South London Weekly - June 5th 2026

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JUST SEVEN PER CENT OF LONDON’S HOUSING TARGET STARTED IN FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2026

By Kumail Jaffer Local Democracy Reporter

JUST 6,325 private sector homes broke ground in London in the first three months of 2026, new data has revealed – equivalent to seven per cent of the Mayor’s 88,000 overall annual target.

Research from Real Estate consultants JLL suggests that developers are hesitant to build in the current market due to a proliferation of unsold stock.

New data shows that 22,000 properties across the capital sit unsold or under construction, with all types of buyers unwilling to invest in the present circumstances.

This is down to the newbuild premium – new homes cost 26 per cent more per sq ft than existing properties – soaring service charges, and an absence of incentives for potential purchasers.

STAMP DUTY PUTTING OFF LONDON’S BUYERS – AND DEVELOPERS

The issue is accentuated in London, according to Marcus Dixon, JLL’s Head of UK Living & Residential Research, who says that steps taken by the government and City Hall to address the housing supply crisis need to be supplemented by “demand-side reform”.

He claimed developers now have less certainty that any properties built will be purchased on the market.

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Mr Dixon told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) : “The government and Mayor have done some really positive things on the supply side and putting more money into the planning process – but we are expecting private developers to deliver the vast majority of homes and the rate of sale for those homes isn’t sufficiently high to convince them to deliver more.

“There’s nothing really in place on the demand side, and so we won’t get the step change in the number of houses needed until that changes.

“To deliver more homes, we need to encourage people to buy more homes. Those costs are significantly higher in London than the rest in the country due to higher levels of stamp duty.

“Something in place to reward people for buying more energy-efficient, new homes just isn’t in place at the moment.

“We’ve got a situation where we’re expecting people to pay more for new homes, but there’s

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no incentive for people to do that.

“There are some conversations to be had around the additional levies in place – the Community Infrastructure Levy, the Mayoral Infrastructure Levy in London – they have a role to play in terms of funding other infrastructure, but the challenge we have is that it’s much more expensive to deliver flats. This hits London, with a much higher proportion of high-rises, much harder.

“It’s far easier to deliver houses in the suburbs, where you can stop if needed – if you build a block of flats, you have to finish the whole thing before anyone moves in.

“Some of these additional levies and planning restrictions in London are the straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of delivering.

From the Mayor’s perspective, there’s some flexibility around delivery and acknowledging the challenges of doing so, and looking at ways in which they can help do so. City Hall should be working alongside developers. They can also look at having conversations with ministers around stamp duty reform.”

Nationally, the Conservative Party has pledged to fully abolish Stamp Duty Land Tax on all primary residences in England and Northern Ireland if they form the next government.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

LONDON’S HOUSEBUILDING WOES

The JLL figure is an improvement on last year’s total 5,547 starts – but in 2015, the private sector number was 33,782, according to Molior.

Lord Bailey, the City Hall Conservatives Housing spokesman, told the LDRS: “The latest figures on London’s collapsing housing market should alarm everyone who cares about the future of our city.

“This is not merely disappointing, it is a catastrophic political failure. For years, the Mayor has blamed everyone and everything else: the previous government, interest rates, developers, planning rules, Brexit, global markets, even “the system itself.”

“Of course, national policy matters. Of course, economic conditions matter. But leadership is about delivering despite difficult conditions — not using them as permanent cover for failure. Other cities and countries facing similar pressures have still managed to build homes at scale.

“Even Manchester — with far fewer resources and powers than London — has dramatically

outperformed the capital in attracting development and delivering new homes over the past decade. “London has instead become trapped in a culture of delay, bureaucracy and anti-development politics where almost every part of the system makes building harder, slower, riskier and more expensive. Too often City Hall has treated developers, investors and builders as opponents to be managed rather than partners needed to solve the crisis.

City Hall have agreed to take a number of measures to boost housebuilding in the capital, including agreeing a controversial package with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to slash affordability requirements for developers from 35 per cent to 20 per cent.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “Tackling London’s urgent housing crisis is one of the Mayor’s top priorities and he is doing everything he can to deliver more homes of all tenures. Sadiq has been warning for some time that the impact of Brexit, the pandemic, high interest rates and the economic shocks caused by global instability mean that we are amid the most difficult period for housebuilding since the global financial crash.

“We are confident that new time-limited emergency housebuilding measures will ramp up housebuilding in London and bring forward thousands of homes more quickly. By reducing the bureaucratic burden on developers in the short-term, the measures will result in more home – including affordable homes – being provided to those who need them most.

“The Mayor is also backing housing associations and councils with a record £11.7 billion London Social and Affordable Homes Programme over the next decade. The new City Hall Developer Investment Fund adds £322 million in grants and £1.5 billion in ultralow-interest loans for housing associations, unblocking stalled sites and speeding up affordable and social housing across the capital. He’s also delivering 6,000 new rentcontrolled homes for key workers.”

A government spokesperson said: “Our emergency measures in London will unblock dozens of stalled sites and help to build thousands more homes in the capital so we can restore the dream of homeownership.

“First-time buyers pay no stamp duty on homes worth up to £300,000 and can claim relief on purchases up to £500,000. Stamp duty also raises around £14 billion a year to help fund essential public services.”

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THE ‘SECRET’ GARDENS OPENING THIS WEEKEND

Adult

By Alex Orr

SEVEN ‘SECRET’ gardens in Southwark not usually open to the public are opening their gates for a programme of guided walks and tours this summer.

The annual London Open Gardens festival is taking place on the 6th and 7th June, and will offer ticket holders the chance to explore more than 120 gardens across London.

Tickets cost £26 for adults, £11 for children aged 12-17, and under-12s go free, and are valid from 10am on Saturday but opening times vary.

All proceeds from ticket sales will go to London Parks & Gardens, a charity dedicated to protecting and championing the capital’s parks and green spaces.

Visitors will have access to a range of spots, from rooftop gems, historic walled enclosures and ‘floating’ gardens on the Thames, as well as behind the scenes tours, guided walks and cycle tours.

Tickets are still available for a number of events, including “A Fruity Walk in South London”, which will take visitors on a mindful tour of fruit trees and natural spaces south of the river on Sunday 7th.

49 BANKSIDE - BOROUGH [SE1 9JE]

Nestled between the Globe Theatre and Tate Modern, 49 Bankside is a tiny ‘secret garden’ once thought to have inspired William Shakespeare himself. It is barely visible from the street and can only be accessed via Cardinal Cap Alley, the narrowest street in London. The garden’s stone columns and sculptures peek out from behind vibrant foliage, surrounding a pond and fountain that date back from the 1930s.

Opening Times: 10:00-17:00 on Saturday

THE BRUNEL MUSEUM - ROTHERHITHE [SE16 4LF]

The Brunel Museum opened on the site of the Thames Tunnel in 1843 to celebrate Isambard Kingdom Brunel, one of the most prolific engineers of the Industrial Revolution. Visitors can explore the Grand Entrance Hall and its secret underground theatre, as well as a potager roof garden with trees and shrubs chosen by Brunel himself for his home in Devon in the 19th Century.

Opening Times: 11:00-14:30 on Saturday and Sunday

ILIFFE YARD - ELEPHANT & CASTLE [SE17 3QA]

Iliffe Yard is the largest Victorian workshop yard on the historic Pullens Estate, one of the last surviving 19th Century tenements in London. It was built as progressive workers’ housing in the 1880s, but its former industrial units are now used as studios for artists and

artisans. Some of these studios, as well as the surrounding gardens, will be open to visitors.

Opening Times: 10:30-19:00 on Saturday; 10:30-18:00 on Sunday

MERRICK SQUARE - BOROUGH [SE1 4JB]

Merrick Square is an almost three centuries-old garden square, consisting of 32 individual houses and a rectory. Its central garden, which is maintained by the Corporation of Trinity House, a seafaring charity which operates lighthouses in England and Wales, is usually only open to residents. But the square, which featured in the 2018 Disney film Christopher Robin, will be open to ticket holders on the Sunday afternoon.

Opening Times: 13:00-17:00 on Sunday

TRINITY CHURCH SQUARE - BOROUGH [SE1 4HT]

Also run by the Corporation of Trinity House, Trinity Church Square was built at a similar time and is usually only open to locals. In the centre of the garden stands an iconic statue of King Alfred, parts of which are thought to be Roman. The square is often used for filming, and it has been featured in Bridget Jones’ Diary and Steven Spielberg’s Masters of the Air.

Opening Times: 13:00-17:00 on Sunday

WALWORTH ALLOTMENT ASSOCIATION - WALWORTH [SE17 3EQ]

In the 1970s, a group of passionate local gardeners established 16 individual and shared allotment plots on a disused building site on Fielding Street, just off Walworth Road. It is now a thriving hub of biodiversity, boasting a pond, wildlife area, beehives, and communal area. The gardeners, who regularly work to maintain the site, pride themselves on only using organic pesticides when growing a range of fruit and veg.

Opening Times: 10:00-18:00 on Saturday and Sunday

WALWORTH GARDENS - WALWORTH [SE17 3BN]

Local residents reclaimed a derelict corner of land on Manor Place, near Walworth Road in 1987 and set about building this organic garden and garden centre. It is now an established horticultural charity and home to an accredited school of horticulture, as well as three glasshouses, a wildlife area and vegetable garden. It gained its fourteenth consecutive Community Green Flag Award in 2025 and its landscaping company trains local people to build and maintain gardens in the area.

Opening Times: 10:00-17:00 on Saturday and Sunday

Find out more and book tickets at: londongardenstrust.org

Merrick Square

49 Bankside Iliffe Yard

By Frankie Hill and Alex Orr

SOUTHWARK GREEN Party and the Liberal Democrats have entered a formal coalition, ending sixteen years of Labour rule in the borough.

Southwark’s executive was formalised at the Annual Council Assembly last Thursday, with Green councillor James McAsh becoming leader of the council and Leader of the Southwark Liberal Democrats Victor Chamberlain taking on the role of deputy.

James McAsh said: “Following that vote, I believe I am the first person in Southwark history to have been, within the space of 12 months, elected leader of this council by all three political parties.”

Former Labour councillor McAsh, who defected to the Greens in February, won Thursday night’s leadership contest with 31 votes, defeating former Labour council leader Sarah King by three votes.

Reflecting their higher seat number (22 to the Lib Dems’ 12), Green councillors will occupy 10 of the 15 executive roles on the council.

They will take charge of Southwark’s council homes, finances and education, whilst the Lib Dems will manage community safety and jobs.

McAsh said the joint council’s key priorities would be to tackle the housing crisis, take action on climate and make Southwark safer and more affordable.

He added: “I cannot promise that everything will be easy. I can’t even promise that we’ll always get everything right.

“But I can promise that this joint administration will govern with integrity and dignity, be accountable to the residents of this borough, and that we remain united to serve.”

He said the £85 million funding gap inherited from the Labour government, housing failures across the borough and the climate crisis would make his leadership a challenging one.

Southwark Council’s new deputy leader Victor Chamberlain added: “We’re thrilled to be working together to put Southwark’s residents first and bring change for the people of the borough.”

Green councillor Claire Sheppard has also become Mayor of Southwark, occupying a non-political, ceremonial role as “First Citizen” of the borough.

The coalition between the Greens and Lib Dems was by no means a given - the most likely outcome was initially thought to be a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition. Some were still speculating right up to the evening before the announcement was made on Thursday morning.

Speculation surrounding what the council would look like intensified after a weeks-long delay in its announcement.

The initial deadline came and went, as well as a venue change from the prestigious Southwark Cathedral to the council’s own Tooley Street offices.

With the Greens winning 22 seats and Labour 29 in the local elections, the Liberal Democrats had become the kingmakers, possessing an essential 12 seats required for either party to hold a 32 seat working majority.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Cllr Victor Chamberlain, had remained tight-lipped over which way he would swing. Sources had told us before the announcement that both the new Green leader Cllr James McAsh and Labour leader Sarah King, who became Southwark Council leader after a controversial party election process, were both waiting on Cllr Chamberlain to make up his mind.

Conflicting reports have emerged about what led to the Labour / Lib Dem talks foundering. Initially it was understood that Labour were offering a deal in which

SOUTHWARK TO GO GREEN AND YELLOW AFTER LIB DEM COALITION AGREED

Former Labour councillor James McAsh makes stunning comeback to become council leader for Greens

Southwark would continue as a Labourrun administration with just Lib Dem support - in turn they would be given key posts in planning and scrutiny. However, it is now thought that a coalition deal with three cabinet posts for the Lib Dems had been offered, with agreed commitments.

According to one source the deal between King and Chamberlain was almost sealed last week, when McAsh and the Greens stepped in with an alternative coalition offer.

McAsh left the Southwark Labour Party for the Greens seven months ago, after his victory in the council’s leadership election was overturned by the central Labour Party. But he will now be the leader of Southwark Council, a remarkable political comeback.

He and three other Labour councillors went Green and by adding another 18 seats to that tally in this election they have become the second largest party in Southwark and a real political force across London, taking control of two boroughs outright.

The Southwark Lib Dems might be in third position, but they will for the first time since running the council 16 years ago be able to broker a deal for some of their manifesto pledges becoming actual council policy.

The Lib Dems ran Southwark from 2002 to 2010, but during those eight years they never had overall control, forming minority administrations and coalitions with the Conservatives. This time they will be very much the junior partner, so the question is what is Cllr Chamberlain is

not willing to comprise on.

In an interview scheduled after we go to press, we hope to reveal exactly what policies both parties will be agreeing on. It is only the second time since the London Borough of Southwark was formed in 1965 that Labour have not had a majority. Southwark Green Party and Southwark Liberal Democrats pledged to fight the Labour government’s cuts, which are set to leave Southwark with a gap of £85 million over the next three years.

In 2015 Labour stormed to victory under Cllr Peter John with a promise of building 11,000 new, genuinely affordable council homes across the borough by 2043. This it seems was the vote swinging issue. Eleven years on and affordable houses remains the single most important issue in the borough. Most councillors and candidates interviewed agreed that the hope of getting anywhere close to building this amount of homes remained their top priority.

This paper has constantly tried to get a grip on the figures to see how many of the 11,000 have been built and in an article last year found just 2,145 homes had been fully finished and occupied. There were another 915 under construction, bringing the total up to 3,060. Whoever takes over control of the council will want to beat that record, with 8,000 needed in the next 17 years to hit target. In a set of exclusive interviews with the us, candidates from all parties outlined their plans for housing in Southwark. Interestingly, the Lib Dems campaigned on a platform of wanting to increase the 35%

affordable housing rule to 50% on public land, whilst also wanting to introduce new roles in the council including a housing tsar to challenge developers not sticking to council targets.

Given that all three parties welcomed the news last week of the planning inspectorate to turn down the redevelopment of the Aylesham Centre in Peckham, perhaps an agreement on this issue might be reached locally. However, both the Labour Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan and Labour’s Housing Minister Steve Reed have agreed to drop affordable housing targets for developers from 35% to just 20% and the Canada Water masterplan was recently approved with just 9%.

Another Lib Dem pledge Cllr Chamberlain might want approved is his party’s plan for a tram for the Old Kent Road - as many as 20,000 homes are dependent on the building of the Bakerloo Line Extension, but at an estimated cost of eye watering £8.6 billion. This can only be achieved with government backing and in the last two budgets Chancellor Rachel Reeves has made no mention of funding it. If the Lib Dems can be seen to be responsible for a tram while the extension stalls it could be a big win with local voters in four years’ time and one the Greens could approve of if they are the coalition partner.

In the statement released after the coalition was announced, Cllr McAsh added: “We will make our borough more affordable and greener. We will stand up for our borough. This Council will now be

accountable to Southwark residents, not to [Prime Minister] Keir Starmer.

“Together, our two parties can transform this council into one that genuinely listens, and where our diverse communities can shape decisions about where we live.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Sarah King reacted to the news of the coalition by making the extraordinary claim that it was undemocratic for the two to form a coalition. She said: “More residents voted for Labour than any other party. They did not vote for the two smallest parties to subvert democracy in this way.

“Southwark Council is facing challenging times with a tough financial outlook and a housing department that is just beginning to turn the tide on repairs and safety following Labour’s Good Landlord Plan.

“We’ve seen the Lib Dems in coalition nationally and we know what it means for our communities: broken promises and budget cuts.

“Meanwhile the Green Party’s unrealistic manifesto proposals will create real instability in the borough and are an insult to the thousands of voters who supported Southwark Labour.”

Neil Coyle, the MP for Old Southwark and Bermondsey also added: “The Lib Dems clearly learn nothing from Coalition. They got into bed with the Tories in Southwark previously and got kicked out in 2010 for letting local people down.

“They formed a national Coalition with David Cameron’s Tories and lost almost all their MPs in 2015. Now they’re in bed with the Greens in Southwark! They look desperate and may have signed their own

The outgoing Leader of Southwark Council Sarah King

From left to right: Councillor Reginald Popoola (Green Party co-deputy leader), Councillor Rachel Bentley (Liberal Democrat deputy leader), Councillor James McAsh (Green Party leader), Councillor Victor Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat leader) and Councillor Claire Sheppard (Green Party co-deputy leader)

political death warrant.

“People in Borough, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe didn’t vote to cut the police, stop housebuilding or reduce bin collections but that’s what the Greens have done elsewhere. Given his appalling performance in a former role on the council, I’ll also be seeking urgent reassurance from the council that it will not allow the deprioritisation of safety under its new leadership.”

Elsewhere in South London, the Conservatives held Bromley and Bexley; and have taken back Wandsworth after a deal with an independent councillor.

In Croydon the directly elected Tory Mayor Jason Perry has been left running a minority Conservative administration, with the Labour party having 30 seats to the Conservatives 28.

Labour has retained overall control of just two boroughs - Greenwich and Merton.

The Liberal Democrats kept hold of Sutton, Kingston and Richmond UponThames.

While, under a newly struck coalition deal with the Liberal Democrats the Leader of the Lambeth Green Group, Cllr

Martin Abrams, was elected as council leader last week. He is one of many Labour councillors to defect, including the new Mayor of Lewisham, who is now running South London’s first Green council with an overall majority.

In Lambeth the Green Party’s majority is anything but stable. One of the party’s councillors has already resigned while a second has declined her seat, meaning there will be two by-elections which could even result in another leader being installed. With two seats up in the air the Greens have 27, Labour 26 and the Liberal Democrats 8.

Editorial - page 17

The full executive list is as follows:

LEADER OF THE COUNCIL

GREEN: James McAsh (Goose Green)

As council leader, McAsh was responsible for selecting the cabinet and designating each member’s role. He will represent the borough at external events, setting the council’s strategic direction and key policy priorities.

DEPUTY LEADER OF THE COUNCIL

LIB DEM: Victor Chamberlain (Borough & Bankside)

Leader of the Opposition prior to the local elections, Victor Chamberlain will deputise for James McAsh in his absence, represent the borough at events and chair the cabinet when necessary.

He has also been named Executive Member for Neighbourhoods, Strategic Planning and Wellbeing, playing an important role in planning and development across the borough.

EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR COUNCIL HOMES

GREEN: Reginald Popoola (Rye Lane)

Responsible for Southwark’s more than 50 thousand tenanted and leasehold council homes, Popoola will oversee housing maintenance, repairs and fire safety within those homes. He will also offer advice to council tenants.

EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR COMMUNITY SAFETY AND ENGAGEMENT

LIB DEM: David Watson (Borough & Bankside)

Watson will be in charge of community safety, aiming to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and violence within the borough.

EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES

GREEN: Sam Foster (North Walworth)

As head of finance, Sam Foster will oversee the

council’s budget, pension fund and income collection, including council tax, business rates and council housing rents. He will have to deal with a financial ‘black hole’ of between £60-£90 million during his time in charge.

EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR JOBS, EQUALITIES AND CITIZENSHIP

LIB DEM: Rachel Bentley (North Bermondsey)

In charge of jobs in the borough, Bentley will be chiefly responsible for increasing employment by supporting people into work, especially young people.

She will also be responsible for ensuring the council keeps its commitments to gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights, whilst also providing citizen services.

She stood against MP Neil Coyle in the last general election but failed to regain North Southwark and Bermondsey, which was once the Lib Dem stronghold seat of Sir Simon Hughes.

EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND NEW HOMES

GREEN: Alexandra Austin (Old Kent Road)

As head of public works, Austin will be in charge of large infrastructure projects in Southwark and the maintenance of essential services.

She will also be responsible for the construction of thousands of new council homes, overseeing development on the Old Kent Road and potentially a new tram in the area under the Lib Dems’ proposals.

EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR CLIMATE AND COUNCIL COORDINATION

GREEN: Eloise Waldon-Day (Goose Green)

Reflecting the Green Party’s climate priority, WaldonDay will be responsible for air quality, transport and parking in the borough.

She will be in charge of reducing carbon emissions across the local economy and preparing Southwark

residents and businesses for heatwaves and extreme weather events.

EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR PARKS AND LEISURE

GREEN: Vanessa Threadgold (North Walworth)

As executive member for parks and leisure, maintaining Southwark’s green spaces, libraries, and cultural hubs will be Vanessa Threadgold’s main remit. She will oversee the management of parks, cemeteries, community gardens, and playgrounds, including those on council estates.

Executive Member for Education and Care

GREEN: Rebecca Corn (North Walworth)

Rebecca Corn will be chiefly responsible for local authority schools, holding them to high standards, promoting inclusion and managing the special educational needs [SEND] provision in the borough. As head of care, she will take charge of both child and adult social care, supporting people with illnesses and disabilities as well as their carers.

• DEPUTY EXECUTIVE MEMBERS:

Deputy Executive Member for Tenant and Leaseholder Services

GREEN: George Grime (Goose Green)

Deputy Executive Member for Culture

GREEN: anice White (Dulwich Hill)

Deputy Executive Member for Adult Services

GREEN: Suzanne Wise (Chaucer)

Deputy Executive Member for Community Council Delivery

LIB DEM: Francesco Guerrieri (North Bermondsey)

Deputy Executive Member for Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector

LIB DEM: Lina Usma (St George’s)

Cllr James McAsh (L) and Cllr Victor Chamberlain (R)

FIRST ‘INTENSIVE CARE WARD’ OPENS ON ROOFTOP OF KING’S COLLEGE HOSPITAL

It has space for up to six beds which will allow patients to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of being with nature, while being safely cared for outdoors

By Ruby Gregory Local Democracy Reporters

KING’S COLLEGE Hospital has opened the first therapeutic roof garden which aims to improve the overall well-being and recovery of patients who are critically ill.

The Critical Care Roof Garden on top of the hospital in Denmark Hill, Camberwell has space for up to six beds which will allow patients to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of being with nature while being safely cared for outdoors.

Patients will have access to the roof garden all year round, thanks to specially designed medical cabinets which are weatherproof. These cabinets contain power, data and medical gas supplies which are similar to the indoor 60-bed critical care unit at King’s.

Many critical care patients can experience Intensive Care Unit (ICU) delirium, which causes them to be in a state of confusion where they can suffer from disturbing hallucinations and profound dreams which distort their reality and can leave them unable to think or speak clearly.

ICU delirium can affect up to 80 per cent of patients and can slow down their recovery.

Dr Tom Best, Clinical Director of King’s Critical Care, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “You essentially

become mentally ill because you’re so physically unwell, but also because a lot of the drugs that we use around sedation include very strong opiates for pain relief.

“[It’s also caused by] the environment that you’re in and being semi-conscious and connected to tons of cables and wires and drips and then to machines that make noises all night.”

Dr Best, who has been in charge of the design and delivery of the project, started to develop a deeper understanding of ICU delirium when came to King’s as an intensive care consultant in 2007.

He spent time interviewing hundreds of patients about their experiences in intensive care and learnt first hand about the impact of ICU delirium.

He said: “I was seeing them maybe a month or so afterwards and started to hear about ICU delirium in much more detail.

“I couldn’t help but feel that the environment, even things as simple as ceiling tiles and certainly the machines around them, [were having] a profound impact on the degree of delirium.”

He went on to say: “Patients would talk about moments when we perhaps managed to get them outside of the unit, maybe just to the front steps of the hospital with some breathing support, but to a place where the family could perhaps bring the dog up to see

them.

“They could just get a feeling of wind on their face, something as simple as that or a bit of sun even in the not very attractive parts of the hospital, but these were often really pivotal moments in patients’ recoveries.”

Dr Best and his team will be able to use the space to research how exposure to fresh air, greenery and sunlight reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and improves the well-being of patients, their families and the staff who care for them.

The team will also assess whether access to the garden improves patient recovery and reduces length of stay, as well as tracking patients’ long-term physical, cognitive and psychological outcomes. There will also be a focus on how staff and families benefit from the space, particularly in managing stress levels.

Dr Best added: “I am confident this is going to reduce people’s length of stay in hospital. It’ll improve their outcomes. It’ll improve their mental state.

“This concept of mind and body, you can’t separate them. If your body’s injured or you’re sick physically, your mind is going to be affected in some way. It might just be mild. It may be low mood, or a bit of anxiety, but in intensive care, it’s often very significant.”

The project has been 15 years in the making and was funded with a £2 million donation from King’s College Hospital Charity as well as some funding from the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Iona Joy, Director of Grants and Insight at King’s College Hospital Charity, told the LDRS: “It’s been a fantastic partnership with the Trust, we participated on the project board that was overseeing the design and delivery of the project and it was a real privilege to be working alongside Dr Best and his colleagues such as Dr Phil Hopkins.

“I can’t emphasise enough the fact that this is really innovative and it’s an example of where a charity can really add value to something and make it really special.”

The garden was designed by globally renowned landscape architect and horticulturist, Nigel Dunnett, who sadly passed away at the age of 63 on April 26, 2026.

British garden designer Sarah Price, a three-time RHS Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist, collaborated with Mr Dunnett on the design on the garden.

Aromatic species, including rosemary, sage, and oregano, will feature in the garden alongside native species and tactile plants such as lamb’s ear, resulting in a lowmaintenance garden designed to encourage

active engagement rather than passive observation.

Professor Clive Kay, CEO of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said the opening of the roof garden is an important milestone for the hospital and is dedicated to those with serious and life-threatening conditions.

He continued: “It’s been built with purpose and guided by the needs of patients and their families and reflects a deep commitment to dignity, support, and hope.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to recognise and thank King’s College Hospital Charity, as well as colleagues at the Trust who have made this possible. Their expertise, dedication, and compassion are at the heart of everything we do at King’s.”

The King’s Critical Care Roof Garden completes the final part of the King’s Critical Care Centre, which is one of the largest intensive care facilities in the UK and possibly Europe. It supports over 5,000 patients and 15,000 loved ones each year. In 2023, the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust opened a new rehabilitation and sensory garden for critically ill patients at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.

The Critical Care Healing Garden at the Royal Cornwall won Community Engagement Project of the Year at the Construction News Awards in 2024.

King’s has become the first hospital to open a critical care garden on its roof

CALLS BY THE LONDON YOUTH ASSEMBLY TO ROLL OUT BLEED KITS ON BUSES REJECTED BY TRANSPORT CHIEFS

Keith Prince, Reform AM.

©Facundo Arrizabalaga/ MyLondon

By Kumail Jaffer

Local Democracy Reporters

TRANSPORT FOR London (TfL) have rejected a proposal from the London Assembly to roll out lifesaving bleed control kits in all major bus stations and on selected routes.

In March, Assembly members unanimously passed a motion calling on TfL to work with the London Ambulance Service (LAS) to ensure the kits, which stem bleeding from deep wounds or stabs before emergency services arrive on the scene, are available.

The proposal also called for training to be rolled out across the transport network, including first aid training for bus drivers and frontline staff, to ensure confidence in responding to catastrophic bleeding emergencies.

Following NHS guidance which suggests standard first aid kits are sufficient.

However, TfL Commissioner Andy Lord has now rejected the proposal outright, claiming that the body is following NHS guidance which suggests standard first aid kits are sufficient for such incidents.

In a letter to London Assembly Chair Andrew Boff, he wrote: “The NHS also highlights that the effective use of bleed kits requires appropriate training and there is a risk of significant harm if tourniquets, which are usually included in bleed kits, are not used correctly.

“The NHS recommends that the most important and effective bystander intervention is to apply continuous direct pressure to the site of bleeding and call 999 immediately.

“Based on this expert advice, we are not currently planning to roll out or promote bleed kits across our network but we continue to keep our position under review in response to expert advice.

“All TfL stations and staffed bus stations are equipped with first aid kits. We continue to keep the further provision of first aid kits and other equipment, including bleed kits, under review, taking into account any changes to the NHS’s national or London-wide guidance.”

The decision has been heavily criticised by both campaigners and Assembly Members, however.

Dr Lynne Baird MBE, the founder of the Daniel Baird Foundation and a staunch advocate of bleed kits being accessible across the country after her son was fatally stabbed in 2017, rejected Mr Lord’s arguments.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “People don’t need to be trained to use them – training is certainly useful but it’s not needed.

“They are very simple and straightforward – and if not, the emergency services will be able to talk you through it. I’m sure the London Ambulance Service could handle it.

“Many other public transport methods have put these into operation. They would be an essential addition to all buses.

“First aid kits alone are just not good enough.”

Elly Baker, the Labour Assembly Member who proposed the motion, told the LDRS: “I’m really disappointed that TfL has chosen to reject this motion.

“This was a clear and practical proposal brought forward by the London Youth Assembly, and we need to ensure that the views of young Londoners on what would make them feel safer are always taken into account.

“However, it is encouraging that the general use of bleed kits will continue to be reviewed, taking into account any changes in national NHS or Londonwide guidance.

“I will continue to press TfL on this matter.”

Hundreds of bleed control kits have been rolled out across the West Midlands in recent years, but they have not been adopted en masse in the capital.

Reform UK Assembly Member Keith Prince campaigned for and oversaw the installation of a bleed kit at Ardleigh Green College in Hornchurch which was used to save the life of an 18-year-old in 2023.

He said: “I have experienced first-hand how bleed kits save people’s lives. In the case of the horrendous stabbing at Ardleigh Green College, that young man is still with us today because there was a bleed kit on hand, a bleed kit I’m very proud to have campaigned for.

“For Andy Lord to dismiss bleed kits out of hand despite the mountain of realworld evidence proving how useful they are is frankly infuriating and he ought to seriously reflect on his position.”

In 2024, when questioned by Mr Prince on the issue, the Mayor of London said specialist kits were “not essential” for bleed control and said the NHS strongly advocated for basic first aid training, including bleed control.

But Alex Wilson AM, Leader of Reform UK on the London Assembly, added: “It’s insulting to all Londoners that Andy Lord won’t accept that bleed kits work and carry out the necessary actions to install them at major transport hubs.

“Having met with the families of those who’ve sadly lost their lives to knife crime, I know that, in many cases, death is preventable by having the right tools on hand in those crucial minutes after the unthinkable happens.

“In the West Midlands, this is understood and accepted, which is why bleed kits are readily available in public areas – London should not be behind on this. It’s because of Sadiq Khan ’s poor governance that we are seeing more and more knife offences and he needs to come clean and admit that.”

Child and two adults die after ‘falling’ from a tower block Their deaths are being treated as ‘unexpected’

By Evie Flynn

A CHILD is among three dead in what police said was a tower block ‘fall’ in Elephant and Castle.

little has been released as officers are still trying formally to identify the man, woman and child , who fell from a high-rise block of flats on Churchyard Row in Elephant and Castle, next to Castle Leisure Centre and St Mary’s Churchyard, last Wednesday morning, May 27.

Police and the ambulance service were called at approximately 7:30am on Wednesday following reports that

people had fallen from height.

A man, woman and child were found at the scene and pronounced dead, despite efforts from emergency crews to resuscitate them. Their deaths are being treated as

‘unexpected’ and there were no other reported injuries. Met detectives said they were investigating the incident and work was ongoing formally to identify the three people.

The Met said police attended alongside the London Ambulance Service, London’s Air Ambulance and the London Fire Brigade.

“We sent a number of resources to the scene including ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer and paramedics from our hazardous area response team (HART). We also dispatched a trauma team in a car from London’s Air Ambulance.

“Our first paramedic arrived in around four minutes.

“Very sadly, despite the best efforts of our crews, three people were pronounced dead the scene.”

A spokesperson from the Met, said: “Met detectives are investigating after three people died following a fall from height on Wednesday, 27 May.

“At the scene, three people – a man, a woman and a child - were found to have sadly died, despite resuscitation attempts by first responders. Their deaths are currently being treated as unexpected.

“Detectives are urging any witnesses or anyone with information to come forward by calling 101, quoting CAD 1613/27MAY.”

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 7.31am on Wednesday 27 May to reports of an incident on Churchyard Row, SE11.

The cabinet has the critical bleed kits inside.

By Alex Orr

A MAN has been sentenced to life in prison after murdering his exgirlfriend while she was on a date with another man in Greenwich.

New Malden resident Yurii Muzyka, 34, will serve a minimum of 30 years behind bars after he was found guilty of the murder of Halyna Hoisan, 29, last Friday. He was also found guilty of possession of an offensive weapon.

According to the Metropolitan Police, Ukrainian national Muzyka kicked down the door of a flat on Tyler Street, Greenwich on 27th August last year, armed with a knife and chisel, after discovering Halyna was in there with another man.

He then stabbed her six times and filmed a video of himself next to her as she lay dying on the floor. The couple’s four-year-old daughter was asleep in the other room at the time.

When the man Halyna had been on a date with fled the flat to alert the police, Muzyka stabbed himself in the stomach and was taken to hospital, where he was arrested on suspicion of murder.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Simon Mayo KC told Muzyka: “You knew your child would be present in the flat when you arrived. That knowledge did not deter you.”

He added: “I am sure your actions were driven by jealousy, resentment and determination to exert control over Halyna even after your relationship had come to an end.”

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Franklin, whose team led the investigation, said: “Halyna’s murder was an appalling act of cruelty. Muzyka robbed a child of her devoted mother and parents of a loving daughter.”

LIFE SENTENCE FOR MAN WHO STABBED EX-GIRLFRIEND TO DEATH

A tracking device was found on their four-year-old daughter’s scooter

A court heard the couple had been in an abusive relationship for several years, but Halyna had moved out of their Kingston home in April 2025 and secured a nonmolestation order against her killer one week before her death.

It was revealed Muzyka had embarked on a campaign of stalking and harassment against his ex-girlfriend, stealing her phone, turning up at her home and threatening her mother with violence.

Halyna even found a tracking device on their daughter’s scooter.

Police said analysis of Muzyka’s phone found that in this period he became fixated with attacking her. Ten images of spywear were found, 44 of masks, 186 of human anatomy, specifically the heart and chest, and 261 of knives.

Further analysis of Muzyka’s devices found a video he had recorded for his mother on the day of the murder, complaining that Halyna was meeting other men. That afternoon, he spent £34.99 on a knife.

The box for the knife and a copy of the non-molestation order were found on his kitchen table.

Detectives tracked his movements that

Met officer convicted for rape on New Year’s Day 2018

By Gabriel Stewart

A METROPOLITAN Police officer has been convicted of rape following a trial at Southwark Crown Court in which previous allegations were heard.

PC Rupert Edwards, who is suspended from duty, was found guilty of raping a woman on January 1 2018 and will now face an accelerated misconduct hearing.

He was first reported to police in October 2023, when a woman said that he had raped her following a New Year’s Eve party.

PC Edwards, who was attached to the south west crime unit, was arrested on April 29 2024, and was charged with rape on March 12, 2025 following further enquiries.

He had previously faced allegations of rape from two separate women in August and September 2022 but had been acquitted by the juries in both cases.

Despite this, prosecutors were able to present elements of the evidence from both cases – including recorded interviews and court crossexamination of the victims – as part of the prosecution case in this trial.

This revealed an insidious pattern in Edwards’ behaviour and played a key role in securing his conviction, according to the Met.

Chief Superintendent Dan Knowles, in charge of policing for southwest

London, said: “This was a despicable offence and I have huge admiration and gratitude for the victim for having the courage to come forward and report PC Edwards.

“Detectives in this case carried out a diligent investigation, ensuring PC Edwards was charged at the earliest opportunity and that the most compelling evidence was brought before the courts.

“It was a bold step to use evidence from his previous trial to support this latest prosecution and demonstrates our commitment to supporting victims of police perpetrated abuse.

“Dangerous offenders of all types who seek to harm women and girls will be relentlessly pursued and justice will be served.

“My message to anyone who may have experienced something that didn’t feel right is that you can and should come forward. You will be listened to, and we will do everything we can to support you.”

Metropolitan Police said that misconduct matters were paused to avoid impacting criminal proceedings but PC Edwards will now face an accelerated misconduct hearing where he will be put forward for dismissal.

The victim in this case, along with those involved in the previous cases, have been supported by specialist officers.

Sentencing is due to take place on Friday 10th July.

afternoon on CCTV. He set off from his home almost immediately after Halyna’s date arrived at her flat. The timing, combined with the videos he had made, suggested that this was not a coincidence and Muzyka knew of his arrival.

The placement of the stab wounds

showed evidence of his research as they were calculated to cause the most damage.

The Met Police said: “Halyna’s murder was a horrific case of violence against women and girls.” They added arrests and charges for

offences involving violence against women and girls in London have increased by 71% over the past year. One of Halyna’s family members said: “While no verdict will ever bring Halyna back, we are thankful that justice has now been served.”

SECOND ROUND OF STRIKES BEGIN TO SAVE LAMBETH’S ONLY DEMENTIA DAY CENTRE

By Alex Orr

STAFF WORKING at Lambeth’s only dedicated day centre for people with dementia have begun their second week of strike action in a month over Lambeth council’s plans to close the site.

Unison members from the Day Centre on the Central Hill Estate in Crystal Palace renewed their strike actionon Monday June 1, after staging their first walk-out last month.

They are fighting to keep the centre open amid Lambeth Council’s plan to move existing services to the Aspire Wellbeing Centre in West Norwood, a

nearby organisation which currently works with adults with learning difficulties.

Staff have raised concerns over the planned West Norwood venue, which they said is a single room backing onto an open car park. There will be picket lines outside the Day Centre from 9am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning this week, after members voted unanimously in favour of strike action with a 90% turn-out.

Cllr David Bridson, then-Cabinet Member for Healthier Communities, previously said the building at Central Hill had fallen into significant disrepair and attendance had dropped.

But at May’s strike, joint branch secretary of Lambeth Unison Simon Hannah said: “Lambeth Council have run down this service to save money which is a crying shame for the people of Lambeth. “It is the only dedicated day centre for people with dementia where their carers can also get some respite from 24/7 care. Staff are dedicated to helping local residents and want to save jobs and ensure a quality service.”

A Lambeth Council spokesperson has said the service at Aspire Wellbeing Centre will be available for all Lambeth residents who require dementia support, and transport will be provided where needed.

„ Halyna Hoisan (L) and Yurii Muzyka (R)

By Evie Flynn & Hana Williams

THE PLOUGH, DULWICH, SE22:

The local pub on Lordship Lane is now taking bookings for every match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in a lively pub atmosphere. Expect big screens, flowing drinks, and classic pub food.

England’s group-stage fixtures have now been confirmed, and with evening kick-off times expected to attract big crowds, early table reservations are strongly encouraged to avoid missing out.

Address: 381 Lordship Lane, Dulwich, London, Greater London, SE22 8JJ

THE CROWN AND GREYHOUND, DULWICH, SE21:

The newly refurbished pub has limited space, but are now taking bookings for all fixtures. The Grade II listed building has been fitted out with heritage details and they will also be offering pub food, celebrating seasonal British produce.

Address: 73 Dulwich Village, Greater, London SE21 7BJ

PRINCE OF PECKHAM, PECKHAM, SE15:

A Peckham staple just round the corner from Rye Lane, the Prince of Peckham sports bar will of course be streaming the action on multiple flat screen TVs. The bar also boasts an outdoor seating area, perfect for those sunny game days. They also do food – from light bites to hearty meals.

Address: 1 Clayton Rd, London SE15 5JA

IT’S COMING HOME

Here’s where to watch the World Cup, from June 11-July 19, including the boozers with beer gardens and multiple screens…

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PECKHAM LEVELS, PECKHAM, SE15:

Peckham Level is hosting a live screening of the World Cup on Levels 5 and 6 of their Rye Lane venue. They also have a Happy Hour from 5pm – 7pm on game days (Monday to Friday) with pints and wine for just £4. Booking is recommended.

Address: Peckham Levels, 95a Rye Lane, SE15 4ST

THE OLD NUN’S HEAD, NUNHEAD, SE15:

All games are set to be screened on two large screens downstairs at the queerrun Old Nun’s Head – making it an ideal choice for group viewing. The team have said that booking is advised for all England games.

Address: 15 Nunhead Green, Nunhead, London, SE15 3QQ

VINEGAR YARD, LONDON BRIDGE, SE1:

Vinegar Yard, the pop-up events space right next to London Bridge, will be screening all the games this summer. The outdoor garden has street food and bars, alongside multiple screens to capture the action.

Address: 72-82 St Thomas St, SE1 3QU

ELECTRIC BRIXTON, BRIXTON, SW2:

Electric Brixton offers a bit of a different viewing experience with major fixtures accompanied by a Britpopdriven soundtrack and 90s aesthetic.

Referencing the famous crossover between football terraces and British guitar culture, the space keeps a highenergy club vibe during the match.

Address: Electric Brixton, Town Hall Parade, Brixton Hill, London SW2 1RJ

BETWEEN THE BRIDGES, SOUTH BANK SE1:

Between The Bridges will be showing every World Cup game – but be quick because they sell out every year. The space, nestled on the Southbank has three giant video walls, multiple bars, and seven street food traders on site,

Address: Between the Bridges, The Queens Walk, Southbank, London, SE1

FLAT IRON SQUARE, LONDON BRIDGE, SE1:

Flat Iron Square describe their World Cup coverage as ‘London’s liveliest fan hub’, with 19 screens, DJs and live entertainment. They will also be holding pre and post match celebrations, encouraging people to arrive early and grab a bite before the game. You can buy a ticket for just £2 to reserve entry.

Address: 45 Southwark St, London SE1 9HP

MARQUIS OF WELLINGTON, BERMONDSEY, SE1:

Located right in the heart of the Bermondsey beer mile, the Marquis of Wellington will be combining every match with their freshly-made pizza offering. They are also offering bottomless brunch to start the match day, which includes two hours of cocktails, prosecco or pints.

Address: 21 Druid St, London SE1 2HH

THE BLUE ANCHOR, BERMONSEY, SE16:

The Blue Anchor traditional sports bar is down the Blue in Bermondsey and will be showing every World Cup game this summer. To combat the crowds, they will be providing extra outdoor seating for socialising when the matches are not on.

Address: 2551 Southwark Park Road, SE16 3TS

THE GEORGE, SOUTHWARK, SE1:

The historic George Inn on Borough High Street is the only remaining galleried coaching inn in London, dating back to at least the 16th century. They will be showing every game in the courtyard, with additional screens inside. Pub grub will be on offer too.

Address: 75-77 Borough High St, Southwark, SE1 1NH

THE BRUNEL, SE16:

The Brunel in Rotherhithe, just East of Southwark Park, offers wall-to-wall coverage of live sports – and there’s no need to book. There’s a beer garden, and pub snacks on offer whilst the games happen.

Address: 47 Swan Road, SE16 4JN

GERMAN KRAFT BREWERY (SE1):

REDWOOD, LONDON BRIDGE, SE1:

The London Bridge sports bar will have multiple TV screens over two floors, including a 145-inch LED screen. They have an outdoor terrace and the kitchen will be serving traditional pub grub and Korean food.

Address: Redwood, Bridge Station, SE1 9SP

THE SALT QUAY, ROTHERHITHE, SE16:

The Salt Quay sits is a historic old warehouse-style pub sitting on the edge of the Thames. They will be showing every game this summer with a large terrace, selection of traditional pub food and drinks – plus they are dog friendly.

Address: 163 Rotherhithe St, SE16 5QU

BERMONDSEY BIERKELLER, SE1:

The 300-seat venue is London’s biggest German beer Hall – nestled beneath London Bridge. With a wide range of beers on offer, alongside games like axe throwing, table football and pool, there are ‘televisions everywhere you look’.

Address: 2 – 4 Tooley St, London SE1 2SY

THE LAST TALISMAN, SE1:

The Last Talisman, a pub and bar on Bermondsey Street, are offering a world cup deal – with a burger, chips and a pint for £20. They will be screening every single game, with prebooked tables throughout the whole tournament.

Address: 171-173 Bermondsey Street, SE1 3UW Recommended to pre-book online.

THE DIAL – HOME OF MEANTIME, GREENWICH PENINSULA

With over 3 floors of seatings, including a dedicated Sports Bar and a beer garden, you’re bound to find the perfect spot to watch the game.

Enjoy a selection of Meantime beers brewed on site and platters of sizzling wings, skewers and chicken tenders platters. Vegetarian options available too.

Address: Located directly opposite the O2 and North Greenwich Station.

The Dial, Unit 3, Green Place, Peninsula Square, Greenwich Peninsula, SE10 0PE. Book: /thedialldn.com/bookings/

ROYAL OAK, CHARLTON

Visit this family friendly pub in Charlton, featuring Sky Sports and TNT screens, fresh pints and Greene King pub classics.

Address: 15–20-minute walk from Charlton Railway Station.

54 Charlton Lane, London, SE7 8LA Book: greeneking.co.uk/pubs/hampshire/ royal-oak/book

BOOM BATTLE BAR (THE O2)

Banging street food, drinks and big screens over two floors.

Special offers on £5 pints and prosecco means you’ll get boom for your buck! Selected fixtures may require a minimum spend for table bookings, and some events will be ticketed and need to be booked in advance.

At the end of their 10-year stint in Mercato Metropolitano, German Kraft Brewery are setting up huge screens around their beer garden for every World Cup game this summer. They have a 20sqm screen with capacity for up to 700 guests on a free entry, first-come, first-served basis. The best part – you can grab food from any of the 40 food vendors surrounding the brewery.

Address: 42 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6DR

VOLUNTEER PLUMSTEAD, WOOLWICH

This local is calling a ‘red card’ on bookings, so no stress if you haven’t booked. First-come, first served means you can walk in, grab a pint and focus on the footie. For the big games, make sure to turn up early to guarantee a seat! You also can win big while you’re there, with a lottery stamp scheme brought in during tournament, you get stamps when you buy pints and even crisps. They say there are over £250k of prizes be won.

Address: Nearest station Plumstead Station, 6 - 8 minutes’ walk.

130-132 Plumstead High Street, Woolwich, London, SE18 1JQ. Book: No bookings, just turn up

Address: Nearest station is North Greenwich, about a 5-minute walk.

23 Entertainment Avenue The O2, London SE10 0DY. Book: boombattlebar.com/uk/theo2/socialevents/live-sport-with-a-boom/#tables

CUTTY SARK PUB

Reserve your seats now at this iconic Greenwich pub for the opening match on the 11th of June.

Set on the banks of the River Thames at Ballast Quay, it boasts locally sourced fresh seafood to keep you satiated.

Address: Nearest station Maze Hill Station, 7 minutes’ walk. Or Cutty Sark DLR station, 10 minutes’ walk.

4-6 Ballast Quay, London SE10 9PD Book: cuttysarkse10.co.uk

THE LORD CLYDE, BOROUGH, SE1:

For a more traditional pub setting, Lord Clyde near Southwark Bridge will be showing every game across multiple screens. The Edwardian, family-run pub will also be serving pub staples like fish and chips.

Address: 27 Clennam Street, SE1 1ER

Flat Iron Square

Marquis of Wellington

Electric Brixton

DIVERSE, INCLUSIVE AND PROUD

Southwark’s Pride celebrations return for the fourth year

By Evie Flynn

SOUTHWARK’S PRIDE celebrations return for the fourth year on Saturday, June 27, with a march from South Bank to Mint Street Park, and a free festival.

The volunteer-led event will begin at 12pm at the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre on South Bank before marching through the heart of the borough to Elephant and Castle.

From 1pm – 6pm, there will be a free festival in Mint Street Park with live music, drag shows, community stalls and street food.

The stage will be led by RuPaul Drag Race’s Kate Butch, Southwark Drag royalty Son of a Tutu, and Ada Campe, among others. The day will be hosted by fierce London drag queen, Anna Toni.

After the festival, the celebrations of Southwark’s LGBTQ+ community will continue at an after-party from 6pm at queer-led The Rising SE1 in Elephant and Castle.

The event will combine colour, protest and pride in a powerful day of celebration for Southwark’s local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities and organisers have said that they expect this year’s Pride to be the biggest.

Victor Chamberlain, chair of Pride in Southwark, said: “Pride in Southwark started four years ago with a simple idea: to create a Pride rooted in our community, reflecting the incredible diversity, creativity and resilience of LGBTQ+ people in Southwark. Since then it has grown into something really special which is joyful, grassroots and proudly local.

“Southwark is home to the third largest LGBTQ+ population in the UK, and Pride in Southwark is about celebrating that community in all its diversity. Everyone is welcome to join us, whether you are LGBTQ+ yourself, an ally, a local resident, or simply want to be part of a positive community celebration.

“At a time when LGBTQ+ rights are being challenged around the world, Pride remains both a celebration

and a protest. Pride in Southwark is about visibility, solidarity and creating spaces where everyone can feel welcome, safe and proud of who they are.

Date: Saturday, June 27

Time & location: 12pm: March from the London LGBTQ+ Community

“This year will be our biggest Pride yet and I cannot wait to see hundreds of people marching through the borough before coming together for an amazing day of music, drag, activism and community celebration.”

Woolwich Works unveils Pride 2026 programme celebrating queer creativity

By Myfanwy Fleming Jones

WOOLWICH WORKS will mark

Pride 2026 with a vibrant season of live performance, showcasing LGBTQ+ creativity across cabaret, comedy, cinema and drag.

Running from May 30 to July 11, the programme brings together a wide range of artists and events, celebrating identity, expression and community in south-east London.

Nick Williams, director of Woolwich Works, said: “Pride at Woolwich Works is about celebrating creativity, individuality and community in all its forms. This programme offers audiences a joyful inclusive space to celebrate queer voices and create a space where audiences can come and enjoy something genuinely uplifting.”

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PROGRAMME

The season opens on Saturday, May 30 with Aircraft Circus: Sizzling Hot Circus, an adults-only cabaret experience featuring aerialists, dancers and circus performers.

The show starts at 8pm in the Fireworks Factory, with tickets priced at £25 standard or £30 for cabaret seating.

On Saturday, June 6, the venue hosts a 30th anniversary screening of Beautiful Thing at 7.30pm in Beanfeast. Tickets are £14 for the film, widely regarded as a landmark LGBTQ+ story set in Thamesmead.

A Divas-themed karaoke night follows on Friday, June 12, at 7.30pm in the Visitor’s Book Café. The free, 18+ event celebrates iconic LGBTQ+ anthems and invites audiences to take to the mic.

Friday, June 19 brings Queer Euphoria, a circus and cabaret showcase curated by Zaki Musa.

Taking place at 8pm in the Fireworks Factory, tickets are £25 standard or £30 for cabaret seating.

Comedian Clare Summerskill takes to the stage on Sunday, June 21, with Pride and Joy, beginning at 6pm (doors 5.30pm) in Beanfeast.

Tickets are £16.50 for the show, which explores identity, community and everyday life resonating strongly with LGBTQ+ audiences across the UK and beyond.

On Saturday June 27, LGBTQ+ Greenwich presents Proud Together, a free event in the Courtyard hosted by drag performer Candy Heals.

Family audiences are catered for on Sunday 28 June with Drag Queen Storytime at Beanfeast (venue TBC).

Tickets are £13.50 for the event,

which features stories, songs and interactive activities celebrating diversity and self-expression.

Story time

The programme concludes on Saturday 11 July with Drag & Fab, another LGBTQ+ Greenwich production in the Courtyard. Ticket details are yet to be confirmed, but the event promises a high-energy showcase of drag kings, queens and non-binary performers.

The events reflect Woolwich Works’ ongoing commitment to platforming diverse voices and creating space for artists and audiences to connect through live performance and a joyful and inclusive Pride experience in South East London.

Tickets and information for all shows can be found on the Woolwich Work website

Summer Open Day & Open Evening Thursday 18th June 2026

Graveney School is holding its Open Day for Yr 7 pupils on Thursday 18th June throughout the school day & in the evening from 5pm-8pm. We will be offering the opportunity for families to have tours of the school accompanied by our current students. Further details regarding our Open Day are now available on our website.

Graveney benefits from a beautiful, leafy campus, comprising eleven buildings including a former Georgian stately home, a Victorian school building, several architecturally interesting blocks built in the 1960s, a prizewinning new block which opened in 2016 and a second new block was completed in September 2019 with ten humanities classrooms and an observatory. This second block was

In 2025 we had our best ever GCSE results - 89% of our students achieved 4+ in English and Mathematics, 78% received 5+ in both and an incredible 52% of all grades were 7 or above. The school’s overall attainment score

places it in the top 10% of schools in the country. Graveney has also been deemed ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted on six occasions. Each year, Graveney’s results remain not just consistent but consistently exceptional, providing further evidence that our mantra of ‘Committed to Excellence’ is reflected in everything we do.

Graveney’s Yr 7 pupils are drawn from a wide number of local schools, the vast majority of pupils living locally. In addition to a rigorous academic curriculum, a wide range of sports, musical and cultural extracurricular activities are offered to ensure that pupils are well rounded and encouraged to excel in a variety of different walks of life. There is particular emphasis on outdoor education, the school is one of the largest Duke of Edinburgh centres in the country and all Year 7 Graveney pupils participate in a weeklong trip to Wales. Both of these outdoor pursuits help students to build confidence, resilience and a tight-knit community within the school.

Graveney looks forward to welcoming you to the school’s Yr 7 Open Day which will provide an excellent opportunity for prospective pupils and their parents to have a tour of the school’s facilities, to visit subject departments and see our exciting approaches to teaching as well as to find out the answers to the many ‘frequently asked questions’ that we receive.

Further information regarding our Open Day are now available on our website. Visit www.graveney.org and click on ‘Admission.’

awarded the New London Architectural Award in 2020.

THREE NEW M&S STORES TO OPEN IN SOUTH LONDON BY THE END OF THE YEAR

By Alex Orr

MARKS AND Spencer (M&S) has opened a new supermarket in Tooting, with two more on the way in Sydenham and Elephant & Castle this autumn.

The new M&S Food store on Mitcham Road, next to Tooting Broadway station, opened its doors to customers on Wednesday 27th May, marking 18 years since Tooting last had an M&S.

The store will be open from 7am9pm between Monday and Saturday, with shorter hours on Sunday and public holidays.

Alex Freudmann, Managing Director of M&S Food, said: “In this new phase of our transformation, we are reinvesting for growth and in London that means opening new Food stores with the right range for families,

commuters and local residents.”

Meanwhile, the planned new store in Elephant & Castle will be part of the Elephant Development, the £1.5billion scheme to regenerate the area, and will be open by the end of the year.

The new Sydenham M&S will be located at Bell Green Retail Park, near lower Sydenham train station, and is set to open its doors in September.

M&S expect these openings, alongside the move of their Tottenham Court Road store to a bigger location, to create 150 new jobs in the capital.

Despite this, the M&S in Banstead, a commuter town a short drive from Croydon, has been shut down due to underperformance.

Elsewhere, redevelopment work is already underway at M&S’ Bankside store on Southwark street, which will reopen in the coming weeks.

Closure of London’s only hospital unit treating homeless patients with drug and alcohol addiction to be revisited

By Evie Flynn

LONDON’S ONLY specialist detox unit for homeless people with drug and alcohol addictions could be saved after a backlash over its closure.

The unit, based at St Thomas’ Hospital in Waterloo, has been shut down, but the government has now said it will reconsider its position.

The Addiction Clinical Care Suite had treated more than 1,000 vulnerable patients before staff were told just before Christmas that funding would end from 31 March this year, and the clinic officially closed in April.

Officials said that the service had become too expensive, with a reported £1 million funding gap and periods where beds were underused.

Following a media backlash over the closure, a spokesperson from Department of Health and Social Care announced on Thursday 14 May that plans were moving forward for its replacement.

London local authorities will begin inviting tenders for a different, “more sustainable” service in June, the spokesperson said. In the meantime, interim support is being provided for patients, including additional beds at Mildmay Hospital.

The unit had opened in 2021 as part of Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan’s drive to reduce homelessness and “to save lives of some of the city’s most vulnerable people and provide them with an avenue off the streets for good.”

The service was funded through a combination of grants from the

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and local authority treatment budgets with patient referrals from across London’s boroughs.

The News revealed the planned closure in February this year and talk show host Nick Ferrari challenged then health secretary Wes Streeting about the closure decision in an interview on air. In their discussion Streeting revealed his own family’s struggles with addiction and promised to look into the unit’s shutdown.

Neither the City of London corporation nor the government department

appeared willing to take responsibility for the closure when this paper reached out for comment in February.

We initially approached the hospital trust but were directed to the City of London Corporation, the local authority responsible for commissioning the service.

However, a spokesperson for the City of London Corporation declined to comment, directing us instead to the Department of Health and Social Care.

But in a statement, a spokesperson from the government department appeared to deflect responsibility for

the closure back onto the local authority:

“The government is committed to ensuring that all those with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need.

“We are investing £3.4 billion over the next three years in drug and alcohol prevention, treatment and recovery services. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning these services according to local need, and this funding can be used to provide inpatient detox services.

With the average age of a London rough sleeper at 44, the government

noted four years ago that the burden on the NHS linked to substance misuse was increasing.

Over ten years, the rate of alcoholrelated admissions for mental and behavioural disorders in London had increased from 295 per 100,000 hospital admissions to 425 per 100,000 in 2018/2019.

The department explained that the pan-London Inpatient Detoxification Programme was established in 2021 to address a significant decline in inpatient detoxification provision across the capital.

Central government funds were brokered, resulting in the commissioning of the Addictions Clinical Care Suite at St Thomas’ Hospital, with priority access for people sleeping rough.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We recognise the important role the Addictions Clinical Care Suite played in supporting people with complex drug and alcohol needs

“Rising costs meant the London boroughs determined the service was no longer affordable - with a £1 million shortfall and times when beds were underused. They are inviting tenders for a more sustainable service and ministers have requested further advice on future provision.

“Interim support is being provided. This includes additional inpatient detoxification beds and access to intermediate care beds at the Mildmay Hospital for homeless patients following inpatient care, supported through additional national funding for London.”

M&S’ reopened store in Whetstone. Credit: M&S Press Office

An M&S Store. Credit: M&S

Photo by M&S

Exterior of St Thomas’ Hospital

By Hana Williams

A WOMAN from Clapham has been convicted of killing her stepdaughter in 1978 after new evidence shows the five-year old’s death by scalding was not accidental.

Janice Nix, 67, of Rodenhurst Road in Clapham was found guilty of manslaughter of Andrea Bernard in 1978 at Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday, May 26.

She was also convicted of the illtreatment and assault of Andrea’s older brother, Desmond, between 1975 and 1978.

The case was reopened in 2022 after Desmond contacted police, telling officers he believed his stepmother had been responsible for Andrea’s death. At the time, the five-year-old’s death had been ruled accidental, with a coroner concluding she died from sepsis.

A fresh investigation by the Met’s Cold Case Homicide team found Andrea had suffered severe burns after being immersed in scalding bath water at the family home in Thornton Heath. She died nearly six weeks after being admitted to hospital.

Detectives searched thousands of hospital records and local authority documents and attempted to trace anyone who might remember the incident. Although most searches proved fruitless due to the passage of time and the deaths of many involved, officers were able to build a case using a 16 page coroner’s report and surviving archival material.

Detective Inspector Louise Caveen praised Desmond for coming forward, saying his testimony was crucial. “It is thanks to his courage that Nix has now been found guilty and will be finally held responsible for her actions,” she said.

Desmond approached the police in 2022 alleging he believed his stepmother was responsible for his sister’s death, prompting a criminal investigation. At the time, Andrea’s death was ruled as accidental, and the coroner concluded it was a result of sepsis. The detectives investigating the reopened case found Andrea died from immersion in a scalding bath at their home in Thornton Heath nearly six weeks after arriving at hospital with severe burns.

GUILTY OF SCALDING HER FIVE YEAR OLD STEPDAUGHTER TO DEATH NEARLY FIFTY YEARS AGO

Desmond told the court he had originally claimed the incident was an accident because Nix had promised to stop hitting him if he kept quiet. He said Andrea had been “in trouble” on the day of the burns and was kept home from school. After briefly managing to leave the house and meeting him outside, she was punished on her return. From his bedroom next to the bathroom, he

heard his sister screaming “it’s hot, it’s hot” repeatedly. Nix’s account to police in 2022 differed ‘significantly from her original 1978 statement’. She claimed the coroner had concluded the burns were caused by a faulty boiler overheating the bath water, something not mentioned anywhere in

Police front counter judicial review rejected

By Charlotte Lillywhite Local Democracy Reporters

THE HIGH Court has rejected a South West London council’s bid to take legal action over the closure of its last police station front desk.

Richmond Council had applied for a judicial review of the Met Police’s decision to close the front counter at Twickenham Police Station.

Its pre-action protocol letter to the Met and Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) said the decision had been taken without consultation, clear evidence or consideration for vulnerable residents who relied on face-to-face support.

But the High Court has now refused permission for the council’s case to proceed to a judicial review.

The closure in February makes

Richmond one of five London boroughs without a walk-in police service, joined by Harrow, Merton, Kensington and Chelsea and Barking and Dagenham.

Lib Dem council leader Gareth Roberts said the authority was disappointed by the court’s decision.

He said: “Our position remains unchanged: Richmond residents should have access to a face-to-face police counter service.

“Richmond is now one of five boroughs in London without one – despite clear promises from the Mayor of London that every borough would retain a front counter.

“For many residents, particularly older or vulnerable people, being able to speak to someone in person matters. It is about accessibility, visibility, and public confidence in local policing.

“We took action because residents deserved to have their voices heard

before such an important service was removed. While the court has reached its decision, that does not change the fact that Richmond has lost another visible part of its local policing presence.”

The Met announced it was closing 10 police station front desks in October, leaving London with just two front desks operating 24 hours a day. A total of 27 front counters remain open across the capital, down from 37, in a move expected to save the Met roughly £7 million.

The cost-cutting measure is part of £260m worth of savings the force said it needed to make by reducing services and slashing around 1,700 officer and staff roles. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan repeatedly pledged to keep at least one 24-hour front desk open in each London borough, but later supported the Met’s plans.

The council said it would continue

the coroner’s report. When questioned about the inconsistencies, she gave no comment, saying only that it had been a traumatic period in her life.

A burns expert told the court that a child exposed to water hot enough to cause Andrea’s injuries would instinctively try to stand up and escape and would not remain seated voluntarily. Prosecutors argued this meant Nix must have forcibly held parts of Andrea’s body under the water. Nix consistently denied any involvement in Andrea’s death or Desmond’s abuse. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

pressing the Met and City Hall to restore accessible front counter provision in Richmond.

No costs order was made against the council for seeking the judicial review.

A Mayor of London spokesperson said: “The proposed changes to police counters are an operational decision for the Met – based on resources, funding and public demand for services.

“After over a decade of cuts worth over

a billion under the previous government, the Met is facing an extremely difficult financial situation. The Mayor is working closely with the Met to boost visible neighbourhood policing in our communities and will continue to work closely with government to ensure we can continue building a safer London for everyone.”

The Met has been contacted for comment.

„ JaniceNix,67,wasfoundguiltyofmanslaughterofAndreaBernardin 1978 at Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday.

what’s on

Beauty and Destruction: Wartime London in Art

UNTIL SHE died, my mum was the last living person I knew who had lived through the Blitz. I grew up with tales from Mum and my nan of how they ran to the shelters whenever the sirens sounded and Hitler’s bombs rained down on Surrey Docks and anything along the River Thames, where my family lived. These troubling times are captured in the paintings of the war artists in Beauty and Destruction: Wartime London in Art at the Imperial War Museum, writes Michael Holland. There is a short introductory video that opens with a shot of Tower Bridge, one of the main targets for the Luftwaffe, along with St Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament, for their iconic status. The artworks follow on, set in sombre lighting, intermittently accompanied by oral and written testimony.

The family’s hometown of Rotherhithe and Bermondsey feature quite a bit. ‘Reginald Webster, resident of Rotherhithe, remembered, ‘At low tide we could go down and fill our sacks… we found a line of incendiary bombs sticking out of the mud, all intact. I took three home for closer inspection.’

I learnt the reason for barrage

balloons, which was very different from what I always believed they were for; I was amazed to read that one in four Bermondsey homes were destroyed, so was equally astounded that the block of flats by The Angel where all my aunts and uncles, plus myself, were born, remained intact and still look good today.

We see paintings of landing craft being secretly built in various London docks in the weeks leading up to D-Day.

WAAF Officer, Mary Stewart reminds us, ‘St Paul’s, standing blackened but unharmed amidst the ruins, seemed grander and more important than ever.’

There are artworks that show the conflagration, and the brave workers who fought the fires through the night; the locals huddling in cellars and underground stations, and the attempts to keep morale up with makeshift entertainment, before daylight returned and blinking eyes emerged to see the devastation and ruin, never knowing if there was a home to return to. Hospital staff constantly on call are consigned to canvas for all time.

The British government’s War Artists’ Advisory Committee commissioned artists to document how the war transformed the city and

SUDAN’S OF ROOTS AND ROUTES

“SUDAN IS beauty,” I overheard someone say… And I understand why. Alma’s Art Foundation is a gallery that feels open and inviting, its large glass windows drawing both sunlight and passers-by into the space. Currently occupying the gallery is Of Roots and Routes, curated by Frédérique Cifuentes, which brings together a rich and varied collection of work from female Sudanese artists, writes Leo Dunlop.

Although many of the works inevitably speak to Sudanese identity and the political reality currently facing Sudan (with more than 14 million people displaced) what emerges is not a singular story but an incredibly diverse body of work. The exhibition resists flattening Sudanese experience into one narrative.

Fayrouz Omer’s multidisciplinary pieces feel deeply tied to memory, identity and fragments of personal history. In Köpfe (“Heads”), textile figures hang across the wall, each carrying its own distinct colours, shapes and personality. Each fold and crease of material brings to life new characters that allow the artist and viewer to confront and converse with Sudan’s past, present and future.

That same sense of memory and materiality runs throughout the exhibition. Raised in Sudan, Stefania Indelicato creates jewellery that resemble

its inhabitants. Another reason was because so many artists and writers died in WWI, it was hoped that the new generation of British artists could be saved in this non-combat role. Sadly, not all…

One heart-wrenching tale tells of Wilfred Haines, who served with the National Fire Service. His home was destroyed in the Blitz, which was the catalyst for him documenting the terror with his art in the hours between air raids. Wilfred was killed by a flying bomb, aged just 39.

With letters, toys, bomb-damaged crockery and other ephemera included in this exhibition curated by Fiona Bryden, a story is told that should be a lesson to all nations that have suffered war and devastation on their streets to end conflict.

I stepped out of the magnificent building, that was once an asylum, and into the spring sunshine and realised that those voted into power around the world to make important decisions do not seem to have learnt anything.

Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London, SE1 6HZ from 20th March - 1st November 10am - 6pm daily. Open every day except 24 to 26 December.

Admission: Free.

Full details: https://www.iwm.org.uk/

unearthed artefacts or treasured found objects, pieces that glint and shimmer, illuminating the artist’s Sudanese identity.

Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings MBE works weave language and image directly into fabric, breathing life into the textiles that carry the weight of her experiences as both a deaf artist and a Sudanese woman.

Elsewhere, Aisha Hussein Shariffe’s paintings drift across the canvas in fluid movements of colour and abstraction. The longer you stay with them, the more the works begin to shift and transform, as though images are constantly emerging from and disappearing back into memory itself.

The exhibition allows viewers to encounter different textures, mediums and experiences of Sudanese culture while opening up stories that often go unheard and untold within the UK. Who would have expected that, tucked away down a quiet side street in Southwark, you could encounter something that feels so alive with Sudanese identity? I left feeling nourished by the experience and grateful for the introduction to so many artists and perspectives I may otherwise never have encountered.

Of Roots and Routes runs until 18 July and is free and open to all.

Almas Art Foundation, Arch 28, Old Union Yard Arches, 229 Union Street, London, SE1 0LR

IWM_St Clement Dane’s Church on Fire after being Bombed, Henry Carr

©Fairouz

Omer, Makalia

ENJOY JAZZ IN THE SUN AT FOX & FIRKIN THIS SUMMER

The Sunday series will be celebrating the best of London jazz, introducing new and well-established artists to the South London jazz scene. On 7 June, Women in Jazz take centre stage followed by the New Regency Orchestra on Sunday 12 July. On Sunday 9 August, afro-British funk band Steam Down Sound System will be joined by Imaginary Millions. To end the summer, musical collective from East London The Silhouettes Project will be in the garden all day.

Date: Sunday 7 June, 12 July, 9 August and 27 September

Time: Various times

Location: Fox & Firkin, 316 Lewisham High Street, London, SE13 6JZ

Tickets: £12. Book online

MAX IN THE PARK RETURNS AS PART OF THIS SUMMER’S BROCKLEY MAX FESTIVAL

WORLD OCEAN DAY AT THE NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM

The National Maritime Museum is hosting a celebration for World Ocean Day on Saturday 6 June – with live music, science shows and games. The free family festival is held every year in June and offers visitors a chance to explore the galleries and play in the Ocean Court.

Throughout the festival, there will be a range of performances of music and dance, including vocalist Roxanne Tataei, Beats of Polynesia, the Trinity Laban Latin Band and PULSAR. Storyteller Olivia Armstrong will also be performing an an interactive ocean-themed display. Ocean experts will be sharing fascinating talks and tours of the galleries, including ‘Ugly Animals’ with

Brockley Max is hosting a free all-day community festival featuring a music stage, kids’ creative workshops, storytelling, Art Mart craft fair, pop-up food stalls and two bars. Local bands and singers of all ages perform will be performing on the Max In The Park stage throughout the afternoon.

From 12 noon – 6pm, there will be creative workshops for children up to 14 years old inside the children’s ‘Magical Art Marquee.’ It costs £6 per child to enter the marquee, which will give you access to all the workshops. There will also be a Storytelling Tent for younger children and their adults, where organisers will share fantastic tales from around the world, alongside a musical workshop.

Art Mart Craft Fair is also back this year, with more maker stalls than ever before. Head to the Stone Circle in the middle of Hilly Fields and check out the range of handmade goods created by more than 30 local designers and craftspeople.

For refreshments, there will be a range of tasty street food stalls and bars. They are also celebrating the 130th anniversary of Octavia Hill with refugee art installations.

Date: Saturday 6 June

Time: 12pm – 6pm

Location: Hilly Fields Stone Circle, SE4 1LD

Price: Free, no booking required

biologist and comedian Simon Watt and ‘My favourite whale: why sperm whales are awesome’ with Dr Russell Arnott.

A range of art and craft stalls will be set up throughout the day, offering children and their adults the chance to make puffin puppets, or get their face painted as a sea monster.

Date: Saturday 6 June

Time: 10am – 5pm

Location: National Maritime Museum, Romney Road, London SE10 9NF

Tickets: Free, no ticket required

JACKSON TRIBUTE ACT IS HEADING TO WOOLWICH WORKS

Woolwich Works will be celebrating the King of Pop with a Michael Jackson tribute concert on Saturday 6 June. The performance, titled Man in the Mirror, features CJ one of the top Michael Jackson tribute artists. Joined by a talented cast, CJ will be performing all of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits – including “Thriller”, “Billie Jean”, “Beat It,” “Smooth Criminal” and “Man in the Mirror.”

Date: Saturday 6 June

Time: 7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm). Runs for approximately 2 hours.

Location: Woolwich Works (Fireworks Factory), 11 No.1 Street, Woolwich, London, SE18 6HD

Tickets: £32, book: https://www.woolwich.works/events/man-in-the-mirror

MICHAEL

History

DID YOU KNOW THIS GREENERY BY TOWER BRIDGE IS CALLED QUEEN ELIZABETH GARDENS?

Why is it there and what’s with the statues?

By Debra Gosling

QUEEN ELIZABETH Gardens in Tooley Street is a nice place to stop off and have your lunch - but have you really ever noticed the statues there and who they are? No? Read on then. First of all, this garden is named after Queen Elizabeth l, who founded the local grammar school, not our late Queen

THE TALL STATUE OF BERMONDSEY MAYOR SAMUEL BOURNE BEVINGTON (1832-1907)

The Bevington family were making leather from at least 1660. By 1806 they had founded the famous Leather company of Bevingtons, working from their tannery at the Neckinger Mills in Abbey Street.

You will see their name everywhere in the area, thanks mainly to Samuel Bourne Bevington.

He travelled abroad ‘flying the flag’ for the company, forging business links and bringing new ways of tanning leather back to Bermondsey.

A Master of the Company of Leathersellers, in 1897 he was instrumental in setting up a training school at the Herold’s Institute in Drummond Road, where local boys could learn the leather trade. His philanthropic nature caused him to be chairman of Bacon’s School and a benefactor of Bermondsey Library. Some days he drilled the volunteers of the Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment, of which he was Colonel, on the cobbles of the Leathermarket.

In 1900 he became the first Mayor of Bermondsey. He died on 14th April 1907 in the 75th year of his life. His funeral at St Mary Magdalen church

was packed with both dignitaries and employees. The Bermondsey Volunteers, in full military regalia, stood to attention and escorted the funeral procession to Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, where he was laid to rest. His statue was bought by public subscription. The whole community, including schoolchildren, donated towards the fund, with a significant portion coming from Bevingtons’ employees and other Bermondsey leather companies. The statue was unveiled on Saturday 18th March, 1911. Despite it being a very rainy day, crowds of people attended to see it, along with council officials and Sydney March, the sculptor.

HORSELYDOWN

The area that surrounds the statues was known as Horselydown; a name that originated in the mediaeval period. Owned by Bermondsey Abbey, it was an open common for grazing horses and cows.

At one time a fair visited this site and the street across to the left, Fair Street, commemorates this once annual event. In Fair Street was the church of St John’s Horselydown, which was built in 1733. The St Olave’s & St Saviour’s Grammar School, founded by a charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1571 is opposite the gardens.

The current building was designed by Edward William Mountford and opened in 1895. Originally there were two schools in the area but they merged in 1896. In 1968 the school was relocated to Orpington, Kent.

Next to the old school is Potters’ Fields, named after the 17th century potters who made Delftware-type crockery here on the banks of the Thames. This white tin-glazed earthenware was

subsequently driving lorries for a living. He later became secretary of the Bristol branch of the Dockers’ Union, a post which made him popular with the many dock workers in Bermondsey. Bevin was heavily involved in bringing about the Holidays with Pay Act of 1938 and it was he who secured the dockers a rate of sixteen shillings a day for a 44hour working week.

He was a founding member of the Transport and General Workers Union and served as its Secretary from 19221945.

decorated chiefly with blue designs. In 1604 The Pickleherring pottery was run by Christian Wilhelm, one of many Dutch immigrants fleeing religious persecution.

The area became known as Pickleherring Street (later the site of Mark Brown’s wharf, now renamed More London.) The potteries closed in the early 19th century due to competition from Stoke-on-Trent.

A portion of Potters’ Fields was

formerly a burial ground annexe for St Olave’s Church. Dating from 1590, it was closed for burials in 1854. However, a few headstones can still be seen against the wall of the park.

THE SMALL STATUE OF ERNEST BEVIN (1881-1951)

Born into a poor Somerset family and orphaned by the age of eight, Ernest Bevin had little formal education. Initially he worked as a labourer,

During the Second World War, he was appointed Minister for Labour and National Service, bringing his experience and skills to the fore in organising the Home Front with a minimum of strikes and disruption. After the war he was Foreign Secretary from 1945-1951.

In 1951 he reluctantly allowed himself to become Lord Privy Seal, commenting, “I am neither a Lord, nor a Privy, nor a Seal”. He died the same year. His statue was unveiled in May, 1955 by Bermondsey Mayor Joe Geoghegan. Mrs. Florence Bevin and her daughter attended. Cllr.Geoghegan, an official of the local Transport and General Workers Union, had proposed the memorial.

Supported in part by public subscription, a committee was set up to raise funds. Those on the committee included Bob Mellish, the M.P. for Bermondsey; local businessmen; councillors and trade union representatives.

Bevin had been a staunch supporter of Clement Attlee, who spoke at the unveiling, addressing a crowd made up of local dock workers and union members. The bust was sculpted by Ernest Shone-Jones ARBS.

Queen Elizabeth Gardens

© Copyright Debra Gosling 2018

Mayor Samuel Bourne Bevington courtesy of Southwark Libraries

Bust of Bevin. Courtesy of Southwark Libraries

Celebrating inclusion and independence

OF PREMISES LICENCE

RindAbbeville has applied to the London Borough of Lambeth for the grant of a premises licence, in respect of the following premises: RIND ABBEVILLE 27 ABBEVILLE ROAD, LONDON SW4 9LA which would authorise the following licensable activities: Supply of Alcohol for On & Off Premises consumption Live Music Recorded Music Late Night Refreshment Mon-Thu (08:00-23:00), Fri-Sat (08:00-00:00), Sun (10:00-22:00) The record of this application may be inspected during normal office hours by an appointment at the Licensing Section, London Borough of Lambeth, 3rd Floor, Civic Centre, 6 Brixton Hill, London SW2 1EG, or via the licensing authority’s website, at www.lambeth.gov.uk/licensing A

an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in connection with a licensing application, and the maximum fine for which a person is liable on summary conviction for that offence shall not exceed level 5 on the standard scale (£5,000).

NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR A PREMISES LICENCE

To whom it may concern,

I, Nicoletta Camba, on behalf of ANGELO PIZZA LTD, hereby give notice that I have applied to the Licensing Authority at the London Borough of Bromley for a new Premises Licence in respect of the following premises: 88 Anerley Road, London, SE19 2AH, known as Dell’Angolo Pizzeria

The application is for: Supply of alcohol (on and off sales) Tuesday to Saturday, 17:00 to 22:00.

Any person wishing to make representations in relation to this application may do so in writing to: Licensing, London Borough of Bromley, Stockwell Close, Bromley, BR1 3UH

Representations may also be submitted by email to: licensing@bromley.gov.uk no later than 24/06/2026

Representations received after this date cannot be considered. All representations must be made in writing.

A copy of this application may be inspected at the Licensing Authority’s offices during normal office hours, or on the Council’s website: www.bromley.gov.uk (search: applications).

It is an offence knowingly or recklessly to make a false statement in connection with this application. On summary conviction, the maximum fine is unlimited.

Dated: 1 June 2026.

GOODS VEHICLE OPERATOR'S LICENCE

Thames Removals (London) Ltd of Unit 1, 25-27 Gordon Road, London, SE15 2AF is applying to change an existing licence as follows:

To add an operating centre at 2 Stockholm Road, London, SE16 3LP for 5 goods vehicles and 0 trailers.

Owners or occupiers of land (including buildings) near the operating centre who believe that their use or enjoyment of that land would be affected should make written representations to the Traffic Commissioner at Office of the Traffic Commissioner, Quarry House, Quarry Hill, Leeds, LS2 7UE, stating their reasons, within 21 days of this notice.

Representors must at the same time send a copy of their representations to the applicant at the address given above. A guide to making representations is available from the Traffic Commissioner's Office.

Transport for London Public Notice

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984

THE A20 GLA ROAD (SIDCUP BY-PASS AND SIDCUP ROAD, LONDON BOROUGHS OF BEXLEY AND BROMLEY AND ROYAL BOROUGH OF GREENWICH) PRESCRIBED ROUTES TRAFFIC ORDER 2026

1. Transport for London, hereby gives notice that it intends to make the above named Order under sections 6 and 7 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

2. The general nature and effect of the Order, when traffic signs are indicating and for reasons of (amongst other things) maintenance or, repair works, road traffic accidents, vehicle breakdowns or spillages on the roads, would be to prohibit any vehicle from:

(1) entering, exiting or proceeding on Sidcup By-pass between the administrative boundary of the London Borough of Bromley with Kent County Council and its junction with Sidcup Road;

(2) entering, exiting, proceeding or stopping on Sidcup Road between its junctions with Sidcup By-pass and Westhorne Avenue;

(3) entering or proceeding on the unnamed on and off-slip roads between the roundabout at the junctions with Perry Street and Chislehurst Road hereafter referred to as Frognal Corner Roundabout, and Sidcup By-pass;

(4) entering or proceeding on the unnamed on and off-slip roads between the roundabout at the junctions with Sevenoaks Way and Cray Road hereafter referred to as Crittall’s Corner Roundabout, and Sidcup Bypass.

Works may be phased as such that not all restrictions may apply at any one time.

3. The roads which would be affected by the Orders are A20 Sidcup By-pass and A20 Sidcup Road.

4. The prohibitions referred to in article 2 above would not apply to:

(a) any vehicle being used for police, fire brigade or ambulance purposes or any pedestrian engaged in such purposes; or

(b) anything done with the permission of or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London;

(c) any vehicle or pedestrian engaged in works for the cleansing, maintenance, repair, improvement or reconstruction of the roads;

(d) any vehicle engaged in the removal of any obstruction to traffic in the roads.

5. A copy of the Order, a statement of Transport for London’s reasons for the proposals, a map indicating the location and effect of the Order and copies of any Order revoked, suspended or varied by the Order can be inspected by visiting our website at https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/tro and selecting the relevant borough and reference the Traffic Order relates to or by appointment during normal office hours at our office at the address below. To arrange an appointment please email trafficordersection@tfl.gov.uk Copies of the documents may be requested via email at trafficordersection@tfl.gov.uk, or by post at the following address quoting reference SNO/REGULATION/STOT/RC/TRO, GLA/2026/0453.

6. All objections and other representations to the proposed Order must be made in writing and must specify the grounds on which they are made. Objections and representations must be sent to Transport for London, Streets Traffic Order Team, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ quoting reference SNO/REGULATION/STOT/RC/TRO, GLA/2026/0453, to arrive before 26th June 2026. Objections and other representations may be communicated to other persons who may be affected.

7. At such times as the prohibitions are in force alternative routes will be indicated by traffic signs via M25, Dartford By-Pass, East Rochester Way, Rochester Way Relief Road and Westhorne Avenue or reverse a to normal route of travel. Traffic at intermediate junctions will be diverted along the remaining open direction of travel to join diversion route.

Dated this 5th day of June 2026

Gary Oliver Area Manager South – Asset Operations Transport for London, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ

Transport for London Public Notice

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984

THE A205 GLA ROAD (UPPER RICHMOND ROAD/ UPPER RICHMOND ROAD WEST, LONDON BOROUGHS OF RICHMOND UPON THAMES AND WANDSWORTH) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF STOPPING) ORDER 2026

1. Transport for London in consultation with the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames hereby gives notice that it has made the above named Traffic Order under section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specified in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.

2. The purpose of the Order is to enable drainage works to take place on the A205 GLA Road – Upper Richmond Road/ Upper Richmond Road West in the London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth.

3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from:

(1) stopping on the A205 Upper Richmond Road/ Upper Richmond Road West between its junctions with Grosvenor Gardens and Vine Road;

(2) stopping on Sutherland Gardens between its junction with Upper Richmond Road West and the extended common building line of Nos.1 and 3 Sutherland Gardens;

(3) stopping on Priests Bridge between its junction with Upper Richmond Road West and the extended north-western building line of Nos.12 Priests Bridge;

(4) stopping on Leconfield Avenue between its junction with Upper Richmond Road and the extended south-eastern building line of No.2 Leconfield Avenue.

Works will be phased as such that not all restrictions may apply at any one time.

The Order will be effective between the dates of 8th June 2026 and 8th November 2026 every night 8:00 PM to 5:00 AM or when the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. The prohibitions will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by traffic signs.

4. The prohibitions will not apply in respect of:

(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for fire brigade, ambulance or police purposes;

(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.

Dated this 5th day of June 2026

Matt Standell

Performance & Planning Manager, Transport for London Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ

Transport for London Public Notice

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984

THE A3209 GLA ROAD (PUTNEY BRIDGE ROAD, LONDON BOROUGH OF WANDSWORTH) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF STOPPING) ORDER 2026

1. Transport for London hereby gives notice that it intends to make the above named Traffic Order under section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specified in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.

2. The purpose of the Order is to enable water connection works to take place on the A3209 Putney Bridge Road.

3. The effect of the Order will be to prohibit any vehicle from stopping in the: (1) Loading and Unloading Only Bay outside Nos. 3 – 5 Putney Bridge Road; (2) Loading and Unloading Only Bay outside Nos. 10 – 14 Putney Bridge Road

The Order will be effective at certain times from 7:00 AM on 20th June 2026 until 6:00 PM on 29th June 2026 or when the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. The prohibitions will apply only during such times and to such extent as shall from time to time be indicated by traffic signs.

4. The prohibitions will not apply in respect of:

(1) any vehicle being used for the purposes of those works or for fire brigade, ambulance or police purposes;

(2) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by Transport for London.

Dated this 5th day of June 2026 Paul Matthews Co-ordination and Permitting Area Manager

LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH

Notice Under The Town and Country Planning Acts

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Council is considering applications as set out below under the following categories; FUL – PLANNING PERMSSION

LB - LISTED BUILDING

ADV – ADVERTISEMENT CONSENT

P3MA – PRIOR APPROVAL

Written representations should be made within three weeks of the date of this advertisement to the Director of Planning, PO Box 80771, London, SW2 9QQ. Any comments made are open to inspection by the public and in the event of an appeal may be referred to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Confidential comments cannot be taken into account in determining an application.

Application plans can be viewed online at www.lambeth.gov.uk/searchplanningapps – search using the reference number at the end of each application listing.

3 Somerville Close London SW9 0DU Replacement of existing rear window and door at lower ground floor level with new aluminium framed sliding doors. 26/01480/FUL

20 - 22 Gipsy Hill London SE19 1NL Prior of approval for the change of use of Commercial office (Use Class E) at lower ground and ground floor levels to 4 self contained residential units (Use Class C3),including associated refuse storage, cycle storage and parking at lower ground floor level. 26/01579/P3MA

99 Upper Ground London Lambeth SE1 9PP Display of externally illuminated signage comprising 2no. sets of individually mounted illuminated letters at roof level on the north and west elevations of the building. (Please note: Associated Full Planning Permission Ref. 26/01264/FUL) 26/01265/ADV

165A Fentiman Road London SW8 1JY Erection of a single storey ground floor rear extension. 26/01444/FUL

41 Surgery Clapham Road London Lambeth SW9 0JD Single storey rear extension to existing dental practice building with internal and external alterations and partial demolition to facilitate the works (Please note: The reference number for this application for Full Planning Permission is 26/01494/FUL, but there is also an associated Listed Building Consent application related to these works with reference number: 26/01495/LB) 26/01495/LB

of

of the

and

floors from

(Use

E) to hotel use (Use Class C1), to provide 48 hotel rooms. 26/01512/FUL

25-26 The High Parade Streatham High Road London SW16 1EX Alteration to shopfront including the installation of 2 sliding doors with fixed glazed panels, 2 roller shutter and 2 retractable awnings. 26/01506/FUL The Crown And Sceptre Streatham Hill & 1A And 3 Streatham Place London SW2 Refurbishment and extension to the Public House (Sui-generis), including demolition of building at 1A and 3 Streatham Place (use class E(g)(i)) and erection of 5-storey building with a basement to provide co-living accommodation comprising 117 units (Sui-generis) and office space (use class E(g)(i)), with the provision of associated internal and external communal facilities, cycle and refuse storage, plant equipment, landscaping, and other associated works. 26/01394/FUL

191 Amesbury Avenue London SW2 3BJ Erection of a single storey ground floor rear side extension - Flat B. 26/01544/FUL

The Southbank Centre Belvedere Road London SE1 8XX Temporary opening in the existing floor slab of the Hayward Gallery to facilitate the installation and display of sculpture as part of a temporary exhibition. 26/01511/LB The London Television Centre 60 - 72 Upper Ground London SE1 9LT Display of 3x projected external illuminated static signs. 26/01509/ADV

20 - 22 Gipsy Hill London SE19 1NL Prior of approval for the change of use of first floor from commercial (Use Class E) to 1 x residential unit (Use Class C3) with associated refuse storage, cycle storage. 26/01577/P3MA

88 Loughborough Road London SW9 7SB Erection of a second floor single storey extension, together with alterations to the existing ground floor rear and front elevations to create 2x residential units at the ground floor rear and second floor. 26/01501/FUL Bus Shelter Outside 451 - 453 Brixton Road London SW9 8HH Display of an internally illuminated, double-sided sequential LCD digital screen panel supporting static and dynamic content with automatic image rotation. 26/01533/ADV

Railway Arches 11-15, 17, 18 And 555 Valentia Place, Brixton London SW9 8PJ Refurbishment and redevelopment of Rail Arches 11-15, 17 and 18 Valentia Place, with continued use as Class B2/B8 (formerly Use Class B1, now within Use Class E), including the replacement of the shopfronts with windows above, along with other associated works. 26/01523/FUL

122 Brixton Hill London Lambeth SW2 1RS Demolition of buildings and construction of a mixed-use development comprising a fivestorey building with employment floorspace (Class E use) at ground floor level and co-living accommodation (Sui Generis use) on the floors above, together with servicing arrangements, car and cycle parking, landscaping and associated works. This application is a departure from the Development Plan: Policy H13 of Lambeth Local Plan 2021. 25/00452/FUL

3D Burnbury Road London SW12 0EH Loft conversion with the erection of a rear mansard with two dormer windows on the rear roof and the installation of two front rooflights. 26/01465/FUL Arch 115 Randall Road London SE11 5JR Change of use from a storage facility (Class B8) to an MOT Vehicle Testing Station (Class B2). 26/01464/FUL Brixton Fire Station 84 Gresham Road London SW9 7NP Reconfiguration of existing communal dormitories and shower areas on first, second and third floors to form single use dorm rooms and shower rooms for use by operational firefighters based at Brixton Fire Station. 26/01505/LB 29 Ferndale

for

as

ancillary to

18 Clapham Common North Side London SW4 0RQ Application for Listed Building Consent for the erection of a new rear garden outbuilding with basement to replace existing outbuilding; replacement and refurbishment of windows to the front and rear elevations to match existing; waterproofing and insulation of existing roof, rehung of existing tiles. Reinstatement of existing

of new staircase to access the third floor and reconfigured layout at the third floor level; and other associated works. (Full Planning Permission ref: 26/01563/FUL application received). 26/01564/LB

Dated this Friday 5th June 2026 Rob Bristow Director - Planning, Transport

LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14

TEMPORARY TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS – SAIL STREET

1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable electrical network maintenance and repair works, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth intends to make an Order, the effect of which would be to temporarily suspend the cycle lane on the south-eastern side of Sail Street, between its junction with Lambeth Road and 23 metres south-west of that junction.

2. The alternative routes for cyclists would be available via Lambeth Road, Lambeth Walk and Juxon Street.

3. The Order would come into force on 24 June 2026 and would continue in force for a maximum duration of 1 month to allow for contingencies, or until the works have been completed whichever is the sooner. In practice, it is anticipated that the works will take 1 week to complete.

Dated 5 June 2026

Ben Stevens Highway Network Manager

LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14 TEMPORARY TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS –GLENELDON ROAD

1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, to enable water utility repair and maintenance works, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth has made an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily prohibit vehicles from parking or waiting, including waiting for the purpose of loading and unloading a vehicle, in that length of the north-eastern side of Gleneldon Road which lies between No. 99 Gleneldon Road and the common boundary of Nos. 103 and 105 Gleneldon Road.

2. The Order will come into force on 8 June 2026 and continue for a maximum duration of 2 months or until the works have been completed, whichever is the sooner.

Dated 5 June 2026

Ben Stevens Highway Network Manager

MARRIAGE ACT 1949 & CIVIL PARTNERSHIP ACT 2004

Notice of application for premises to be approved as a venue for civil marriages and civil partnerships

I, Dan Kujawski of The Old Vic Theatre, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB

have applied to the London Borough of Lambeth for approval of premises in pursuance of the above Acts as a venue where civil marriages may be solemnised and civil partnerships may be registered. The premises to which the application relates is: The Old Vic Theatre, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB

Regulations made under the above Acts state that premises can be approved by the Council if in their opinion and amongst other things:

i.They are seemly, dignified and regularly available for civil marriages/partnerships. ii.They have adequate fire precautions, and other appropriate safety precautions.

iii.They are not used solely or mainly for religious purposes, or have been so used but have subsequently been used solely or mainly for other purposes.

Full details of the requirements that a premises must meet to be considered for approval can be obtained from the Licensing Section, London Borough of Lambeth, 3rd Floor, Civic Centre, 6 Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1EG.

Any person wishing to inspect the application and the plans of the premises may do so at the offices of the Licensing Section, London Borough of Lambeth, 3rd Floor, Civic Centre, 6 Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1EG., by appointment only. Any person may give notice of an objection to the grant of approval.

Objections must be made in writing to the Licensing Section at the above address and must be received within the period of twenty-one days beginning on the day on which this notice was published.

LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14 TEMPORARY TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS –KNATCHBULL ROAD

1. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that,

2.

3.

GOODS VEHICLE OPERATOR'S LICENCE

Fesshaye trading as FITIWI HAULAGE LTD of 52 Browning Avenue W7 1AU is applying to use Off Silverthorne Road. Queenstown Road, Nine Elms, London SW8 3HE as an operating centre for 1 vehicles and 1 trailer.

Owners or occupiers of land (including buildings) near the operating centre who believe that their use or enjoyment of that land would be affected should make written representations to the Traffic Commissioner at Office of the Traffic Commissioner, Quarry House, Quarry Hill, Leeds, LS2 7UE, stating their reasons, within 21 days of this notice.

Representors must at the same time send a copy of their representations to the applicant at the address given above. A guide to making representations is available from the Traffic Commissioner's Office.

Licensing Act 2003:

Application for a new Premises Licence

An application has been made by: MŌRENA COFFEE LTD for the premises EN’ROUTE

2A STATION APPROACH, SIDCUP, DA15 7AW

On the date of: 27/05/2026

Summary of the proposed licensable activities and the proposed hours of opening: SALE BY RETAIL OF ALCOHOL

- MONDAY TO SUNDAY 10:00 - 22:00

OPENING HOURS (TO PUBLIC)

- MONDAY TO SATURDAY 07:00 - 22:30

- SUNDAY 0800 - 22:30

Any person wishing to view details of an application may contact the licensing partnership on 01732 227004 or email them at: licensing@sevenoaks gov.uk or visit http://pa sevenoaks gov.uk/online-licensing

Any person wishing to make representation about the application should make them in writing on or before the: 24/06/2026

To: Licensing Partnership, Council Offices, Argyle Road, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 1HG. Email: licensing@sevenoaks.gov.uk

It is an offence knowingly or recklessly to make a false statement in connection with an application. The offence is punishable on summary conviction by a fine of any amount.

Notice of application for a Premises Licence.

Notice is hereby given that Sicily Bros LTD has applied to Wandsworth Council for a new premises licence at Regine Pizzeria, 20 Enterprise Way, SW18 1SA for The sale by retail of alcohol for consumption both on and off the premises; The provision of regulated entertainment, including live music and recorded music.

Any person who wishes to make a representation in relation to this application must give notice in writing by 17/06/2026 stating the grounds for making said representation to: Wandsworth Licensing Authority, Regulatory Services Partnership (Serving Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth Councils) Merton Civic Centre, London Road, Morden, Surrey, SM4 5DX or by email: licensing@merton.gov.uk

The record of this application may be inspected Monday to Friday (except Bank Holidays) by prior appointment at the offices of Wandsworth Licensing Authority, Regulatory Services Partnership (Serving Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth Councils) Merton Civic Centre, London Road, Morden,Surrey, SM4 5DX between the hours of 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. Information on all new and variation applications received by the Licensing Authority can be viewed on the Council’s website www.wandsworth.gov.uk

It is an offence, under section 158 of the Licensing Act 2003, to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in or in connection with an application, punishable upon conviction by an unlimited fine.

LICENSING ACT 2003

APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF PREMISES LICENCE

Southbank Centre Ltd has applied to the London Borough of Lambeth for the grant of a premises licence, in respect of the following premises: Unit 14, Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX which would authorise the following licensable activities: Live music

Recorded music

Performance of Dance

Supply of alcohol

Provision of late night refreshment

The record of this application may be inspected during normal office hours by an appointment at the Licensing Section, London Borough of Lambeth, 3rd floor Civic Centre, 6 Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1EG, or via the licensing authority’s website, at www.lambeth.gov.uk/licensing

A responsible authority or any other person may make representation to the licensing authority in respect of this application.

Representations must be made in writing, either by post to the above address, or by email to licensing@lambeth.gov.uk and must be received no later than 25 June 2026

It is an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in connection with a licensing application, and the maximum fine for which a person is liable on summary conviction for that offence shall not exceed level 5 on the standard scale (£5,000).

Section 17 Licensing Act 2003

Licencing Act 2023 Application for a New Premises Licence

Application Reference: 26/03548/LIPN

Notice is hereby given that LETO BAKERY LTD has applied to the City of Westminster on 23.05.2026 for a new premises license for: 8 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6EE

The proposed application is to permit: Sale by Retail of Alcohol Monday to Thursday: 10:00 to 23:00 Sunday: 12:00 to 22:30

Seasonal Details: From the end of permitted hours on New Year's Eve to start of permitted hours on New Year's Day. On Sundays immediately prior to Bank Holidays 23:00 to 00:00

Any person who wishes to make a representation in relation to this application must give notice in writing of his/her representation by 22 June 2026 stating the grounds for making said representation to: Licensing Service, Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5QP

The public register where applications are available to be viewed by members of the public can be accessed online by visiting at www.westminster.gov.uk/Licensing and following the link to the public register.

The Licensing Authority must receive representations by the date given above. The licensing Authority will have regard to any such representation in considering the application. it is an offence, under section 158 of the Licensing Act 2003, to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in or in connection with an application for premises licence and the maximum fine on being convicted of such an offence is £5000.

Licensing Act 2023

Notice of Application for a Premises Licence

Notice is hereby given that Souvlaki Place LTD has applied to Licensing Team, London Borough of Sutton, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton SM1 1EA for a Premises Licence for sale of alcohol in 1 Belmont Road, Wallington, England, SM6 8TE

The application seeks financial authorisation for the following licensable activities:

• Sale of alcohol (indoors): Monday- Saturday from 11:00 -21:00 hours.

The licensing register and a record of the application may be inspected at the offices of the Licensing Authority at Licensing Team, London Borough of Sutton, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, SM1 1EA during normal office hours.

Any person wishing to make representations regarding this application must do so in writing to the Licensing Authority at the address above or via email to licensing@sutton.gov.uk

Representations must be received no later than 25/06/2026

It is an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in connection with an application. A person making such an offence is liable on summary conviction to an unlimited fine. Dated: 29/05/2026

Licensing Act 2003 Take notice that I, Sumit Singh Malhotra have made an application to Lewisham Council acting as the Licensing Authority, for a New Premises Licence in respect of: Lewisham Stop & Shop, 73 Lewisham High Street, London SE13 5JX. The details of the application are as follows: Sale of

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Advertorial

Jamie Lawrence Brings Elite Intensity to Ballers Academy

During the May half term, youngsters from Ballers Academy were privileged to take part in an intense football and fitness session led by former professional footballer Jamie Lawrence, who has previously worked as fitness coach for the Ghana national team and currently works internationally within elite football coaching environments.

Held in challenging hot weather conditions, the session pushed participants both physically and mentally, with Jamie delivering a level of intensity, discipline and professionalism that is rarely seen in the modern game. Young people were encouraged to step outside of their comfort zones through demanding drills, fitness work and team exercises designed to test their determination, focus and resilience.

The experience proved to be far more than just a football session. Jamie’s approach highlighted the importance of discipline, respect and commitment, values that Ballers Academy continues to promote through all of its programmes. His powerful coaching style and positive encouragement left a lasting impression on the young people, many of whom described the session as inspiring and motivating.

Ballers Academy would like to thank Jamie for giving up his time to support local young people and for sharing his knowledge and experience from the professional game. Opportunities like this continue to provide invaluable life lessons for participants both on and off the pitch, helping them to develop confidence, teamwork and a stronger mindset for the future.

SURREY FALL TO HEAVY DEFEAT

By ECB Reporters Network

SURREY WERE crushed by eight wickets as Kent Spitfires’ Jake Lintott and Harry Finch enjoyed a memorable day out at The Kia Oval in the Vitality Blast last weekend.

Lintott’s left-arm wrist spin claimed 3-19 to spearhead a fine all-round bowling performance by Kent, before Finch’s 64 not out led the Spitfires home.

And captain Sam Billings also had fun with a quickfire unbeaten 42 as Kent eased to 118-2 in reply to Surrey’s 116 all out, winning with six overs to spare.

Finch and Billings added an unbroken 89 for the third wicket after both Daniel Bell-Drummond and Zak Crawley had fallen cheaply in the six-over powerplay.

Bell-Drummond was yorked by Tom Lawes and Crawley skied Reece Topley to mid-off, but by then Finch had already signalled his intentions by taking a four and a beautifully-struck six off Tom Curran.

In all Finch faced 42 balls, hitting that six and eight fours, while Billings struck Lawes for three fours in an over and hit six in total from 28 balls in what was only Kent’s second Blast win against Surrey in their last nine meetings.

Tom Curran was a lone threat with the bat for Surrey, his 32 off 21 balls featuring a six and three fours.

Surrey’s innings got off to a bad start, with Will Jacks splicing a simple catch to cover to go for a duck from the last ball of Keith Dudgeon’s impressive opening over, which cost just a single.

It set the tone for what was to come, with Kent’s bowling and fielding keeping up the pressure on a Surrey batting lineup that simply could not cast off the shackles.

Ollie Pope swivel-pulled two fours in Dudgeon’s next over but on ten drove Matt Milnes to mid-on and when Sam Curran fell mishitting a Lintott long

Lintott and Finch on song for Spitfires

hop in the seventh over it did seem that everything was going Kent’s way.

Curran, the Surrey captain, had extra cover driven Milnes for four and then launched Dudgeon for an extraordinary short-armed six over long-on.

But, from 40-2 after the powerplay, the innings fell away once Curran was brilliantly held inches from the turf by Finch, diving forward as he ran in from deep midwicket.

Jason Roy, who had laboured 21 balls for eighteen, clubbed Lintott to mid-on -

the bowler’s five dot balls to Laurie Evans then completing a wicket maiden - and at halfway Surrey were 53-4.

That soon became 53-5, Evans hitting a full toss from Lintott to deep midwicket, and only a four and big six from Tom Curran in Lintott’s final over spoiled his figures a little.

From 97-5 after fifteen overs the Surrey innings petered out as Curran skied to mid-off and Dan Lawrence was caught on the ropes for sixteen aiming to club Fred Klaassen for six.

Jordan Clark was run out for four, after being sent back by Lawes, and Surrey’s day was summed up from the next ball when bowler Klaassen put down a fiercely-struck shot by Lawes but reacted quickly to run out non-striker Topley, who was backing up.

Lawes, who did scoop Klaassen for six over fine leg, was left thirteen not out when last man Yousef Majid hit Dudgeon to mid-on in the final over.

Surrey host Hampshire Hawks at The Kia Oval on Friday (6.30pm).

By Sports Reporter

FISHER WILL celebrate ten years back at St Paul’s in Rotherhithe by competing in the Brian Lomax Cup in preseason.

The Fish were beaten in the SCEFL Premier Division playoffs last season but preparations are well under way for another challenge to reach the Isthmian League Division One South in 2026-27.

The Brian Lomax Cup is an annual fixture organised by the Football Supporters Association to celebrate community-owned clubs. Lomax is considered to be the founding father of the supporters’ trust movement. He died in 2015.

AFC Wimbledon beat Enfield Town 3-2 in the first edition in 2002.

This summer’s competition takes place at St Paul’s. Fisher will take on another fan-owned side, Grays Athletic, on Saturday July 18 (3pm).

By John Lewis

DULWICH TRAVELLED to Valley End for their fourth match in Division 1 of the M.Zaidi & Co Surrey Cricket Championship last weekend, but after a fluctuating match were defeated by 30 runs. Valley End chose to bat on another very hot day, but lost their first three wickets for 38 runs in 7.3 overs, with Dan Empson taking two and Tommy Clout one. Former Gloucestershire all-rounder Ed Young led the recovery, while three more wickets fell at the other end. Tight bowling from Harrison Perry, who took the fourth wicket while conceding just 21 off eight overs, and Will O’Donnell, who went for nineteen off seven, held them in check. Young, having hit two boundaries in the powerplay, then scored 24 consecutive singles before a second run broke the sequence. Lucas Parry took two wickets in successive overs to reduce Valley End

to 108-6 in the 30th over.

But Young was still there, and he now took part in a stand of 59 in 8.3 overs for the seventh wicket with skipper Jamie Stephens before falling in Henry Goodwin’s first over for 67, off 90 balls. Hopes of wrapping up the innings quickly were thwarted by Stephens and Joe Hill, who put on 55 in nine overs for the eighth wicket. Stephens reached his 50 off 55 balls before losing a race to the stumps with O’Donnell to be run out without facing another ball. Hill went on to reach 40 off 33 balls before giving a return catch to Parry, and a second wicket for Clout brought the innings to a close on 244 after 48.5 overs.

The Dulwich reply started disastrously as Perry fell to the first ball of the second over and O’Donnell went for ten, falling to a stunning one-handed slip catch high above his head by Stephens. Parry also went cheaply, and opener Jacob Rhodes, who had started to open up after a slow start, fell for 25 off 38 balls.

Skipper Ollie Steele was then joined by Peter Frettingham, making his first team debut, with the score on 53-4 after 12.2

overs.

Together they turned the innings around, adding 113 in 26 overs for the fifth wicket. But tight bowling kept them under pressure, and by the time Steele was out, having made 67 off 99 balls, 79 runs were still required from twelve overs.

Frettingham fell two overs later for an impressive 47 off 70 balls. Goodwin made five off seven and Clout clouted ten off five. With eight wickets down and 57 still wanted off 6.4 overs, Chris Purshouse made a spirited attempt to keep up with the rate, dominating a ninth wicket stand of 26 in 3.4 overs with Empson. But his dismissal, caught on the boundary for 26 off 29 balls, was quickly followed by that of Empson to end the innings for 214.

Dulwich slip two places to fifth after a day when all five matches in the division were won by the side batting first.

This weekend, the format switches to timed games when they have a home fixture against Old Rutlishians, who had an unexpected win against leaders Camberley on Saturday after losing their first three matches.

By John Kelly

MILLWALL LIONESSES’

Sydney Brooks-Hughes has made the step up to Tier 4 after joining Dulwich Hamlet.

Brooks-Hughes was named the Lionesses’ young player of the year for the 2025-26 L&SEWFL Premier Division campaign, when Ted Jones’s side finished seventh.

Millwall said: “Everyone at the club would like to thank Syd and wish her all the best for the future.”

Florrie Winfield has departed the club to pursue an opportunity at a university in the United States.

Meanwhile, Jess Edwards and Gabby Buddle-Smith have also left the club.

By John Kelly

CAROLINE DUBOIS could meet Stephanie Han after witnessing from ringside the Texan’s win in her rematch with Holly Holm in El Paso, Texas, last weekend.

Greenwich’s Dubois defended her WBC title and won the WBO lightweight belt after she beat Terri Harper in April to extend her unbeaten professional record to 13-0-1.

Dubois wants to become an undisputed world champion and was the favourite to meet the winner of Han and Holm. Han, 35, defended her WBA title against 44-year-old Holm with a majority decision after ten rounds.

Ahead of the fight, Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions chief executive Nakisa Bidarian said: “Caroline Dubois is coming into the US for the fight. She’ll be ringside with Jake and me and will be watching closely.

“This, of course, is her division, so one of them could be her future opponent. Whether it’s that fight or Elif Turhan next, the idea is for her to continue unifying and eventually become undisputed.”

Dubois asked Han at the postfight press conference who she wanted to fight next. Han replied:

“If I don’t get Katie Taylor, I’ll fight you, 100 per cent.”

Photo by Keith Gillard

Dan Lawrence was caught on the ropes for sixteen aiming to club Fred Klaassen for six

30 SPORT

By John Kelly

ADAM WHARTON hailed the “incredible” impact Oliver Glasner made at Crystal Palace including shifting the club’s mindset about competitions after the Austrian led the Eagles to a third trophy in two seasons with their 1-0 win against Rayo Vallecano in the Uefa Conference Leagu final in Leipzig.

Jean-Philippe Mateta completed his redemption with the only goal in the 51st minute. The French striker angered Palace fans when he was close to a move to AC Milan in January, but there was only glory and adulation in Germany.

Palace were deserved winners in Glasner’s last game in charge as Inigo Perez’ La Liga side struggled to trouble goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

Glasner led the Eagles to an FA Cup win and Community Shield victory, and has now added the third major trophy in the club’s history.

“The difference he has made in two-anda-half years is incredible,” Wharton said.

“Three trophies for Palace, the first three in the history of the club.

“Our first European competition and winning it - it’s unbelievable. He has got to be one of the best managers Palace have ever had.

“He has made a massive difference to how the club looks at competitions.

“We are not just looking to stay in the Premier League or to be in Europe, we are looking to win it and be as high as possible.”

Wharton’s own celebrations were disrupted for the second time in two finals after he went off with concussion late in Palace’s 1-0 win against Manchester City in last season’s FA Cup decider.

“I’m definitely going to make up for it this year, 100 per cent,” he said, laughing.

“You can’t put the feeling into words. It’s incredible. You can see what it means for South London. It’s unbelievable.

“I have two celebrations to catch up on. I’ve got the doping test unfortunately, which ruins my party a little bit. But hopefully, I can get that done quickly and get on the beers!”

It was revealed in January that Glasner would leave at the end of the season. There had been acrimony around the potential sale of club captain Marc Guehi, whose move to Liverpool was blocked last summer before he joined Manchester City in the winter window.

Palace should have been in this season’s Europa League after winning the FA Cup, only to be demoted to Europe’s third tier for breaching multi-club ownership rules involving former major shareholder John Textor. Palace were replaced by Nottingham Forest, who were beaten in the semi-finals by eventual winners Aston Villa.

By John Kelly

OLI THE INCREDIBLE

Midfielder hails most successful Palace bossand insists no ’tears’ over World Cup snub

Glasner revealed his message to the players in the Leipzig dressing room.

“I can’t even believe this was my last game,” Glasner said. “I took this decision.

It’s a good chapter to read in the Crystal Palace book, but other chapters will follow.

I said to the players, get now what you deserved after winning the FA Cup.

“It [Europa League] was one year delayed. The club, fans and players got what they deserve. Sometimes you have to take a roundabout way, and now Crystal Palace is where they should be.”

Glasner added: “I just guided this group

of players and the staff and I supported them and I said, ‘Really, this isn’t because it’s my 100 per cent conviction’, I can’t do anything [without the players]. I could be the best magician [but] that wouldn’t work without the players.

“And so it’s all the players deserve all the credit because they have to listen, they have to trust me and myself and the staff, of course.

“They have to work very hard and I think every player will tell you that I’m very demanding. So if things don’t go how I think they should go, or if players probably

drop the standard by one or two per cent, I can’t accept it.”

Meanwhile, Wharton was asked about his omission from England’s World Cup squad, one of several controversial decisions taken by Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel.

“That’s just part of football,” Wharton said. “It was never a guarantee I was going to go. I knew that.

“When he called me, he just told me I wasn’t there. He said it was close. But yeah, like I said, that’s football. I’m not going to sit here and cry about it.

“Still had two games for Palace to go. Obviously tonight being a massive one, I don’t really dwell on those things too much. It’s not the end of the world. I’m still young.

“Hopefully there’s other tournaments and World Cups that I can go to in the future. But yeah, I was just focused on Palace and coming here and getting the win, which we have done.

“I’m glad with that and I’ve got a couple places booked to go [on holiday], but I’m just going to enjoy my summer and tonight.”

American Football heads for Plough Lane

Football League Europe (AFLE) game against Alpine Rams this Sunday.

The Dons’ hosted the Warriors’ first game of the season against Panthers Wrocław from Poland, Plough Lane’s first-ever American Football fixture. The League One side are establishing the stadium as a versatile venue. The Warriors chose it due to the location,

By Manuel Salazar

© Cody Froggatt

AFC WIMBLEDON’S Cherry Red Records Stadium will host London Warriors’ next American

Oliver Glasner waves goodbye to the Eagles after delivering the third major trophy in their history

Skipper Dean Henderson lifts the trophy

MARCO CHECKS OUT OF COTTAGE

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna early favourite to take over from Benfica-bound Portuguese

By John Kelly

MARCO SILVA said “Fulham will always be in my heart” as he announced his departure following five years at Craven Cottage.

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna was the odds-on favourite to take over early this week.

Silva, 48, was appointed in the summer of 2021 after the Cottagers were relegated to the Championship under Scott Parker.

Portuguese boss Silva, who had been in charge of Hull City, Watford and Everton, led the side to the title in his first season in charge, when Aleksandar Mitrovic broke the Championship goalscoring record, scoring 43 times.

Fulham established themselves in the Premier League in 2022-23, finishing tenth. They also reached the quarterfinals of the FA Cup before losing 3-1 to

Manchester United.

A thirteenth-placed finish followed in the next campaign. There was another knockout run, this time to the semifinals of the EFL Cup where they lost 3-2 on aggregate to eventual champions Liverpool.

There was a sense of history repeating in 2024-25 when Silva led the side to eleventh in the league and again to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. There was major disappointment when Fulham flopped at home, losing 3-0 to Crystal Palace. It was the Eagles, and not Fulham, who went on to win the first major trophy in their history when Oliver Glasner’s side beat Manchester City 1-0 in the final.

It fed into the feeling of stasis after the end of that season, that Silva had taken Fulham as far as he could.

Silva was linked to other jobs, including at Tottenham Hotspur and

Chelsea.

In his final season in West London, Silva guided the side to another eleventhplaced finish and to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup, before Newcastle United beat them 2-1 at St James’ Park.

It was Silva’s last shot at winning a first major trophy in England and with his contract running down he decided to leave.

Silva wrote an open letter to Fulham fans this week, including thanking owner Shahid Khan, Khan’s son Tony, and chief executive officer Alistair Mackintosh.

It read: “After five years, our journey together comes to an end. I leave with a feeling I was told when I first arrived – that Fulham Football Club is a family.

“Thanks to Mr Khan, Tony and Alistair for their support and, above all, for the relationship we built.

“Thank you for the great work of all the

club staff members behind the scenes.

“The players will be left with great memories and moments that we shared together through our hard work.

“Last, but not least, to our fans. I asked you from day one, to always be with us.

And that’s what you did these past five years. “We achieved a lot together.

“My staff and I always felt your support. It will never be forgotten.

“Fulham will always be in my heart, and sooner or later I will be back at Craven Cottage.”

Shahid Khan added: “Marco Silva leaves our club with my gratitude and best wishes. Fulham and Marco were an excellent fit for five seasons, but change is inevitable in this game, and we’ve accordingly prepared for this moment.

“The talent in our squad, our historic home ground of Craven Cottage, our faithful supporters, and my commitment to backing the club,

all make Fulham an extraordinarily attractive destination for an incoming head coach.

“We will soon appoint a new leader in a timely but deliberate manner, who will meet the standards of our club and expectations of our fans throughout the world.”

Silva was expected to return to Portugal to the over at Benfica, who saw their manager Jose Mourinho return to Real Madrid this summer on a threeyear deal.

McKenna, who has led the Tractor Boys to two promotions to the Premier League in the last three seasons, was the clear favourite to succeed Silva.

Former Brentford and Spurs boss Thomas Frank, ex-Cottagers defender and Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior, and Coventry City manager Frank Lampard were also among the frontrunners.

Super Azeez continues to impress - and reveals Premier League dream

By Will Scott

MILLWALL’S FEMI Azeez impressed on international duty again for Nigeria, recording an assist as the Super Eagles beat Jamaica 3-0 in the Unity Cup final at Charlton Athletic’s ground The Valley last weekend.

Azeez, 24, pulled off a neat bit of footwork to beat his man in the box, then chipped in a cross that Terem Moffi headed into the net.

Alhassan Yusuf scored either side of Moffi’s header as Nigeria emerged comfortable winners.

Azeez had previously bagged a brace in the semi-final against Zimbabwe, his first international appearance. His form was rewarded with a further call-up for Nigeria’s friendlies against Poland on June 3 and Portugal on June 10, but Super Eagles boss Eric Chelle revealed Millwall would not release him for those matches.

Azeez’s impressive displays for Nigeria have capped off a breakout campaign in which he led the Lions in both goals (eleven) and assists (seven). His eighteen goal contributions ranked joint-seventh in the Championship.

The winger was one of two Lions, along with Tristan Crama, to make the Championship team of the season.

Azeez told Sky Sports last Friday that he had ambitions of playing in the Premier League.

“As a footballer, you always want to play at the highest level you can play at,” Azeez said. “I’ve had a good season in the Championship, and to do it on the international stage as well, it’s just that next step up.

“Whenever I achieve something, I’m always hungry for more; I’m never satisfied with what I’ve got. I’m always going to work towards that

next level, because I’m ambitious as a footballer and as a person, and I want to reach as high a level as possible.

“The Premier League is the pinnacle of football. I’d love to play in the Premier League. So obviously, [I’m] working hard, I’m going to do whatever I can to get there.”

Meanwhile, Lions striker Mihailo Ivanovic came off the bench in the 77th minute as Serbia suffered a 3-0 friendly defeat to Cabo Verde, who are preparing for their first-ever World Cup appearance.

Serbia will face Mexico in another friendly on Friday (3am BST).

Femi Azeez after scoring on his Nigeria debut

Marco Silva during Fulham’s 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham United in March

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ENZO WANTS OUT

PALACE MAKE SAGE MOVE

French boss in talks to replace departing Oliver Glasner after club’s most successful year

By John Kelly

CRYSTAL PALACE are in talks with Lens boss Pierre Sage as they aim to replace the most successful manager in their history, Oliver Glasner.

Glasner signed off on his twoand-a-half years in charge by leading the Eagles to a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final in Leipzig last week.

Palace had been targeting Andoni Iraola after he left AFC Bournemouth having secured European football for the first time in the Cherries’ history. Palace and

Bournemouth will both be in the Europa League next season.

However, after Liverpool sacked Arne Slot this week, the Reds made their move for IIraola, 43, and have agreed a deal for the Spaniard to take over.

In his only season in charge of Ligue 1 side Lens, Sage, 47, led them into the Champions League with a second-placed finish behind Paris St-Germain and also to the French Cup for the first time in their history. Like Glasner, Sage played mostly a 3-4-2-1 formation last season, with former Palace striker Odsonne Edouard up front and

the scorer of the second goal in the final, a 3-1 win against Nice. In an interview when he was asked about his preferred style of play, Sage explained: “There are two things that interest me when playing a football match: having the ball and having as much of it as possible. In a way, we’re entering an attacking mindset. My main concern is therefore to have the ball, and when we don’t have it, to quickly attack the opponent to win it back, because there’s a certain frustration in not having it.”

It is a style similar to Glasner’s, with energetic pressing and quick,

direct attacking when his side win the ball back.

Sage was an amateur footballer who started coaching when he was sixteen. Sage joined Lyon as a youth team coach before taking over as boss in 2023. He led the side into the Europa League but was sacked in January 2025 before being appointed at Lens the following summer.

Palace had also been interested in Coventry City’s Championship title winning boss Frank Lampard, but the compensation of £5million to release him from his contract wasn’t something the Eagles were willing to pay.

MILLWALL KEEPER TARGET PRICE TAG REVEALED

By Will Scott

ANTHONY PATTERSON is reportedly for sale after impressing on loan at Millwall.

The Sunderland goalkeeper spent the latter half of the season at SE16 and made sixteen starts, keeping seven clean sheets as the Lions came within a point of automatic promotion.

The 26-year-old started both legs of Millwall’s play-off semi-final against Hull City, with the Lions ultimately suffering heartbreak at The Den as they lost the second leg 2-0 to the eventual Wembley winners.

Patterson was Sunderland’s first-choice goalkeeper in the Championship and started the 2025 play-off final to help the Black Cats defeat Sheffield United 2-1. But he lost his place to Robin Roefs following promotion to the Premier League and could now be on the move, with Sky Sports reporting that Sunderland have placed an £8-10 million valuation on the shotstopper. Patterson has two years left on his contract.

The Lions’ goalkeeping department currently includes Max Crocombe and Lukas Jensen, the latter who missed all of last season through injury. The club are also in negotiations with back-up goalkeeper Joel Coleman over a new twelve-month deal.

Anthony Patterson