Meeting about changes in management of Streatham Common - 24th October

There will be an open meeting next Wednesday 24th October for local people to put their questions about who should manage Streatham Common, which is being facilitated by the Friends of Streatham Common.

The issue has arisen as a result of Lambeth's 'co-op' policy, in which it is transferring its services and assets away from council control in varying degrees. Lambeth's co-op approach has come under significant fire recently, for being a front for budget cuts, a form of privatisation and not providing enough resourcing for the groups who might be involved.

There are already concerns about the state of the Streatham Common Rookery and the years of under-investment, with a petition for further investment in it being recently launched.

The meeting will take place at 8.00pm in the Sainsbury's cafe opposite Streatham Common.

The options for managing Streatham Common that are being discussed include:

- Giving Friends' groups more say over spending priorities,

- Transferring management of the whole Common to an independent trust

- Something in-between involving schools and other local groups.

The meeting is being advertised as a chance to put views and ask questions to councillors and council officers. This say Friends of Streatham Common, will help the group understand local opinion and make sure they support the right options and don’t end up with a solution that nobody wants, or see opportunities missed that are taken up by other parks and open spaces.

The meeting is open to anyone and refreshments will be provided

For further information you can email: friendsofstreathamcommon (at) gmail.com

Collection for food bank at Sainsbury's Streatham Common - Saturday 22nd September

Norwood food bank is doing a food collection this Saturday 22nd September between 9am until 6pm at Sainsbury's Streatham common.

For those unfamiliar with foodbanks the Trussell Trust's UK foodbank network works in partnership with local churches and communities to open foodbanks nationwide. There are over 100 foodbanks in the UK. Last year UK foodbanks fed over 60,000 people.

You might have seen the Norwood Foodbank at the Lambeth Country Show this weekend. It is currently feeding over 100 people a week giving out 500kg of food, but urgently needs more stock.

The foodbank gets its food in a number of ways. It hosts coffee mornings, runs 'bring-a-can-to-work' events, and asks local schools to have collections..

But one of the main ways it gets food is by encouraging shoppers on a certain day, at a local supermarket, to buy an extra item and donate it. It is doing this next Saturday at Sainsbury's in Streatham, but needs more volunteers to help collect the food.

If you might be able to help do email norwoodfoodbank (at) btinternet.com