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.”

Ebola Update

 

Local doctors and nurses are making sure that they fully prepared to deal with any suspected cases of the ebola virus.

There have been no cases in the UK, but clinicians are carefully following national guidance on how to deal with the infection.

Ian Hosein, Director of Infection Prevention at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “It is important that people understand that ebola is not an airborne virus, so it cannot be spread without extremely close contact.

“However, we are fully prepared to deal with any suspected cases, as are our colleaguesin community care. The UK has an established, well-tested system for dealing with any known or suspected cases of the disease.”

A spokesperson for the local clinical commissioning groups said: ‘Local GPs have all received the latest guidance on Ebola and know what to do in the unlikely event that they see a patient with symptoms.’

The infection has hit people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Symptoms include fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage. The fatality rate can reach 90%, but the current outbreak is about 55%.

For more information, visit the World Health Organisation websitehttp://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/faq-ebola/en/

 

Moving Forward Scheme

Moving Forward for a healthier life

Our Moving Forward scheme is helping cancer survivors to live healthier lives and reduce the chances of their cancer returning. The scheme, run in partnership with the YMCA, Romford, offers people with cancer a free 12-week activity programme  tailored to them, to improve their health at their own pace. The first group to complete the scheme attended a special event to celebrate their achievement along with people just starting out, at the YMCA.