21st January 2021

Page 31

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southwark’s battleground

Issue 1514

Established: 1987

50p

January 21 2021

southwarknews.co.uk

Sport: Lions winger finds home comforts during lockdown

Page 4

News:

Outrage over LEN • Southwark infections drop parking fines by over half in a week Page 21 • 24/7 vaccinations by end of the month, although allocation is low in London • King’s SOS to help overworked staff, but have re-opened critical care centre History: Mitford sister beset with fire safety problems slumming it • New test centres open Pages 6-7 in Rotherhithe

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2 NEWS

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Contents NEWS Pages 2-17

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

why are we not on royal mail’s list?

Helen Hayes visiting Peckham delivery office last year. Social distancing and staff having to self isolate has put pressure on its hard working staff

OPINION Pages 18-19

None of Southwark or Lambeth postcodes are on the list where services are failing

As the News reported in December, the Coronavirus pandemic, an increase in deliveries and staff self-isolating and off sick have all impacted on the post across Southwark, compounding pre-existing issues in areas like Dulwich and Crystal Palace.

Dulwich and West Norwood MP Helen Hayes says constituents of hers have missed vital doctors’ appointments, been left unable to order food after replacement bank cards went missing, and have missed out on Christmas post after having weeks with no

deliveries. Some residents in SE27 have not received any post since mid-December.

“I still receive complaints about failing Royal Mail services in SE22, SE19 and other areas each week,” Helen Hayes said. “Royal Mail have never acknowledged the seriousness of the problem. Many people are now anxious Covid vaccination appointments will be missed due to this failure.”

Royal Mail published a list of areas across the country no longer receiving regular post this month. The list included Lewisham (SE13) and Wandsworth (SW18) but Southwark and Lambeth were left off the list.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Despite our best efforts and significant investment in extra resource, some customers may experience slightly longer delivery timescales than our usual service standards.

“This is due to the exceptionally high volumes we are seeing, exacerbated by the coronavirus-related measures we have put in place in local mail centres and delivery offices to keep our people and customers safe.

“In such cases, we always work hard to get back to providing our usual level of service as quickly as we can.”

recently upheld a complaint by Stella Creasy MP over advertising that pitched Klarna expenditure as ‘mood boosting’ during lockdown.

Comparethemarket.com’s research, published in November, showed young people aged eighteen to 24, who are often financially insecure, appear to be the biggest market for these products.

Fifty-four per cent of those surveyed had purchased with buy now pay later schemes, with almost a fifth going on to miss payments in the last year.

Klarna maintains it has ‘strict eligibility’ criteria for those who use the scheme, and rejected any comparisons with the payday loan scandal.

A spokesperson provided the following statement to the News: "At Klarna we support regulation of the sector and look forward to the recommendations of the Woolard review.

“In the buy now, pay later sector there are wide differences between providers, in terms of approach to payment schedules, interest, late fees, eligibility assessments,

support for vulnerable consumers and, importantly, protections if something goes wrong.

“That is why it is vital that regulation is updated for the digital age, to ensure that consumers are protected regardless of which provider they choose.

“We recognise that people’s financial circumstances may change and therefore do not lend to everyone or offer an open line of credit on our pay later products.

“We perform strict eligibility checks every time a consumer makes a purchase using Klarna and we have limits in place to ensure that customers cannot accumulate large amounts of debt using our products.

“We ensure that we only ever lend to people who can afford to pay us back. We also have a dedicated team who work with customers in financial difficulty to find a solution that is appropriate for them.

“We absolutely reject any comparison to payday loans products. We are a fully licensed bank and charge consumers no interest and no fees on our most popular products, ever.”

Arts Page 20

By Katherine Johnston

history Page 21

Royal Mail has published a list of areas where its service is failing - but has not included beleaguered Southwark and Lambeth postcodes.

katherine@southwarknews.co.uk

family announcements Page 22 property Page 23 jobs Page 24 Public notices Pages 25-26 SPORT Pages 28-32 During the crisis, contact us if you have a story on 07973175511 or email

editor@southwarknews .co.uk

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Helen Hayes wants more regulation on ‘buy now pay later’

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk Helen Hayes MP is backing a campaign for further regulation of the ‘buy now pay later’ industry, saying customers are at risk of another ‘wonga-style scandal’.

A cross-party coalition of 70 MPs are demanding action to protect consumers who may find themselves taking on more credit than they can pay off.

Last Wednesday (January 13), MPs debated New Clause 7 to the Financial Services Bill, which would see further controls over companies such as Klarna.

Research from Comparethemarket. com shows similar schemes, where users make purchases over several installments, are now being used 35 per cent more often than before the pandemic. Around a quarter of users said this was because they were unable to purchase outright.

A loophole means that these companies are not regulated by Financial Conduct Authority rules because they do not charge

STAYING AT HOME IN THE COLD

Issue 1513

Editor: Kevin Quinn Deputy Editor: Katherine Johnston Chief Reporter: Josh Salisbury Sports Editor: John Kelly Arts Correspondent: Michael Holland Weekender Series Editor: Laura Burgoine Media Partnerships: Anthony Phillips Sales Manager: Tammy Jukes Advertising: Clarry Frewin, Lorraine Wood, Design: Dan Martin, Aurelio Medina Finance: Em Zeki Subscriptions/Announcements: Katie Boyd Managing & Commercial Director: Chris Mullany Managing & Editorial Director: Kevin Quinn Published weekly on a Thursday at: Unit A302, The Biscuit Factory, Drummond Road, Bermondsey, London SE16 4DG. News and Sport: 020 7231 5258 Advertising: 020 7232 1639 News: news@southwarknews.co.uk Advertising: ads@southwarknews.co.uk Printed by Iliffe Print. Tel: 01223 656500 www.iliffeprint.co.uk

interest - meaning consumers have no recourse to the ombudsman.

The authority is now conducting a review into the industry, chaired by Christopher Woolard, with a report expected later this year.

MPs say there is a growing body of evidence that more customers are falling into debt as they increase their spending.

“With one in four shoppers using buy now pay later companies in the run up to Christmas, it’s vital we act before this becomes another Wonga-style scandal,” Hayes, the Dulwich and West Norwood MP, said.

“These companies make it easier to overspend online because the costs appear lower as they are spread out.

“However, with an extremely unstable economy and rising redundancies, what seems affordable in one month may not be in the next.”

MPs are also concerned about the way companies such as Klarna advertise, often using social media influencers.

The Advertising Standards Authority

Established: 1987

Residents across the borough suffer with heating problems

50p

January 14 2021

southwarknews.co.uk

Pages 6 -7

Pages 30-31

SUPERSUB TO THE RESCUE CORONAVIRUS LATEST Page 4 • Sixteen deaths in Southwark in just seven days • But lockdown could be working - drop in those testing positive Page 10

SCHOOLS ARE DESPERATE FOR LAPTOPS

The Southwark News is proud to be the only independent, paid for newspaper in London Southwark News started life as the Bermondsey News in 1987, as an A-4 photocopied sheet of paper and rapidly grew to cover the entire borough and the surrounding area. As the borough grew, so did the newspaper.

It is owned and run by Chris Mullany and Kevin Quinn.

Former reporters for Southwark News, they bought the title in 2002, after the founder Dave Clark died suddenly from cancer four years earlier.

Both directors live in the borough. A dedicated team of staff work tirelessly to cover as much of what is going on as possible and strive to ensure that a community-led, independent newspaper can survive and excel in a market dominated by national and multinational media groups.

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If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors’ Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

PRIMARY: ‘WE HAD TO TOP UP FREE SCHOOL MEAL BOX’

NEWS 3

www.southwarknews.co.uk/news

By Josh Salisbury josh@southwarknews.co.uk A Bermondsey primary school has criticised a food hamper it was told to distribute to children on free school meals, saying it simply was not enough.

The packs, which were given to Riverside Primary School, were deemed so poor that staff spent several hundred pounds of the school’s own money to top them up before sending them to parents.

Headteacher Jose Lewis has slammed the package from private company ISS Worldwide, saying it was simply not enough food to make sure children did not go hungry. The firm has defended its packs and said government funding has allowed it to bolster them.

The hamper was supposed to feed a child for five days. It contained potatoes, beans, yoghurts, a cucumber, some fruit, carrots, butter, a loaf and some tomatoes, said the school.

“I couldn’t make five meals out of that,” said Ms Lewis.

“We all have to start with the children.

They had the opportunity to show that it wasn’t about saving costs, it was about the children. And they failed. It’s sad we’ve come to that.

“There just wasn’t enough, it’s nothing like what we would serve in school.”

The hampers sparked a dash to the Sainsbury’s on Jamaica Road, where school bosses spent £200 to add other essentials to the boxes so that children would not go hungry.

Staff at the supermarket have been praised for helping the school quickly fill up the boxes, and waiving rules which bar customers from buying multiples of the same item.

The school is also offering meals to those who come to school to pick them up, offering fruit and veg to parents on top of free school meal vouchers, and giving those who need support but do not qualify for free school meals vouchers paid for by the school if they ask for them.

“Sainsbury’s were amazing,” she said.

“Because they knew we were from Riverside, they allowed me to purchase as many things as I needed.”

ISS Worldwide said it was disappointed to have received a complaint, and that the amount of food had since increased in its boxes after extra funding was given from the Government.

“After the announcement of the national lockdown, we worked quickly with our supply chain to agree and provide a selection of fresh and ambient products to support children eligible for free school meals,” said a company spokesperson.

“We delivered a selection of food

that could provide lunches for a child for five days. After the new guidance and increased funding issued by the Department for Education, we are pleased to have increased the food selection further in the parcels this week.”

The issue has hit the headlines over this month, after footballer Marcus Rashford highlighted examples of poor school meals provision - including in one case, a quartered onion and a coin bag filled with tuna.

This week the Government opened a free school meals voucher scheme for use in local supermarkets.

By Josh Salisbury josh@southwarknews.co.uk Bobbies on the beat were pictured with Blue marketplace fish trader Russell Dryden in Bermondsey last week, holding aloft a pair of fish.

‘ello ‘ello is something Fishy going on here?

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LOCKDOWN SPECIAL

The Met Police launched a caption competition on its social media - and has narrowed it down to two frontrunners.

“Sir I'm afraid you've only got a big fish and a little fish, you're going to have a cardboard box for this sale to be legal,” is one popular choice.

The other: “What is the difference between a fish and a piano? You can't tuna fish.”

Facebook users can vote for their favourite on the Metropolitan Police’s Facebook page.

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4 NEWS

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Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

outrage in walworth over parking fines after LEN installed Motorists say they are paying the price for bad signage

U-turn on care homes

By Katherine Johnston

katherine@southwarknews.co.uk The government has agreed to cover care homes’ insurance after providers refused to take COVID-19 patients from overstretched hospitals over the risk of being sued.

HC-One’s non-executive director has gone on record saying that the provider, which is the UK’s largest and runs Tower Bridge Care home, had been unable to find an insurer since November to cover the risks of the pandemic.

He said the risks of taking part in the ‘designated places scheme’ - where COVID-19 patients are sent to care homes to free up space on wards - is too high.

On Tuesday, after a u-turn, the government said it would step in and cover the costs after months of lobbying from the care sector. The

cover is expected to last until March but will be reviewed next month.

Sir David told another publication last week: "You've got solicitors' firms advertising, taking cases up against care companies.

"So, this isn't a theoretical risk that there may be proceedings, it's an actual risk, and therefore we need cover.

"The NHS wouldn't operate without similar liability cover and that's what we need to see, and I think governments have a role to play working with the insurance industry to work to find a solution."

The government support comes amid rising fears that care homes are bearing the brunt of the current wave of the mutated virus, which is much more transmissible.

Care home deaths across the country have nearly doubled in the last week, and are now believed to account for around a third of all deaths from the virus since March 2020.

‘Small’ COVID-19 outbreak in Bermondsey care home ‘under control’

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk Tower Bridge Care Home says a ‘small’ COVID-19 outbreak is under control after all infected residents stage a recovery.

Four residents contracted COVID-19 in the home during the second wave of the virus, with each of them now recovered and having completed their fourteen-day isolation period.

Four staff members are currently selfisolating.

HC-One, which runs the home, said

those affected were all from the same unit and thanks to infection control measures were effectively isolated, stopping the spread. A Tower Bridge Care Home spokesperson said: “We took all steps to minimise the spread of the virus including caring for Residents in their rooms, continuing to restrict staff movement and focusing on high standards of infection control which kept the outbreak to one unit of the home.

“We are monitoring the situation closely and are working with our local health and care partners to respond to the outbreak.”

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk Motorists who unwittingly drove through a section of road closed go traffic as part of Walworth’s low emissions neighbourhoods are receiving three and even four-figure fines despite ‘inadequate’ signage.

A thread set up by driver Clive Stokes - who has received nine penalty charge notices so far - on neighbourhood networking site NextDoor, has generated hundreds of comments from people stung by the same spot at the corner of Braganza Street and Manor Place.

The closure is part of a wider initiative to help reduce traffic, aid social distancing, and reduce dangerous pollution levels.

The implementation of the scheme, including times and communication, have been criticised - and now residents say they are paying the price.

Clive is not the only person to have received multiple fines, often covering the same day. At least twelve drivers, from Walworth, Kennington and Camberwell have all racked up nearly £4,000 of penalties. The majority arrived in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

One driver, Barnaby Spikings, wrote that he had received four fines so far and was ‘terrified’ of receiving more after losing his job due to COVID-19.

A warning letter arrived in December - before he had even received the fines.

Meanwhile, Walworth resident Caroline Lee says without driving down Manor Place she is unable to leave home unless she goes in a huge loop around the Elephant.

But despite using the road as access only she has received eleven fines so far with nine arriving in the post in one day. She said she was ‘disgusted’ by the situation.

Those fined argue as residents they should be able to access the closed

section of road to avoid lengthy, one-way journeys, and argue that early signage in particular when the changes were implemented in July was ‘inadequate’ and still not clear to people unfamiliar with the new layout - especially in the dark.

They are also concerned that problems with the post means people already struggling with their finances are wracking up needless debt.

One ward councillor, Alice Macdonald, has said she is raising the problem with the council as she agrees the signage and communication has ‘not been good enough’.

A public consultation was held on temporary road closures, generating thousands of comments on an online map of suggested sites, but many businesses and residents say they had no advance warning and have taken issue with a lack of access south of Brandon Estate.

The News has contacted Southwark Council for comment.

Historic Sydenham oak trees likely to be spared the chop

By Josh Salisbury josh@southwarknews.co.uk Campaigners were toasting success on Tuesday night after it appeared that historic oaks in Sydenham Hill Wood would not be chopped down after all.

Protesters had been locked in a battle with Southwark Council to prevent the Footbridge Oaks from being given the chop, with activists staging a 24/7 hour watch at times to prevent the arrival of council machinery.

Officials had claimed the trees’ removal was necessary to repair Cox’s Footbridge, which the oaks straddle, because it would be too expensive to do otherwise.

The saga had even reached the High Court, with the town hall seeking permission to forcibly remove protesters. This was not granted, forcing the council to have to seek planning permission once more.

However, on Tuesday night, as the News went to press, a council notice

appeared to confirm that planning permission would not be granted for the oaks to be chopped.

A provisional tree protection order should now be served, states the update.

Claire Sheppard, a former Green Party candidate and one of the campaigners involved, told the News: “This gives all of us some much needed hope in what is a very hard January, the findings of the report really seem to see the value of the trees.

“And this makes me hope that after 2 years of inaction Southwark are finally starting to see sense and connect their actions to the climate emergency.”

A report alongside the update states: “Both trees are healthy, in good condition and as a keystone species within their habitat can be expected to grow for a considerable length of time.

“They have significant historical and cultural value as part of the Great North Wood.”

It adds in light of the climate emergency, “the trees have a significant amenity value which, due to an immediate threat to their preservation, it is therefore expedient to protect.”

Southwark Council have been contacted for further comment.

6 NEWS

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Infections in southwark drop by over half in a week

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk The number of daily COVID-19 infections in Southwark on Tuesday was less than half those recorded seven days previously, as cases continue to fall in every London borough.

This week, the UK recorded its highest ever death toll (January 19) with 1,610 deaths, but there are hopes that the drop in infections could be the light at the end of the tunnel - along with the rapid rollout of the vaccination programme.

The most recent data, at the time of going to press, showed that 184 new cases of the virus were recorded in Southwark on Tuesday, January 18. A week earlier, on Tuesday, January 12, daily cases were 378 - showing a drop of more than 50 per cent.

Antibody testing has also shown that a much higher proportion of the public had already been infected with the virus by December than previously understood, with one in eight people - or 5.4 million - having antibodies.

A separate, shocking study from the University of Leicester has also shed light on the long-term health impact of the disease, with nearly a third of COVID-19 patients going back to hospital within five months of being discharged, and one in eight passing away within 140 days.

The study, which is not yet peer reviewed, found that patients had an increased risk of heart disease, lung disease and diabetes.

But researchers also noted that treatments and care had improved since the first wave as doctors have learned more about the virus.

London’s low vaccine allocation

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk London has one the lowest number of people to receive their first dose of the vaccine because the government ‘failed to take into account the larger number of patients registered with the capital’s GPs’, says Sadiq Khan.

The mayor claims that a basic formula for vaccine allocation by area meant that more densely populated areas of London were

handed out the same number of vaccines as other regions, and led to the city ‘missing out’ in the first weeks of the rollout.

Ministers have previously denied claims London had been ‘snubbed’ or not received its fair share.

Although supply has been increased, last week just under a third of over-80s had received their first dose in London.

By the same time, the North East and Yorkshire recorded the highest percentage of over-80s vaccinated in England, at 46 per cent.

24/7 vaccination by the end of the month

By Josh Salisbury

josh@southwarknews.co.uk London will have 24/7 vaccines by the end of the month, according to the Government minister responsible for the vaccination programme.

Nadhim Zahawi MP, the vaccines minister, said a pilot to roll out 24/7 vaccinations would take place by the end of the month in the capital.

This would then be rolled out more broadly across the country, he said.

He told Sky News on Monday: “We are going to pilot the 24-hour vaccination, the NHS is going to pilot that in hospitals in London and we will look at how we expand that.”

Asked for when it would start, he said: “By the end of January, absolutely.”

He said a government target to give every adult a first jab by September was “achievable” and said that over70s are currently being offered first jabs in areas only where “the majority” of over-80s have had their first shot.

The call for a 24/7 rollout was

initially rebuffed by the Government, which had said there was no “clamour” for 24/7 vaccinations, because the majority of those being vaccinated were elderly.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, said: ““My understanding is at the moment there’s not a clamour for appointments late into the night or early in the morning.”

Mr Johnson later said himself a 24hour rollout was going ahead.

Unison, the union which represents health workers, has also said 24/7 rollouts may not be the best use of resources.

Its head of health, Sara Gorton, said: “When it’s the turn of younger people, 24/7 clinics may well be appropriate.

“But for now, appointments in the early hours aren’t suitable for very many vulnerable elderly and wouldn’t make the best use of already overstretched staff.”

Vaccination centres currently run from 8am to 8pm. No further details of which hospitals or centres may move to 24-hour rolling vaccinations have been released.

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

King's reopens critical care unit after fire safety flaws but further work required

exclusive

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk The £100 million King’s College Hospital critical care centre forced to close over fire safety flaws will reopen this week with 24/7 wardens on site.

As the News reported last year, just three months after its delayed opening and two years after fire safety concerns were first identified, the 60-bed, worldleading unit was found to be potentially unsafe by the trust’s own technical staff and London Fire Brigade.

Some of the necessary remedial works were completed over summer 2020 after closure in July, but this is just a temporary fix.

Until work has been completed to ascertain if the building’s facade can be fully replaced, a safety plan has been developed so the unit can operate,

temporarily, with 24/7 fire wardens and other extra measures in place to help manage surging numbers of COVID-19 patients.

The trust says the site has been given a ‘detailed fire risk assessment’ and that it has worked closely with London Fire Brigade to ensure the unit is safe.

A decision was agreed on Monday, January 19. The first patients are expected to be admitted by the end of this week, with the unit providing much-needed space and state-of-theart facilities for those needing intensive care.

Remedial work includes completing work on internal fire barriers, and testing on the fire alarm, water mist, ventilation and smoke extraction systems.

King’s chief executive, Professor Clive Kay, said: “Reopening the unit will give us a better working environment for critical care staff, a better care environment for very sick patients,

and gives us increased flexibility in our pandemic response.”

He added: “London Fire Brigade has been very supportive and given us some constructive advice on our action plan.

“Brigade staff have visited the site and reviewed the works, and its Principal Fire Engineer has now confirmed it is appropriate for us to occupy the building.”

Dr Tom Best MBE, clinical director for critical care at King’s, said: “The reopening of this unit is good news for both our patients and our staff as it is much easier to provide the best support in this exceptionally high quality purpose built setting.

“These critical care beds will also relieve some of the pressures elsewhere in our hospital and allow all our teams to ensure their patients receive the best possible treatment and care.”

It is hoped further remedial work will begin within six to twelve months.

‘Bermondsey rave’ broken up by police

By Josh Salisbury josh@southwarknews.co.uk Police broke up an alleged ‘illegal rave’ in Bermondsey last week.

Officers from Southwark’s branch of the Met attended reports of an “illegal rave and Covid breaches” in Bermondsey’s Pages Walk on January 13.

They issued five fixed penalty notices under the Covid regulations and broke up the event. Two separate arrests were also made.

One of these were on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and the other on suspicion of Class A drug supply.

Under the coronavirus regulations, residents must stay at home unless they have a reasonable excuse to be in public.

This can include exercise, attending a doctor’s appointment or moving house, among other permitted activities.

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

www.southwarknews.co.uk/news

King's sos call out

By Katherine Johnston

katherine@southwarknews.co.uk King’s College Hospital Charity has sent out an urgent ‘SOS’ appeal for donations to help exhausted staff who are battling the second wave of COVID-19.

The trust’s hospitals, including King’s in Denmark Hill and Bromley’s Princess Royal, saw an incredible 600 per cent rise in COVID-19 admissions in three weeks over the festive period and are treating, right now, more than 750 in-patients with the virus.

It is a critical point for the hospitals.

As the News has reported, King’s is close to being ‘completely full’, with limited capacity in intensive care, leading to some urgent cancer surgeries being postponed.

“We have more patients now than we did at the peak of the pandemic last year,” said Dr Tom Best MBE, the hospital’s clinical director of critical care.

“This is truly unprecedented. Now, as we stand on the frontline of the second surge, still exhausted from the first, we need your support more than ever.”

One of the critical care nurses in his team, Paul Kenny, pictured with facial bruises after long shifts in PPE, described the second wave as “honestly horrific. It’s tough for all. This round seems worse.”

Funds from the SOS Appeal pay for immediate, practical help for frontline staff working incredibly long hours in full PPE - from providing food and toiletries, fresh changes of clothes, and giving emotional support and bereavement services.

The charity's chief executive, Gail Scott-Spicer, added: “The care provided by staff throughout the hospitals is

extraordinary and it is a privilege to be able to help them and to act as a means for our local communities to be able to express their support through their donations.

“We are able to translate this generosity into practical help whether that be through snacks, refreshments and toiletries to keep staff going through long, tough shifts or through funding bereavement counselling for both patients and staff who have lost loved ones during these difficult times.”

To donate, www.supportkings.org.uk/ SOS

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk A planned illegal rave in a haven for rare and threatened bats in Dulwich Wood was busted by police.

Met officers and members of Southwark Council’s wildlife department found a temporary bar, DJ table and queue barriers inside a disused railway tunnel, designated as a protected wildlife area, on Wednesday, January 6. A black curtain had been placed over the entrance in

Critical care nurse Paul Kenny

Tests now available for those without symptoms

Dr Tom Best MBE, King's clinical director of critical care

By Josh Salisbury

josh@southwarknews.co.uk Southwark Council has rolled out free Covid tests for those who do not have symptoms from Monday this week.

Officials are urging key workers and those who can’t work from home to be among those getting the lateral flow test.

These tests show results in less than an hour.

Officials say the move to offer the tests to those without symptoms will allow residents to check “you’re not carrying the virus and spreading it to colleagues, customers or those you live

Illegal rave in the bat cave an attempt to hide what was inside.

Police Sergeant Jonathan Adams, who covers the Dulwich Safer Neighbourhoods Wards, said: “This old railway tunnel was known to us as a place where people were holding unlicensed music events (UMEs) and most likely spreading Covid and putting themselves and others at risk.

“Not only would they have angered local residents by hosting this illegal event, but the tunnel is a protective site for bats, proving that UMEs don’t only disrupt humans, but also the local and unique wildlife that live

NEWS 7

with.”

Particularly encouraged to get a test are school staff, supermarket staff, and cleaners, among others.

The testing centre opened on Monday, January 18 at the Damilola Taylor Centre, in Surrey Grove, Peckham.

It is operating seven days a week, from 9am to 7pm, Those with symptoms are still being urged to book a test through the Government website.

People who have recently come into contact with a Covid case are also being urged not to book a lateral flow test, but instead isolate at home.

To book a test visit the Southwark Council website.

New test centre in Brixton

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk

Temporary bar in tunnel with drinks and glasses there.”

Cllr Evelyn Akoto, cabinet member for public health and community safety, said: “I’m horrified that anyone would have such little regard for themselves or others, that they’d attend an illegal rave at the height of a pandemic.

“We continue to support the police in finding and shutting down locations where illegal raves might be held.

“Only by working together can we prevent such dangerous, thoughtless and illegal events from happening.”

A new walk-through COVID-19 testing centre has opened in Brixton's Angela Davis Industrial Estate.

Anyone with symptoms - loss of taste or smell, a high temperature and a new and continuous cough - can now book a slot online or by phone. Tests are by appointment only.

The new site, which is accessible for those without a car, opened on Saturday January 16, with appointments now available every day.

Baroness Dido Harding, interim executive chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, said: “Walk-through sites offer communities better access to coronavirus testing, so everyone with symptoms can get a test.

“This new site is part of our ongoing work to expand our testing network

across the UK which now has the capacity to process more than 700,000 tests a day.

“We will continue to expand capacity to improve test turnaround times and push forward testing innovations to make sure anyone who needs a test can get one.

“Please book a test if you have coronavirus symptoms: a new continuous cough, a high temperature and a loss or change in sense of smell or taste, and follow the advice of NHS Test and Trace if you are contacted.”

Other walk-through centres in south London include the site at Peckham Pulse car park; Wheatsheaf Community Hall in Vauxhall; Vanguard Street and Molesworth Street car parks in Lewisham; De Vere Devonport House car park in Greenwich; Streatham Common car park; and Crystal Palace car park (Canada Gates). To book visit nhs.uk/coronavirus or call 119.

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Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

passing of WW2 Hero bert

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk Tributes have been paid to a Second World War hero who passed away in Peckham this month at the age of 96.

Albert Holmshaw, known as Bert, died on Monday, January 11. Born in Sheffield, the Yorkshireman had relocated to Peckham three years ago to live with his daughter Janet, and had thrown himself into a new life in Southwark.

As well as making friends through Link Age Southwark and East Dulwich’s British Legion, he was also a muchloved member of the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, going back to Normandy with the organisation in 2018 and 2019 to mark the D-Day anniversary.

During WW2 Bert signed up to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, attached to the 7th Field Regiment Royal Artillery. He was part of the main assault division for SWORD Beach on D-Day, and was subsequently awarded the Legion of Honour, France’s highest order of merit for his role in action.

After the war he worked in Sheffield and the midlands as a mechanic and for the Ministry of Transport before retiring.

He married Betty in 1949 and they went on to have two daughters, Janet and Christine, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

During lockdown Bert had been making a concerted effort to keep fit by

going up and down the stairs to make sure he could make the most of life when things go back to normal. He died unexpectedly as, despite his age, Bert was in excellent health. His daughters, Janet Holmshaw and Christine Orton, said: “Our dad was a real gentleman, a good and loyal husband, a caring father, grandfather and great grandfather.

“He will be sadly and greatly missed.

We have so many memories of our visits to Normandy. He always loved to go whenever he was able to and we were lucky to experience some of these trips with him.

“What we have taken most from our Normandy trips is the camaraderie of all the forces, both serving and veterans, and the high esteem in which the French, of all ages, hold each one of the veterans, coupled with the gratitude they show to them.

“A high spot of these trips for dad was to visit and be included in the celebrations of the first small village which dad helped to liberate the day after the D-Day landings, Périers-surle-Dan, who hold their own memorial celebrations each year.

"We have always been proud of our dad, but on these occasions are overwhelmed by the courage of him and his fellow comrades. Heroes every one of them.”

Dick Goodwin, vice president, Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, said: “When I spoke to Bert the first time, I was stunned when he told me he was a R.E.M.E LAD attached to the same Field Reg (7th) my dad was in.

“He was a wealth of information on our trips back to Normandy talking about the early days after D-Day and where the Regiment's guns were sited and taking us to small monuments I never even knew existed.

“He was a regular visitor to Périerssur-le-Dan and the service held there every year on June 7 to the men that were lost.

“It was always very emotional to be with Bert at the cemeteries visiting his fallen comrades. I will be eternally grateful to him for sharing his WWII stories with me and being such a great friend.”

We have always been proud of our dad, but on these occasions are overwhelmed by the courage of him and his fellow comrades

£6M for community projects

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk Dozens of community projects will benefit from millions in funding raised from a levy on private developments in the borough.

Six million will be divided among 66 successful applicants over the next two years. 29 of them have already been approved, with more expected to be shortlisted soon.

The funding amounts to a quarter of the £23 million raised by the Community Infrastructure Levy, placed on new developments including housing, shops and hotels, and then redistributed by Southwark Council.

More than 1,000 suggestions on where to put funding back into the community were put forward by residents after an online consultation in March last year.

Cllr Alice Macdonald, cabinet member for communities and equalities, said: “We are committed to ensuring that development in the borough works for all.

“In Southwark, we’ve made sure money raised from the levy is allocated to community infrastructure projects local to the development schemes from which they were generated.

“I’d like to thank everyone who came forward with an idea or project during the consultation.

Projects were awarded funding after careful consideration of how they benefit the ward as a whole and whether they align with local priorities.

Albert Holmshaw

“Investment in community facilities and open spaces was a key theme across wards and we’ve approved funding for a number of projects supporting this aim.

“This includes the delivery of a new state-of-the-art youth and community space at Leyton Square, in line with the commitments set out in the social regeneration charter for Old Kent Road.”

Other successful ideas including a new building for Walworth Garden Farm, so more people can attend workshops and training; improved landscaping in Alexis Street playground and park near the Blue; and converting unused space in Walworth’s All Saints Hall into affordable community space run

by Walworth Living Room - one of Pembroke House’s projects.

Pembroke House executive director, Mike Wilson, said: "It's fantastic to receive news of this local support for the Walworth Living Room.

“Our thanks to Southwark Council, our local councillors and all the residents who backed the project.

"We've all seen how important flexible community spaces like this have been through the pandemic, playing host to emergency food and support services.

“As we emerge from lockdown, it's clear that they will be more important than ever, as we need safe and welcoming spaces to meet as residents and partners and start building stronger neighbourhoods together."

Visit www.southwark.gov.uk/cil for more information.

PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE UK GOVERNMENT

There’s light at the end of the tunnel... but, for now, embrace lockdown life Once again the UK is living under tough but necessary restrictions as we battle COVID-19. Vaccines offer us hope and a way out but, until then, we must all play our part in together beating the virus. We look at the many ways we can continue to stay at home and enjoy life AS COVID-19 tightens its grip, lockdown restrictions have again been put in place, and are likely to remain for some time to come.

Schools to shops, work to pubs, restaurants, cinemas and gyms – all aspects of our lives are affected amid the UK Government and Devolved Administrations’ clear clarion calls to stay at home.

Those on the NHS frontline continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic while other key workers are keeping operating essential services such as supermarkets, pharmacies, waste collection and deliveries.

We can all play our part on the path to freedom. All we have to do is obey the rules.

Life in lockdown is undoubtedly different. But, embrace it, and it can offer new opportunities.

Take up a hobby, learn a skill, exercise, read, bake, take up a craft and complete jobs around the house

Mental wellbeing There are things we can all do to look after our mental wellbeing at this time.

Every Mind Matters can get you started with a free NHS online plan, showing you simple steps to help manage anxiety, sleep better, and boost your mood. n For your mental health action plan, search Every Mind Matters today

LOTS TO DO: Home improvements and more reading are just two things that can help you get through lockdown.

For more information go to gov.uk/coronavirus you have been putting off. New technologies allow us to keep in touch with family and friends as well as connecting on virtual pub quizzes and classes.

There is light at the end of the tunnel with rules regularly reviewed and the vaccination programme being rolled out apace.

But for now we are in this together, all having a vital part to play.

More exercise, DIY and daily routine have helped couple cope Husband and wife Tim and Angela Hoe (right) have embraced life in lockdown.

The Yorkshire couple has exercised more, completed DIY jobs around the house and garden and become wellread.

“Like everyone else, our world has completely changed,” said Angela.

“Work has stopped, usual places we

visited closed, and we are not allowed to visit friends and family.

“All our shopping is supermarket click-andcollect or from our local independents and farm shop.”

They have two adult children. Daughter Charlotte lives with her

partner nearby while son Lewis lives with his wife Lucy and two children Harry, aged six, and Lily, 18 months, in Bournemouth. Angela has not seen them or her parents, who also live in Yorkshire, for ten months.

The couple love to exercise

and have continued to do so within updated rules.

“With gyms closing, it was a case of keeping ourselves fit with running, biking and YouTube yoga and fitness classes online. Reading and crosswords have also filled our days,” confirmed Angela.

“The mobile library has provided a fantastic service allowing us to choose and order books online and

collect locally. Danielle Steel has been a particular favourite for me while my husband has continued with his love of Dickens, Steinbeck and Hemingway.”

Despite not visiting family, they have kept in touch. “FaceTime calling has become a regular occurrence with calls to our grandchildren and listening to our grandson read stories from his school book.”

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Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

Jailed for attacking woman with chair leg

By Josh Salisbury josh@southwarknews.co.uk A New Cross man has been jailed after he viciously attacked a woman with a wooden chair leg.

News previously revealed he was selling ‘covid cure’

By Josh Salisbury josh@southwarknews.co.uk A controversial Camberwell pastor who sold coronavirus ‘cures’ made of just oil and string is being allowed to advertise on London buses.

Climate Wiseman, the self-styled prophet of Camberwell’s Kingdom Church, was revealed by the News in April to be selling coronavirus ‘protection’ kits for £91.

The revelation sparked an official probe into the Church’s finances by the Charity Commission, and an investigation into the so-called protection kits by Trading Standards.

Both are ongoing.

But despite the controversy, TfL is allowing Mr Climate to advertise himself as a prophet on its buses.

The advert, which is running until February 22, claims: “There is a God, his name is Yahweh! There is a prophet in London his name is Bishop Climate!”

Services at the Kingdom Church which previously faced a legal battle over its noisy 3am sermons - are also emblazoned across the bus.

A TfL spokesperson did not answer whether any checks into the Kingdom Church or Mr Wiseman had been carried out before the advert was allowed to run on its buses.

A spokesperson responded: “The advert was reviewed by TfL and is compliant with its advertising policy.”

She added that no complaints had been received by TfL about the ad, despite the controversy surrounding Mr Climate and his church, but that a complaint had been submitted to the Advertising Standards Agency.

A Trading Standards probe which began in April into the ‘plague protection kits’ revealed by the News is still ongoing.

A spokesperson for the Charity Commission added: “Our inquiry into The Kingdom Church GB is ongoing

and we are unable to comment further at this time so as not to prejudice the outcome of the inquiry.

We intend to publish a report setting out our findings on conclusion of the inquiry.”

Mr Wiseman has previously told this paper that he would continue to sell “healing oils” but would no longer call them plague protection oils.

Cathedral shuts its doors

By Josh Salisbury

Police swoop after ‘gang attack with a gun’

By Josh Salisbury josh@southwarknews.co.uk Firearms police swooped on a Peckham street on Sunday after a man was allegedly attacked by a gang of men with a gun.

Police declared a firearms incident after receiving a report of a group of men in possession of a gun who had attacked a man in Yarnfield Square at

8.20am.

Specialist cops from the Met’s firearms command attended with the support of Southwark officers.

However, when they arrived, no-one involved was found at the scene, said the borough’s top cop, Ch Supt Colin Wingrove.

A man was arrested at an address in Wellington Close, New Cross, a short while after. He was arrested on

Photo by Michele Ursino

controversial bishop on the buses

Simon Sparshatt, 47, was jailed for thirteen years on Thursday at Woolwich Crown Court after confessing to false imprisonment, GBH and threats to kill.

On November 20th last year, police were called to Sparshatt’s address in Waller Road after a member of the public heard a woman crying out for help.

They forced their way into his home and found his 40-year-old victim with serious head injuries.

She told police that Sparshatt had held her against her will, and then repeatedly hit her over the head with a wooden chair leg after she refused to have sex with him.

Sparshatt was arrested and admitted in police custody that he had attacked his victim – chillingly suggesting to police he intended to cause more harm.

“This was a violent and sustained

attack on a defenceless woman; if it hadn’t been for the prompt call to police by a concerned member of the public and the actions of the officers when they arrived then this could have had far more serious consequences,” said the Met’s DC Cora Keogh.

“Sparshatt is a violent man and I am pleased that the court has handed him a significant jail sentence which truly reflects the seriousness of his crime.”

The victim was taken to hospital for treatment and subsequently discharged.

suspicion of assault and possessing a firearm.

Detectives from Southwark and Lambeth police continue to investigate.

Anyone with information of this incident who has not yet spoken to police is being asked to call 101 quoting CAD 1659/17Jan21.

Alternatively tweet @MetCC or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111

josh@southwarknews.co.uk Southwark Cathedral has closed its doors to worshippers in response to the surge of Covid cases.

The chapter of the Cathedral made the decision to close to private prayer and public worship at the start of last week, saying it was the right move to keep the public safe.

Although allowed to operate during the lockdown, churches have been urged to close by mayor Sadiq Khan to protect their congregation.

“We regret having to do this but believe we have a duty to help keep

people as safe as possible in this fast changing situation,” said the Dean of Southwark, Andrew Nunn.

Services have now moved online.

It comes after a similar move was made by St Paul’s Cathedral earlier this month.

“I know how tough this decision would have been,” said Sadiq Khan in response to the announcement.

“Places of worship are so important to our communities, especially in difficult times like these, but this is the right decision to take in order to keep people safe and help get the virus under control.

“I hope others do the same.”

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

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NEWS 11

has southwark lost more social housing on estates than any other london borough?

Peckham garages to become five new council homes

By Katherine Johnston

By Josh Salisbury josh@southwarknews.co.uk Southwark has lost the highest net number of social homes in estate regenerations according to a Green Party mayoral candidate - a claim dismissed as simply incorrect by Labour.

Sian Berry AM unveiled a report last week which stated that Southwark has seen the greatest net loss of social housing since 2003 of any London borough because of demolitions.

But Labour’s Cllr Leo Pollak, has hit out at the “alternative facts” - saying the report’s figures and methodology are inaccurate.

According to Ms Berry’s report, Southwark has already lost a net of 860 council homes thanks to demolitions such as the Heygate, and stands to lose up to 2,577 in total once schemes with planning permission are completed.

“My research today shows we have

already lost thousands of social housing homes, and that thousands more are under imminent threat,” she said.

“Demolishing estates in this way not only reduces the amount of housing for families in need, it also breaks up communities at the heart of life in the city.”

But Cllr Pollak told the News the analysis skipped over the fact that Right to Buy had caused the loss of 1,300 council homes in Southwark in eight years, and that in 2020 the number of council homes in the borough grew last year for the first time in thirty years.

Some demolitions in Southwark were a “last resort” because of safety concerns, he added.

“The Green Party’s annual press release of alternative facts glosses over the impact of the Lib Dem/Tory coalition government’s record of nearly 9000 sold or demolished council homes in the 2000s,” he said.

“And the fact that Britain’s largest council house-building programme has been developed within only a few years in Southwark.

“With the council now on track to see well over 2500 new council homes complete or on site by 2022, and an emerging pipeline taking us to over 6000 of our 11,000 target, it’s no surprise that Southwark’s overall stock of council housing grew last year for the first time in over thirty years.”

Residents on estates earmarked for demolition must first agree in a ballot under council and mayoral policy passed in 2018.

Under council policy, all estate redevelopments since 2018 must include a net increase in social housing stock and a right to remain for residents.

A ballot is due to be held next month for redevelopment proposals on Peckham’s Tustin Estate. Officials say the proposals would lead to a net increase of over 100 social-rent homes.

katherine@southwarknews.co.uk Garages in Peckham’s Fenham Road will be knocked down and rebuilt as new council homes, after planning permission was granted this month.

The site has room for five new homes, three of which Southwark Council’s housing boss says will be offered to tenants in the area whose homes are unsuitable for their needs.

The remaining two will be let to households currently on the waiting list for a tenancy.

The council says only a ‘small number’ of the existing garages were being used and residents will be offered ‘alternative storage space’ before construction begins.

Councillor Leo Pollak, Cabinet Member for Housing, said,“I’m delighted that this development has been given the all clear from planning, with works due to start soon.

“The Fenham Road garages site is just one of many examples where we are maximising the potential of underused spaces in the borough to create much-needed new homes for local people.

“I’m particularly pleased that even on small discrete sites such as these we have followed through on our commitment to ensure new council housing conveys the pride and care we have for council housing design, and that these homes will fit comfortably among the surrounding Victorian terraces.

“I’m confident the neighbourhood will be proud of these homes, and I look forward to seeing local residents in desperate need of a high quality, secure and properly affordable home moving in.”

The redevelopment has been designed by architects Fraser Brown MacKenna. It will have two onebeds and three two-bed flats. Work is expected to begin in Autumn this year.

jailed for attempted robbery on dulwich mum

Jeanmelle Baptiste

Court heard she was holding her one-year-old baby when two of them forced their way in posing as parcel delivery men

Ryan Roche

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk An East Dulwich man is one of three jailed for attempted robbery after forcing their way into a young mother’s home while pretending to deliver a parcel.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ryan Roche, from Melbourne Grove, was sentenced to four years and three months inside for his role in the terrifying ordeal.

Police have attributed the shocking crime against the woman, who was holding her one-year-old baby at the time and with two other young

Cavelle Robinson children, as a case of ‘mistaken identity’.

Also convicted were 26-yearold Cavelle Robinson and Jeamelle Baptiste, 28.

Robinson, from Croydon's Grange Road, was handed three years and Baptiste, from Juniper Road in Crawley, was given three years and eleven months.

The court heard that around 6:50pm, on Friday, July 3, Robinson drove Roche and Baptiste to a residential area in Dulwich.

Baptiste, who was posing as a delivery driver and even wearing a

delivery company’s logo t-shirt and a face mask, rang a doorbell and told the woman who opened the door that he had a parcel for her.

After giving her name and telling him to leave it on the doorstep, he told her a mistake had been made and turned around to leave.

But a few minutes later the woman, who is in her 30s, heard the doorbell ring several times again and, while holding her one-year-old daughter, saw Baptiste on the doorstep with the parcel once more.

Suddenly Roche, who had been hiding at one side, jumped out and pushed the woman into the house as she pleaded with him not to attack her or her baby.

The pair kept asking her ‘where are the drugs?’ and, after being told there were none but some money was on the kitchen counter, the victim managed to run into her garden and shout for help before being dragged back inside

by Roche.

Fortunately the pair were spooked enough to leave, just as the victim ran out onto the road alerting her neighbours.

Several people who heard the commotion ran from their homes and chased the suspects, with one witnessing them jumping into a black Volkswagen Golf, parked nearby.

Within seconds of police being called, officers in a marked vehicle saw the

same car approaching a junction at speed and blocked it, arresting Roche and Robinson.

Baptiste managed to run from the passenger seat but was later apprehended after being chased through a series of gardens, discarding clothes as he ran.

Inside the car, registered to Robinson, officers found the delivery company t-shirt in the front passenger footwell.

Detective Sergeant Chris Shepherd, from the Central South area’s burglary and robbery investigation team, said: “This case of mistaken identity was an absolutely terrifying ordeal for the victim and her three young children.

“Luckily, she bravely used an opportunity presented to her to run outside and alert her neighbours.

“I’d like to thank her neighbours for being so vigilant and for calling the police, providing excellent descriptions of the suspects and the getaway vehicle.

“This allowed nearby response officers to swiftly apprehend and arrest the culprits of this abhorrent crime.

“The evidence we put together left the suspects no choice but to plead guilty.”

All pleaded guilty at Inner London Crown Court on Monday, September 28. Robinson also pleaded guilty to cannabis possession.

12 NEWS

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new figures on rough sleepers in pandemic

Over 80% rise for those without drink, drug or mental health problems

By Katherine Johnston katherine@southwarknews.co.uk

The number of rough sleepers without drink, drug or mental health problems in London rose by more than eighty per cent during the pandemic.

New figures from the London Assembly show that the first lockdown, in March 2020, the number of rough sleepers without addiction problems or a history of mental ill health had surged by 84 per cent, with around 10,000 people now needing support to find a long-term home.

It is believed job losses during the pandemic, problems at home being intensified during lockdown, and being unable to access support from usual networks including friends have all contributed to growing numbers of people sleeping rough for the first time.

The London Assembly Housing Committee has published a new report highlighting a need for support services to adapt to help the changing demographic of homelessness in the city.

Rough sleepers are increasingly younger. The number of under-25s sleeping rough has increased by half compared to this time last year. There

Murad Qureshi AM

are also a third more Romanian rough sleepers and a third more African rough sleepers. Around one in six of those recorded sleeping on the streets are now described as black, or black British.

Proposals to London Mayor Sadiq Khan include more dedicated support for the under 25s, tailored services for LGBT+ people and ethnic minority groups, as well as improved legal advice and help for European nationals and those with no recourse to public funds.

Murad Qureshi AM, chair of the London Assembly's housing committee, said: “Last year, we saw a huge multiagency effort to help homeless people into safe accommodation.

“It shouldn’t have taken a pandemic for that to happen. The time has come to seize the opportunity and build on the success of charity, authorities and health service collaboration.

“Londoners now need to see that effort continue, but with dedicated support too.

“People sleeping on the streets need specialised services rather than a onesize-fits-all plan.

“A person with extreme addictions does not need the same support as someone fleeing domestic abuse.

“The city deserves stronger action for ending homelessness. The five-point plan lays out how the mayor’s strategy can respond to rough sleepers who are LGBT, young people or jobless.

“The government’s national leadership and funding is key. London can lead the way in solving the homelessness problem once and for all.”

People sleeping on the streets need specialised services rather than a one-sizefits-all plan

Do you know this man?

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

coroner body delays

Grieving families told there could be a 10 day wait

By Josh Salisbury josh@southwarknews.co.uk The number of deaths during the latest coronavirus wave is so high Southwark’s coroner is struggling to process them.

Deaths are required to be reported to the coroner if their death is unexpected, or if a doctor did not treat a person during their last illness.

Southwark’s coroner’s office has told bereaved families they could face a ten-day wait in having their loved one’s bodies released to them amid the unprecedented pressure of the latest coronavirus surge.

Officials are also struggling quickly to make contact with the family in the aftermath of the death because of their increased workload. This is despite them working overtime.

Senior coroner Andrew Harris told families in a letter: “Our heartfelt condolences go out to you, as if you are reading this letter, you have probably lost a loved one at this very difficult time.

“The number of reports to the coroner has escalated to such a degree that despite our limited staff working long hours and overtime, we are unable to reach our target of speaking to families

By Josh Salisbury

katherine@southwarknews.co.uk

josh@southwarknews.co.uk

Police investigating a report of public indecency on the underground are trying to identify a man who could help their enquiries.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ refused a well-qualified candidate a job because he is middle-aged, a tribunal has found.

Northern Line, Oval

“Please also understand that the pressures on the NHS are so great that we will not be able to secure reports and statements from doctors as we normally would.

“So this will inevitably delay investigations and inquests.”

Inquests are carried out into unexplained deaths, and are a process to establish how and why a person came to their death. In some cases, the coroner then makes recommendations to prevent other deaths.

Southwark Coroner’s Court has jurisdiction over deaths in Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth and Greenwich, meaning it deals with a high volume of cases compared to rural areas.

At the time of writing, more than 84,000 deaths have been recorded from Covid. These are deaths which occurred within 30 days of a positive Covid case.

Job applicant wins £7,500 hospital age discrimination case

By Katherine Johnston

The incident of outraging public decency occurred on board a southbound Northern line service travelling from King’s Cross to Oval on Friday, December 18, at 3.18pm.

Officers believe the man (pictured) may have information which could help their investigation.

If you recognise him, or have any information, please contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 2000139889.

Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

within 48 hours of the report.

“We apologize for the distress this may cause.”

In some cases, doctors can certify the cause of death without the need for an autopsy or enquiry. But in other cases, an autopsy must be carried out.

For these families, the coroner has warned it is not likely to be held until around ten days after a person’s death, meaning the body cannot be released sooner.

The pressure the NHS is facing is also causing delays, because officials cannot ask doctors to give statements as they normally would, families have been told.

“The vast majority of reports do not lead to an inquest and we would expect to release the body to the family straight after the autopsy, whether or not the investigation is ongoing,” said senior coroner Harris.

Neil McClements, 50, (pictured) was rejected for a project manager role at the Trust because officials feared he would not “fit in” with a younger team, a hearing was told, despite being the best-performing candidate in an interview.

Now the Trust has been ordered to pay Mr McClements £7,580.14 after being found to have discriminated against the father-of-two because of his age and sex.

A hearing at the London South tribunal found that a younger woman was employed instead.

When Mr McClements was called to

be rejected for the role, which would have paid around £40,000 a year, his would-be boss told him she would be “uncomfortable asking you to do things given you have an 11-year-old daughter.”

The tribunal also heard that he was told it was “better to employ someone at an early stage of their career as they would then progress to develop their career over a longer period elsewhere in the NHS.” Employment Judge Hyams-Parish added: “We concluded that the point [she] was making was that she would find it difficult to manage someone who was much older than her; the reference to the daughter was to illustrate the maturity point.”

When Mr McClements was invited to interview, he gave a presentation using Minions, the characters from Despicable Me.

He was then asked whether he would be willing to be a minion, the tribunal heard.

Mr McClements claimed this was intended to ask whether he would “do mundane tasks” or be “a servile follower or subordinate of a person in power.”

Finding in favour of Mr McClements, the tribunal said: “We were concerned that both conscious and unconscious bias were at play and that their focus on finding a person who was the “best fit” led them to take into account factors which were discriminatory.”

However, a claim for disability discrimination in relation to the unsuccessful job attempt failed.

The tribunal ruled that Guy’s and St Thomas’ had not subjected Mr McClements to any treatment that a non-disabled person would not have also experienced.

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NEWS 13

www.southwarknews.co.uk/news Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021 ADVERTORIAL

HOME BLOOD SERVICE HELPS VULNERABLE PATIENTS A HOME blood testing service which avoids extremely vulnerable patients from having to come to hospital has been launched at Guy’s and St Thomas’.

Tim Bonallack with daughter Sophie, one year after his second transplant

HERE FOR YOU COVID-19 VACCINATION WE ARE working hard to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine to our most vulnerable patients and frontline staff.

This is the largest vaccination programme ever carried out by the NHS and it will take some time to get through everybody. We are moving quickly to roll-out the

vaccine to those who need it most and will be in touch when it’s your turn.

Vaccinations are by appointment only and our telephone lines are very busy. Please do not turn up or contact us until you are invited to.

Further information is available at www.nhs.uk/CovidVaccine

HELP SHAPE OUR SERVICES

The service is the first of its kind in London and among the first in the UK for patients who have received an organ transplant. This group of patients, who need regular blood tests, is among those classed as extremely clinically vulnerable to COVID-19.

A large number of patients are situated across southern England – the new home blood testing service means that adult patients do not need to travel for long distances to come into hospital for their tests.

Tim Bonallack, 78, from Salisbury, is one of the first patients to have benefited from the home testing service. The grandfather-of-five has had two kidney transplants, the most recent one being two years ago after his daughter Sophie, 48, donated her kidney to him.

He usually makes the four-hour return journey to Guy’s Hospital every three to four months for tests but since the COVID-19 pandemic he has had blood tests at his local hospital and

virtual consultations with the team from Guy’s and St Thomas’.

Tim said: “It’s a huge positive to be able to do the blood test at home rather than needing to go to hospital during the pandemic as I’m not comfortable travelling to London at the moment.

It also saves a lot of time and money.”

Tim is one of the first 23 adult patients to use the home blood testing service and received a kit in the post from Guy’s and St Thomas’, containing a device for blood collection and instructions about how to use it.

He says: “It’s very easy to use. You just prick the side of a finger, scoop the blood up with the device then put it in a bag and send it off, just as simple as that – it’s child’s play! It’s a brilliant idea. I can only see every advantage in doing it this way.”

Dr Dimitrios Moutzouris, renal consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “After an organ transplant, usually patients need blood tests twice a week for the first month, then the frequency gradually decreases over time. We wanted to find a way to monitor kidney function and antirejection medication levels at home without compromising the quality of the service.”

PATIENTS SHOULD continue to attend their appointments at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and Evelina London unless you hear from us.

While many appointments are able to happen virtually, if you have been invited to come in to any of our sites for a face-to-face appointment or surgery, or if you require urgent care, it is important that you attend.

If you are coming to our hospitals or community sites for an appointment you will see we’ve introduced a number of measures to help people ‘stay safe and keep apart’. If you are a patient with a long term condition please do keep in touch with your clinical team.

Please visit www.guysandstthomas. nhs.uk for more information, including the steps we are taking to keep you safe, and the best way to contact us, which may include by email or telephone.

WOULD YOU like to help shape the future of patient care?

Becoming a member of our Trust is free, and a great opportunity to get involved in the life of your local hospitals and community health services.

The involvement of patients and local communities is vital to ensure services meet your needs now and in the future.

To learn more and to join, simply complete the application form on our website at: www.guysandstthomas. nhs.uk/membership or contact our Membership Office on 020 7188 7346 or email members@gstt.nhs.uk.

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

www.southwarknews.co.uk/news

NEWS 15

Advertorial

Fancy creating your own tailor-made glamping escape?

Local duo set up exciting new travel venture..

A

fter months of being surrounded by tales of companies collapsing comes a glimmer of hope that new businesses can be launched amidst such difficult times.

Peckham and Dulwich based cofounders of Kymani, Cheryl Carroll and Olivett Asare witnessed, like many others, the events industry in which they had both worked for over 20 years collapse overnight in March. They say that in times of struggle come great innovations and so it was that they decided to join forces to launch a new business combining their vast experience in the events industry and their love of camping and the great outdoors. Kymani was borne out of a shared frustration of having experienced how difficult it is to find luxury glamping sites for large groups.

Imagine being able to get your nearest and dearest together and bring them to a socially-distanced, luxurious glamping site for a tailor-made, stress-free break.

Located in a number of stunning spots from Suffolk to Hampshire, Kymani will offer you just that. Each site is hired out on an exclusive basis so that you can book the entire place to yourselves for a really special getaway. Most special of all, you are able to tailor-make your trip through an easy-to-use app taking the fuss of planning away. No more ‘what are we going to do when we get there’ or ‘who is doing the shopping’ scenarios.

Kymani takes the hassle out of organising any celebration or gathering.

Every aspect from food, and beverage to décor, entertainment and activities can be pre-booked; think fully-stocked bar, sunrise yoga, art classes, woodland foraging… and each party member will have access to the Kymani Concierge app allowing them to pre-order and -pay for personal extras if they choose. The onsite guest relations team will be available throughout to make sure all goes according to plan and to meet any other requests.

Each beautiful 6-metre bell tent has 2 comfortable double beds, bedside tables, woodburning stove (and wood), sofa, hanging candelabra and reading lamps, boot-rack, ample storage, full-length mirror, rugs and mats. All bedding/ linens, a power pack and charge points are included. Hot showers, real toilets and a magnificent giant Tipi with banquet table, lounge, games area and library are also part of the deal.

Prices range between £75 - £99 per person per night and includes healthy, delicious and locally sourced breakfast and dinner. Book now at www.kymanigetaways.com

New Year Prize Giveaway worth £3,950 for you and 19 friends! it et p m co

ion

Enter by visiting www.kymanigetaways.com and entering your details using the code SOUTH1 before 22/01/2021.

The winner will be notified on 25/01/2021

Contact information – www.kymanigetaways.com marketing@kymanigetaways.com. 07713 910 917

16 NEWS

www.southwarknews.co.uk/news

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

southwark angels Helping in crisis

28 classes at Theatre Peckham

A Peckham-based theatre company has launched a new series of online learning programmes to boost the creativity of young people during the lockdown, writes Simon Throssell...

After 34 years of illuminating young artistic voices from Havil Street in Camberwell, TheatrePeckham whose alumni include actor John Boyega, were forced to close their doors due to the pandemic. Despite all these obstacles, they were able to continue to deliver their regular programmes by opening a new digital home while their physical venue was closed.

As the new year begins, the group have devised a series of 28 classes designed to add a creative lift to January and beyond. From Afrofusion dance to spoken word and even a special Rap X Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration, Artistic Director and CEO Suzann McLean is keen to highlight the power of theatre and the arts.

Speaking to the News, she said: “It’s vital that we keep the arts alive for children because they are life enhancing. Even though moving to digital isn’t necessarily the answer

[for the future of theatre], we are committed to continue supporting the ambitions of children and young people during this anxious and uncertain time.”

In April 2020, more than 400 of the UK’s leading artists signed a letter calling on the government to support the country’s creative industries and venues like TheatrePeckham.

“It was bizarre to see that the arts were left off by the government because everyone else was doing it in their homes; whether that was painting, podcasting, writing or singing," she added.

“The events of last year really highlighted why we do this and who we are doing this for; to provide skills and opportunities for 3-25 year olds to engage in the arts and grow their creative output.”

With support from funders, the group is able to give everyone the opportunity to take part creatively in their classes, particularly those families financially affected by the pandemic.

For more information, visit their website at www.theatrepeckham.co.uk and find them on Facebook @theatrepeckham1

Police and boys’ school have breakfast bagged

Healthy breakfast bags have been distributed among Harris Boys’ Academy East Dulwich’s pupils and their families with help from safer schools police officers and the charity School Food Matters.

Since term began, around 400 bags have been shared among 200 families struggling financially. They have been packed and delivered with help from the local Met team.

Vice principal Ben Bray said: “Having access to a nutritious and filling breakfast is not only vital for our students' health and wellbeing but also enhances their ability to learn.

“We have a high proportion of disadvantaged families who are

facing financial hardship due to the pandemic and being able to offer some extra support with the help of School Food Matters is excellent.”

Each bag contains enough food for two weeks’ worth of nutritious breakfasts and includes bread, oats, fresh milk, Weetabix, baked beans, coconut, rice and fruit.

Safer Schools Officer, PC Marcus Kudliskis, said his team were delighted to help support the community.

One parent described the bags as a ‘wonderful’ addition, saying: “It helps so much. The free school meals vouchers are great but this helps it go so much further. The variety is also excellent.”

Join elephant’s virtual community Elephant and Castle’s Virtual Community Hub is taking on the lockdown blues with fitness activities, wellness classes and arts and crafts online.

Free virtual arts and crafts workshops are being held for 2-10-year-olds every Thursday, with free online mindfulness classes every Monday for adults.

A special event, ‘The White Dress Party’ is being held remotely on Sunday, January 31, at 7pm, with a quiz and singalong performances from the Community Hub Choir.

Along with Latin Dance, Aerobics Workout classes, Frogprince Baby music live there are also cookery videos and online recipes.

Another must-see are the new

Re-Tribe talks, held every Tuesday at 11:00am. Each week a special guest joins, including local heroes and inspirational people, who help people navigate life’s challenges.

More than two thousand viewers tuned in to watch the most recent talk with Olympic, world and European medallist, Kelly Sotherton. www.communityhubse1.co.uk

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

EXCLUSIVE Southwark Council and schools across the borough will imminently launch a crowdfunding appeal for laptops, broadband and tech equipment for pupils - with Tooley Street match funding up to a quarter of a million.

Councillor Jasmine Ali, the local authority’s cabinet member for schools, said she and Southwark's Teaching School Alliance felt enough was enough after months of delays and limited funding from the government, and that it was time to bridge the ‘digital divide’ so a generation of children are not left behind.

Cllr Ali told the News. “We’re switching people on, getting devices to them, and tackling the digital divide. It’s a real engine room here. We’re tackling the problems from all fronts.”

Funds will pay for equipment but in-kind donations are also requested, including used laptops and tech experts to help wipe them before being repurposed. The incredible effort comes after it emerged that not only are many pupils still without suitable devices to

Alejandra Pascual-Jackson, from south London, is one of those giving up her time to help the hospital during the pandemic.

“Originally, I became a volunteer with my toy poodle Alfie, a ‘Pets as Therapy’ dog and we had a wonderful time together, bringing patients some cheer,” she said.

“Sadly, following the COVID-19 pandemic, dogs are no longer allowed in the hospital, so while Alfie is on

NEWS 17

Massive laptop crowfounder set to launch use at home, but education secretary Gavin Williamson had even turned down an offer of free broadband for vulnerable families.

The £250,000 the council can match fund up to is being taken from an emergency government grant for COVID-19 related services. Ali says if this isn’t urgent COVID-19 work, then what is?

“This is lockdown number three now, I’m not listening to him,” she said of Williamson’s past promises to schools.

“The worst case scenario is that his laptops turn up and then we’ve got too much equipment that we can then give to some of our amazing young people.”

She says rather than waiting for people to come to them in need of help, every sinew her team can flex is being put into finding people who need help but may be embarrassed to ask or feel they do not want to ask for too much help given scarce resources.

“We need to force the issue here," she explained. "Trying to find people without

Volunteering at King’s college hospital

Volunteers have been stepping in to help King’s College Hospital staff, whether by greeting and directing patients or helping with administrative tasks.

www.southwarknews.co.uk/news

furlough, I’ve been doing my bit for both of us!

“Initially, I helped sort through the mountains of donations the hospital received to support frontline staff who were battling through the pandemic.

“So many individuals and businesses wanted to help. I’ve recently been able to support hospital wards and the helpdesk, and it’s been a privilege to help patients and their families.

“It can be tough at times; you feel the pain and sadness when you lose a patient, but volunteering gives you the chance to bring people so much happiness. You give a lot, but you gain so much more.”

connectivity is not easy, but we’re doing it. Broadband is like water or electricity these days. Everyone needs it."

Incredibly, before publicly launching the appeal, they have already received a £20,000 donation from the New Common Collett Foundation - enough to pay for 130 devices.

All funds raised will help 92 schools all of which say they have pupils struggling due to lack of WiFi, broadband or laptops.

Cassandra Buchanan, the head of Charles Dickens Primary School who was awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list, urged News readers to get behind the campaign.

“In March last year, at the beginning of the pandemic, over half the pupils in Charles Dickens Primary School did not have access to a suitable device to enable them to fully engage in online learning from home.

“Many children were trying to access online learning provision using shared phones and data plans which didn't last longer than a few days.

“This experience is typical across Southwark and schools like ours have since worked hard to provide laptops for our disadvantaged children to use at home.

“The Department for Education has also provided some laptops to support this effort. However, there are still 2,500 children in Southwark who don't have access to a laptop or other device which allows them to engage with learning at home.

“With schools likely to remain closed well into the spring term and beyond, the learning gap between disadvantaged children and others is set to get wider.

“Schools have done their very best to close the digital divide and we now need our Southwark community to help the remaining families who need this extra support.

“We have come together as an alliance of schools to call on residents and the business community to help us to ensure that every child is able to learn online at home.

“Southwark council have generously offered to match-fund all donations, and this provides a powerful opportunity for us to make a real difference for more children. Without immediate action and help from our wider community, the life chances and prospects of many Southwark children could be permanently damaged.”

The News will promote the link and the launch as soon as it is up and running on our website www.southwarknews.co.uk

Jasmine Ali

celestine retrained as a nurse in her 50s - she is now on the frontline A nurse from Camberwell is one of the NHS staff who have been redeployed to COVID-19 wards to help care for the huge influx of patients.

Celestine Thomas-Frazer started training as a nurse in her 50s, and was in her final year of university in Essex when the virus first hit the UK last year.

She put herself forward to move straight into work on the wards, and is now caring for patients at King’s College Hospital.

“I’d worked as a healthcare assistant for many years, and my colleagues kept encouraging me to train as a nurse,” she said.

“When I got to my fifties, I decided to follow my dream.

“Like everyone else who was redeployed to work on COVID-19 wards, I was anxious and fearful.

“But I knew I could make a difference to patients, and nothing would have stopped me from joining the frontline.

“I joined the team at a time when everyone was working long hours, under huge pressure. “But I couldn't have been given a warmer welcome and at the end of my first shift, I left feeling like I was exactly where I needed to be.

“Love and compassion are what nursing is all about, and we would

never have come through the other side of the first wave of COVID-19 without those two things.

“I was privileged to be able to reassure patients who were feeling scared, make them more comfortable, and help them feel well again.

“There’s no better feeling than knowing you have helped make someone feel better.”

Celestine is now a fully qualified nurse and has chosen to stay at King’s in future.

“I thank God that I made this decision,” she said.

"I love nursing. My goal has always been to help people, and do something good.”

18 OPINION

www.southwarknews.co.uk/letters

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

Comment Vaccine will save yourself and others

T

he vaccination against COVID is the only way out of this pandemic. It’s nothing short of a miracle that scientists around the world, working day and night, have created a vaccine that can keep us safe from this deadly disease.

It’s already killed over 80,000 people so there’s no time to waste. It’s right that the necessary rigorous trials and tests on the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness were accelerated.

It is so important that the NHS ordered the vaccine well in advance so that we can be as sure as possible that we will have enough supplies to go round. We need as many people as possible to get the vaccine in order to save the lives of those vaccinated and also to stop the disease spreading.

The virus spreads by making those with the disease highly infectious including by coughing. The point about having the vaccine is not just to protect you, but to stop you passing on the disease to someone else, possibly someone who is more at risk because they are older or have health problems.

People who refuse to have the vaccine because they think it won’t affect them or because they think COVID’s no worse than a bad cold are risking their health.

But while people can take risks with their own health it’s not right to risk the health of others. Someone who only gets COVID mildly can pass it on to someone it kills.

And someone who refuses the vaccination and then gets badly ill will take up a hospital bed which could be needed for a cancer patient.

Public health measures need us all

C

old, wet weather arrived on cue for the 21st December Solstice (first day of winter); and the low temperatures along with heavy rain continued into January.

But already there is a slight but noticeable increase in daylight hours; and little green spears have begun to push their way above ground – Snowdrops are in bloom and Crocus and Daffodils will soon follow.

There is colour and interest in the winter garden. Cotoneaster, Holly and Pyracantha are laden with dazzling red or orange berries. The seasonal shrubs – Chimonanthus (winter sweet) has exquisite perfume; you are likely to smell the spicy aroma before you see the little white flowers.

Daphne mezereum produces purplepinkish perfumed flowers in late January. Mahonia with its holly-like

from

Westminster

READERS’ VIEWS District heating nightmare: I had to heat my flat with the oven on Christmas Day Thanks to Southwark News for publishing this. Disgusting that Southwark Council have left my mother and other vulnerable residents without heating FOR MONTHS and have been repeatedly ignored by the council.

They need to be repaid for a service they have not received.

Meowby Hill, via Twitter

harriet harman

MP for Camberwell & Peckham individually to do something in order to make the whole community safer.

But there are some people who worry that the vaccine isn’t safe, as it was invented and approved so quickly, and so are hesitant about taking it up.

The vaccine has gone through exactly the same tests and trials as all previous vaccines so there’s no reason to fear.

The scientists and medical experts are unanimous on this and if we’re ready to take their word for it on drugs like paracetamol and other vaccinations like polio, I think there’s no reason to mistrust them on this.

But for those people who are still worried, Southwark Councillor Evelyn Akoto who’s responsible for Public Health in our borough is working to address this.

She’s particularly focussing on answering the questions of the black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

She’s working with Kings College Hospital, with councillors

in Lambeth and Lewisham as well as the many black nurses and doctors who are providing care locally and who have had no hesitation in having the vaccine.

I strongly back her work because if BAME people are less likely to have the vaccine they will be more likely to face the potentially deadly health consequences of getting COVID and that will widen yet further the dreadful health inequality which sees BAME people suffer worse health.

I’m over 70 and in the top four priority groups for the vaccine.

I’ve been called for the jab and had no hesitation in having it. I want the awful death toll to end, for children to be back in schools, work-places to open up, people to be able to see their families and businesses to be back on their feet.

The only way that can happen is for us all to be vaccinated. Like everyone who’s being vaccinated I’ve breathed a big sigh of relief. I’ve had it for myself but for everyone else too.

Planning plant schemes for the garden and looking after houseplants

leaves and golden-yellow scented blooms seems to be in every open space and garden. The Witch hazel comes into flower from December onwards - a star act during the winter months; tiny spidery flowers range from pale yellow to gold or in purply shades to reds and orange – most with a heady perfume. Every green space needs a Witch Hazel!

Work in the garden is at a standstill; the ground is water-logged and the raw cold makes it hard to spend time outside pruning and tidying.

Planning planting schemes for the borders and vegetable plot, ordering seeds and shrubs are indoor tasks to do when the weather is inclement.

Don’t forget - Houseplants need attention during winter; dust leaves, remove dead foliage and check for signs of pests such as scale (little sap sucking insects which look like

spots) and diseases like powdery mildew. Watering should be kept to a minimum depending on whether plants are situated in a heated or unheated room. Succulents and cacti hardly need water until March. Add more plants to your collection - they lift the spirits, boost productivity (useful if you are working from home) and improve humidity levels in a centrally heated space. Three to consider are – Sansevieria, a handsome plant with variegated long sword-shaped leaves. Chlorophytum (Spider plant) is almost indestructible, and grows quickly if given the right conditions (on a window sill out of direct sun); in no time it will produce lots of little plantlets on arched stems. The Peace Lily has glossy, deep green leaves and produces a white spathe that holds a curious looking flower - which lasts for weeks.

Middle of a pandemic and no hot water for days on end in Castlemead. Come home from work on public transport to boil water and bathe. Same for my children. Electric fan heaters costing a fortune. It’s exhausting and demoralising.

Coll Ette Morrighan, via Facebook

Council tenants say they have been forced to wear their coats and scarves indoors to keep warm since October So sad to see this! Especially as so many vulnerable people on this estate. People are freezing and unable to go to the community spaces they rely on to keep them warm - which is not a fair solution, but for many it's the only option.

Southwark Group of Tenants Organisation, via Twitter

Have been without heating since November - have been without heating every Christmas for the past 4 years since the issues started with the plant room on our estate.

Emma Walkey-Williams, via Twitter

Teachers from Southwark receive New Year’s Honours from the Queen Huge congratulations to Southwark superwomen - educationalists Cassie and Leonie.

Cllr Jasmine Ali, via Twitter

East Dulwich nursery says plans for large rival next door threaten small providers It’s been a tough week but we are thankful for the local support and to have the local community behind us. Thank you to Southwark News. The applications have fortunately been pulled into the planning committee.

EDG Nursery via Twitter

Southwark Council announces 10k trees will be planted within a year Scrap the over development that is the Canada Water Masterplan (disaster plan) and create/extend the woodland area.

The Ingented, via Twitter

Schools appeal for help as pupils remain without laptops despite government promises Kids in Southwark have been failed again and again and again by this government; this time on laptops for home learning.

Neil Coyle MP, via Twitter

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

www.southwarknews.co.uk/letters

OPINION 19

Better times are coming, but beware vaccine scams and false information

A

s cases drop in Southwark and across London, but the number of admissions to hospital remains high and COVID-19 deaths continue to rise, it is more important than ever that people have faith in the vaccination programme - and understand how and when they will be ‘called up’.

Officials are already very concerned that a significant minority of people may be worried about taking the vaccine, due to the record speed with which it has been developed (a product of extra funding, scientists, and resources, not safety shortcuts) or because they lack trust in healthcare.

Surveys show particular groups, including some ethnic minorities, are more likely to be hesitant. Another worry is the patchy postal service, and vulnerable people being taken in by cruel scammers.

London is already behind on vaccinations compared with other regions, despite being particularly hard hit by this new variant. It is so important that we all act responsibly both with the information we share, and by

continuing to social distance after the first dose while immunity is building up, but by also checking on our older family and friends to ensure that they are getting post and can contact their GPs, and they understand when and where their appointment is.

Scams going around include people knocking on doors, sending emails, and making fraudulent phone calls asking for money in exchange for a vaccine.

You will never have to pay to be vaccinated - this is free on the NHS and is currently being arranged via GP surgeries, hospitals and pharmacies, to care home residents, the over 80s and now the over 70s, as well as some extremely clinically vulnerable younger people and health and social care workers.

If in doubt about a letter or phone call you receive, phone your GP to check. And if you do come across a scam make sure you report it to the police.

Vaccinations are truly one of the miracles of modern medicine and have saved countless lives all around the world since first being discovered.

Everyone getting their COVID-19 jabs is now making history. Better times are coming.

What theDickens?

SOUTHWARK NEWS DIARIST

son, who was looking for a CBeebies show on YouTube.

“Moral of this story - don’t leave MPs with children and iPads,” she has since said. Still, you might say it made more sense than some politicians’ talk.

Budgens not budging on customers without masks

One shop in Crystal Palace has had enough of customers not wearing masks.

The Budgens branch appears to be so fed-up with people not wearing a mask that it has stuck up a sign on the door asking customers for an explanation if they are not wearing one without good reason.

“You must provide an explanation as to why you may die if wearing a mask,” it says, “customers playing fast and loose with our or others’ lives will not be tolerated.”

Florence Eshalomi

Eshalomi’s cryptic tweet Vauxhall MP and Southwark Assembly Member Florence Eshalomi caused confusion with a cryptic message on social media this week.

The long string of unintelligible letters, ending with the hashtag ‘Golf8Estate’ was tweeted to her 28,000 Twitter followers.

The message, to which fellow MP Helen Hayes alerted her, turned out to be Eshalomi’s young

Count Binface’s Bridge pledge at mayoral elections

Perennial candidate in elections, Count Binface, might stand to be London’s next mayor - and it could mean London Bridge is renamed.

The ‘extra-terrestrial’ candidate says if he nets £10,000 on a Crowdfunder to cover his costs, he will stand in May’s mayoral ballot. He has previously stood in elections against both Theresa May and Boris Johnson.

Among Binface’s key pledges is to rename London Bridge after the actress Phoebe WallerBridge.

Could it be the bin that wins?

CRYPTIC PUZZLE Clues Across

1 Undressed, so hurried about the journey (8) 4 Part of Burma, Siam and more (4) 8 Eastern Europe elegance? (6) 10 Sounds as if the enemy intended to incite rebellion (6) 11 Act it wrong - it’s not spoken aloud (5) 12 Discount illusions. up to the time when hidden (5) 14 Was the giraffe designed for love-play? (6) 17 Sporting dances that should go with a swing? (4,5) 18 Raging of the elements? (6,3) 22 Pet’s out of bed - what a sauce! (6) 23 Shirked less quietly - that was annoying (5) 24 Ruby, for example, whose throw is not far (5) 26 Number nearly needing water (6) 27 Making no mess - dwarfs are hiding there (6) 28 Reversible action (4) 29 Takes shelter after return of war with untanned skins (8)

Clues Down

1 Slips and loses fifty drinks (4) 2 Deciding to draw the line (6) 3 Part of a flower I split in pieces (6) 5 Pieces of meat used in gambling, we hear (6) 6 Remedy for love-sickness? (8) 7 Where one is accommodated inside a shot elephant (5) 9 Pessimist’s view of a pint in a quart pot? (4-5) 10 Supplying money - can broken in imposing penalty (9) 13 They are wrong in law, but right in little children (5) 15 What Chinese frogs do? Hide (5) 16 Pate clad absurdly - pacified (8) 18 Wear at wear out (6) 19 Forces out, found in what Proust said (5) 20 Sudden twist - wench is about right (6) 21 Dreamed of losing head, enlarged the bore (6) 25 Requests casks, less a hundred (4)

QUICK PUZZLE Clues Across

1 Army division (8) 4 Hurried (4) 8 Glance leisurely (6) 10 Massacre (6) 11 Attempts (5) 12 Different (5) 14 Finishes (6) 17 Era of outstanding men (6,3) 18 Pierce (9) 22 Island of the East Indies (6) 23 Perfect (5)

24 Extra large (5) 26 Drives back (6) 27 Female relative (6) 28 Dirt (4) 29 Ulcerated (8)

Clues Down

1 Steals (4) 2 Development (6) 3 0vercome (6) 5 Group of words (6) 6 Tame (8)

Solutions to last week’s crossword Cryptic

ACROSS: 1 Copperheads 9 Ice 10 Combative 11 Hides 13 Asunder 14 Novice 16 Depict 18 Wastrel 19 Radar 20 Leavening 21 Woe 22 Destination DOWN: Ode 3 Picks 4 Rumbas 5 Erasure 6 Dripdried 7 Wishing well 8 Secretaries 12 Devastate 15 Correct 17 Albion 19 Right 21 Who

Quick puzzle

ACROSS: Consolation 9 Ale 10 Announcer 11 Enrol 13 Linseed 14 Invade 16 Mystic 18 Torture 19 Realm 20 Ornaments 21 Tin 22 Reading room DOWN: 2 Owe 3 Shawl 4 Lonely 5 Truancy 6 Orchestra 7 Malediction 7 Predicament 12 Reverence 15 Drummed 17 Pennon 19 Riser 21 Two

7 Book of the Old Testament (5) 9 Mistaken (9) 10 South American pigs (9) 13 Wife of Menelaus (5) 15 Semi-precious stone (5) 16 Cluttered up (8) 18 Investigates (6) 19 Breeding places (5) 20 Floating without direction (6) 21 Christian festival (6) 25 Poke (4)

20 ARTS

www.southwarknews.co.uk/arts

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

Photos by Rah Petherbridge Photography

what’s on

in Southwark

ONLINE ADVENTURE that KILLS OFF CABINET MINISTERS The Olivier nominated creators of Alice’s Adventures Underground, Les Enfant Terribles, have announce a further three weeks for their innovative and immersive online adventure that blurs the lines between theatre, gaming, escape room and board game. Sherlock Holmes: An Online Adventure. “The Case of the Hung Parliament” will now run from 27th January to 10th March 2021.

The Home Secretary, The Foreign Secretary and the Lord Chamberlain, have all been found hanging, in their own chambers. Each victim died on their birthday, and on that day had received a card with a mysterious quote written in it. But what does this mean? Where’s Sherlock? And what will you do next with 75 minutes left to solve the case before the murderer strikes again?

In collaboration with virtual reality company LIVR and suitable for 12+, Les Enfants Terribles are utilising the last 15 years’ experience of creating live immersive shows and expanding their repertoire with this online ‘whodunnit’ which will invite audiences alongside live actors to follow in the footsteps of the great detective himself as they encounter live performances, immersive 360 technology and more than 100 clues

Award-winning play goes online The 2019 Papatango New Writing Prize-winner Shook by Samuel Bailey – which was due to transfer to the West End when the pandemic hit – has been filmed and will be available to watch online from Friday 5 February until Sunday 28 February 2021.

Featuring the original cast - Josef Davies (Jonjo), Josh Finan (Cain), Andrea Hall (Grace) and Ivan Oyik (Riyad) – and with the original set/ costume designs by Jasmine Swan and sound design by Richard Hammarton, the capture of the play was directed by Papatango’s Artistic Director George Turvey in collaboration with BAFTAwinning and multi-Emmy-nominated director James Bobin.

George Turvey, Artistic Director of Papatango, said today, “Having suffered the loss of the West End transfer, we are delighted to have found a way to share Sam’s fantastic play with a wider audience. We are hugely grateful to James, the cast, and the whole

creative team for pulling together under difficult circumstances to make it possible. We hope that audiences around the world enjoy watching it as much as we did making it.”

The play, inspired by true stories, looks at three young offenders who are due to become fathers while incarcerated. As Cain, Riyad and Jonjo embark on parenting classes under the instruction of Grace, their different histories slowly emerge and their different futures take shape. Both funny and poignant, Shook xamines the young people society shuts away.

Shook won the 2019 Papatango New Writing Prize, debuting to critical acclaim at Southwark Playhouse, and was nominated for 7 OffWestEnd Awards and The Stage Debut Award for Most Promising Playwright. It became the best-selling world première in the venue’s history, and sold out on tour across England and Wales.

Following his debut, Samuel Bailey is now under commission from Paines

Plough and Theatre Royal Plymouth, as well as developing a new film with the award-winning director Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) for 42.

He was born in London and raised in the West Midlands. He began writing plays in Bristol and developed work with Bristol Old Vic, Tobacco Factory Theatres and Theatre West before moving back to London. He is an alumnus of the Old Vic 12 and Orange Tree Writers’ Collective.

Shook was originally supported by the MGCfutures bursary programme, and was his debut full production.

Tickets are £10, and give audiences access to stream the show for 48 hours after purchase via www.papatango. co.uk/shook – captions available.

Papatango will mark the production’s online première with a live Q&A with the cast and creative team across its social media channels at 7.30pm on Friday 5 February until Sunday 28 February 2021.

to discover and solve.

Don the deerstalker and become Baker Street’s finest detective. Travel back to Victorian London and delve into the world of Sherlock Holmes where powers of deduction will be required to solve the case before time runs out. As the newest recruits of Scotland Yard, audiences will have to make their own conclusions and decisions by interviewing suspects, reading reports, searching for hidden clues and researching old facts.

Running time is approximately 1 hour 20 minutes.

Written by: Oliver Lansley and Anthony Spargo. Directed by: Oliver Lansley and James Seager.

Sherlock Holmes: An online Adventure.

The case of the Hung Parliament runs from 27 January – 10 March 2021.

Tickets: £15pp www.sherlockimmersive.com Book a private show for £90 and play with up to 6 players.

Public and Private shows available.

Public shows (play with other members of the public) private shows (tickets can be purchased for the whole slot for one group).

A variety of slots are available – please check the website for availability.

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

www.southwarknews.co.uk/history

HISTORY 21

History Jessica Mitford by William Acton

slumming it in Rotherhithe

Hons and Rebels, Jessica's bestselling memoir It may seem like an unlikely London home for a member of one of England’s most famous aristocratic families, but in the 1930s the so-called ‘Red Sheep’ of the Mitford sisters found herself slumming it by the docks of Rotherhithe, writes Katherine Johnston...

National Portrait Gallery London

Jessica Mitford was the second youngest child of Conservative peer David Freeman-Mitford, Baron Redesdale, and his wife Sydney Bowles.

Among her siblings were celebrated novelist Nancy of Love in a Cold Climate fame and notorious Nazi sympathiser Diana; the wife of Oswold Mosley.

Another sibling, Unity, also counted herself a friend of Hitler’s and was so distraught at the outbreak of war between Britain and Germany that she shot herself.

Cut from a different cloth to her traditional, Conservative family, and completely at odds with those who were out-and-out fascists, Jessica showed her strength of character at just nineteen when she caused a scandal by eloping to Spain with her cousin, Esmond Romilly.

Esmond was a nephew of Winston Churchill, who had joined the socialist cause in the Spanish Civil War, like scores of young idealists who volunteered to fight in the 1930s.

Esmond saw action defending Madrid from the fascist forces with the Communists' International Brigade, but after suffering ill health he returned to the UK to recuperate - and there met Jessica, who informed him she also longed to join the cause. This time Esmond was a bystander, covering events as a news reporter, with Jessica working as his assistant.

Above Diana Mosley, nee Mitford, and Oswold Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists. They were all present at the ‘Battle of Bermondsey’. Jessica never forgave her sister and their pair were estranged until their deaths.

Esmond had honed his journalistic skills while a student at Wellington College where, at just fifteen, he began writing and publishing the magazine Out of Bounds: Public Schools' Journal Against Fascism, Militarism and Reaction - causing quite the stir with his support for communism, socialism and critiques of the public school system.

Eventually, under mounting family and financial pressure, the now-famous couple returned to London, and took up residence in Rotherhithe Street.

Although a supporter of workers’ rights and the redistribution of wealth, having grown up in a country estate with servants Jessica had little idea how to clean and cook, let alone manage a household and similarly financially naive husband.

Her memoir Hons and Rebels, details her early trials with washing up - “I couldn’t get the hang of it” - and a diet that mostly consisted of fish and chips.

Desperate for money, they tried to turn the house into a gambling den but “somehow even being ‘the house’, didn’t work for us,” she lamented.

Rotherhithe at that time was a hotbed for left wing politics in London, and had attracted its share of artists, writers and champagne socialists.

Esmond in particular began to develop an increasingly fraught relationship with the Communist Party, and instead turned toward the Labour movement. Jessica describes the local party as ‘much more to our liking’, despite the regular meetings in its ‘shabby hall’.

“Vigorous discussions would take place on the important political events

Jessica Mitford of the day,” she wrote. “Tired, white-faced dockers and their wives would join in singing The Red Flag.”

She describes the local branch as ‘considerably more militant’ than the central party - claiming school children lined up to boo the royals when visiting local orphanages.

Jessica was also witness to the Battle of Bermondsey, in 1937, when Bermondsey men fought off an attack from the fascist Blackshirts, led by her own brother-in-law Oswald Mosley, on May Day. Two of Jessica’s own sisters were also in the Blackshirts’ crowd - both flying Swastikas. Only the fact Jessica was by now pregnant kept her away from the fight.

The couple hoped their daughter would have a very different life to their own, growing up ‘among the rough children’ of Rotherhithe, ‘born to freedom and May Day parades, without the irksome restraints of nanny, governess, daily walks and dull dances…”

The reality of life in one of London’s most overcrowded, and poorest areas, soon hit with full force.

While visiting one of the free health clinics set up by the Labour Party for weekly weighing-in and cod liver oil supplements, the nurses assured Jessica her breast-fed baby, Julia, would be immune to measles and at no risk.

“Perhaps they did not know that immunity can only be conferred by a mother who has had the disease; or perhaps, in that teeming part of London, it had never occurred to them that a person might reach

maturity without having had all the usual childhood illnesses at some time or another,” Jessica wrote. “In any case, they were tragically wrong.”

At four months the baby came down with the disease and soon succumbed to pneumonia.

The couple, still grieving, moved to America in 1938, and stayed there until the outbreak of World War Two, where Esmond joined the RAF as a navigator.

He died November 30, 1941, after his aircraft went missing over the North Sea, after returning from a raid in Hamburg.

After the war Jessica stayed in America, remarried and went on to have three more children.

Despite falling out of love with communism, she maintained a commitment to leftwing politics, becoming a leading civil rights campaigner and acclaimed writer and investigative journalist.

Her sister Unity had, miraculously, not died instantly from her attempted suicide but instead survived, severely damaged, until 1948. Diana, who was imprisoned with Mosley throughout the conflict and spent much of her life as a social pariah in France, died unrepentant and still estranged from Jessica, who maintained a sometimes rocky but still close relationship with the rest of the family.

There is some debate about whether her and Esmond’s Rotherhithe home, 41 Rotherhithe Street, was part of an 80s redevelopment and is now part Bermondsey Wall East, or if once stood near the old Braithwaite and Dean building, now in Fulford Street, and one of the few surviving monuments from Rotherhithe’s interwar, politically turbulent past.

22 FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS / COMMUNITY NOTICES

Funeral announcement

www.southwarknews.co.uk

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

Memorial

To place a family announcement in the paper please email ads@southwarknews.co.uk Announcements must be placed by 4pm on the Tuesday before Thursday’s publication

EDWARD HENRY SETON (TED) 3rd April 1928 - 5th January 2021

Send in your FREE Loving Dad to Stephen, Lindsey, Frances & Edwina, Grandfather, Great Grandfather and Brother of Bernard

Valentine’s messages

EMMA WILLIAMS 23/1/74 - 18/3/20

Who passed away on 5th January 2021

to

Happy First Heavenly Birthday Sadly missed and loved

Funeral will be at Honor Oak Friday 29th January 2021 at 11.30am

dan@southwarknews.co.uk and they will appear in our February 11th edition.

Text only - max of 20 words

Mum, Laura, Eddie, Dylan, Mason & Steve xxxxxx

Due to the current climate the family have asked that only family attend the service.

-------------------------------------------In everlasting memory to my very dear Brother Edward (Ted) Seton who died on the 5th January at the age of 92 - he was one of life’s very best and will be sorely missed by all that knew him. Rest in peace dear Brother until we all meet again “God bless dear Bruv” from your Brother Bernard and family “Up the Lions”

classified

Call Lorraine on

020 7232 1639 to advertise on this page

community notices

CASH / CASH / CASH / CASH / CASH

Are over 65 years old Have lived in the Old Parish of Camberwell (which includes Dulwich and Peckham) for more than 2 years Receive only a state pension

ANY CONDITION ANY AREA PROMPT & POLITE SERVICE TELEPHONE

020 8659 8988 ANY DAY, ANY TIME, 7 DAYS MOBILE

07850 323 508 CLASSIC & UNSUAL CARS ALSO WANTED

Email: vinylwanted@aol.com

Painter & Decorator ALSO INTERESTED IN NON CHART CD COLLECTIONS

Removals • Handy man Coverage: Anywhere in / around London.

Contact

for a quotation.

Janet McDonald Telephone: 07538 071 457 89 Worship Street, London EC2A 2BF Please let other people know about us too Registered charity no 208441

www.bedehouse.org , tel: 0207 237 3881

CARS + VANS

Call: 07956 832314 / 020 8677 6907 Or

0779 8833 758

Please ask the Hon Clerk for an application form.

Our key activities helping local people make life better: Bede Learning Disabilities Service, Bede Youth Adventure Project, Bede Starfish Domestic Violence Project.

WANTED

CASH / CASH / CASH / CASH / CASH

THE TRUST COULD PROVIDE YOU WITH FINANCIAL HELP IF YOU:

•

ROCK, POP, PUNK, INDIE, REGGAE, SOUL...

LPs AND SINGLES - WHOLE COLLECTIONS WELCOME

CAMBERWELL CONSOLIDATED CHARITIES • •

Wanted Records

If you are a charitable or community-oriented organisation and want to let people know about your services, please call

0207 232 1639

An 11-18 Church of England Girls’ School New Kent Road London SE1 4AN 020 7407 1843 We are seeking to appoint the following person as soon as possible:

OFFICE MANAGER

36 hours per week in Term Time plus two weeks Salary Full-Time Equivalent £32,301 to £35,949 Salary Pro Rata £24,761 to £27,558 St Saviour’s & St Olave’s school is a highly successful Church of England girls’ school seeking to appoint an office manager. This role is crucial to the smooth running of our administrative team offering high quality support to our students, staff and families.

Every member of our staff contributes to the success of our students. This is a full time (36hrs per week) post, offered as term time plus two weeks annually.

If you have relevant experience, the ability to lead a team, can remain calm and cheerful under pressure and are keen to continue your own professional development we would love to hear from you.

If you are interested and excited by this opportunity and would like to discuss it further, please contact Sarah Peters, School Business Manager on 0207 407 1843 or email speters@ssso.southwark.sch.uk An application pack can be obtained from apply@ssso.southwark.sch.uk or via the TES jobs website tes.com Applications must be made using the school’s form - CV only is not acceptable Closing date: Midday, Friday 5th February 2021 Interview date: Monday 8th February 2021 Our school is committed to the safeguarding of children so all our appointments are subject to a satisfactory enhanced DBS check. We are committed to Equal Opportunities.

Bede House has been helping local people for over 80 years to improve life for themselves, their families and their community. We’re set at the heart of the Bermondsey community in the London Borough of Southwark.

www.bedehouse.org, 0207 237 3881 Bede House, 351 Southwark Park Road, Bermondsey, SE16 2BL

Director

FULL TIME, PERMANENT CONTRACT AND CONTRIBUTORY PENSION CIRCA £55,000

Bede is an established local charity providing four specialist services. We support adults with a learning disability; women and men who experience domestic abuse; youth clubs and school holiday programmes and opportunities for community volunteering. Our team of around 40 staff work with an annual income of £1.2m.

In addition, you’ll bring a thorough working knowledge of HR, charity finance, fundraising and governance to your role. You’ll draw on all your creativity and energy to achieve maximum success and sustainability. We look forward to hearing from you - and offering a warm welcome from our lively and appreciative community.

We invite you to lead us through an exciting period of development as we move to a new purpose-built Centre in 2023. You’ll join us at a key moment in our long and distinguished history, and take us into a dynamic future. Our current Director, Nick Dunne, who retires in 2021, will introduce you to this exceptional opportunity to make a real difference to our neighbours’ lives.

For an informal discussion about the role, please email Nick Dunne: nickdunne@bedehouse.org.

This is a unique chance for an experienced senior manager from the not-for-profit sector to head our small, high-impact organisation. You will work with people in complex circumstances, and support specialist managers in grasping opportunities and assessing risks.

To apply, download an application pack from our website: https://bedehouse.org.uk/vacancies/staff-vacancies/ Closing date for applications 5pm Monday February 1, 2021.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to visit Bede w/c Monday February 15.

Interviews will be held on Thursday February 25.

Bede is an Equal Opportunities employer, registered charity 303199

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

www.southwarknews.co.uk

PUBLIC NOTICES 25

LONDON BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK

LONDON BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 SECTION 14(1) (COMMERCIAL WAY, BEDALE STREET, BOURNEMOUTH ROAD)

MAP-BASED TRAFFIC ORDER SYSTEM – STATIC RESTRICTIONS

(TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF TRAFFIC) 1.

The Council of the London Borough of Southwark hereby gives notice that to enable works by, Instalcom, Centurion Site Services and Shift Traffic, it intends, to make an order the effect of which will be to prohibit vehicular traffic from entering part of the above named road.

2.

Whilst the works are in progress, or whilst the authorised traffic signs are displayed, no person shall cause any vehicle to enter, proceed, stop, wait, load or unload in: (a)Commercial Way, at it’s junction with Furley Road (b) Bedale Street, westwards, 60m from the junction of Borough High Street (at railway bridge) (c) Bournemouth Road, between Bournemouth close and Rye Lane

3.

The alternative route for affected vehicles (2a) Furley Road, Fenham Road, Friary Road (2b) Borough High Street, Tooley Street, Montague Close. (2c) Bournemouth Road, Copeland Road, Consort Road, Clayton Road, Hanover Park, Rye Lane

4.

Exemptions will be provided in the Order to permit reasonable access to premises, so far as it is practical without interference with the execution of the said works.

5.

The restrictions will not apply to any vehicle being used in connection with the said works, or for fire brigade, ambulance or police purposes or anything done at the direction of a police constable in uniform.

6.

The works will be in operation for (2a) 10th – 12th February. (2b) 11th – 12th February between 22:00hrs and 06:00hrs (2c) 8th February, with back up dates of the 22nd February.

7.

Further information may be obtained by contacting Road Network Management at ttmo@southwark.gov.uk

Dated this 21st January 2021 Ian Law Traffic Manager London Borough of Southwark Network Management Traded Services Environment and Leisure 160 Tooley Street PO Box 64529 London SE1 5LX Ref: (2a) 5599/63558960 (2b) 5625/ CBM-00-33-110221 (2c)5626/LBSCR11388-7/8

The London Borough of Southwark (Parking places) (Map-based) (No. 1) Order 20** The London Borough of Southwark (Waiting, loading and stopping restrictions) (Map-based) (No. 1) Order 20** 1. Southwark Council hereby GIVES NOTICE that it proposes to make the above orders under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, as amended.

2. The effect of the proposals is to reintroduce all static parking, waiting, loading and stopping restrictions borough-wide into a new map-based format. There will be no material change to any of the operational specifications or dimensions of those restrictions.

NB: Any trial schemes enacted through ongoing Experimental Traffic Orders will continue to progress through to the appropriate evaluation and completion of each scheme.

3. Copies of this notice, the proposed orders, and a statement of the council's reasons for making the orders may be found online at www.southwark.gov.uk/trafficorders, paper copies may be obtained from Highways, Environment and Leisure, 3rd floor hub 2, 160 Tooley Street, London SE1 2QH and/or access to the map-based Schedules may both be arranged by appointment only. Email traffic.orders@southwark.gov.uk (or call 020 7525 3497) for booking details.

4. Anyone wishing to object to or make any other representations regarding the proposal, may use the form labelled 'Parking - Road traffic and highway schemes - responding to statutory consultation notices' at www.southwark.gov.uk/statutoryconsultationnotices or send a statement in writing to: the Traffic Orders Officer, Highways, Southwark Council, Environment and Leisure, P.O. Box 64529, London SE1P 5LX or by e-mail to traffic.orders@southwark.gov.uk quoting reference ‘TMO2021-016 Mapper static’ by 11 February 2021. Please note that if you wish to object to this proposal you must state the grounds on which your objection is made.

5. Under requirements of current access to information legislation, any letter or e-mail sent to the Council in response to this Notice may be subject to publication or disclosure, or both, including communication to other persons affected.

Dated 21 January 2021 Dale Foden Head of Service - Highways, Environment and Leisure The Council of the London Borough of Southwark PUBLIC NOTICE: ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 – SECTION 16a THE (RESTRICTION OF TRAFFIC) SPECIAL EVENTS ORDER 2021 The Council of the London Borough of Southwark hereby gives notice that it has made the above named Traffic Order under section 16a of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose specified in paragraph 2. The effect of the Order is summarised in paragraph 3.

Notice of Application to Vary a Club Premises Certificate made under Section 84 of the Licensing Act 2003

1.

The purpose of the Order is to facilitate filming, as indicated in the schedule to this notice.

2.

The effect of the Order is to prohibit any vehicle from:(a) entering or proceeding in the length of street specified in the schedule to this notice on the date and between the hours specified in that schedule;. (b) The existing one way working in Ewer Street, between Union Street and Lavington Street, will be made two way for access and egress purposes. (c) The exsting one way working in Lavington Street, between Ewer Street and Southwark Street, will be made two way for access and egress purposes.

3.

The prohibitions will not apply in respect of: (d) any vehicle being used for the purposes of that event or for fire brigade, ambulance or police purposes; (e) anything done with the permission or at the direction of a police constable in uniform or a person authorised by the Council of the London Borough of Southwark.

4.

The alternative route will be Union Street, Great Guildford Street, Southwark Bridge Road, Southwark Street, Lavington Street.

Please take notice that I / we: Dulwich & Sydenham Hill Golf Club Ltd Have made application to Southwark Council to Vary a Club Premises Certificate in respect of Dulwich & Sydenham Hill Golf Club Ltd, Grange Lane, College Rd, London SE21 7LH. The proposed variation is as follows: To sell soft and alcoholic drinks from the Halfway House, located by the 8th and 13th Tee approx 150 meters North-east of the clubhouse.

The relevant licensable activities and proposed times to be varied Days

Start time

Finish time

The supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club to, or to the order of, a member of the club:

Monday to Sunday

11:00

08:00

Opening hours:

Monday to Sunday

11:00

08:00

For information regarding this event/order, please contact: Network Management at ttmo@southwark.gov.uk Dated this 21st January 2021

A register of all applications made within the Southwark area is maintained by: The Licensing Service, Hub 1, 3rd Floor, 160 Tooley Street, London, SE1 2QH A record of this application may be inspected by visiting the office during normal office hours by appointment on 020 7525 2000; details are also available on our website at http://app.southwark.gov.uk/licensing/licenseregister.asp It is open to any interested party to make representations about the likely effect of the application on the promotion of the licensing objectives. Representations must be made in writing to the Licensing Service at the office address given above (or by email via licensing@southwark.gov.uk) and be received by the Service within a period of 28 days starting the day after the date shown below.

Note: It is an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in connection with an application. A person guilty of such offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

Ian Law Traffic Manager London Borough of Southwark Network Management Traded Services Environment and Leisure 160 Tooley Street PO Box 64529 London SE1 5LX Ref: 65002917 Schedule Road Ewer Street

Extent Closed Between Union Street and No’s 51 Ewer Street

Date of application: 15th January 2021

To place a notice, email em@southwarknews.co.uk or call 07798 833758.

Deadline is 4pm every Tuesday.

Date of event 7th – 9th February 2021

26 PUBLIC NOTICES

www.southwarknews.co.uk

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

LONDON BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 (AS AMENDED) PLANNING (LISTED BUILDING AND CONSERVATION AREAS) ACT 1990 The planning applications listed below can be viewed on the planning register at https://planning.southwark.gov.uk/online-applications/ You can use facilities at your local library or 'My Southwark Service Points' to access the website.

How to comment on this application: You should submit your comments via the above link. Comments received will be made available for public viewing on the website. All personal information will be removed except your postal address. Online comments submitted without an email address will not be acknowledged and those marked 'confidential' will not be considered. Written comments can be submitted to; Southwark Council, Chief executive's department, Planning division, Development Management, PO Box 64529, London SE1 5LX. Reason for publicity. The applications are advertised for the reasons identified by the following codes: AFFECT - development affecting character or appearance of a nearby conservation area; OR development affecting setting of a nearby listed building(s); DEP - departure from the development plan; EIA - environmental impact assessment (these applications are accompanied by an environmental statement a copy of which may be obtained from the Council - there will be a charge for the copy); MAJ - major planning application; STDCA - development within a conservation area; STDLB - works to or within the site of a listed building; FRIARS BRIDGE COURT 41-45 BLACKFRIARS ROAD LONDON SOUTHWARK (Ref: 20/AP/2842) Installation of plant to roof and minor alterations to existing elevations. Reason(s) for publicity: AFFECT (Contact: Yvonne Sampoh 020 7525 4929) Shopping Centre Elephant and Castle, 26, 28, 30 and 32 New Kent Road, Arches 6 and 7 Elephant Road and London College of Communications site, SE1. Application reference: 20/AP/3675 for: Minor material amendment under s73 of the Town and Country Planning Act (1990 (as amended) to vary condition 1 (approved drawings) of planning permission 16/AP/4458 (Phased, mixed-use redevelopment of the existing Elephant and Castle shopping centre and London College of Communication sites comprising the demolition of all existing buildings and structures and redevelopment to comprise buildings ranging in height from single storey to 35 storeys (with a maximum building height of 124.5m AOD) above multi-level and single basements, to provide a range of uses including 979 residential units (use class C3), retail (use Class A1-A4), office (Use Class B1), Education (use class D1), assembly and leisure (use class D2) and a new station entrance and station box for use as a London underground operational railway station; means of access, public realm and landscaping works, parking and cycle storage provision, plant and servicing areas, and a range of other associated and ancillary works and structures comprising the enlargement and reconfiguration of the consented station box, including the provision of an additional basement level and minor elevational changes to the station entrance to: - enable the new station entrance to serve as the single point of entry / exit for both Northern and Bakerloo lines in the future; - facilitate future connection with the Bakerloo line platforms from the ticket hall, through provision of space for three additional escalators; - provide simpler step free access routes between the ticket hall and the Northern line platforms; - provide an extension to the firefighters' lift shaft to the Bakerloo line connection level; and

- Revisions to retain access to an existing London Underground ventilation shaft.

In the Council's opinion permission 16/AP/4458 affected the setting of the following listed buildings and conservation areas: Metro Central Heights, Newington Causeway; Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington Butts; Michael Faraday Memorial, Elephant and Castle; the Imperial War Museum, St George's Road; and the Obelisk at St George's Circus. Elliot's Row; St George's Circus and West Square Conservation Areas and the listed buildings therein, and the Walcot Square Conservation Area in Lambeth.

The application is accompanied by an Environmental Statement submitted pursuant to the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (as amended). Copies of the ES may be obtained from Waterman (Tel: 020 7928 7888, Email: ie@watermangroup.com) at a charge of ÂŁ950 (printed) or ÂŁ25 (CD). (CONSULTATION ON THIS APPLICATION CLOSES 37 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE) HORIZON INDUSTRIAL ESTATE 95 HAYMERLE ROAD LONDON SOUTHWARK (Ref: 20/AP/3822) Demolition of existing buildings and construction of a new residential-led mixed-use scheme providing 40 residential units, with amenity, plant and stores at basement level, with commercial space (Use Class E (g)) at ground and first floor.

Reason(s) for publicity: MAJ (Contact: Alicia Chaumard 0207 525 1768) 124 ABBEY STREET LONDON SOUTHWARK SE1 3NP (Ref: 21/AP/0002) Replace existing damaged to concrete tile roof with lighter slate tile roofing. Repair any damaged timber and replace the insulation.

Make good the gutter and chimney (including relining). Replace flat roof with stronger material. *Water is leaking into the top floor Reason(s) for publicity: STDLB (Contact: Tracy Chapman 020 7525 1948) 86 WOODWARDE ROAD LONDON SOUTHWARK SE22 8UT (Ref: 21/AP/0060) Construction of a second storey extension, replacing the monopitch roofs with mansard roofs parallel with the party wall. (Within:

Dulwich Village CA) Reason(s) for publicity: STDCA (Contact: Anthony Roberts 020 7525 5458) 114 GROVE LANE LONDON SOUTHWARK SE5 8BJ (Ref: 21/AP/0098) Replacement of metal railing with low brick walls to match adjacent property at the front. Re positioning of driveway access to allow parking for 2 cars (at least one electric). Two side infill extensions to the rear of the property including the levelling of the floor levels in these areas.

(Within: Camberwell Grove Conservation Area CA) Reason(s) for publicity: STDCA (Contact: Catherine Jeater 020 7525 5375) 114 GROVE LANE LONDON SOUTHWARK SE5 8BJ (Ref: 21/AP/0099) Replacement of metal railing with low brick walls to match adjacent property at the front. Re positioning of driveway access to allow parking for 2 cars (at least one electric). Two side infill extensions to the rear of the property including the levelling of the floor levels in these areas.

(Within: Camberwell Grove Conservation Area CA) Reason(s) for publicity: STDLB (Contact: Catherine Jeater 020 7525 5375) 129 SYDENHAM HILL LONDON SOUTHWARK SE26 6LW (Ref: 21/AP/0108) Single storey rear extension and replacement of windows (Within: Dulwich Wood CA) Reason(s) for publicity: STDCA (Contact: Athena HyltonThompson 020 7525 2161) 67 BELLENDEN ROAD LONDON SOUTHWARK SE15 5BH (Ref: 21/AP/0096) Ground floor side infill extension, second floor rear roof terrace and demolition of existing shed (Within: Holly Grove CA) Reason(s) for publicity: STDCA (Contact: Nicolette Harriot ) 20 PECKARMANS WOOD LONDON SOUTHWARK SE26 6RY (Ref: 21/AP/0115) Full window and door replacement. Partial garage conversion and porch extension. (Within: Dulwich Wood CA) Reason(s) for publicity: STDCA (Contact: Danielle Campbell 020 7525 2427) 11 AYSGARTH ROAD LONDON SOUTHWARK SE21 7JR (Ref: 21/AP/0117) Demolition of an existing single storey extension to the rear of the property and the replacement

To place a notice, email em@southwarknews.co.uk or call 07798 833758.

Deadline is 4pm every Tuesday.

of this with a new rear and side-infill extension.

Replacement of an existing roof light in the rear roof with a conservation roof light. (Within: Dulwich Village CA) Reason(s) for publicity: STDCA (Contact: Ewan Lawless 020 7525 1264) BLEW HOUSE COLLEGE ROAD LONDON SOUTHWARK SE21 7LG (Ref: 20/AP/3076) Installation of 2 ground source heat pumps and a 2000 litre thermal store in existing stables, 20 boreholes and all necessary underground pipework. (Within: Dulwich Village CA) Reason(s) for publicity: STDLB (Contact: Catherine Jeater 020 7525 5375) 31A LARCOM STREET LONDON SOUTHWARK SE17 1NJ (Ref: 21/AP/0145) Single storey side and rear extensions at ground floor level (Within: Larcom Street CA) Reason(s) for publicity: STDCA (Contact: Ibrahim Azam ) Dated 19 Jan 2021 - comments to be received within 21 days of this date.

SIMON BEVAN- Director of Planning

28 SPORT

www.southwarknews.co.uk/sport

Photo by Ollie Jarman

Bill demands leave Hamlet short

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

Ted Cheeseman against Sergio Garcia

Reise Allassani had no luck in front of goal at Billericay

Another game off as National Leagues continue to suffer in Covid-19 pandemic

By John Kelly johnk@southwarknews.co.uk DULWICH HAMLET dropped to twelfth in the National League South table after their 2-0 defeat at Billericay Town last weekend.

After Dulwich goalkeeper Charlie Grainger had made early saves to keep the hosts out, former Hamlet defender Michael Chambers headed Kevin Watson’s side into a 26th-minute lead.

Gavin Rose’s side tried to respond when striker Danny Mills shot wide but the visitors were struggling to create anything of note.

Dulwich pressed after the half-time break but Reise Allassani and Jordan Higgs failed to find the target.

Andrew Harris-Sealy saw a shot palmed away and no visiting player was there to take advantage of the loose ball.

The away side continued to pressure their hosts but were caught out in the last minute when Billericay broke away and Jake Robinson beat Grainger to make the points safe.

The Hamlet have sixteen points after thirteen games. They are seven points off Eastbourne Borough who are in the last pay-off spot in seventh. Dulwich have two games in hand.

Meanwhile, the Hamlet have seen their fixture schedule hit again by a positive test for Covid-19 in their squad.

The fifth and sixth tiers of the National League have been in chaos with so many postponements with squads and staff having to self-isolate.

Some sides in National League South

have played six more games than others, meaning fixtures somehow have to be squeezed into an already tight schedule.

The Hamlet have to find a date for another of their games in hand.

The club said: “After confirming a Covid event within the Dulwich Hamlet squad, [Tuesday’s] game against St Albans City has been postponed. A date for the rearranged fixture will be announced in due course.

“Further updates will be provided as the situation evolves and we thank everyone at St Albans for their understanding. We would also like to thank the medical and safety officials at the National League for their quick and effective response.”

Dulwich are scheduled to host Dartford at Champion Hill this Saturday.

Kick-off is 3pm.

The club have re-signed striker Ibra Sekajja. The 28-year-old Ugandan scored seventeen goals in all competitions in his first season with Dulwich, including a first-half hat-trick against Enfield Town in the Isthmian League Premier Division play-off semifinal in April 2017.

Rose’s side have struggled for league goals this season, with only two of the other 20 teams in the division scoring fewer than them.

Sekajja started his career with Crystal Palace, scoring on his Championship debut against Hull.

He re-joins Dulwich after spells with Bognor Regis, Havant & Waterlooville and Maidenhead United.

Big Cheese gets first 2021 test

By John Kelly

johnk@southwarknews.co.uk TED CHEESEMAN has his next bout in his sights after confirmation he will fight James Metcalf for the vacant British super-welterweight title.

It will be Cheeseman’s eighth title fight in a row, and his first time inside the ropes since the Bermondsey bruiser won a unanimous decision against Sam Eggington for the IBF international super-welterweight title in Brentwood

last August.

Liverpool’s Metcalf, 32, is the Commonwealth champion and has an unblemished 21-0 record. It’s almost a year since he defeated Jan Balog in his last fight.

Metcalf claimed the Commonwealth belt with a TKO of Jason Welborn in June 2019.

Twenty-five-year-old Cheeseman’s professional record stands at 16-2-1. He had a difficult 2019, losing his unbeaten record against Sergio Garcia, before another loss against Scott Fitzgerald

after a draw against Kieron Conway.

The fight is on the undercard of Matchroom Boxing’s second heavyweight clash between Alexander Povetkin and Dillian Whyte.

The event has been provisionally set for March 6, with a venue to be confirmed.

Cheeseman said: “Massive start to 2021 fighting James Metcalf for the British title on a massive Sky Sports pay-per-view bill. So excited to get my British title back and glad to be part of such a great card.”

World-class stars sign up for Oval Invincibles

By sports reporter sport@southwarknews.co.uk OVAL INVINCIBLES on Tuesday announced that England whiteball opener and World Cup winner Jason Roy will be lining up for the Kia Oval-based side in the first year of cricket’s new, action-packed competition The Hundred.

Roy will be joined by two quality overseas bowlers in South African fast-bowler Marizanne Kapp and West Indies spinner Sunil Narine.

Kapp will take the field alongside three players well acclimatised to the Kia Oval with South East Stars squad members Megan Belt, Eva Gray and Rhianna Southby also joining Oval Invincibles.

Meanwhile, Narine and Roy will link up with Kent white-ball batter Alex Blake and Middlesex

leg-spinner Nathan Sowter for the men’s team. Other stars already confirmed as playing include England internationals Tom and Sam Curran, Rory Burns and Reece Topley.

Oval Invincibles are one of eight new teams which will be playing in The Hundred, a new 100-ball competition that is designed to throw open cricket’s doors to everyone. Boasting world class men’s and women’s players, it will take place this summer and feature eight city-based teams from Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Southampton and two in London. It will be screened live by Sky and the BBC. Jason Roy said: “I’m over the moon to be staying at Oval Invincibles.

It’s been my home for my entire career and I’m hoping to create a lot more positive memories there this summer. With the Curran boys, Reece and Rory, we’ve got a strong local

core of players and with the quality of Sunil and others to add to that, I’m confident we’ve got the right balance in our squad to do well.”

Kapp added: “The Kia Oval is a fantastic place to play cricket and I’m really looking forward to playing for Oval Invincibles there. We’ve got a great group of players and I’m hoping we can go all the way in the competition.”

More than 100 players have now confirmed for the highly-anticipated competition with all of the eight citybased teams confirming signings today.

England men’s internationals Jonny Bairstow and Tom Banton have committed to Welsh Fire while Manchester Originals have confirmed a number of world-class players with South African duo Lizelle Lee and Mignon du Preez signing up, alongside the exciting talents of Phil

Salt and Joe Clarke.

London Spirit have also made strides in securing their overseas signings with Pakistani quick bowler Mohammad Amir, and a pair of all-rounders with Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi and South Africa’s Chloe Tryon all due to represent the side at Lord’s.

The remaining retained men’s players will be announced on February 4 while the women’s squads will continue to be announced in the coming months.

Signings announced this week: Birmingham Phoenix: Emily Arlott, Kirstie Gordon, Tom Helm, Benny Howell, Phoebe Franklin, Abtaha Maqsood London Spirit: Mohammad Amir, Amara Carr, Aylish Cranstone, Jade Dernbach, Danielle Gibson,

Mohammad Nabi, Luis Reece, Adam Rossington, Susie Rowe, Chloe Tryon Manchester Originals: Joe Clarke, Danielle Collins, Mignon du Preez, Alice Dyson, Cordelia Griffith, Hannah Jones, Lizelle Lee, Phil Salt Northern Superchargers: Helen Fenby, Bess Heath, Tom KohlerCadmore, Adam Lyth Oval Invincibles: Megan Belt, Alex Blake, Eva Gray, Marizanne Kapp, Sunil Narine, Jason Roy, Rhianna Southby, Nathan Sowter Southern Brave: Lauren Bell, Alex Davies, Sonia Odedra, Max Waller Trent Rockets: Kathryn Bryce, Matthew Carter, Abbey Freeborn, Dawid Malan, Tom Moores, Steven Mullaney Welsh Fire: Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Ben Duckett, Alex Griffiths, Georgia Hennessy, Lauren Filer, Sophie Luff, Natasha Wraith

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

www.newsatden.co.uk

MILLWALL 29

Lions tied in Notts

Millwall well beaten as Forest gain revenge

Bart Bialkowski is beaten by Sammy Ameobi’s strike

SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP 34’, 70’, Nottingham Forest - 3 Ameobi Yates 83’ Millwall - 1 Thompson 89’ Date: Saturday January 16, 2021 Attendance: 0 Man of the match: Sammy Ameobi Referee: Keith Stroud

THE LINE-UPS 30 Samba

4 Worrall

2 Christie

26 McKenna

22 Yates

5 Ribeiro

21 Sow

Taylor 72’

18 Cafu

11 Ameobi

4-2-3-1

: Ben Thompson pulls a goal back late on

17 Mighten Bong 81

7 Grabban 13 Zohore

25 Parrott

Smith 64’

19 Woods

Thompson 79’

5-2-3

sport@southwarknews.co.uk

7 J Wallace

Bodvarsson 80’

Bradshaw 79’

14 Malone

By Alex Grace at the City Ground

5 Cooper

18 Leonard

23 15 McNamara 4 Pearce Hutchinson

Bennett 64’

33 Bialkowski

Head to Head 46% 17 5 5 11

Possession Shots Shots on target Corners Fouls

54% 14 4 8 9

IT WAS the 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest last season that really made everyone in the league take notice of Millwall.

It was the game when Millwall announced they were genuine play-off contenders and would be rivalling those around them for a place in the end-ofseason lottery.

Fast forward ten months and the story could not be more different.

Forest dispatched Millwall with ease at the City Ground last Saturday as the Lions left the Midlands on a run of one win in fifteen games in the Championship - a worrying sequence that is seeing Gary Rowett’s side coming into the view of those at the wrong end of the league table.

In those fifteen games, there have been eight draws. The Lions are the league’s draw specialists with eleven in their 23 Championship games this season. That’s two more than anyone else. Fine margins,

and ones if they can tilt in their favour will make a big difference.

However, with just five wins this season, and just one at home, you can see why the fans are beginning to get frustrated.

Had supporters been present last Saturday they wouldn’t have enjoyed what was on the menu from their team.

It is fair to say that the hosts dominated from start to finish and were better in all areas than their visitors.

Forest’s intent was clear from the get-go. Cyrus Christie gave the Lions an early warning when he fired a shot from distance over the bar. Former Lion Lewis Grabban forced an early save from Lions stopper Bart Bialkowski after he had been played in behind the Millwall defence.

Millwall’s first chance of note fell to Tottenham loanee Troy Parrott but his shot was blocked.

The hosts went close again on the tenminute mark, Sammy Ameobi curling an effort past the far post as Forest missed another opportunity to take the lead.

Cafu was causing the Millwall defence a number of issues. His deliveries into the

box, though not brilliant, still provoked panic in Millwall’s back five who were finding it hard to clear their lines.

It was that specific action that allowed Forest to find the net for their first goal. A poor clearance was picked up by Ameobi and he was able to carve out a shot which took a deflection before going past Bialkowski – but it was nothing short of what the home side deserved.

Millwall did not look like getting back into the game, but were almost given a golden opportunity by home goalkeeper Brice Samba. He came out to catch a cross that he completely missed. Fortunately for him Millwall failed to make the most of it.

Scott Malone was denied by the Forest keeper and then Shaun Hutchinson’s header was going in before Grabban made a goal-line clearance.

It could have got worse for Rowett’s side at the start of the second half. Bialkowski had to be alert to keep out Cafu’s fine freekick as Forest tried to take the game away from their visitors. Ryan Yates went close as he fizzed a shot past the far post.

Matt Smith - who scored a hat-trick in

this fixture last season - was introduced on 64 minutes with Mason Bennett as Rowett tried to turn the tide back in favour of his team.

However, those plans were scuppered just six minutes later when Ameobi got his and Forest’s second goal of the afternoon. A simple throw from Samba picked out the former Newcastle United winger who combined with Alex Mighten before curling a wonderful effort into the top corner leaving Bialkowski helpless.

That killed the game completely and Forest scored the third goal that reflected their dominance, Yates managing to prod Cafu’s corner past Bialkowski to make it a punishing afternoon for the boys from Bermondsey.

Substitute Ben Thompson did pull one back with a fine finish as he continues to push for a place in the starting eleven, but it was far too late to inspire a comeback.

Millwall have fallen from the play-off spots into the bottom half of the table during this run.

After the 3-0 defeat at Middlesbrough, it looked as if Rowett had cast aside the 5-23 formation in favour of a 4-2-3-1, which brought four points in two games against Bristol City and Nottingham Forest.

But he returned to it at Boreham Wood and Bournemouth with positive results. After this latest setback and lack of creativity we could be in for another change of shape, with Millwall registering just 20 goals in the Championship this season. Before this week’s matches only five teams had scored fewer.

New signings are needed to bring fresh impetus to a side that is lacking confidence especially in front of goal.

Millwall remain a defensively solid side with just 24 goals conceded but if they are to avoid being dragged into a relegation fight they must start finding the net.

They have to start doing that quickly to drag themselves out of this run and make the prospects for the second half of the campaign more positive than they currently look.

30 MILLWALL

Saints make Dan the man www.newsatden.co.uk

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

Scotland spell catapults defender to major milestones EXCLUSIVE

By John Kelly johnk@southwarknews.co.uk THERE WAS only one thing missing from the best week of Danny McNamara’s career so far.

McNamara is a Millwall fan. His family are Millwall, so are many of his friends and he said he received “hundreds” of messages wishing him well before he made his first senior appearance.

It was a whirlwind two weeks, after a return from St Johnstone, then being told by Lions boss Gary Rowett he was going to make his senior debut, then making his league bow days later.

Millwall had a potentially classic FA Cup third-round tie against a nonleague Boreham Wood side out to cause an upset.

It would have been one of those David versus Goliath situations played out against a backdrop of noise and fervour.

Except there were no fans.

McNamara has described his experience this year so far as “surreal”, and that includes marking your debut, your league debut and no doubt soon a home debut in empty stadiums when you probably dreamed of it all happening in hostile away grounds and a heaving cauldron of a Den.

“It’s just the new normal at the moment,” McNamara says. “It’s rubbish without fans, especially the Millwall fans. We know how passionate they are and they give 100 per cent. It ups our game. I know what it’s like to be a Millwall fan.

“It’s just a shame that they can’t be there at the moment but hopefully they can come back soon.

“It helps me out massively that I’m a Millwall fan, it gives me that extra ten per cent. I want to help the team as much as I can. I can only give my all and that’s what I intend to do if and when I play.

“It’s been pretty surreal, it’s gone so quickly from the day I got back from St Johnstone to making my debut at Boreham Wood and then playing the following two games.

“It’s been an amazing couple of weeks for me and I’ve loved every minute of it so far. I had hundreds of messages from family and friends saying how happy they were for me.

I’ve had loads of support. My mum and dad are obviously over the moon with me but keeping me grounded, too.

“I’ve come in and experienced it all so quickly. It’s been a great two weeks, it was just a shame we didn’t get a result against Forest.

“I didn’t think I was going to make

Danny McNamara in action against Nottingham Forest

my league debut that quickly. I knew I’d had a good game against Boreham Wood, but to step up and play my first Championship game the Tuesday after, I never thought that was going to happen.

“When my name was on that team sheet I just wanted to take my opportunity.”

That opportunity came along because of how well McNamara had done under former Millwall assistant Callum Davidson in Scotland.

McNamara says playing against Rangers and Celtic was similar to his experiences of the Championship so far.

Davidson got the call before Christmas that his old boss Rowett wanted to take McNamara back.

“He was gutted that I was leaving, but he was always buzzing because the reason I went out on loan to St Johnstone was to show that I was good enough to play in the Championship,” McNamara says. ”He gave me games week-in, weekout and improved me as a player.

That’s shown as the gaffer at Millwall has given me my opportunity to go and play and take my chance.

“When we played Bournemouth it was very similar to when we played Rangers back at St Johnstone, the way they keep the ball.

“I think Celtic and Rangers are not miles off what it’s like in the Championship. I just think in the Championship your mistakes are punished a lot more.

“We played a similar formation at St Johnstone to what Millwall play, so that helped me out massively.

“Callum would show me when to press, when not to press, decisionmaking in the final third. It’s all helped me out, in attack, defensively, off the ball.

“I learned so much from Callum so hopefully I can bring that to the Millwall team.

“The first month or so was tough.

My parents couldn’t get up to me, I couldn’t get back to them. The only time I could get to see them was during an international break when I could get home for a couple of days.

“But you know what? It’s probably made me more of a man. But coming back home has been brilliant, being with my family.

“It’s been a really great experience, the last six or seven months.”

On his return, McNamara took the place of Mahlon Romeo, who has been a first-team regular for the majority of the time since the end of the 2015-16 season.

“We’re both fighting for the position,” McNamara says. “Mahlon’s been

great with me before every game I’ve played since I’ve come back. He’s been nothing but positive, telling me how I’m doing and what I can do better.

“He’s just a great lad, and a great person to learn from.

“Even when I was in the 23s the lads were nothing but supportive of me. I get on really well with the first team.

There’s not a bad person in the team.

Everyone gets on so well.

“Everyone gets on with the gaffer and he brings positivity into the changing room. Honestly, I’m not just saying it because I play for Millwall, but genuinely I couldn’t say a bad word about anyone.

“They are nothing but positive towards me.”

After major milestones in the last two weeks, it’s not improbable that McNamara could soon come into the reckoning for a senior Ireland cap.

It’s something he admits he has thought about.

He said: “Definitely, of course. But you’ve got to take it step by step and what will be will be. But of course I’ve thought about things like that.

“I’ve got to be patient, keep doing what I’m doing and maintaining my performances, and hopefully Stephen Kenny can come down to some of the games and it puts something in his mind.”

Southwark News, Thursday January 21 2021

exclusive

By John Kelly johnk@southwarknews.co.uk JED WALLACE acknowledges there is some “doom and gloom” after Millwall’s recent run – but he isn’t using the extraordinary circumstances around this season as an excuse.

The Lions have slipped into the bottom half of the table after being sixth in October.

Millwall have had to deal with being without boss Gary Rowett and then his coaching staff for a total of four games. Eight players tested positive for Covid-19 in December, and the latest setback was Murray Wallace breaking his foot.

Wallace admits the ongoing pandemic is a concern, but is keen to stress how grateful he is to be a footballer that can continue to do his job when so many are stuck at home during this third lockdown.

Wallace is also thankful he has happy distractions at home: two young boys and his partner.

It makes walking through the front door after a poor result all the more bearable.

“I’ve got better [at dealing with defeats] from when I was younger,” Wallace told the News before Wednesday’s game at Huddersfield.

“Now I’ve got two boys, one is nearly three and one is nearly two. It’s the best distraction in world.

“But at the moment the whole country is probably sitting around thinking about things they don’t want to be thinking about.

“So as soon as the results start picking up again then certainly the happier my household is going to be.

“When I walk through the door and my missus is happy and my two kids are climbing all over me wanting to play dinosaurs it’s quite hard to be miserable.

“As much as it does bother you, it was worse when I was on my own. Now I come home to my family and it softens the blow a little bit.

“But certainly when football is going well – not just the players but the fans as well – the mood in the house is probably a lot better.

“That’s because it’s so important to us. That’s why it’s the best game in the world because players, fans, managers, it means that much to us.

“Some people might think that’s over the top, but for the people that feel that way it’s definitely not.

“So we need to start picking up and doing well soon, and getting back to the Millwall team that I’ve been a part of for the last four or five years that has been a successful one.

“We’re probably lucky to be in a position to get out of the house and do what we love doing. It’s a bit relentless at the moment with the amount of away games.

“We haven’t had the same time at home as the rest of the country not being allowed to leave the house.

“It’s just unfortunate at the moment it’s not going as well as I’d like it to go.

At the moment it’s all I’m thinking about 24/7, like the rest of the lads, because when it isn’t going well it affects your whole life.

“You don’t leave the stadium and think, ‘we lost, but I’ll forget about it’. It stays with you for a few days afterwards.

“I’m not as happy as I’d like to be but hopefully we can start turning that around.”

Wallace also knows how difficult it

www.newsatden.co.uk

MILLWALL 31

Jed finds home comforts

Winger feels sorry for fans after recent results – acknowledging poor form affects everyone

Jed Wallace tries to navigate a way through at Nottingham Forest

I care about how our supporters feel – I know that when we’re performing well and winning games they’re going to be in a better mood is for kids who can’t play football with their friends as he and most people took for granted growing up.

He hopes his two boys can soon start experiencing some normality, though he won’t be the kind of father who pressures them into following in his footsteps.

Wallace continues: “I’m not bothered, to be honest. I take one of them to Little Kickers, but I don’t think he’s going to be

that interested.

“It doesn’t bother me at all. My dad was amazing with me growing up in terms of, he quietly put pressure on me, but if I had turned around at sixteen and said football wasn’t for me, then he would have gone, ‘fine, we’ll do something else’.

“There’s nothing worse than a pushy parent on the sideline trying to push their kids to do something that maybe they don’t want to do.

“Whatever they want to do, it’s as long as they’re happy. The way the world is at the moment, I just hope it’s back to normal when they’re older. I know that sounds a bit dramatic but I just hope they can have the same childhood that we all had.

“At the moment, it seems like it’s going to be a long-term thing. There are kids that are aged six, seven, eight, nine, ten that can’t even play football with their mates at the moment. I think of what I was doing in those moments, out playing football all the time.

“It must be terrible for them, so we can’t take for granted that we’re allowed to do what we love doing.

“I think about the Millwall fans as well, they’d be a lot happier if we were winning games. I know how passionate they are. I care about how our supporters feel. I know that when we’re performing well and winning games they’re going to be in a better mood.

“That’s obviously something that’s on my mind.”

Wallace is positive by nature, and he points to the number of draws Millwall have had – eleven before this week’s games, the most in the division – as evidence that they’re not all that far away from potentially turning things around.

But he doesn’t buy into the notion his side should be spared criticism because they have had so many setbacks this season.

“I think every club has been the same, I don’t think you can use it as an excuse,” Wallace insists. “It feels doom and

gloom because we’ve not won as many games, but we’ve drawn so many. That’s what’s killed us.

“Reading are in sixth place [before Wednesday’s games] but have lost the same amount of games as us. When I think about Barnsley at home, Cardiff at home, Sheffield Wednesday away, Birmingham away when we’ve had chances and you come away thinking, ‘how have we drawn that game?’

“I had a massive chance against Forest at home and I tried crossing it rather than shooting and it’s those kinds of moments that are killing us at the moment.

“How many good draws have we had?

Probably only two or three have been good ones and that’s cost us and put us where we are now.

“We’ve had some great performances against Bristol City, Forest and Bournemouth, it’s just about putting those kinds of displays in more often.

“If we do that then I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

inside

Sport Southwark

Page 30

Reality hit for Jed

EXCLUSIVE: Mac attacks first-team chance Jed Wallace has ‘battened down the hatches’

Mahlon Romeo

Boss assurance on Romeo future EXCLUSIVE

By John Kelly johnk@southwarknews.co.uk MILLWALL MANAGER Gary Rowett wants two energetic rightsided defenders competing for a place in his side – dismissing the notion Mahlon Romeo’s future is uncertain with the emergence of Danny McNamara.

Jake Cooper was hit hard by Covid-19

EXCLUSIVE

By John Kelly johnk@southwarknews.co.uk JED WALLACE has admitted lockdown 3 is the most difficult so far – and that Jake Cooper’s experience of Covid-19 recently brought home the seriousness of the disease.

Cooper was one of eight Millwall players who tested positive in December, causing games against Bournemouth and Watford to be postponed.

Wallace said he and his young family have “battened down the hatches” as the UK suffered its worst daily reported death toll of the pandemic

Team-mate’s experience made attacker ‘fearful’ this week.

Lions attacker Wallace wants to think “there’s light at the end of the tunnel”, especially as vaccines continue to be administered, but recognises things can change from day to day.

Cooper’s experience had a particular effect on him.

“I’ll be honest with you, the last month is probably the first time I’ve been genuinely fearful of it,” Wallace said.

“As soon as I spoke to Coops, for example, he’s six foot seven, fit as a fiddle, he said he had a tight chest with it. So I’ve definitely been very aware of it the last six weeks.

“I have been the whole way through, really, because I’ve got young kids, but especially the last six weeks.

“I live in Surrey and it has been one of the hotspots in the country. We’ve battened down the hatches at home, not been to see anyone.

“We’ve just been spending a couple of hours in the woods with the dogs and the kids just trying to keep them as entertained as we can.

“It’s mad at the moment. It changes every week. I can say to you now there’s light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine but it could change

Go to newsatden.co.uk for the report and all the reaction after Millwall’s league clash against Huddersfield on Wednesday night

in a few days and you feel down in the dumps again.”

Like most people, Wallace is hoping this is the last hard lockdown, and that restrictions will be eased to allow people to get back to normal life.

Wallace added: “I certainly do feel this lockdown has been more difficult this time for a lot of people. I speak to me sister, my family and friends and it’s tougher with the weather being miserable. It’s not as easy as maybe it was in the summer.

“But hopefully this will be the last kind of lockdown we do as hard as this. You try to distract yourself a lot of the time. If people can get out and distract themselves I think that would be a big help for everyone.”

VS

McNamara was recalled from a scheduled season-long loan at St Johnstone this month and was immediately handed his debut against Boreham Wood, before keeping his place for the next league game at Bournemouth.

McNamara was man of the match on his first-ever Millwall appearance, and is threatening to take the shirt on a regular basis from Romeo, who has been first-choice for the majority of the time since his senior debut in February 2016.

But Rowett wants two players fighting to play on the right side of his defence, and is set to rotate his selections there given the relentless schedule in a compacted season.

“That situation is quite simple.

We brought Danny Mac back for competition for places,” Rowett said.

“Danny’s come in and done really, really well, and actually maybe exceeded where we thought he was at.

So we’re really pleased about that.

“It’s always good to get a player that’s Millwall through-and-through and is absolutely desperate to help push the team forward. That’s important.

“But Mahlon is also a good player and will get his opportunities. And it’s really up to him to take them.

“We’ve got so many games so to have two good wing-backs capable of playing there with energy can only be a good thing.”

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