Stoptober Challenge

Havering encourages residents to join the Stoptober challenge and quit smoking for one month

​​The annual Stoptober event, launched in 2012 and run by Public Health England, aims to encourage as many smokers as possible to quit for the month of October. 

​The initiative is based on evidence that if smokers quit for 28 days, they are five times more likely to quit for good. In 2013, 6.5 million smokers were reached as part of the campaign.

Havering will be marking this year’s event with roadshows taking place in South Street, Romford, from Tuesday 30 September to Saturday 4 October, from 10 am to 4pm. Smokers will be able to get advice and support to quit, as well as have a lung-age test and goodie bags will be given to those who sign up to quit.

Smoking remains the biggest cause of premature death in England and accounts for more than 80,000 deaths in the UK each year, and costs the NHS £2.7 billion a year to treat smoking-related illnesses. That is why initiatives such as Stoptober are so important.

Councillor Wendy Brice-Thompson, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services and Health, said:

“Smoking takes a huge toll, not just on public services such as the NHS and the smoker themselves, but also their families. Losing a loved-one to a smoking-related disease is devastating.

“This is a habit that can be broken so I’m glad there are initiatives such as this to provide smokers with as much support and motivation as possible. I hope many Havering residents will be signing up.”

For more information visit the Stoptober website, also, for advice and support on how to quit smoking, call the Havering Quits on 0800 0320102.

Havering wins London in Bloom

Havering doubles its record to scoop a whopping 23 London in Bloom awards

Large Park of the Year - recently restored Raphael Park won Gold

​Havering has broken its own record, more than doubling the number of awards it won last year, after it was presented with 23 London in Bloom awards at a ceremony yesterday (Monday 8 September).

​Parks in Havering have done particularly well, securing 16 of the awards.

The borough can boast five gold awards, including the London Borough City Award, the Large Park of the Year for Raphael Park, the Large Park over 25 acres Award for Harold Wood Park, and Large Conservation Area and Country Park Awards for Bedfords Park.

One of the judges for London in Bloom, Martin Rodwell, commented on how much he enjoyed visiting the borough, he said: "It was a real pleasure to have judged Havering's Parks."

Havering is already one of the greenest places in London, boasting 6,000 hectares of green belt, which covers almost half the borough.

Councillor Roger Ramsey, Leader of the Council, said:

"Last year we won 10 awards, which was the best we'd had at that point, so to more than double that and win 23 awards is quite incredible, and goes to show how much pride we have in our wonderful green spaces. I'm very thankful to everyone who has worked tremendously hard to maintain these spaces - it's because of them that we have this accolade."

Here is a full list of the awards:

Category	Winners
Small Park of the Year	Langtons House and Gardens - Silver Gilt Secret Garden (Harrow Lodge) - Silver Gilt ​
Park of the Year	Lodge Farm Park - Silver Gilt St Andrews Park - Silver Gilt Upminster Park - Silver Gilt
Large Park of the Year	Raphael Park - Gold
Large Park of the Year (Over 25 Acres)	Harold Wood Park - Gold
Country Park Award	Hornchurch Country Park - Silver Gilt Havering Country Park - Gold Bedfords Park - Gold and Overall Category Winner
Small Conservation Area	Lawns Park - Silver Gilt Harrow Lodge Park - Bronze
Large Conservation Area	Cranham Brickfields - Silver Gilt Dagnam Park - Silver Gilt Bedfords Park - Gold and Overall Category Winner
Large Cemetery	Romford Cemetery - Bronze South Essex Crematorium - Silver Gilt
Business Improvement District	London Riverside Business Improvement District - Silver Gilt
Best Front Garden	Sylvia Littlewood from Woodcote, Broxhill Road, Havering-Atte-Bower - Runner Up
London Borough City Award	Havering - Gold
It's your neighbourhood Award	Myplace Youth Garden Project The Friends of Bedfords Park and Walled Garden Upland Court Road

Residents encouraged to extend their family with a foster child

​Havering Council is kicking off the new term by re-starting its regular fostering open events following a summer break.

​The first event will take place on Tuesday 2 September from 6.30 to 8pm at Havering Town Hall, Main Road, Romford.

 

The open events are a chance for people who are considering becoming a foster carer, or even people who are curious and would like to find out more, to talk to members of the fostering team, as well as current foster carers to get all the information they need.

 

Foster carers are a real backbone in the borough – providing loving homes to children who are unable to live with their own families for various reasons.

 

At any one time, Havering Council has around 200 children in its care, so it’s vital to have as many foster carers, from as many different backgrounds as possible in the borough.

 

Anyone can apply to become a foster carer, provided they are over 21, with a spare room and have the time in their life for a child.

 

All foster carers receive full training and on-going support, as well as their own social worker for as long as they are a carer.

 

They also receive generous financial allowances to cover all aspects of caring for a child, as well as some money for themselves to recognise the important job they do.

 

Councillor Meg Davis, Cabinet Member for Children and Learning, said:

 

“Foster carers provide a vital role in our community by giving a child in care a stable, loving family home.

 

“They have already made a huge difference in so many children’s lives and I hope many more will come forward to continue supporting our children so well.”

You can find out more about fostering in Havering, and other upcoming open events, by visiting the webpage.

Council to help fund Raiders

Council helps with funding for the Raiders

The Council has announced it will support the Romford Raiders, now known as London Raiders since playing from Lee Valley Ice Centre, by providing financial support so the team can keep playing. 

The club has suffered some setbacks after the closure of the ice rink in Rom Valley Way. That’s why the Council is offering funding so that the sport can thrive when the new leisure centre opens. The Raiders have committed to returning to Romford when this happens.

 

The Council will provide up to £7,500 over the next year. This is to ensure that ice skaters and ice hockey players from Havering continue to have a future in their chosen sport. 

 

Councillor Melvin Wallace, Cabinet Member Culture and Community Engagement, said:

 

“We’re happy to give the Raiders some financial support to help ensure they remain in business until the new ice rink opens in Romford.

 

“We want to ensure the continued development of ice hockey through the team, and their move back to the new ice rink in Romford is crucial to the future success of the sport in the borough, and the new facility.”

Open House

Open House London

Open House London opens the door on many buildings not usually open to the public and is your chance to explore hundreds of inspiring buildings in and aroundLondon for free. 

This year's event is on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 September 2014  and there are more than 800 buildings across London in the programme.

There are 18 buildings in Havering open as part of Open House London, including Rainham Hall.

Crime. Levels

Beating crime together 

Havering is one the safest London boroughs because Havering Council, Havering Police and the community work together to crack down on crime.

Figures released this week, for the year to August 2014, show how successful this has been with

• Robbery DOWN meaning 256 fewer crimes
• Burglary DOWN meaning 733 fewer crimes
• Anti-social behaviour DOWN meaning 2,161fewer crimes 

A new initiative to further drive down crime launches on Friday 29 August 2014with an event in Raphael’s Park, Main Road, Romford, RM2 5EB.

Come along and find out more between 11.30am and 2.30pm.

Our libraries

Libraries awarded for excellence in customer service

Havering Council’s library service has once again been acknowledged for exemplary customer service to receive the Customer Service Excellence Award.

This is the second year in a row that the Council has been given the award by SGS, the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, which is recognised as the global benchmark for quality and integrity.

 

The library service scored top marks in the areas of customer service covered in the inspection including customer insight, culture of the organisation, information and access, delivery and timeliness, as well as quality of service.

 

The service also recently received the e4libraries accreditation for the promotion of beneficial technology in libraries from Book Industry Communication.

 

Councillor Melvin Wallace, Cabinet Member for Culture and Community Engagement, said:

 

“Library staff and volunteers really do make such an important contribution in our communities and I’m very proud that they’ve been officially recognised for it again. They really do deserve the recognition.”

 

In his report, the assessor, Tom Banks, said:

 

“Havering libraries were found to have a deep understanding of, and commitment to, customer service excellence. The commitment was displayed from senior management levels through to operations and front line staff.”