New mayoress for LewishamRecycling rolled out

Local resident Bridgit Sam-Bailey has been named mayoress of Lewisham for 2023.

Born in British Guiana, the former businesswoman, trade unionist and academic is chair of Lewisham Pensioners’ Forum and has been instrumental in turning the forum into a campaigning force for older people in the borough. She has highlighted the impact that the cost-of-living crisis is having on older people and has worked tirelessly to ensure they stay connected.

In less recent times she was also part of the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign, which will be celebrating its 10year anniversary this summer.

Damien Egan, mayor of Lewisham, said: “I am really looking forward to working with Bridgit closely this year. She is ferociously community-minded and has changed the lives of hundreds of local people.

“I would also like to thank our outgoing mayoresses Dawn Atkinson, Natasha Ricketts and Christina Norman who have brought to the role relentless energy and enthusiasm.

“I am immensely proud of the work they have delivered, from running the Evelyn Community Store helping thou-

Damien Egan and Bridgit Sam-Bailey with Christina Norman, Dawn Atkinson and Natasha Ricketts sands across the community, to coordinating a huge effort to provide lunches for thousands of children during the school holidays.”

Bridgit said: “I am thrilled to accept the role of mayoress of Lewisham from the mayor and so proud to build on the work I do championing older people in the borough.

“It’s going to be a busy year and I can’t wait to get started.”

Food waste recycling is being rolled out in schools across Lewisham as part of a drive to reduce waste and help cut carbon emissions.

Almost 30 schools are currently taking part in the rollout and the council is looking for more schools to register for food waste collections.

Last month councillor Louise Krupski, cabinet member for environment and climate action, visited Rathfern Primary School to launch food waste recycling in Lewisham schools and call for more schools to get involved.

Councillor Krupski met with school staff and spoke with Theron Mahoney – a pupil at the school and keen environmental campaigner. They discussed the positive impact food waste recycling is already having and how this is stimulating conversations about the environment across the school.

Like food waste collected from Lewisham’s homes, school food waste is sent for anaerobic digestion and converted into renewable energy and fertiliser. Just one lorry load of food waste can generate enough energy to power over 20,000 TVs for an hour.

Increasing food waste recycling is a significant step towards reducing Lew- isham’s emissions and helping achieve net-zero by 2030.

Maria Georgiou, a member of the play team at Rathfern school, said: “We use the food waste bins at the breakfast club. Seeing what we’re throwing away helps us to understand what the children like and what is thrown away. This is helping us plan what we offer at the breakfast club and reduce waste. It is great to know that more schools will be able to access the service.” t takes a village to raise a child, as the saying goes – and support from the local community is essential to ensure families get the help they need.

Which is why Yasmin Poyntz founded support hub the Village London, a not-for-profit community interest company offering a mixture of traditional and complementary services to support parents and carers in the borough of Lewisham.

Every Wednesday the Village takes over the Corbett Community Centre on Torridon Road in Catford, putting on a host of classes, treatments and support groups – from Duplo stay and play, tea and yoga to feeding support, reflexology massage, a sling and carrier library and African drumming and movement.

Yasmin, 41, lives in Honor Oak with her husband Duncan and six-year-old son Lennox. She says: “We turn the place into a little wellbeing hub – it takes an hour and a half to set up so it’s a labour of love, but it’s such an amazing building.

“We get between 70 to 100 adults every Wednesday, plus kids, and have up to 12 activities every week on the schedule. People can stay for hours.”

At the heart of the Village’s ethos is that the services it offers are affordable to all income levels. Those who can afford more can “pay it forward” to help another family who would otherwise be unable to access these types of services.

Yasmin says: “My philosophy was there’s a lot of wealthy people and a lot of poverty in this area, and everyone should be able to access the same services regardless of financial background.

“The idea is the wealthier people pay a little more, and that subsidises the people who can only afford to pay less, so there’s a sliding scale pricing system and it’s working really well.

“For example, a yoga class costs £11 to pay it forward, £9 for standard and £4 discounted. It’s all based on trust.

“This modern day village isn’t like the traditional one. The original idea of ‘the village’ isn’t there anymore really. You need so many hands to raise a child and they would traditionally be provided by extended family members, whereas we now live in nuclear households who have to focus on paying the bills.

“It’s a massive job raising a family, and a lot of us, especially in London, don’t have the help of grandparents and aunts and uncles.”

There’s a personal motivation behind the project for Yasmin, who knows firsthand how much of a lifeline holistic therapies can be. She says: “Before I had my son I had severe depression. Thinking about it, it was probably always there, underlying, but that was just my norm and I didn’t really realise or know any different.

“Then when I was around 31 it became a huge issue. I couldn’t speak to any friends, family, or even counsellors. I would just cry and cry. I cut everyone off because I just couldn’t talk, and I got six weeks of CBT from the NHS.

“I had therapy and counselling, and while I haven’t formally studied it, I started to learn about childhood development and psychology. I delved into books, and began to read up on psychology and brain development, and it became a real focus.