Monday 30 June 2008

Bogus charity worker hits Ilford

Residents in Ilford have been told to be on the alert for a drug addict pretending to be a charity worker.

According to the Ilford Recorder, the gaunt woman asks people to donate to a leukaemia charity, but uses the proceeds to fund her drug habit instead.

While I see a drug addict pulling this off, I wonder how many people out there don’t know the basics of dealing with door-knockers?

Last year, Newham Council warned that in such situations, residents should ask for some form of identification and, if still uncertain, find out a bit more about the organisation being represented.

This was the time bogus plumbers and builders were doing the rounds.

The Recorder says one resident who donated in the past chased the suspect to demand the money back.

This may not be the wisest thing, as such crooks may be armed with knives and one could get seriously hurt over money unwisely given.

Monday 23 June 2008

Battle for Banglatown looming

The good news for all is that Shoreditch High Street station will indeed re-open at some point in the near future (two years).

The stations is currently shut, leaving many who use the East London line to rely on replacement bus services. This week plans of what the station will look like were unveiled.

But good news may soon turn bad for transport officials, if members of the Bangla community get their way.

According to the London Paper, locals have been campainging to rename the station Banlgatown because of its proximity to the area around Brick Lane, home to a large Banladeshi community.

Transport officials say the renaming will cost £2m to change existing maps, signs, etc.

According to the London East website, Imam Uddin, head of the Banglatown Restaurant Association, says: "Changing the name to Banglatown is a good idea. It will give our community more of an identity.”

Iman and his colleagues have acted swiftly to deal with this identity crisis by submitting a petition to the Council for the name change.

We eagerly await the reply on this one.

Monday 16 June 2008

Event brings together fathers and sons

This weekend the Arc church in Forestgate held an event called 300 Men in One Place, aimed at fathers and sons.

I thought it would be a men-only do, but it turns out that women were allowed to attend as observers.

Although I did not go, I understand this Fathers day event was an interesting evening. There was music, food and a number of speakers.

Ray Lewis, London’s Deputy Mayor for Young People, gave a talk on why its important to have fathers around for their children. His father deserted him when he was young, so one can understand why this topic is close to his heart.

Lewis also slammed ‘extreme feminism’. I’m not sure how the ladies who attended as observers took this bit in though.

Monday 9 June 2008

Any guarentee Olympics diggers are safe from more bombs?



Who would have guessed that folk in the Bow and Bethnal Green area were living above a huge (1,000kg or 2,200lb) bomb?

Certainly not me; and it’s unlikely that many construction workers did either – until one of them stumbled upon the massive World War 2 bomb?

The digger was clearing the site for the 2012 Olympics. The bomb was then denoted by the army.

But it doesn’t end there; according to the BBC, an army spokesman said it was “impossible” to say how many unexploded World War II bombs remained in London and that more could be discovered as construction work takes place in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.

This, of course, is not good news for the construction workers who must now go to work with a barrel of bravado packed alongside their sandwiches and flasks.

But, seriously, how safe are these workers? Now that it is officially known that more bombs could be discovered as these men prepare the site for the big games, what is being done to prevent them stumbling across more lethal devices?

How about the 2012 Olympics committee donates a small share of its millions (erm ... billions?) to the army to work on a prevention strategy?

Monday 2 June 2008

Romford traders cabbages and big screen woes?

There’s few dull momments at Romford market – noisy traders outdoing themselves as they holler prices, shoppers darting about and bustling for a bargain.

For traders and shoppers alike, there’s going to be more to look forward to with new plans to have a giant screen right in the market square.

Havering Council, who is behind the plan, says it’s part of its strategy to ‘re-energise the historical Market Place.’ Excuse my ignorance, but I’m a bit baffled by how a market place can be re-energised. Any explanations out there?

No doubt it means well. From what I gather, the screen will show big football games and top events, making the market place a shopping and cultural venue.

Some of these big screens, Havering Council says, can also allow members of the crowd to participate in interactive games and compete against people in other towns using the advanced technology. Impressive.

I’d like to know if these screens will be used for advertising. Will the Council invite companies to advertise their goods and services on these screens for a whopping fee?

The big screens may suddenly turn from being a terrific form of entertainment to a daylight horror for traders if Tesco advertises its cabbages for £1 when they are selling them for twice as much.