Message from the Mayor

In May, Lewisham had elections for the Mayor of Lewisham and your 54 local councillors. I’m honoured to have been re-elected to serve as your Mayor for another four years –alongside a fantastic team of councillors – and I’m excited about delivering the ambitious manifesto I was elected on.

Lewisham is such a special place; we are proudly diverse, with values of kindness, compassion, tolerance and respect. We have strong communities, fantastic local town centres and businesses, beautiful green spaces and parks – and, as the pandemic showed, together we can do so much more.

I spoke to hundreds of residents during the election campaign, and I know that this is a really difficult time for many people, with the cost of living crisis and the ongoing impact of the pandemic. My priorities, working with my new Cabinet team, are around protecting what’s great about Lewisham, with a focus on supporting people during the difficult months and years ahead.

Some of my key priorities include: l Delivering 800 new social homes and investing in housing repairs l a brand new 7 day a week library l hireable new community space with kitchen l a brilliant children’s section with homework space and digital access l resources to help residents find work and get online l innovative pods for hybrid working

For more information and updates visit lewisham.gov.uk/libraries l Making our streets cleaner, with more work done to prosecute fly-tippers l Supporting all of our schools to be good or outstanding, so that every child is able to succeed l Creating 4,000 local jobs and expanding our apprenticeship programme l Working with the NHS to improve access to GPs l Making sure we continue to have the best parks in London, with new play areas and rewilding to support wildlife

This is, of course, just a snapshot of what’s to come, and I look forward to sharing more details of my priorities and how we’re going to achieve them.

I hope you find this issue of Lewisham Life useful, especially the information about the brilliant events and opportunities going on throughout the summer of our year as London Borough of Culture.

As ever, if you have any questions or issues you wish to raise, you can email me at Damien.Egan@lewisham.gov.uk

In this issue you can find out the latest news and what events are happening as part of our year as London Borough of Culture. Meet our Speaker, find out who your local Councillor is after the recent elections, and whether your ward has changed. Why not explore some fun new ways to get fit this summer and take a trip to Lewisham Market to save money, buy fresh healthy food and enjoy the atmosphere!

We’re also sharing some news from our schools, including an update on their work to tackle race inequality.

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