4 minute read
Focus on Bexley
HIGH STREETS FOR ALL
Challenge
The High Streets for All partnership, including the London Borough of Bexley and Bexleyheath Business Improvement District has been awarded funding for town centre improvements in Bexleyheath as part of the Mayor of London’s ‘High Streets for All Challenge.’
The £160,000 funding will go towards several initiatives designed to increase the vibrancy and vitality of the town.
Cabinet Member for Growth, Cllr Cafer Munur said: “High street recovery is at the heart of this funding. This extra resource will support the partnership with local engagement, to test innovative solutions with young people, businesses, and the community. “Part of the project will look at finding and trialling local solutions for a better local economy at night, improving safety. We want to enhance the town’s existing offer and test how to improve the public realm so its accessible to everyone. I’m looking forward to seeing the projects take shape.” Now that the funding has been agreed, the proposals will be developed by the partnership which includes representatives of youth organisations, culture, and businesses and with the support of industry specialists.
arrive in Bexleyheath and Welling
Bexley Originals is a
pop-up shop initiative, aiming to help a wide range of local business types to gain their first experience of trading on the high street, adding to their business skills. It also makes use of otherwise empty shopping units to provide unique shopping experiences and products for shoppers.
The first pop-up shop to open in December 2021 was in the Broadway Shopping Centre in Bexleyheath. Inside 11 new traders work in one retail space selling unique products, including specialist chocolates, eco-friendly bath products, spice condiments, clothes, and fashion. The second Bexley Originals Shop can be found at 70 Bellegrove Road in Welling. The pop-up shop has given five new traders the chance to showcase and sell their products in prime retail space on Welling High Street. Goods on sale include specialist body products, ethically sourced crystals, jewellery, home decorations and homewares. Both pop-up shops will remain open until the end of March 2022. Councillor Cafer Munur Bexley’s Cabinet Member for Growth, said: “We’ve launched this scheme to help support small and start-up businesses in Bexley. It builds on our ongoing ‘Shop Local’ campaign which aims to boost sales for local independent businesses. If you want to buy some special and unique items, then Bexley Originals shops are the place to go.” With the support of Retail Revival, an experienced business support and high street regeneration specialist, 40 applicants were shortlisted, 24 interviewed and from these 11 were selected to trade in the Bexleyheath shop and five in the Welling shop. The Bexley Originals initiative has been developed by the London Borough of Bexley, as part of its post-COVID Economic Recovery Strategy. Bexley Originals is supported by the Government’s Additional Restrictions Grant scheme.
Winter help
for Bexley residents in need
Bexley residents in need
were able to get extra support over the winter thanks to over £1.5 million in funding to the Council from the government’s Household Support Fund. It helped to:
• Provide around 7,859 children eligible for free school meals for February half term and the Easter holiday with almost £700,000 of vouchers for their families to use in supermarkets.
Vouchers had already been provided for the October half term and Christmas holidays. • Provide an extra £718,000 to support more than 14,000 households that qualify for the Council’s Council Tax
Reduction Scheme with vouchers (£26 to £104, depending on number of people in household). • Give £100,000 in grants to local voluntary organisations to support residents. This will include £20,000 for the local foodbank and £20,000 to provide food and essential supplies to SOLACE to support victims of domestic abuse. A decision on the allocation of a further £60,000 was planned for January. Councillor David Leaf, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources said: “I know that many families are feeling the pinch from higher costs of living. We have thought carefully about how to ensure the funding helps our most vulnerable families and giving support to those we know are already on low incomes will make a difference at this uncertain time.”
Croydon’s
going places
That’s why LSBU are here and committed to this area.
Our new campus is the latest in a string of exciting developments in one of London’s most ambitious areas. Home to big businesses, start-ups and a uniquely South London buzz: we’re playing our part in its future.
Our new home will be in a Grade II listed building, Electric House, in Croydon town centre. With it’s original purpose of empowering local people to explore new technology in mind, we aim to build on this mission by allowing our students to engage with the latest innovation in technology and build digital innovation. LSBU is here to meet the need for an exceptional civic university powering the future workforce, building sustainable and engaged communities and boosting the region’s standing on a national and global stage. We’re providing ambitious, businessminded Londoners with a brand new business hub, brimming with entrepreneurial spirit, where students, staff and our Croydon community alike gather to share knowledge and ideas. As well as Undergraduate programs in Business Management and Accounting and Finance, LSBU Croydon offers CPD and upskilling short courses, design to help the local community get into careers and improve their job prospects.
