Maximum of 6 per team no cheating etc. etc. It will be challenging but great fun so get reading those newspapers and book your place on 020 8778 8101.
Written Update – London Overground 13 December 2010
1. Dalston Junction – West Croydon service
Performance on the Dalston Junction / West Croydon route is the highest on the Overground network. On average 95.4% of trains, arrive within 5 minutes of their scheduled arrival time.
Customer satisfaction levels on the new Dalston Junction – West Croydon route have been high since it opened. The key stats from the most recent customer satisfaction surveys are:
2. London Overground extension to Clapham Junction
3. Later Dalston Junction – West Croydon services.
From 13 Dec later services will run between Dalston Junction and New Cross Gate allowing late night travellers to interchange with Southern services at New Cross Gate. From 13 Dec the extra trains between Dalston Junction and New Cross Gate will be the 23:47hrs, 00:01 hrs and 00:15hrs from Dalston Junction.
Here is a list of snow “occurrences” in the nine years from 2001 to 2009 inclusive. It shows the dates that snow fell amounting to 22 times in those nine years. The dates when snow fell and settled on the ground – only eight times – are marked in red. All of the other 14 occasions were little more than a flurry, or snow that fell and quickly disappeared.
So let that be a comfort as you fight your way to work or struggle to walk around the streets of SE26!
| Year | Winter/Spring | Autumn/Winter |
| 2001 | Jan 18, Mar 2 | |
| 2002 | ||
| 2003 | Jan 8 30 | |
| 2004 | Jan 28 | |
| 2005 | Feb 21 22, Mar 4 | Dec 27 |
| 2006 | Feb 23 | |
| 2007 | Mar 19 | |
| 2008 | Mar 22 23 | Nov 23 |
| 2009 | Jan 5, Feb 1 2, Apr 6 | Dec 16 17 18 21 |
Photograph above of Sydenham in the snow by Beatrix Rose Photography http://www.flickr.com/photos/beatrixrose/5187878911/in/set-72157625421334674/
This has been a difficult year for everyone involved in public service in Lewisham. The effects of the cuts to public spending have affected us all and we know now that we face an even more testing time in 2011. However our commitment to Lewisham and the strength of our community means that we will be able to come through this together and ensure that the most vulnerable members of our community continue to be supported not only in the cold of winter but throughout the year.
Government spending cuts
Lewisham Council is absorbing the true scale of the spending cuts it is faced with following the Government’s announcement of the money it proposes to give local councils over the next two years.
The Council had been planning to have to reduce its budget by £60 million over the next three years. Following the recent announcement, it now seems it will be forced to find a massive £89 million over the coming four years. Next year alone it is facing a reduction of £33 million.
These figures add up to the greatest financial challenge the Council has ever had to face. So far we have been able to meet most of our savings through efficiencies and have protected services to the most vulnerable. We had been expecting to reduce our budget by around £20 million next year – now we know we have to increase that amount by a further £13 million.
We will continue to do what we can to reduce the Council’s costs, like, for example, with our innovative IT procurement deal done in partnership with Bromley Council that is saving us around £1.5 million a year. I will also continue to prioritise services for vulnerable adults and children and young people.
We will, inevitably, have to shrink the size and scope of the Council and seriously consider what services we continue to provide and how we provide them.
It is still not clear how all the grants to the Council from central Government will be affected. The Council has until 17 January 2011 to respond to the Government’s provisional settlement.
My Space funding secured
My Space is a state-of-the-art youth centre for 13–19 year olds that was proposed for Sydenham. The future of the centre that was to be based on Wells Park Road has been in some doubt over the last few months and I have written and lobbied ministers on numerous occasions for this great scheme not to be dropped.
Much to my surprise this week we received a letter from the Minister confirming that funding for the scheme would not be cut. This youth-led project will benefit young people aged 13–19 in Bellingham, Sydenham and Forest Hill, particularly young people with disabilities, teenage parents, homeless young people, those at risk of crime and young carers. We are still awaiting this good news to be confirmed by the relevant department but I can’t see any problems now that we have the letter.
Children’s services – good news
Ofsted has judged Lewisham’s children’s services to be performing excellently, the highest rating that can be achieved, for the second year running.
The annual children’s services assessment examined how well Lewisham children and young people were served across education, childcare, child protection and a range of related services. Ofsted found that a very large majority of services, settings and institutions are “good or better” at helping young people to be healthy and stay safe, achieve academically, and at providing opportunities for them to do well and enjoy their learning.
Under the new train timetable introduced on 12th December 2010, off-peak twice-hourly services from LB to Horsham will include an additional stop at New Cross Gate. This will give passengers travelling between LB and Sydenham the option of changing at NXG to the East London Line if they have just missed one of the four times an hour direct services between LB and Sydenham.
Details are:
Monday to Friday
From 08.02 until 16.03 the half hourly London Bridge to Horsham service stops additionally at New Cross Gate and from 09.00 until 17.00 the half hourly Horsham to London Bridge service also stops at New Cross Gate.
Saturday
From 07.03 until 19.33 the half hourly London Bridge to Horsham service stops additionally at New Cross Gate and from 05.30 until 18.00 the half hourly Horsham to London Bridge service also stops at New Cross Gate.
Sunday
It is not currently possible to make the same changes as weekdays and Saturdays where trains stop at New Cross Gate, but Southern are continuing to look at this option for future timetables.
The following four projects will be bidding for a share of the £25,000 Mayor’s Fund:
Project 1 – Sydenham Arts Festival £10,000
This project addresses the assembly priorities of a vibrant high street and more activities for children and young people.
Description – The third annual Sydenham Arts Festival will run from 1 July to 17 July and is currently being planned. In 2011 we intend to provide live performances in the High Street including theatrical performances and exhibitions in “pop-up” shops, a Family Picnic in the (Home) Park with live entertainment and children’s activities working with Friends of Home Park, an open-air Free Film Show in Mayow Park, a Visual Arts Trail and performance workshops. We are currently in discussions with the Sydenham and Forest Hill Youth Forum, local musicians and performers and many other event organisers about approximately fifty other arts events taking place during the Festival.
The Sydenham Arts Festival is already established as a major community event and we want to build on this to improve community cohesion and a sense of place. This year we are planning to encourage young people to take part in activities and to put on performances organised by them during the Festival period. This will not only involve activities and performances during the Festival but will involve planning these events in the months leading up to the Festival.
Project 2 – Sydenham Community Radio £5,000
This project addresses the assembly priorities of a vibrant high street and more activities for children and young people.
Description – The intergenerational project involves teaching young people between the ages of 14 and 18 how to use recording equipment, as well as teaching interviewing skills. Young people will then be taught how to edit pre-recorded material and how to produce and present live programmes.
Older people will be interviewed on a number of subjects, with a emphasis on how different generations can learn from each other, and programmes will be developed for both online transmission and for on air broadcasts during the summer one month FM license period in 2011.
The project aims to promote social cohesion by enabling young and older people to talk and work with each other. Facilitating a community dialogue is central to this project in that both groups will be given a voice through access to a new platform.
Project 3 – Sydenham Film Club £4,500
This project addresses the assembly priorities of a vibrant high street and more activities for children and young people.
Description – This project will deliver on an active inclusive community which is part of the priority for a vibrant high street. It is hoped to work with young people through the Sydenham and Forest Hill Youth Forum.
The project will involve residents of the local community as films attract a diverse audience. It is hoped to build up numbers attending the film club by starting with a regular monthly film show. Existing networks will be used to promote the film club and attract more volunteers as well as researching what types of film residents would want to see screened eg promoting the film club through the Sydenham Society and Sydenham Arts Festival.
Project 4 – Switch It £4,000
This project addresses the assembly priorities of a tackling ant-social behaviour and more activities for children and young people.
Description – Run by FA trained coach, Jeremy Zulu, and supported by other volunteers in the community, the project delivers the positive activity of football, enhancing health and fitness. It also provides coaching to develop skills, and it provides the environment to discuss issues relevant to young people, encouraging them to receive mentoring, make positive life choices, to turn away from crime and anti-social behaviour and to stay in education and succeed in life.
Up to 50 young people a week will attend, engaging in healthy physical activities, enhancing skills, and discussing issues and learning skills for living well.
The coaches and mentors enable young people to discuss issues of concern to them, and where necessary receive help with anger management. They are encouraged to do well at sport, avoid exclusion from school, and to aspire to becoming coaches themselves in the future
For more information, go to: www.lewisham.gov.uk/localassemblies/sydenhamassembly
Thanks to an intervention by Caroline Pigeon, Lib-Dem member of the London Assembly, this has now been sorted out. Here is a reply from TfL to Caroline on this issue:
I can advise that passengers can purchase a Monthly ticket on Oyster directly from the ticket office or Ticket Vending Machines at the London Overground stations on the Sydenham line. If a passenger requires an Annual season ticket, they can request it from the station but it would have to be collected the following day (or later). We apologise if staff have been advising passengers to travel to another station as this is not the case. Our operator LOROL has confirmed that the staff have been re-briefed them so this should not happen again.
Kind regards
Emma
Emma Shannon
Stakeholder Communications Manager
TfL London Rail
Our thanks also to Richard Hibbert Chair of the Forest Hill Society for raising the issue.
Under new rules, all schools are supposed to ensure at least 60 per cent of 11-year-olds reach the standard expected for their age group in English and Maths.
Every school in SE26 and SE23 passed this standard and most exceeded the benchmark by a pleasingly large score. 1,000 primaries (around 12% of the total) failed to make the mark.
Here are the results for local schools showing the combined scores for English and Maths (60% is the benchmark)
Fairlawn SE23 3SB 92%
Our Lady & St Philp Neri SE26 5SE 91%
Stillness SE23 1NH 89%
St William of York SE23 1PS 84%
Dalmain SE23 1AS 83%
St Barts SE26 4LJ 79%
Adamsrill SE26 4AQ 78%
Holy Trinity SE23 3HZ 77%
St Francesca Cabrini SE23 3LE 75%
Haseltine SE26 5AD 74%
Alexandra SE26 5DS 68%
Perrymount SE23 2PX 62%
Kilmorie SE23 2SP 60%