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Tag Archives: Whitgift Foundation
Rubbish contractors don’t know how many bins there are
Four years after being caught out ripping out 1,000 street bins – all to make work for rubbish contractors Veolia a bit easier – and now Croydon Council is forced to admit it has no real idea of how many … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged Allders, Andrew Fisher, Coulsdon, Coulsdon banking hub, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Golden handshake, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Kerswell yoghurt, Labour, Litter Free Norbury, Mayor Jason Perry, Pay-off, Surrey Street, Tony Hooker, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Veolia, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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CEO quit council with £50,000 pay-off to not work for 3 months
This was awkward: Jason Perry, the politician who promised to clawback money from the massive golden handshake paid to the previous council CEO, in October found himself overseeing a pay-off to Katherine Kerswell, as she resigned after five years as … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged 000, Allders, Andrew Fisher, £50, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Golden handshake, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Kerswell yoghurt, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Pay-off, Surrey Street, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Croydon and council at centre of new £100m housing scandal
The housing scandal at Regina Road was appalling, but by September 2025, Croydon found itself embroiled in another dreadful instance of the shortcomings of tall residential towers. Plus our writers get lost searching their way through the half-closed shopping mall, … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged Allders, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hammersfield, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Nigel Farage, Purley Pool, Reform, Reform Ltd, Reform UK, Sharon Carby, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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How Farage’s party picked a dead woman as election candidate
Into August, and the news stories just kept coming, including the latest moves by Westfield to make the Whitgift Centre ever more inaccessible, and the public library where council contractors chucked thousands of books on to the street. There was … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged Allders, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hammersfield, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Nigel Farage, Purley Pool, Reform, Reform Ltd, Reform UK, Sharon Carby, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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The cash-strapped council paying consultant £726 PER HOUR
The dog days of a long, hot summer are not usually a time for significant news stories. But that wasn’t to be the case in Croydon as readers flocked to this news site for our coverage in in July and … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged Adecco, Allders, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Dean Shoesmith, Hammersfield, Ian Dunt, Katherine Kerswell, Kevin Day, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley Pool, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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When council boss blocked staff from reading Inside Croydon
Our review of the year’s Croydon news continues with a ecelctic mix of the infuriating and the absurd, as the unelected and unaccountable £204,000 per year public servant at the head of the council looked increasingly all at sea JUNE … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged Allders, Allders Parade, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fiona Fletcher-Smith, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley Pool, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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After 120 years, the Eagles live the dream at Wembley cup final
As we reach the month of May in our review of the biggest and best news stories of the year, there was one report, direct from the National Stadium, that had many Croydon folk walking on air for days afterwards… … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged 2025 FA Cup final, Allders, Allders Parade, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace FC, East Croydon station, FA Cup, FA Cup final, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Gillman, Purley Pool, Roisha Hughes, Selhurst Park, Sutton Council, Tory, Trinity School, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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April fool! Plus: school goes co-ed, new owners for old pub
As we continue to sweep through the biggest and most important news stories of 2025, the latest part of our annual news review arrives at the month of the annual Council Tax hike APRIL Trinity boys’ school confirms that it … Continue reading
Posted in Inside Croydon
Tagged #BridgeToNowhere, Allders, Allders Parade, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace FC, East Croydon station, FA Cup, Hammersfield, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley Pool, Roisha Hughes, Selhurst Park, Sutton Council, Tory, Trinity School, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Planning application for Westfield scheme stalled to mid-2026
EXCLUSIVE: ‘”Rome wasn’t built in a day”, but it never took this long’. More broken promises from the Paris-based developers as their housing scheme for the town centre is delayed again. By STEVEN DOWNES Their planning application was supposed to … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, North End Quarter, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Allders, Allders Car Park, Allies and Morrison, Centrale, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hammersfield, London, Mayor Jason Perry, North End Quarter, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Five Guys is latest business to give up on Croydon High Street
It’s not just Croydon’s pubs which are closing down. Five Guys, the pricy American burger joint on Croydon High Street, has closed in the past week. While Croydon’s failed Mayor, Jason Perry, drops his chips over the opening of a … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Mayor Jason Perry, North End Quarter, Post Office, Restaurants, Surrey Street, Tokia Square, Turtle Bay, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Abaci, Allders, Allders Parade, Croydon, Hammersfield, Isle of Flowers, Miniso, Sky, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Abaci and florists’ are next kiosks to open in ‘Allders Parade’
EXCLUSIVE: After the Whitgift Centre’s florist shop joined the mass exodus of stores from the town centre, Westfield prepares to open a ‘kiosk’ in the old Allders building that will be selling… flowers Inside Croydon can reveal that the next … Continue reading
Nursing home residents hammer home victory at annual match
They play a mean game of croquet down at Whitgift House in South Croydon. This week the residents of the nursing home, which nestles in the grounds of the large private school, handed out a bit of a drubbing to … Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Care Homes, Fiona Fletcher Smith, Health, Michael Walcott, Roisha Hughes, Schools, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
Tagged Care Homes, Croquet, Croydon, Fiona Fletcher-Smith, Rev Michael Walcott, Roisha Hughes, South Croydon, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift House, Whitgift School
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Seth begins new term as Whitgift School’s 30th headmaster
Toby Seth this week became the 30th headmaster in Whitgift School’s 421-year history. But Seth is the fourth head at Whitgift in just eight years, a period of relative turmoil and controversy which saw his predecessor-but-one, Christopher Ramsey, depart somewhat … Continue reading
Old Palace sale completed – for £2.3m less than asking price
A special school operated by Serenity will begin to operate from the historic Old Town site from next month, after the sale was sealed by Croydon’s biggest landowners for £4.7m. By GENE BRODIE, education correspondent The Whitgift Foundation last night … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, CPO, Education, Old Palace, Roisha Hughes, Schools, Serenity special school, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Archbishop John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, Croydon, Curwen Group, Hammersfield, Knight Frank, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Old Town, Roisha Hughes, Serenity Special School, Stephen Curwen, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Old Palace pupils deliver improved grades in school’s final year
It was a poignant A-Level results day in Croydon Old Town, where the last cadre of pupils in Old Palace School’s 136-year history received the news that could shape their adult lives. Old Palace of John Whitgift formally closed its … Continue reading
Perry’s poor waffle performance shows who is really in charge
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The borough’s £82,000 per year executive Mayor gave up a morning of his valuable time to help a property PR firm boost the flagging credibility of Westfield’s town centre proposals. And there among the breakfast croissants and … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, North End Quarter, Planning, Tom Copley, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Breakfast Waffle, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hammersfield, Holborn, Jo Negrini, LCA, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Sarah Jones MP, Tory, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Another Croydon mugging as Westfield stages latest charade
There’s a public consultation about the long-delayed Westfield redevelopment of the town centre. Yes, another one. But there’s no promises of when any work will actually begin, or end. By STEVEN DOWNES After decades of broken promises and inflicting development … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Adam Smith, Business, Centrale, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Adam Smith, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamburg, Hammersfield, Hammerson, LCA, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Property Week, Scott Parsons, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Westfield’s non-denial denials can’t mask their investment plan
More than 48 hours after trade magazine Property Week reported what Westfield had been briefing their investors about the possibility of them selling off their interests in Croydon, and there’s been not a peep from the Paris head office of … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon West, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Sarah Jones MP, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamburg, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Property Week, Sarah Jones MP, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Westfield looking for ‘bargain basement’ sale of Croydon site
Respected trade magazine Property Week is reporting that after almost 14 years of inflicting development blight on Croydon town centre, without ever laying a single brick, Westfield could be about to flog off their interests in south London once and … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamburg, Hammersfield, Hammerson, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Property Week, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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‘It has to be’: Westfield scheme needs millions of public money
UNDER THE FLYOVER: In our latest podcast interview, housing specialist Fiona Fletcher-Smith, now the volunteer chair of the Whitgift Foundation’s governors, discusses the housing crisis, the closure of Old Palace School, what’s happening with the long-promised ‘kiosks’ in the Allders … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Boris Johnson, Business, Charity, Croydon Council, Fiona Fletcher Smith, Housing, Inside Croydon, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, North End Quarter, Planning, Property, Sadiq Khan, Under The Flyover, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Boris Johnson, Court of Governors, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fiona Fletcher-Smith, GLA, Hammersfield, London, Mayor, Mayor Jason Perry, Roisha Hughes, Under The Flyover, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, URW, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Old Palace up for ‘wellbeing’ award just weeks before closure
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The fee-paying girls’ school in Old Town has been shortlisted for a prize at a national awards event to be staged at a 5-star hotel where tickets cost £245 per head. By GENE BRODIE, education correspondent With … Continue reading
Posted in Jane Burton, Old Palace, Red Gates School, Schools, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Bensham Manor School, Croydon, Old Palace, Old Palace School, Old Palace School of John Whitgift, Red Gates School, Sutton High School, TES Schools Awards, Times Education Supplement, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Superdry closure is the latest nail in Whitgift Centre’s coffin
With every passing announcement of the latest closure, nails are being hammered into the coffin of Croydon’s sadly declining Whitgift Centre. The latest exit is that of Superdry, the shop selling the premium British fashion brand that occupies a large, … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Housing, Mayor of London, Property, Secret Cinema, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Body Shop, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hammersfield, Mayor Jason Perry, Monsoon, Sainsbury's, Superdry, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Carers Centre users claim to be excluded from CQC inspection
CROYDON IN CRISIS: An internal council memo warns staff to be on their best behaviour in Fisher’s Folly while inspectors from the Care Quality Commission are on the premises this week, looking into the borough’s adult social care provision. EXCLUSIVE … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Annette McPartland, Carers First, Charity, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Adult Social Care, Annette McPartland, Care Quality Commission, Carers First, Conservative, CQC, Croydon, Croydon Carers Centre, Croydon Carers Support Centre, Croydon Council, George Street, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory, Whitgift Foundation
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