Barking Town

Why not visit Barking Town Heritage Exhibition!

Celebrating Barking Town and its Heritage stories from;

• The River Roding
• Saxon Abbey
• Medieval Tower to the Tudor Leet House
• Grand Victorian Homes
• Building and Transport

WHERE: Barking Learning Centre (BLC)

WHEN: from 30th May - 1st July 2022

TIME: Mondays to Saturdays 9am - 5pm I Sundays 10am - 4pm

MAKE IT Barking are opening an exciting new work and social hub in the heart of Barking Town Centre this July!

Barking is soon to become a workspace home to lot’s of small and ambitious businesses as well as providing event and creative facility space for the general public to enjoy.

The project has an underlying positive Social value concept at it’s core and MAKE IT Barking are looking to provide affordable space for start-ups and VCSE sector businesses to realise their goals, Business Support for those who would like it and free use of their event and facility spaces to Community Organisations.

As MAKE IT Barking edge closer to their target opening date of July the 1st, they are looking to put together a local Steering Group to help them make Community & Social Value led decisions.

MAKE IT Barking are looking to form a Steering Group of 12 local people to co-design their ideas across heavily discounted workspaces and Community-led activity programmes. Steering Group members will need to commit to a series of 2-hour workshops, (online and in-person) from June 2022 for 12 months, (some additional time will be required to read material between meetings). MAKE IT Barking want to work with you in their initial phone conversation to hear your thoughts on how often these sessions should take place and when - it could be once a month, once every two months or perhaps once a quarter. If you are selected to take part you will be remunerated with a £20 Amazon voucher per each 2-hour session. You will be committing to both contributing your ideas and listening to others; the end goal is to gain an informed understanding of the community's various thoughts for MAKE IT Barking to implement in their plans.

MAKE IT Barking eligibility criteria:

We are looking for people who:

• Are residents or business/organisation owners in Barking & Dagenham and have a desire/enthusiasm to represent their local community
• Can commit to participating in the whole programme
• Are willing to work as part of a team to share ideas and reach a common goal

Group members will be selected on the above criteria. Consideration will also be given to ensuring there is a range of people of all ages and backgrounds, with different skills and experiences to be as representative of the local community as much as possible.

If you think you would like to take part in this exciting co-design opportunity please fill in this Expression of interest form by midnight on the 29th April 2022. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Make It London directly through Elvire.matu@makeitlondon.co.uk or Kirsty.smith@makeitlondon.co.uk

to find out more please visit:

Students at Greatfields School in Barking moved into a new £23 million building this week as the final stage of building the school was completed.

The huge new building, funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and Barking and Dagenham Council, covers 10,000 square metres and includes 50 new classrooms, a hall, a library, and office and administration space.

Councillor Darren Rodwell, Leader of the Council, and Councillor Evelyn Carpenter, Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement, visited the school in the heart of the Gascoigne estate. They met headteacher Richard Paul and students who helped design a ‘meanwhile park’ as part of an engagement project run by Be First, the council’s regeneration company.

Building a new Gascoigne is not just about bricks and mortar – it’s about hearts and minds.

Councillor Rodwell said: “It’s fantastic to see the final stages of Greatfields secondary school completed and a real pleasure to meet the students.

“Building a new Gascoigne is not just about bricks and mortar – it’s about hearts and minds.

“It’s about bringing in ideas from everyone, young and old and it’s how we build a better neighbourhood for all.”

Headteacher, Richard Paul, added: “We are absolutely delighted to have moved into this fantastic new building, and there is a sense of pride amongst staff, students and parents that we have such a wonderful building in the heart of the community.

“The new facilities will give our young people access to opportunities they have not previously had, including a state-of-the-art library, sports hall, dance and drama studios, and we look forward to welcoming the community to share these facilities with us.”

The school, rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, will eventually accommodate 1,800 students, including 300 in the sixth form.

Councillor Evelyn Carpenter said: “I’m delighted to see students making the most of these fantastic new facilities.

“I was amazed by the talented Year 11 dance students, who were practising a dance they’d choreographed themselves for their final exam in the brand-new dance studios.”

Nine in ten schools in Barking and Dagenham are rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted.

Filmed over three years, Radio Ballads is a ground-breaking project that brings together four artists who collaborated with social workers, carers, local organisations, and residents to create stories exploring themes around domestic violence, end of life care, and trauma.

The free exhibition opens at Barking Town Hall and Barking Learning Centre from Saturday 2 April until Sunday 17 April, 10am to 4pm, and will be simultaneously shown at the world-renowned Serpentine Galleries (31 March to 29 May).

You’ll also be able to see paintings, drawings, and other materials created for the project.

It’s all part of New Town Culture, a programme curated by us, which embeds arts and culture activities into our social care service.

Find out more about the exhibition and New Town Culture here

Another 50 trees are being planted across the borough, as part of our drive to be greener.

The trees will be planted at green spaces, primary schools and in nearby streets with the aim of improving air quality and biodiversity.

Henry Green Primary, Dorothy Barley Infants, and Eastbury Community Primary are just some of the schools benefiting from the scheme, which is funded by a £10,000 donation from our Highways contractor Marlborough Highways, as part of the council’s community give back project.

The announcement follows our recent tree planting project, which has seen 36,000 trees planted to create a new woodland called the ‘Forest of Thanks’, which marks the heroic effort of key workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Our borough’s streets are lined with around 6,500 trees, and we’ve twice been awarded ‘Tree City of the World’, appearing alongside the likes of San Francisco, Washington DC, and Barcelona!

We also have 28 parks and green spaces in our borough, which provide 463 hectares of publicly open land – more than three times the size of Hyde Park.

Find out more about the 50 new trees here.

Local eco-heroes spent this afternoon (Wednesday, 2 March) planting trees as part of an ambitious £20,000 re-greening and rejuvenation project along the River Roding in Barking, funded by council partner Clear Channel.

Volunteers from the River Roding Trust and representatives from Out of Home media and infrastructure company, Clear Channel, to helped give the saplings new homes.

In total, 60 semi-mature trees have been planted at 10 sites along the river. Many of these trees are fruit trees that will provide delicious free fruit to local people in the coming years, whilst other trees (particularly the rare native black poplar tree) will grow to become a key feature of the Barking skyline over the coming decades. The Trust have also installed dozens of benches and seats along the river, to give local people somewhere to sit and enjoy the scenery.

It is fantastic that we are able to support projects such as this thanks to our policies that demand our partner organisations to do more for our residents

The project was funded by Clear Channel as part of their Social Value commitment to the borough. The funding was allocated to the River Roding Trust via a competitive application process in partnership with Barking & Dagenham Giving.

The council’s Social Value policy requires that any organisation working with the council to provide goods or services, over a threshold of £100,000 must set out in their tender process how they can deliver wider economic, social or environmental benefits for the residents of Barking and Dagenham.

A council spokesperson said: “It is fantastic that we are able to support projects such as this thanks to our policies that demand our partner organisations to do more for our residents.

“The benefits of getting out and about in our parks and enjoying our green spaces are well documented, and that is why we are driving forward with protecting and improving these areas by planting thousands of new trees across the borough and helping re-green more areas.”

Across Barking and Dagenham there are 28 parks and green spaces, which provide 463 hectares of land open to the public.

Karen Rankin, Clear Channel’s Head of Portfolio Partnerships said: “It’s amazing to see all of the work of The River Roding Trust and how our fund has had a direct and tangible positive impact for the local community.”

“We’re exceptionally proud to be a part of the fabric of Barking and Dagenham.”

Paul Powlesland, from the River Roding Trust: "We believe that Barking deserves beauty and that the River Roding should be the jewel in the crown of the town. That's why our boaters who moor on the river and our local volunteers have spent many months working hard to plant trees and install benches along the river. We're very grateful to Barking and Dagenham Council for recognising the importance of social value and to Clear Channel for providing the funding to pay for the trees and materials. We hope local residents enjoy the improvements and spending time along the River Roding as we head into spring”

Eastbury Community school pupils are serious about creating a cleaner and greener school and borough for young people and residents.

The school’s young people created an Eco Squad in 2020 and carried out a survey to identify what environment issues mattered to pupils, creating green objectives. The school agreed that their top priorities were to reduce litter, cut down on waste and to recycle more.

Pupils held a special recycling meeting with the school council and senior leadership team to talk about how they could do more to create a greener school environment.

They developed a fun recycling poster campaign and the top three posters are now used across the school to remind everyone to recycle as much as they can! They also developed a points system, providing points to pupils who recycle things, including crisp packets, to get more youngsters recycling.

What’s more, the Eco Squad planted trees in the school which were provided by the Wildlife Trust, and some students even planted some baby trees at home to help create greener gardens across the borough. Pupils are also starting a Gardening Club to add even more greenery and biodiversity to the school garden.

Fantastic work Eastbury Community school!

A new police team focussed fully on addressing locally identified policing priorities in Barking Town Centre launched earlier this week.

As part of the Metropolitan Police’s Neighbourhood Policing initiative, the team is one of 19 being set up in town centres across London with a view to predominantly tackle violent crime.

The Barking team is made up of 25 officers who have been specifically selected because of their local knowledge and community engagement skills.

The team is made up of three leave lines of one Sergeant and seven Police Constables to provide sufficient cover to the town centre at core demand times.

The launch of the new team follows on from the council’s continuous work to improve residents’ perceptions of safety in the borough as well as reducing antisocial behaviour and crime in the borough.

Councillor Margaret Mullane, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety said: “I am really pleased that Barking has a new 25-strong dedicated town centre team, one of the first launched in London. We’ve been calling for a greater police presence in the town centre, alongside the work that we’re doing as a council, to reduce antisocial behaviour and crime in the town centre.

“Our residents feeling safe when they’re out and about is a top priority for us, and this increased police presence and partnership work with our enforcement teams will help significantly.”

Within the last year, the council has implemented a number of things to reduce residents’ perceptions of safety in the borough, following on from a survey where it asked women to highlight areas they didn’t feel safe in the borough, including increasing:

• enforcement patrols
• lighting in areas highlighted by residents
• CCTV cameras around the borough

The council will also be looking to launch their Safe Haven Scheme in 2022, which aims to offer residents a safe space to approach if they feel they’re in danger, threatened or harassed and they could include shops, cafes, pubs, libraries or similar establishments.

Inspector Dan Bacon will be leading the new team and he said: “I am very excited to have been selected to lead the team, I see this as an opportunity to have a real impact on reducing crime and building public confidence. We want to build relationships with local residents, businesses and shoppers working together to help create a safe and welcoming town centre in Barking.

“Based at the Barking Learning Centre, the team will be a regular visible presence around the town centre and we want people to talk to us so we can help resolve their problems and tackle anti-social and criminal behaviour, making Barking a great place to be.”

Earlier this year, Barking and Dagenham Council held an online Women’s Safety Survey, so that women could highlight areas in the borough where they felt unsafe.

The survey was conducted following the tragic death of Sarah Everard in March and women were able to either drop pins on locations across the borough where they the feel unsafe, complete an anonymous form highlighting areas where they don’t feel safe and share ideas on how women could feel more safer in the borough.

The survey was hugely popular with residents with over 400 people taking part.

Following on from the results of the survey, Councillor Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement and Councillor Margaret Mullane, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety joined council officers to visit three of the hot spots (Dagenham Heathway, Chadwell Heath and Barking Town Centre) that were highlighted in the survey, so they could see first-hand what the issues are.

Councillor Ashraf said: “We don’t want or expect anybody feel scared while walking the streets of Barking and Dagenham, that’s why these walkabouts were so important. Together with officers we have looked at each of the areas where people have said they are feeling particularly unsafe while they’re out and about.

“We will now work closely with the police to put plans in place to make residents feel safer.”

Alongside the police, the council will look to install some quick fixes to make people safer while walking around including increasing the amount of CCTV, lighting and intensify police and council enforcement patrols.

In the meantime, the council has already increased patrols and security at Barking Station and London Road Car Park as these were areas that kept getting highlighted by residents.

However, the council is aware that while these measures might help in the short term, longer term, more needs to be done to educate men about what is acceptable and respectful behaviour towards women.

Councillor Mullane added: “This work is even more important now following the tragic death of Sabina Nessa a couple of weeks ago.

“Nobody should be worried or feel unsafe walking around the area that they call home and we’re going to do everything we can do ensure that we change the way people feel when they venture out of their homes.”

Following the walkarounds, the council will be working up an action plan that will be overseen by the Community Safety Partnership. The action plan will set out timescales for delivery including the quick fixes to improve safety in the borough.

If residents have concerns about safety, they should email csp@lbbd.gov.uk.

A new immersive anti-knife crime centre opened in Barking and Dagenham last night in memory of a murdered 16-year-old schoolboy.

The Ben Kinsella Exhibition will use actors to deliver hard-hitting examples of the consequences of knife crime, for the victim and offender.

The interactive workshops will tell the tragic story of Ben Kinsella, who was killed in a knife attack in Islington, north London in 2008, as well as sharing stories from local parents who have tragically lost their children in recent years.

The centre will work with schools and youth groups in the borough to challenge and change attitudes towards knife crime.

Councillor Margaret Mullane, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety said: “This new facility lays bare the realities of knife crime and shows that actions have consequences – not just for the victim, but for the perpetrator. It isn’t like you see on TV or in films, it’s a gruesome, devastating act.

“We want to make Barking and Dagenham a no-go area for knife crime, but there’s only so much the police can do, which is why we launched our lost hours campaign and why we put in place our responsible retailer scheme. Together, we will tackle this appalling crime.”

This is the third and largest of its kind in the country, and was launched by the Ben Kinsella Trust, a charity set-up after the 16-year-old’s death. It opened on Wednesday, 29 September at the Barking and Dagenham Foyer, Wakering Road, Barking.

The exhibition is one of the outcomes of our serious violence summits held in 2019 and 2020 with partners and colleagues from the neighbouring boroughs of Redbridge and Havering, which showcased best practice and encouraged collaboration across our three boroughs.

Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, said: “No family should ever lose a child to knife crime, and by working with families and organisations in Barking and Dagenham, we have taken this important step to stopping this happening.”

Brooke Kinsella (Ben’s sister) at the exhibition said: “It’s about using Ben’s story, Jodie’s story, Duran’s story and Champion’s story to let kids think about the consequences.

“If one young person walks through the exhibition and decides to not use a knife, it’ll all be worth it for me.”

The exhibition follows on from the council’s Lost Hours campaign that launched in August 2020, which asks parents to take more responsibility for their children by knowing what they’re up to and who they’re with, when not at home. The campaign has also incorporated a mapping tool that allows young people, parents, teachers and anyone else to search for activities close to where they live, whether that be football, dancing, boxing or music production.

For more information visit benkinsella.org.uk.