Download Islington - Issue 10 ( pdf - 2.5MB ) - Islington Council

Happy 400th Birthday
Move out of London?
Keep Safe
TV presenter and British wheelchair
basketball star Ade Adepitan
presented awards to winners of a
children’s poster competition,
aiming to raise awareness about the
personal safety of Islington’s
disabled children.
Currently starring in one of the BBC’s
adverts featuring wheelchair dancers, Ade
is supporting Islington’s Area Child
Protection Committee in its initiative to
keep disabled children safe from abuse or
neglect.
The Keep Safe campaign is the first of its
kind. It’s all about protecting vulnerable
kids and giving them the power to say
‘Stop’ and tell others when they feel
people have behaved badly towards them.
Its main features are training professionals
to spot where disabled children are likely
to suffer significant harm, abuse or
neglect, and giving those children the
means of expression to understand and
describe inappropriate acts towards them.
Ade Adepitan survived polio as a young
boy and has gone on to compete as a
wheelchair basketball player at
international level. His TV credits include
BBC’s daily ‘X-change’ programme, ‘Tiger
Tiger’ for Channel 5 and various holiday
programmes for BBC1 and LWT.
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For
more information on
Keep Safe please call
020 7527 3394.
Should you have concerns
about any children, here
are some useful numbers
Police Child Protection
Unit 020 7421 0307
Education Welfare
020 7527 5833
to the New River
The New River was
built to bring fresh
water to London from
Ware in Hertfordshire.
The watercourse
was made possible by
a collaboration
between Sir Hugh
Myddleton and King
James I.
An improvement project
at Astey’s Row N1 has
already given the New
River a major face lift.
Pathways have been
repaired and following the
identification of a rare
species of fern in the area a couple of years
ago, the whole area has been replanted
making this the largest public 'fernery' in
London.
Asylum Seekers Soccer
Premiership soccer scouts will be
eyeing up the international talent in
Islington’s newest football club next
season.
Friends United F.C. is part of an initiative
giving opportunities for young men aged 16+
in the borough. The club, run by volunteers
from Islington Council’s education service is
mainly for unaccompanied asylum seekers
living locally.
And the players from places such as Kosovo,
Eritrea, Somalia and the Ivory Coast even beat
a team of MPs recently in a friendly tournament
organised by the Refugee Council.
“It’s all about helping these young men
develop life skills and self-confidence in a safe
This partnership project increases the quality
and quantity of open space in the borough.
A new signage panel will tell the story of the
New River and provide a map for walkers.
and supportive environment,” says Marie Fry
who works in education welfare and helped
set up the team.
“Most of these boys have no experience of
living in a multi-cultural society and it is
important they get to know each other and
work together as a team, so they integrate
rather than staying in their own communities.”
The team has been befriended by doublewinners
Arsenal who provide training facilities.
They play most Saturdays at the Douglas Eyre
Sports Centre in Walthamstow.
They are coached by volunteers but do need
help in running the team, organising fixtures
and sponsorship. Anyone with relevant skills
or energy, or just interested in helping, should
write to the Education Service,
Laycock Street, London, N1 1TH.
✆
For
more information
on asylum issues,
contact
Tola Akinde-Hummel
in Islington Council’s
Asylum Team,
on
020 7527 7138.
Tenants who want to can move to
another area as part of Islington
Council’s innovative scheme to help
tackle the borough's severe housing
shortage.
Islington has 4,500 people on the waiting list
for a home, 7,000 people on the transfer list
waiting to move to another home and 1,600
living in temporary accommodation.
Mr and Mrs Chipperfield found a spacious
house with a good sized kitchen, bathroom,
car parking facilities and a paved garden.
They decided to move in December 2001 so
they could be nearer their disabled daughter
who lives in Leicester. The new house is
located in pleasant surroundings and they live
close to local transport and amenities.
Mr and Mrs Chipperfield couldn’t be happier
with their home: ‘We are so, so happy with
our new house. It’s lovely!’. They have moved
People are set to become safer in their
homes thanks to an innovative fire
safety scheme – one of the first in the
country – that will see a free plug-in
smoke alarm fitted into council homes
in the borough.
Up to 30,585 homes in Islington will benefit
from the scheme which aims to fit at least
one smoke alarm in every council home
during the next year. The council is also
looking at installing specialist alarms for
hearing impaired tenants.
to an area, which
they describe as
clean, safe, less noisy
and hectic and they
feel this has improved
their general quality
of life.
This scheme can help
council tenants in
Islington move to
areas such as
Wolverhampton,
Leeds, Manchester,
Lincoln, Coventry,
Burnley, Liverpool and
Leicester.
You can apply if
you are a council tenant, homeless and
living in temporary accomodation, or
waiting to be rehoused from the council’s
rehousing register.
Free Smoke Alarms
Harry and Betty
Chipperfield couldn’t
be happier
The scheme is a partnership between
Islington Council, London Fire Brigade,
Caxton Islington who will be fitting the
alarms and Sprue Aegis plc, the parent
company of FireAngel the manufacturers.
Tenants who want to know more about
the scheme should look out for posters
and leaflets with the slogan ‘Fire – a cause
for alarm’ that are available in fire stations,
housing offices, libraries and other council
buildings.
Teresa Coyle who lives on the Andover Estate, N7 said: “I think it is a brilliant initiative and I think
it will be welcomed by every tenant in the borough. Anything that is going to help save lives,
especially those of vulnerable tenants, must gain 100% support.”
✆
If
you want more
information please contact
housing services
020 75``27 4372 or visit
Islington Council’s website
on www.islington.gov.uk
and search for ‘mobility’.
Estate
security
A new concierge system is
bringing security benefits to
tenants of Islington Council’s
Michael Cliffe House, EC1.
“We are really pleased with the new
concierge system and the staff who
are responsible for maintaining the
project. It has made a real difference
to the quality of life of residents on
the estate”, said Matthew
Humphries, secretary of the tenants
association. The new system costs
£4.16 per week per tenant.
The concierge system aims to
reduce vandalism, crime, graffiti and
other anti-social behaviour. It
includes CCTV cameras – which
record 24 hours a day – and a
reception area which is managed for
up to 16 hours a day.
All residents on the Finsbury Estate
will be given a door entry key card
and visitors will be given a code to
get access to the block. Only
people with either of these will be
able to gain access to Michael Cliffe
House through the door entry
system.
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