8 minute read
Councillors Column
from SE22 February 2022
by SE Magazines
SE22 Councillors
Dulwich Hill Councillor Maggie Browning | maggie.browning@southwark.gov.uk
Royal Mail Christmas Chaos
As local councillors, we have been inundated with stories about the poor postal service throughout the Christmas period. When I was out knocking on doors in Dulwich in January, residents spoke of no post for up to 4 weeks; of missing Christmas cards and gifts, letters for hospital appointments arriving late and of waiting for important bills and documents. As many residents will know, Royal Mail chose to close their delivery office on Silvester Road in 2018. This has left SE22 and the wider Dulwich area without a delivery office able to meet the needs of the community. We, along with Helen Hayes MP, opposed the closure at the time but our concerns fell on deaf ears. Since then the service has gone from bad to worse. We have consistently raised the issue of the poor postal service in Dulwich with Royal Mail but again no action has been taken. We know our postal workers are working extremely hard in very challenging circumstances, challenges that have been further exacerbated by the pandemic. Your local councillors in Dulwich and your local MP Helen Hayes have relaunched our campaign on the postal service in Dulwich. We are starting out with a survey so we can get a clear picture of the scale of the problem. If you haven’t already, please fill out our survey and encourage your friends and neighbours to do the same:
In December, it was a pleasure to take part in the ceremony for the centenary celebration of the Royal British Legion East Dulwich Branch on Barry Road. My ward colleague Cllr Jon Hartley and I were joined by the Mayor of Southwark Cllr Barrie Hargrove and by Helen Hayes MP. There was an amazing turnout of local residents and the ceremony was very moving. The RBL building has recently undergone a major refurbishment, organized by volunteers and with support from the central Royal British Legion, and it looks fantastic inside. I will be working with the branch and volunteers to see how we can further commemorate this important anniversary.
With Cllr Ochere and Cllr Hartley outside Parkside Café on Forest Hill Road.
Supporting Local Businesses in Dulwich Hill
It was a pleasure to welcome Cllr Jason Ochere, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Businesses and Town Centres, to Dulwich Hill in December to meet with businesses on Forest Hill Road and to discuss what more we can do to help businesses thrive. Several businesses we spoke to had been supported by the council to apply for support grants during the pandemic and were keen to share further ideas for how we can continue to support small businesses in Southwark.
Back to Business Fund open to applications
The Back to Business Fund, a collaboration between Southwark Council and the Greater London Authority, is now open to applications. Delivered through the Pay It Forward London crowdfunding platform, the fund offers up to £5,000 in match funding to small and independent businesses based in Southwark to help them build future resilience. Businesses can use the fund to upskill employees, digitise, diversify their business model, or innovate and adapt to new ways of trading through the recovery period. If you’re a small business that has been adversely affected by COVID-19, this fund can help your business become better equipped for the future.
https://payitforward.london.gov.uk/fund?utm_ content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_ source=govdelivery&utm_term=
Sunday 13 February: A Fresh Take on Shostakovich: LMP with Sheku Kanneh-Mason
7:30pm - 9pm. The London Mozart Players return to Fairfield Halls in February 2022 with star soloist Sheku Kanneh–Mason presenting a ‘Fresh Take’ on Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2.
LMP’s ‘Fresh Takes’ is a brand–new concert series which includes an engaging introduction by the performers at the start of the concert. The composer’s influences will be revealed, musical excerpts will be performed by the orchestra, while manuscripts, portraits and more will be projected on an overhead screen in a unique presentation which will enhance the appreciation and emotional impact of the work’s performance. In the first concert, superstar cellist Sheku Kanneh–Mason performs Shostakovich’s second cello concerto. Interweaving brooding melodies with animated themes, and featuring a virtuosic cadenza, it’s a dramatic work that makes demands on soloist, conductor and orchestra. Sheku will share his own insights into the challenges of this work on stage with conductor Jonathan Bloxham ahead of a full performance. Don’t miss this opportunity to find out more about, and then hear, a rarely performed work, played by one of the UK’s finest musicians. Mussorgsky’s iconic suite of ten short movements Pictures at an Exhibition is an evergreen favourite. Acclaimed artist James Mayhew will be on hand to paint along to the music, with his artwork inspired by Mussorgsky’s dramatic melodies projected on the overhead screens in Fairfield’s iconic concert hall. This all–Russian programme will open with Glinka’s exuberant overture to his opera Ruslan and Lyudmila. Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon CR9 1DG.
https://www.londonmozartplayers.com/
Monday 14 February: Dulwich WI Monthly Meeting
7.30pm-9.30pm. We meet on the second Monday of each month at Fifty Seven, 57 North Cross Road, East Dulwich, SE22. https://dulwichwi.com
Monday 21 February: Entrepreneurs Circle Local Meeting: Dulwich
6pm-8pm (registration from 5.30pm). The Entrepreneurs Circle Local Meeting is a new type of Business Growth Meeting (with some networking) that’s guaranteed to help your business grow... ...because as well as good old networking, our meetings always have a featured content session where we share a practical marketing tactic or strategy that you can use in your business to get more customers and make more sales!
It’s a DOUBLE WHAMMY!
You’ll get more customers IN the meetings through networking and referrals PLUS you’ll also leave with actionable ideas to market your business once you get home too. Whether you’re an existing EC member or this is your very first meeting, if you’re a business owner from the Dulwich area, we’d love to have you join us at our September Meeting. Whilst this event is exclusively for Members of Entrepreneurs Circle you can join for free via this link https://eclocal.co.uk/Dulwich/join/ or come along as a guest. Join your fellow Dulwich business owners for our Entrepreneurs Circle Local Meeting at:
The Clock House (Upstairs) 198a Peckham Rye, East Dulwich, SE22 9QA.
Wednesday 23 February: Cooking with Scissors – Smart Business Networking
6.45pm-8pm. An opportunity for local business professionals to meet, make new contacts and gain new business. The last Wednesday of every month. Free Admission. To find out more or register please go to our website
https://cookingwithscissors.co.uk/
The Lordship Pub, 211 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, SE22 8HA
7:30pm - 8:30pm. Join Village Books and Alleyn’s School Enterprises for an evening with Radio 4’s Justin Webb where he will be discussing his memoir The Gift of a Radio: My Childhood and Other Train Wrecks. Justin’s childhood was far from ordinary: Between his mother’s undiagnosed psychological problems, and his stepfather’s untreated ones, his life at home was dysfunctional. Life at a Quaker boarding school wasn’t much better with gunwielding school masters and sub-standard living conditions. And the backdrop to this comingof-age story? Britain in the 1970s. Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and Free. Strikes, inflation and IRA bombings. A time in which attitudes towards mental illness, parenting and masculinity were worlds apart from the attitudes we have today. Candid, unsparing and darkly funny, Justin's memoir is a portrait of personal and national dysfunction. Was it the brutal experiences of his upbringing, or an innate ambition and drive that shaped the urbane and successful radio presenter we know and love now? ‘Justin is a great broadcaster because he sounds like a real human being. This hugely entertaining book helps explain why’. John Humphrys Justin Webb is the longest serving presenter of BBC Radio 4 Today programme. For almost 40 years he has been a voice on the airwaves or a presence on our TV screens. He has reported from around the world and has won several awards including Political Journalist of the Year for his coverage of the Obama presidential campaign.
https://www.village-books.co.uk.
The MCT at Alleyn’s, Alleyn’s School, Townley Road, East Dulwich SE22 8SU
Friday 25 February: Fay Hield, Laura Victoria, Jacken Elswyth 7pm-11pm
Fay Hield first appeared on the Folk scene twenty years ago in The Witches of Elswick. She is a singer who seems to have been born knowing how to carry a tune, but with the rarer gift of knowing how to go straight to the heart of a song. She combines vision, inspiration and outstanding musicianship into a fresh and original exploration of how we use songs, stories and music to understand what it means to be human. Fay breathes new life into timeless stories. Laura Victoria sings songs of love affairs, shipwrecks, imaginary worlds and cups of tea, accompanied by cello playing that veers between moving melancholy airs, punchy rock riffing and slap bass. Jacken Elswyth is a London-based banjo player. She draws on old-time Appalachian playing alongside American Primitive guitarists and English folk revivalists, adding drone accompaniments, extended playing techniques and elements of free playing to push at the edges of these styles and traditions.
Tickets are £14 advance, £16 on the door (cash only please). Advance tickets from: www.wegottickets.com/thegooseisout.
Please see our website for up-to-date information on the Covid precautions we will be taking at this concert.
