 2023 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: It didn’t take very long once he became Croydon’s first executive Mayor after telling the electorate that he had a plan, that Jason Perry was forced to admit that he never had a plan at all.
By our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE

No one in last year’s local election campaign remembers hearing Jason Perry ever say this:

“It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

But that was the witless line the “Misinformed Mayor” chose to trot out this week on BBC Radio London on the morning after it was revealed that he had conspired with the Tory government to hit the residents of this borough with an inflation-busting 15per cent Council Tax hike in the middle of the worst cost of living crisis for a generation.

And for council tenants, that Council Tax hike will come on top of a 7per cent rent increase from April, too, just to emphasise the misery caused by the Tory Mayor. Continue reading →

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Brick by Brick, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Mike Fisher, Section 114 notice, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Art Space in Addiscombe offers a ray of Sunrise with exhibit

Posted on February 11, 2023 by insidecroydon

KEN TOWL discovers another ray of brightness and joy in Addiscombe’s own haven of art

Discworld: somewhere in Elizabeth Knapp’s work is a record possibly by Echo and the Bunnymen

Paul Hall is a miracle worker.

With every exhibition he stages, he manages to put together an eclectic but themed collection of artworks and display them to their best advantage by cramming them into an unprepossessing terrace at 41 Addiscombe Road, the home of his micro-gallery, Croydon Art Space.

In doing so, he is bringing a ray of sunshine into an otherwise drab part of town.

The latest exhibition, which opened this week, is grouped under the title “Sunrise” and features Glicee prints by Shiree Allen that depict sunlight shining through foliage. These inhabit a space somewhere between figurative and abstract art, the leaves rendered as geometric shapes, the light intensified as if the viewer is looking directly into filtered sunlight. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Art, Croydon Art Space, Ken Towl | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

£1.5m government fund ‘targets’ Croydon in drugs strategy trial

Posted on February 10, 2023 by insidecroydon

Croydon is to receive £1,490,858 from the government’s drug strategy housing support fund, it was announced today.

Home time: Croydon is among 28 local authorities where the three-year trial to reduce drug and alcohol addiction  is taking place

Croydon is one of only two London boroughs (the other is Westminster) included among 28 local authorities receiving the money, allocated from a £53million fund. The government says that in allocating the money, it “targeted” those areas of greatest need.

The grants are part of a three-year trial, drawing from recommendations contained in an independent review by Dame Carol Black which assessed the housing needs of people in treatment with drug or alcohol dependence.

“Learning from these areas will inform and drive forward the 10-year drugs strategy, making the case for safe and supportive housing in recovery from addiction,” Dame Carol said today. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Croydon Council, Health, Housing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Kerswell warns staff: it’s 15% Council Tax hike or your jobs

Posted on February 10, 2023 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Katherine Kerswell, the £192,474 per year council chief exec who less than a year ago said that the borough ‘was not teetering on the edge of bankruptcy’, when clearly it was, has now told her staff that the 15% Council Tax hike ‘is very difficult news to hear’.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Croydon Council’s chief executive, Katherine Kerswell, has told staff that she is backing the 15per cent Council Tax increase being imposed on the borough by Tory Mayor Jason Perry.

Kerswell, who in March last year also briefed staff that the council was not “teetering on the brink of bankruptcy” – just seven months before it issued its third Section 114 notice in just two years – said in an email to council employees that such a massive increase in Council Tax is the only way to avoid making yet more cuts, and therefore redundancies.

Kerswell is paid a salary of more than £190,000 per year.

“The management’s messaging to staff is clear,” according to one source in Fisher’s Folly. “Don’t rock the boat over the 15per cent Council Tax increase, or you will pay with your jobs!”

Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

New owners plan re-opening of Selsdon hotel for late March

Posted on February 9, 2023 by insidecroydon

Revamped: Birch (Selsdon), what used to be the Selsdon Park Hotel, is expected to reopen before the end of March

What used to be known as the Selsdon Park Hotel, with its 200-acre golf course, is expected to open its doors to guests for the first time in more than a year at the end of March, with cattle and ponies roaming the estate and helping to “rewild” the one-time fairways.

Birch (Selsdon), as it is to be known, is expected to start taking bookings from March 29, with suites available for up to £350 per night.

“We hope to have an exact date of when they can be booked to stay soon,” a spokesperson for Birch told Inside Croydon. Continue reading →

Posted in Birch (Selsdon), Business, Property, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Park Hotel, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Community hub Jack and Jill in finals for national pub awards

Posted on February 9, 2023 by insidecroydon

Cheers!: Jack and Jill licensee Sean Godly at last year’s Pride celebrations

A Coulsdon pub has made it to the finals of the Community Pub Hero Awards, a prestigious national competition organised by PubAid with the backing of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, and sponsored by Matthew Clark.

The Jack and Jill, on Longlands Avenue in Woodcote, is one of just 15 pubs from across the country to reach the finals, having made it on to the shortlist in the Community Support Pub Hero category.

Nationally, 200 pubs entered the awards, with many, like the Jack and Jill, nominated by local MPs. Entries were judged by a panel of industry experts and the winners will be announced next month, with all finalists invited to a presentation at the House of Commons.

PubAid is a working party formed in 2009 to promote British pubs as a force for good in their communities.

Britain’s pubs raise more than £100million per year for charities and community causes and annually contribute £40million to grassroots sport. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Coulsdon, Elliot Colburn, Pubs | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Purley Way vets’ practice expands to meet growing demand

Posted on February 9, 2023 by insidecroydon

A vets’ practice in Waddon has added new consulting rooms and a larger theatre space enabling the team to care for more pets.

Vets at home: the reception area within the Pets At Home store off the Purley Way

Companion Care Croydon, part of the Pets At Home store at Waddon Goods Yard, off the Purley Way, is run by a 22-strong team of highly skilled vets, experienced veterinary nurses and pet health advisors.

The team offers a range of veterinary healthcare services, from preventative care and welfare advice to treating sick and injured animals.

The practice says, “The expansion follows increased demand for consultations, providing greater capacity, including separate wards for dogs and cats, and new state-of-the-art equipment, so the team can meet this need and care for more pets in Croydon and the surrounding areas.” Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Purley Way, Waddon | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Croydon High pupils create floral tribute to former Head

Posted on February 9, 2023 by insidecroydon

Pupils, staff and parents at Croydon High in Selsdon have created an extended floral tribute at the school gates to Emma Pattison, the school’s former head teacher.

Tribute: one of the hundreds of bunches of flowers and messages left at Croydon High’s school gates

Pattison was head at Croydon High from 2016 until 2022, when she left to take up a post as the first woman headteacher at Epsom College.

Pattison, her husband George and seven-year-old daughter Lettie – a former pupil at Croydon High’s junior school – were found dead in their home in the grounds of Epsom College in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Surrey Police have said that they believe that George Pattison shot his wife and daughter before turning the gun on himself.

Emma Pattison is understood to have called a relative some time late on Saturday evening, in some distress. By the time the family member arrived, all three were dead.

Epsom College announced on Tuesday it would remain closed until after next week’s half-term break, after “incredibly distressing” details emerged. “Now is a time for families to come together and try and process this shocking news,” Paul Williams, the acting headteacher, wrote in a letter to parents and carers. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Croydon High, Schools | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Galpins Road hero still in temporary accommodation after blast

Posted on February 9, 2023 by insidecroydon

The south London hero who risked his life to rescue neighbours from the rubble following the terrifying explosion on a residential street in Thornton Heath last summer is among dozens of evacuated residents still living in hotel rooms six months later.

Devastated: Galpins Road on Aug 8, after the blast which killed 4-year-old Sahara Salman. Today, 29 families remain in temporary accommodation

Delroy Simms has described the “torture” of not knowing when his family can return home to Galpins Road, after the blast which shattered the windows of their house and killed his neighbour, four-year-old Sahara Salman.

Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden which includes the area affected by the blast, has criticised the government for offering “very little help” to residents – after she previously highlighted how Sahara’s mother was left sleeping on a floor 10 weeks after the tragedy.

More than 500 people were evacuated from Galpins Road on August 8 last year due to extensive damage to properties and safety fears caused by leaking gas mains. Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Housing, Merton, Siobhain McDonagh MP, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

CALAT Creative Arts courses, Thornton Heath, from Feb 22

Posted on February 9, 2023 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in CALAT, Education, Thornton Heath | Tagged , | Leave a comment