Lewisham Central Hither Green

We’ve been out on the doorsteps in Lewisham Central (despite the rain!) talking about what Labour has to offer in the elections for Mayor and the Greater London Assembly. We have found a lot of support for Ken Livingstone and Len Duvall, our local Lewisham/Greenwich candidate. Now all we want is for all you Labour supporters to remember to vote on Thursday 3 May!

A fraudster has been praying on elderly people in Lewisham. Telling them that he is from the local council, he demands payment of £180 to clip back trees. The man is white, medium height and overweight, with a south London accent and wears a black “official looking” overcoat. An elderly couple living on Baring Road have been in touch with me to warn other residents, after they mistakenly handed over money. The police have been alerted.

Family Mosaic is currently working with its partners to provide a range of Apprenticeship opportunities for its residents.

What is an Apprenticeship?

An apprenticeship allows you to gain a recognised qualification whilst developing practical skills in a real work environment.

What’s more, because it offers on the job training, you will be earning whilst you learn.

All apprentices will also need to attend college to learn the technical areas of your chosen field, but Family Mosaic’s dedicated Apprenticeships Officer Jacqueline Black, will help you find the right placement for you.

How do I become an apprentice through Family Mosaic?

Apply here.

What Apprenticeships are available through Family Mosaic?

This will change over time but the most common Apprenticeships are in Construction, Business Admin, IT, Customer Service and Health and Social Care. If you are interested in any other type of Apprenticeship call us and we will do our best to assist you.

You’ll need to get up early on Monday 23 July to see the torch coming from Creekside via the Stephen Lawrence Centre into our ward along Brookmill Road and then via Loampit Vale into the High Street. It starts off at 7.20 so I reckon it should reach Lewisham Clock Tower by about 7.40 but watch out for more expert timings nearer the time.

The priorities agreed for the Community First funding of £33,910 for Lewisham Central ward over the next 3 years are to be:
1. Improve the health and well-being of the inhabitants of the ward
2. Improve the appearance and use of the environment in the ward
3. Increase the support, activities and facilities for young people in the ward
4. Increase employment opportunities for inhabitants of the ward
5. Increase community cohesion and engagement in community activities in the ward.
These priorities were agreed by the Community First Panel at its first meeting. More details can be found by following the link on the ourhithergreen.com website of the Hither Green Community Association. On my earlier posting I omitted the name of Alison Munro, a local resident who is also a member of our Assembly coordinating group, from the list of panel members. Sorry, Alison!

For several years now Lewisham has enabled local people at the ward assemblies to choose how to support local organisations dealing with issues that are important locally. In 2011/12 Lewisham Central Assembly allocated a total of £44,250 to a wide range of projects including a summer play scheme on the Mercator estate, improvements to St. Swithun’s community hall, a club for older people, a heritage project in St. Mary’s churchyard, support for Hither Green Community Association, jointly with neighbouring wards funding the Youth Village based at the adventure playground on Ladywell Fields and producing a newsletter which was delivered to every home in the ward.
We are very pleased with the way our Locality Fund works and so were delighted when the Conservative/Lib Dem government decided to take a leaf out of our book. The Cabinet Office, as part of David Cameron’s Big Society, has decided to give Lewisham Central £33,910 over the next three years. The only pity is that the reason we were given the money was because our ward saw a steep rise in the number of people claiming job-seekers allowance! However, a panel has been set up to run the scheme. Jo Honeybone of Hither Green Community Association will chair it and other members are Jane Kustner from St. Swithuns, Bobby Mizen from the Jimmy Mizen Foundation at the Cafe of Good Hope and Cllr. Stella Jeffrey. They have held just one meeting so far but you should be hearing much more from them soon.
If you are part of a local organisation which may be eligible for funding, keep looking on the Hither Green Association website, as they are acting as our partner organisation in this and details will be coming out shortly about the agreed priorities and how to apply. Find them at ourhithergreen.com
Even though HGCA is hosting the Community First Panel, the funds are meant for the WHOLE of the ward – from Orchard Gardens in the north right down to the South Circular Road boundary.

From Lewisham Council:

Chewing gum litter: where do you stick yours?

Lewisham Council is working with the Chewing Gum Action Group throughout March on a national campaign to warn people to stop dropping used chewing gum on the streets of Lewisham or risk a £75 fine.

In a 2010 survey by Local Environment Quality, gum stains accounted for over a quarter of all stains found on Lewisham streets and research has shown that the most likely people to drop gum are in the 16-34 age range.

Lewisham is one of 15 local authorities nationwide to have pledged support for the campaign to help make Britain’s streets free of littered gum. The campaign is being supported by borough partners including Lewisham College, Goldsmiths College and Millwall Football Club PLC.

During the month the campaign will include:

· Gum Boards – special boards where people can stick their used gum – will be erected in Lewisham and Catford town centres.

· Free gum ‘wrap-it’ pouches – will be distributed by Goldsmiths’ student union throughout March

· Lamppost banners – will be displayed in Dartmouth Road and Deptford High Street

· Millwall Football Club – will display a message to fans on their big screen at their home games on 17 and 24 March at The Den.

· Gum advert – six students studying Media Production at Lewisham College will showcase their one-minute film advert called The Gum to Lewisham Young Mayor Kieran Lang.

Cllr Susan Wise, Cabinet Member for Customer Services says:

“I am proud of Lewisham’s streets, and our reputation for having the cleanest streets in London. Used chewing gum is both unhygienic and unsightly and the significant pavement staining to which it contributes is very difficult to remove.

“Through this campaign, we will it make clear that a £75 fine will be enforced on anyone littering our streets with used gum. Lewisham residents care about our streets and I am confident that they will support our efforts to keep them gum free.”

The campaign will be launched at Lewisham Shopping Centre on Saturday 10 March at 11am.

The Parliamentary Academy places young people in Parliament to work as apprentices. It has cross-party support and places apprentices with MPs from across the political spectrum.

It aims to make Parliament an inclusive environment for 16-24 year olds, from a large variety of backgrounds, the ten-month (42 week) apprenticeship scheme combines ‘on the job’ training, working in the Westminster office of an MP and college based training.

The responsibilities usually held by an apprentice are responding to constituent letters, government research, maintaining press and media databases and general administration duties. The apprentice will work in your office for 3 days a week, with Thursday spent on ‘off the job’ training. This is a total of 32 hours a week. The salary is to be met by the MP. For this scheme we are requesting that all apprentices are paid a minimum of NMW, which is £6.08 per hour. Total salary to be met is £8171.52.

You can apply here from 20 February.

Many people will have been held up at Hither Green station this morning (Mon 9 January 2012) as a trackside fatality meant that the power had to be switched off and normal service was not resumed until 13.40.
Don’t forget that you can claim compensation under the delay-repay system.