“I believe I will be referring to a new club as ‘my club’ soon”

Posted on August 23, 2024 by insidecroydon

Here, in full, is the statement issued earlier today by Crystal Palace FC co-owner John Textor:

Eyeing Everton: John Textor

“In light of recent reports, which we believe may be well intended, but are still inaccurate or imprecise, we feel compelled to clarify our intentions as current owners of Crystal Palace Football Club, for the benefit of its community, and for the benefit of the Everton community which may be affected by these reports.

“We can confirm that we are interested in selling our interest in Crystal Palace, largely so that we can pursue a relationship with the Everton club and community. Several months ago, we hired Raine Group to begin the process of evaluating alternatives, as we were considering two very different alternatives, at that time, either a purchase of a majority interest in Palace or an outright sale.

“Since the beginning of our investment in 2021, and our initial 40% purchase, it had always been my intent to purchase a majority interest in the Club. I was invited to buy a majority interest, at that time, and I have often regretted not doing so previously. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Crystal Palace FC, Football, John Textor, Sport, Steve Parish | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sexual assault detective is dismissed from Metropolitan Police

Posted on August 23, 2024 by insidecroydon

Disciplinary panel chair says: ‘Police officers are expected to uphold the law not to break it’, but community groups in Croydon are asking why that’s not been applied here

A Metropolitan Police detective working in south London has been dismissed from the force after pleading guilty to sexual assault.

More charges: London’s police have dismissed dozens of officers in recent months. But Croydon has a constable with a criminal conviction who is still working here

Detective Constable Jose Poonsawat was attached to the Central South Command Unit, which covers Lambeth and Southwark. He appeared at Croydon Magistrates Court last month charged with sexual assault, after being accused of “sexually touching a woman without her consent” while off-duty in December 2022. It has emerged that the victim was a police colleague.

He pleaded guilty and was released on court bail to appear for sentencing today.

Earlier this week, the Met’s misconduct hearing found that, “DC Poonsawat’s actions breached the standards of professional behaviour as set out in the Regulation 5 and Schedule 2 of the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020 namely: Discreditable conduct.” Continue reading →

Posted in Andy Brittain, Crime, London-wide issues, Policing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

290 homes planned for Sutton by man behind Brick by Brick

Posted on August 23, 2024 by insidecroydon

Grove development: how Sutton Council’s planners imagine the new Elm Grove might look

The senior council director who helped set up Croydon’s doomed housing company is now behind borrowing £26.4m towards 290 homes in Sutton town centre, reports CARL SHILTON

Sutton Council is to quadruple the number of homes on its town centre housing estate at Elm Grove, after appointing Lovell as its development partner for its latest regeneration scheme.

Using the site on the one-way system opposite Asda, the plan is to replace the estate’s 73 houses with 290 homes, mostly flats, of which 50% are to be “affordable”.

Elm Grove is just one part of a £100million regeneration of Sutton town centre, all being overseen for the council by Richard Simpson, the “strategic director of resources”. Until he abruptly left a similar post at Croydon Council in 2018, Simpson had been a key figure behind the shambles that was Brick by Brick and the fiasco of the Fairfield Halls redevelopment. Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Housing, London-wide issues, Planning, Property, Richard Simpson, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Canon Bishop to take on historic post as the Vicar of Croydon

Posted on August 23, 2024 by insidecroydon

By DAVID MORGAN

For more than a thousand years there has been a Vicar of Croydon.

Historic appointment: Canon Andrew Bishop will formally become Vicar of Croydon next month

We know that Elfsie was a priest here in AD960. Gaps in our knowledge of the post-holders means that we have to jump forward 300 years to the next Vicar whose name we know. That is Henry de la Rye. He was appointed Vicar of Croydon in 1289 by the then Rector, Aegidius de Audenardo.

Until 1390, Croydon had both a Rector and a Vicar – two different “ranks” within the strict hierarchy of the church.

Down through the ages, 61 people are known to have held the position of Vicar of Croydon. And at the beginning of September, the 62nd Vicar of Croydon will be added to the list. Continue reading →

Posted in Bishop of Croydon, Canon Andrew Bishop, Canon Colin Boswell, Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Rosemarie Mallett | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Help that’s on hand for Croydon pupils after GCSE results day

Posted on August 23, 2024 by insidecroydon

The council is offering advice and support services to the GCSE pupils across the borough who received their results yesterday.

Top grades: thousands of Croydon teenagers got their exam results yesterday

Pupils “who would like support on what to do next after leaving school can contact the council’s Post-16 Participation Team to get the support they need,” the council said in an announcement this morning.

Borough-wide results this year were up on pre-pandemic grades in 2019, according to Croydon Council.

All secondary schools in Croydon are run by academy trusts, with none under the control of the council as a local education authority. Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

58-year-old Palace fan gets England call-up for a special game

Posted on August 22, 2024 by insidecroydon

In a sumptuous summer of sport, we’ve had the Euros and the Olympic Games, with the Paralympics a week away. But for Selhurst Park season ticket-holder Seth Gillman, the match of his lifetime is still to come

Hat-trick hero: Seth Gillman scored three goals on his England trial

Little did Seth Gillman think that, at the age of 58, he would be playing football for England.

But that unlikely dream came true two weeks ago. Gillman learned that he had been chosen after taking part in a trial weekend in Liverpool. “They announced it at a team dinner that evening,” he told Inside Croydon.

“At first I felt shocked and surprised. Then I felt elated and proud. I thought it was a great honour.”

The team in question is the England Parkinson’s Walking Football team. The players all have Parkinson’s Disease, which can cause tremors, muscle weakness, slow movement and stiffness. A progressive neurological condition resulting from a loss of dopamine cells in the brain, it has no known cure, but the symptoms can be controlled for a time with medication.

Seth Gillman grew up in Croydon and attended Sylvan High School and Croydon College. He first noticed that he had lost mobility in his right hand and arm not long after he’d turned 50, in 2017. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 18 months later and is now being treated at King’s College Hospital in Camberwell. Continue reading →

Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Football, Health, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Polka’s early years theatre is planning for a festive autumn

Posted on August 22, 2024 by insidecroydon

The Polka Theatre Wimbledon and Half Moon this autumn presents Soft or Spiky?, what they describe as “Early Years Theatre”, with an all-new show from Daryl Beeton which playfully explores the different ways we communicate.

This playful and interactive new show is full of shapes, sounds, textures and words exploring different ways to connect and understand each other. The production explores the multiple ways we communicate, ensuring that no one is left out. At the end of the performance, there is a stay-and-play session where audiences can enter the sensory landscape of the production. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Education, Music, Theatre | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Four SPAC Nation members get charity bans of 10+ years

Posted on August 22, 2024 by insidecroydon

After an investigation that has taken four years, four senior figures within the cult-like ‘Church of Bling’ – which had close ties to Croydon’s Conservative Party –  have been banned by the Charity Commission.
By STEVEN DOWNES

‘Bling-loving’: Tobi Adeboyega, of the cult-like SPAC Nation

The Charity Commission has today published a report following a four-year inquiry into the “Church of Bling”, Croydon-based SPAC Nation, in which it has handed out lengthy bans for four of the cult-like church’s leading figures.

But the head of SPAC Nation, or the Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church, the self-appointed “Pastor” Tobi Adeboyega, is unmentioned in the whole of the 4,200-word Charity Commission report.

Inside Croydon first reported in 2019 how SPAC was accused of a wide range of misconduct, from controlling abuse of young people, to sexual abuse to organised fraud, and how it was subject to a Met Police fraud squad investigation.

In early 2020, SPAC’s “trap houses” in Croydon were raided by police. These “Take Risk and Prosper” houses were supposed to be refuges for young people who had been caught up in drug and knife gangs, but were also often the homes of leading pastors in SPAC Nation.

One member of SPAC Nation said she was persuaded to commit benefit fraud by a trustee, while another said she had a £5,000 loan taken out in her name without her knowledge. Others said they’d been pushed to donate blood for cash to pay their “tithes” to the church.

No charges were brought and the church always denied any wrongdoing. It further denied the allegations of fraud, abuse and exploitation.

But in June 2022, SPAC Nation’s business entity was forced into liquidation when a government investigation found it could not account for £1.87million in expenditure. Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Church and religions, Crime, Gavin Barwell, Knife crime, Mario Creatura | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Council confirms Perry’s U-turn on night parking charges

Posted on August 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Borough’s Mayor tries to swerve embarrassment by falsely claiming he is ‘introducing’ the free overnight car parking that he removed one month ago.
By our motoring correspondent, JEREMY CLACKSON

Three days after Inside Croydon broke the news that the council was to go into reverse gear over the night parking charges it introduced only last month, and the Town Hall’s propaganda department has just got round to confirming the latest U-turn by Mayor Jason Perry.

Deceptive: Perry’s council claims it is ‘introducing’ free parking, when overnight parking was free until just a month ago

Piss-poor Perry and the council have been more than a tad deceitful in the way they have presented the change of decision to charge motorists for parking their vehicles in seven car parks around the borough, claiming to be “introducing” free overnight parking, when free overnight parking had been available as recently as mid-July. Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, Parking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

C20 Society is trying again for listed status for No1 Croydon

Posted on August 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

Second time lucky?: how the 20th Century Society announced its latest attempt to preserve some of Croydon’s heritage architecture

The 20th Century Society has submitted an application for the architectural symbol of Croydon, No1 Croydon, to be protected by listed status.

It’s the second time that the 20th Century Society has sought protection for the widely recognised, if not always admired, former NLA Tower, also known as the “50p bit building” or “Thruppeny bit building”, that sits alongside East Croydon Station, the tram tracks and the busy bus station. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe West, Art, East Croydon, Housing, No1 Croydon, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Little Breaths hospital appeal hits ventilator target in a year

Posted on August 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

A fundraising appeal launched by the borough’s only dedicated NHS charity has hit its £46,000 target in a year to fund life-saving medical equipment for young people being cared for at Croydon University Hospital.

Big breath: Croydon hospital clinical staff and Dr Suraj Paudel (third left), who raised nearly £3,000 by cycling from London to Brighton

Inspired by six-year-old Mason Mole, who received life-saving ventilation at the hospital as a toddler, the Little Breaths appeal launched in July 2023 with the aim of raising £46,000 to purchase two children’s ventilators.

Each year, up to 70 seriously ill children require emergency ventilation as a result of conditions including sepsis, asthma or serious infections.

Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Croydon Health Charity, Croydon NHS Trust, Health, Mayday Hospital | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Three women rescued from first floor of Selhurst blaze

Posted on August 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

Firefighters rescued three people from a house fire on Dagnall Park in Selhurst last night.

Half of the first floor of a semi-detached house was damaged by fire. Crews rescued three women from a first-floor balcony using a ladder. They were taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service crews.

The Brigade was called just after midnight and the fire was under control by 1.25am. Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters from Croydon, Woodside and Norbury fire stations attended the scene. Continue reading →

Posted in London Fire Brigade, Selhurst | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

£500m difference in audit figures is looking like a Brum deal

Posted on August 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

COUNCILS IN CRISIS: A report from forensic auditors has raised questions about one council’s bankruptcy that could persuade others, including cash-strapped Croydon, to ask whether they are getting proper analysis of their struggling finances

An academic report into the parlous state of finances at the largest local authority in the country has suggested that the Tory Government and auditors Grant Thornton have serious questions to answer over the handling of Birmingham City Council’s financial collapse.

One senior Labour councillor has described the treatment of Birmingham’s council as “effectively a punishment approach to this city rather than a rebuilding”, as forensic accountants at Sheffield University have joined calls for an independent public inquiry after finding a “catalogue of problems and errors” surrounding the city’s de facto bankruptcy last September. Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Call for strict controls after Epsom College shotgun murder

Posted on August 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

Inquest into the February 2023 killing of Emma Pattison and her daughter Lettie finds that their murderer had lied about his medical history when applying for his firearms licence

Murder victims: Emma Pattison and daughter Lettie were shot multiple times by George Pattison

A coroner has called on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to introduce tighter restrictions on gun licensing following the deaths of Emma Pattison, the former head teacher of Croydon High School, and her seven-year-old daughter Lettie in a shooting at Epsom College in February last year.

At the inquest at Woking Coroners’ Court last month, senior coroner Richard Travers found Emma Pattison, 45, and Lettie were unlawfully killed, while husband and father George Pattison had committed suicide.

Coroner Travers said he had identified a “matter of concern” in the gun licensing system, which meant applicants could evade scrutiny of their medical history, after hearing that chartered accountant George Pattison, 39, had been supplied anti-anxiety medication by an online GP.

The family were found dead at their home in the grounds of the private boarding school in Surrey in the early hours of February 5 last year. Continue reading →

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

From #MerkyFC to murky No10, Open House opens their doors

Posted on August 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

Behind closed doors: No10 Downing Street is among the public buildings opening to the public next month

Open House is back next month, with a range of events in and around Croydon and the rest of the capital city, to give the public a glimpse behind the front doors and net curtains of some of London’s most famous addresses.

And Croydon, for once, appears to be participating in the events to a greater degree than for some time.

Open House is a mostly free London-wide festival that opens up and celebrates the city’s architecture, special sites and neighbourhoods, with open days and events taking place across all 33 boroughs. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

2024 Eco-Fair, Carshalton Park, Bank Holiday Monday, Aug 26

Posted on August 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Community associations, Environment | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Academies’ privatised secondary schools are putting profit first

Posted on August 19, 2024 by insidecroydon

A man with a mic: David Weir and his CronxWatch YouTube channel has been out and about in Croydon, investigating the privatisation of the borough’s secondary schools

You might not have noticed. After all, any process done by “stealth” is, by definition, being undertaken in the hope that no one notices.

But since 2007, the state education system in Croydon has effectively been stealthily privatised, with every previously council-run secondary school in the borough now academised.

They’ve been handed over to MATs, multi-academy trusts, including one with its HQ in Croydon town centre, where their chief executive is paid almost £500,000 per year – money that is provided by tax-payers who have virtually no say in how the schools are run.

Across the country, 80% of state secondaries are now run by academy trusts, with the last Tory Government having set a target of 100% by 2030. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, CronxWatch, Education, Local media, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Council’s controversial ‘interim’ children’s director set to leave

Posted on August 19, 2024 by insidecroydon

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on the search to replace a £800per day corporate director at Fisher’s Folly, just in time for the next, key inspection

Long-stayer: Debbie Jones was only meant to be an ‘interim’ council boss

Debbie Jones, the council’s septuagenarian director of children’s services, is to stand down from her role, as the council has placed ads with a recruitment agency for a £175,000 per year replacement.

That could represent an important, if long overdue, saving for the cash-strapped council.

Jones joined in October 2020 to take one of the crisis-hit council’s top jobs, when despite the local authority being on the brink of bankruptcy, she was recruited on an “interim” pay rate of £800 per day.

It is suggested that Jones may have been allowed to continue to receive such generous day rates, helping to bolster her already gold-plated pension. On Jones’s personal profile on social media, she continues to describe herself as an “interim” director.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise that she stayed longer if she was,” according to one insider. “She’s been earning more a month than a set-for-life Lottery winner.” Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Debbie Jones, Katherine Kerswell, SEND | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Temporary Accom Garden Party, South Norwood, Aug 24

Posted on August 19, 2024 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Charity, Community associations, Socco Cheta Community Hub, South Norwood Community Kitchen, South West London Law Centres | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Perry forced to make U-turn on his overnight parking charges

Posted on August 18, 2024 by insidecroydon

Less than a month after he introduced overnight car parking charges across most of the borough in changes claimed “to make parking fairer, simpler, and more consistent”, Tory Mayor Jason Perry has been forced into making a hand-brake turn and drop some charges in seven car parks.

No alternative: parking meters have been switched off, and now the council has backed down over night-time charging

Residents’ associations in Coulsdon expressed outrage when the council sneaked out the night-time charges last month.

Only New Addington had escaped having night-time parking charges imposed under Mayor Perry’s latest money-making wheeze, as the council switched off all its parking meters and forced motorists to use the RingGo parking app.

There has been no formal announcement of the council’s abrupt U-turn over night-time charges (perhaps to avoid the obvious embarrassment caused), but on Friday, East Coulsdon Residents’ Association received an email from a Conservative councillor asking them to pass on the news of the change. Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Ian Parker, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, Old Coulsdon, Parking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Organisers cancel plans for Carshalton Park fireworks display

Posted on August 18, 2024 by insidecroydon

The organisers of one of south London’s biggest Bonfire Night displays have been forced to cancel plans for their 2024 event – blaming Sutton Council for a lack of help.

Rockets rocked: the Carshalton fireworks organisers cited rising costs, lack of volunteers and council bureaucracy

The volunteers at the Carshalton and Wallington Round Table have raised as much as £20,000 in past years from their fireworks event, which attracted thousands of people to Carshalton Park in early November.

In a statement published on social media, the Round Table said: “After careful consideration, we regret to announce that our fireworks event will no longer be taking place.

“Several factors have contributed to this decision, including increasing time commitments of our members and organisers, a decline in our group’s numbers, escalating costs associated with the event, and insufficient support from our local council in navigating the necessary paperwork.”

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Carshalton and Wallington, Charity, Outside Croydon, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Addiscombe artist who brought vivid colour to children’s books

Posted on August 18, 2024 by insidecroydon

Bygone age: when she was 12 or 13, Rosa Petherick captured this scene of Addiscombe Station

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The thriving arts scene in Croydon in the first decades of the 20th Century included five sisters with connections to Cicely Mary Barker and Samuel Coleridge Taylor, as DAVID MORGAN explains

Violin practice: Rosa Petherick captured her sister, and the cat

The exhibition of illustrations and cartoons which was held in the Lecture Room of Croydon Library in May 1917 must have been quite a special event. More than 300 original drawings were on display, many of them “extremely valuable”, according to the press report.

This private collection had been acquired by a Halifax businessman who had decided that he would allow it to be viewed by a wider audience, through a series of exhibitions to be held in public libraries.

There were some well-known British artists of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries who had works on display. One was Tom Browne, a cartoonist, painter and illustrator who today is best known for the Johnnie Walker whisky logo, a strutting, monocled, top hat wearing character.

Another featured artist in the collection was George Cruikshank. Although he had died in 1878, his book illustrations and political caricatures gained him much fame and notoriety. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Art, David Morgan, History, Music | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Croydon’s first boba tea shop opens on the High Street

Posted on August 17, 2024 by insidecroydon

Croydon High Street has got its first boba tea shop, after Cupp opened its latest branch at The Arcade yesterday.

Tea time: Cupp, on Croydon High Street, ready for its opening

Boba or bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s, and is a big thing in California.

Bubble tea usually consists of tea accompanied by chewy tapioca balls (“boba” or “pearls”), but it can be made with other toppings as well.

It has many varieties and flavours, the two most popular varieties are pearl black milk tea and pearl green milk tea.

Cupp has grown the popularity of boba tea across Britain, with its branches also offering premium coffee and snacks. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, CUPP | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Ho! Ho! Ho! Woodcote garden centre is recruiting Santas

Posted on August 17, 2024 by insidecroydon

It may still be August, but one local retailer is already getting ready for the Christmas rush, and is recruiting Santas.

Dobbies garden centre at Woodcote Green “is looking for a jolly team to help deliver its exciting line-up of great value Christmas events”. Must be good with children. And dogs. No mention of reindeer.

Dobbies is the country’s leading garden centre retailer, with 3,800 staff across 77 stores.

The Father (and Mother? they don’t say) Christmases that they are seeking in Sutton will be “meeting children (and dogs) at Santa’s Little Seedlings train-themed Grotto” and “hosting Santa’s Breakfast in the restaurant”.

Dobbies says: “These merry recruits will be at the heart of spreading festive cheer and helping families at Dobbies’ Woodcote Green store excitedly countdown to Christmas.”

And they add: “Successful applicants will undergo a comprehensive training programme through Dobbies’ Santa School.” Continue reading →

Posted in Business | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Park Hill and Whitgift SNT annual meeting, Aug 22

Posted on August 17, 2024 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Crime, Park Hill and Whitgift, Policing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment