A rally last Saturday helped stop the closure of the One Stop Shop in Bethnal green pic: Mengdi Li

The plan to close Rushmead One Stop Shop in Bethnal Green was blocked at a council meeting on Wednesday thanks to an ongoing campaign by local residents to save the valuable council service.

As reported at the time, activists from Tower Hamlets Labour and Socialist parties gathered outside the Rushmead council building to rally against the closure of the shop last Saturday. Around 800 residents signed the petition to save the service, which provides a place for locals to apply for a number of council services, including parking permits and benefits.

But Motinuz Iaman, deputy leader of the Labour group, believes the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, is still determined to save money by cutting front line services.

Iaman said: “I understand the Mayor ditched the idea to close Rushmead. We have been partly successful but the Mayor intends to take saving from all the other One Stop Shops. We will now campaign to protect our other front lines services.”

Tower Hamlets said head teachers “played a key role” in the borough’s increasing grades pic: Judy Baxter

A total of 17 school staff in Tower Hamlets earn six-figure salaries, more than in any other London borough.

A total of 200 head teachers across London schools earn over £100,000 a year, with twelve of the highest earners being paid more than £150,000 a year, new figures show.

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets council said: “Investing in the best possible education for our children and young people is paramount to give them the best possible start in life.

Tower Hamlets faces some of the highest levels of child poverty in the country, and the council believe that paying head teachers and other school staff is a key way to “provide young people with the tools to overcome these barriers.”

Results showed that 2011 GCSE results in the borough were showing improvement on previous years. Tower Hamlets is the borough with the second most improved grades in the country, after Darlington, and currently 38 in school grade tables, moving up 72 places in the national rankings.

The council spokesperson went on to say that recent achievements were thanks to head teachers who “played a key role” in the borough’s increasing grades.

Head teacher recruitment salary ranges are normally set by school governors and based on factors such as how many pupils attend the school, and additional
responsibilities.

pic: Adelle Kalakouti

Residents are split over a plan to resurface Brick Lane with tarmac in preparation for this year’s Olympics.

The controversial face-lift will include new lighting and the complete resurfacing of its famous underfoot bricks.

Tower Hamlets cabinet member for the environment Shahed Ali said: “The new asphalt surface on Brick Lane will be smarter, easier and cheaper to maintain and will help distinguish space for pedestrians from traffic.”

But Brick Lane businesses have greeted the council’s decision with mixed feelings.

Anna Sims of Heba vintage clothes shop told EastLondonLines: “It is a good thing, it needs modernising and repairing. Brick Lane has its history but it is renowned for being grubby. It will still pull the vintage crowds, a road is just a road at the end of the day.”

But Mohammed Maksudul Kabir, owner of the Banoful Cake House, disagrees: “Before, when the road was made of brick it was nicer. Now it is going to lose its character and tradition, it’s going to be like a normal road. There is no need to waste money on that.”

Local supermarket owner Junel Khalikue said:  “The bricks go perfectly with the name Brick Lane. We like it.”

Restaurant and shop owners have welcomed the regeneration but say the works have had a negative effect on business since they began this week.

Others expressed satisfaction with their efficiency, saying works in the past had taken too long.

The resurfacing project, taking place over the next five weeks, will cost about £300,000. It is funded by Transport from London and developer contributions.

Wilton's Music Hall is one of the few surviving Grand Music halls in the world pic: Habier Lopez

Wilton’s Music Hall, one of the oldest surviving music halls in the world, has received a £700,000 funding boost from independent trust SITA in order to protect and conserve the historic building. But further funds of over £2 million are still needed to protect the building from closure.Thanks to the grant, necessary works on the auditorium roof, basement, soundproofing, ventilation and electrics can be carried out.

Frances Mayhew, the Wilton Hall Artistic Director, said: “Wilton’s is such an extraordinary heritage building and, a thriving cultural centre for now, that simply has to be saved.”

EastLondonLines reported last year on a public appeal for the restoration of the hall after two failed lottery bids. However, further vital funds are still needed to fully restore the Grade-II listed hall. Mayhew is urging the local community to come forward to help raise another £2.2 million, which will restore the terrace house areas at the front of the building.

David Suchet, Patron of Wilton’s Capital Project, which fronts the restoration scheme, said: “I am so looking forward to this building work starting, hopefully as early as June, knowing that Wilton’s is at the start of being saved once and for all.”

Jools Granville of SITA Trust hopes that their contribution will encourage other funders to come forward. The project will go some way towards removing Wilton’s Hall from the ‘Heritage at Risk’ register.

The historic Wilton’s Music Hall opened in 1858 in Grace’s Alley, off Cable Street. Now used more generally as a performance space, the Hall presents a range or artistic events including theatre, music, comedy, cinema and cabaret with the help of donations, funds and support from local people.

Pic: Mengdi Li

More than 500 people have signed a petition against the planned closure of Rushmead One Stop Shop in Bethnal Green.

At One Stop Shop, Tower Hamlets residents can access a variety of council services, make benefits inquiries, get help for elderly relatives, and apply for parking permits.

A demonstration organised by Tower Hamlets Labour Party and Socialist Party took place on Saturday in Bethnal Green to protest against the proposed closure and further cuts in Tower Hamlets council housing services.

One Stop Shop is the only place in the borough where locals can have face-to-face access with all council services; it is also the only place of its kind open on Saturdays. Approximately 60,000 people use Rushmead’s services every year. If it closes, users will be forced to use services in Bow or Canary Wharf – which are expected to be much busier.

Ali Ahmed, 49, has signed the petition to campaign against the closure. He said: “Visiting Rushmead is the most convenient way for me to get help from the council. If it closes, I have to travel to Canary Wharf to get services, which is annoying.

“Lots of people use it from the local community, particularly elderly people, people with disabilities, and people with not very good English.”

Rushanara Ali, Labour MP to Bethnal Green, said the proposed closure was “wrong”. “The Mayor could keep it open. He has big reserves in the council budget. So he could actually protect this One Stop Shop.”

Speaking at the demonstration on Saturday, Ali told EastLondonLines: “If it closes it’s going to cost the council more because it will then be blamed for not serving people properly. That’s why we are here today to ask the Mayor to rethink the decision.”

The number of signatures on the petition continues to grow. The public can expect a response from Tower Hamlets Council on February 22.

Shelina Akhtar pic: Tower Hamlets Council

Tower Hamlets councillor Shelina Akhtar has been jailed today after being found guilty of three counts of benefit fraud.

Akhtar, the Spitalfields and Banglatown Independent councillor, was jailed for 16 weeks at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

She pleaded guilty to three counts of benefit fraud, falsely claiming housing and council tax benefits for a second home at a hearing last month. Two years ago she was found guilty of similar offences.

Shelina Aktar, an independent for Spitalfields and Banglatown ward, made the claims for a property in Blackwall Way, Poplar, despite living elsewhere.

The offences took place between November 2009 and September 2010. Akhtar, 33, of Blackwell Way, also sub-let the first property.

The false claim for housing benefit was £1,085 in total while the council tax benefit was £29 in total.

At the initial hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court in January, Judge J Platt told Akhtar: “This is the second time you have committed fraud against the state regarding benefits to which you are not entitled. The court needs to know more before deciding on the appropriate sentence.”

Akhtar has also previously been found guilty of dishonestly claiming benefits in July 2010. After the case at Thames Magistrates’ Court, Akhtar was given 100 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £250 costs.

Councillor Peter Golds told EastLondonLines: “This is the second such incident for which Shelina Akhtar has been convicted. She is also denying the tenancy of her property on Blackwall Way to a person with genuine needs.

“If she has a shred of decency she will resign immediately. It is outrageous that a convicted criminal should continue to be a voting member of a public authority with a budget exceeding £1 billion.”

Mayor Lutfur Rahman said: “Everyone who represents the interests of this community must abide by the highest standards of personal conduct in public life. The council has procedures to follow and I understand that it will await the outcome of the sentencing before deciding what, if any, further steps it will take against the councillor concerned.”

Akhtar was elected as a councillor in May 2010.

Additional reporting by Adelle Kalakouti

Pic. Duygu Saykan

A ‘Creativity in Mental Health’ event involving Tower Hamlets Council and a wide range of east London charities was held in Mile End yesterday.

The event was organised by Community Options, a support, advice and recovery service for mental health patients, and took place in the Mile End Ecology Pavilion.

Under the motto ‘Your Say, Your Day’, the day got under way with a dance and music workshop followed by songs by the Harmony Choir. In the afternoon, east London charity organisations including Family Action, Empower Youth, Studio Upstairs, Sam Shakes, Squeaky Gate and Social Action for Health presented their services for people sufering from mental health issues.

Food and drink was provided as mental health patients got involved in a variety of art and music therapy workshops. Attendants also were given the opportunity to perform a piece of music. The Council’s mental health workers were present to answer questions from patients.

Community Options keep a database of all Tower Hamlets mental health patients who have been discharged, aims to maintain contact with them and provide weekday activities.

Jeff Parkinson, 54, who ran a workshop on Chinese Art said: “I run a variety of art work shops and I usually work with people in their 70’s or 80’s and try and get them enthusiastic about art. I have been doing this for about 15 years, providing art workshops for mental health patients.”

Shirin Mustafa from Community Options said: “We are working on the Involvement Project, which aims to stimulate a positive dialogue between commisioners, service providers and service users. This team is about stimulating patients’ creativity, and we cover drugs and alcohol abuse, personal development and relationships – all of the areas that affect a person’s mental health.”

Simon Guntan from Squeaky Gate spoke after seeing a thirty minute concert given by patients in the event: “The majority of the people who performed today are our patients. The lyrics of the songs are written by them entirely based on the things that matter to them. The song we just heard was about homelessness. It was  hard work getting them to perform, as you could see some are still shy while singing. But it is a great achievement. Since they are homeless, they want to keep eveything they have got, including their artistic talents. We encourage them to work together, to encourage each other, there is real team spirit. It takes time but when they took to the stage they showed us real rewarding results.”

The Creativity in Mental Health event takes place every three to four months. The next event will take a place on Thursday May 3.

The lyrics to the song performed by mental health patients yesterday are as follows:

IT’S MY HOME

Sitting here in this dirt Street

Just watching people walk on by

Looking at their faces

Makes me feel like I wanna cry

Knowing their going back to

A place they know so well

Everything is kind od rosy

Everything is kind of swell

(Colin Rapth, 2010)

Pic: Milennial Myth

Tower Hamlets activists will kick off LGBT History Month tonight with a talk held at the Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives on Bancroft Road.

Author and human rights campaigner Roz Kaveney will share a platform with Jack Gilbert, co-chair of local forum Rainbow Hamlets, which is hosting the event.

The talk will begin a month-long celebration of lesbian, gay and transgender history. LGBT History Month is a annual event that began in 2005 after the abolition of Section 28, a controversial statute forbidding local authorities to “promote homosexuality”.

Gilbert said the talk would not only bring activist together but be “a prime opportunity for the general public to learn about the untold stories of the area.

“The press is often full of stories about problems between communities in Tower Hamlets, but the point about what we’re doing is about building community life and building understanding between communities.”

Kaveney, who at the event will describe her involvement with the Gay Liberation Front in the 1970s and time as a deputy chair of human rights group Liberty, said east London played a key but often neglected role in LGBT history.

“People often forget the working class roots of parts of the LGBT community – it’s always been a place where the more impoverished sections of the queer community lived. I ended up in the east end when I transitioned – because I was poor!”

The author, who has lived on the border of Hackney and Tower Hamlets for 40 years, writes on her website: “I was reared Catholic but got over it, was born male but got over it, stopped sleeping with boys about the time I stopped being one.”

Robert Thompson, chair of the Lesbian and Gay News Media Archive, will also give a speech. LAGNA compiles articles and news clippings to keep track of the changing perceptions of gay and transgender people through time.

Management committee member Peter Kelley said: “The purpose of LGBT history month is to celebrate histories that have been outside of mainstream of history and hidden. It’s just as much about the present as the past.”

Gay rights groups clashed with the EDL and Muslim activists last year over stickers posted across Tower Hamlets that read “Gay Free Zone”. 18-year-old Mohammad Hasnath was fined £100 in June for a public order offence in relation to the stickers.

Kaveney told EastLondonLines such conflicts were regrettable but distracted from the question of “the real enemy”, which she identified as fascist groups.

“East End residents were prominent in the fight against Mosely and his fascists throughout the 40s and the 50s. Even when they haven’t been able to rule the streets of the east end, east enders have remembered that they are the enemy and fought them elsewhere.”

Gilbert believes there is still work to be done, citing many homophobic incidents that are reported without leading to police action, but said the situation had improved in the last 20 years.

In January Tower Hamlets council ranked first among London boroughs and 16^th in the country on a list of gay-friendly employers compiled by gay rights charity Stonewall.

For more information, visit the Rainbow Hamlets webpage. The talk begins at 6pm and continues until 8:30.

pic: PA

A 21-year-old man from the Isle of Dogs has admitted yesterday to plotting a terrorist attack on the London Stock Exchange along with three other men.

East London lines had earlier reported that Mohammad Chowdhury, of Stanliff House, Tower Hamlets, was one of nine charged with conspiracy to cause explosions in the UK.

Chowdhury was seen by police as the group’s ringleader. Judge Justice Wilkie indicated that their punishment could be less severe if they admitted to being involved in the plot, which resulted in four suspects pleading guilty. Justice Wilkie suggested ringleader Chowdhury would receive no more than 13 and a half years as he has already served some time in remand. Chowdury is likely to spend less than half of his sentence behind bars.

The men, who are all British nationals, admitted to planning to target the stock exchange by sending mail bombs. They aspired to launch a “Mumbai-style” attack in London and cause terror and economic harm. Findings in police investigation suggested the men were also planning attacks on Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Palace of Westminster and the London Eye.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne, senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism, said: “We welcome the guilty pleas entered by all nine defendants today, following what was the largest counter-terrorism operation of 2010.”

The group had been arrested in December 2010 and the trial was set to take place at Woolwich Crown Court.

pic: Duygu Saykan

A number of new psychiatric Liaison Services for older people will launch accross east London, the NHS anounced yesterday.

The new services will open at East London NHS Trust in February, the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, Mile End Hospital Bancroft Unit and London Chest Hospital in Bethnal Green.

The team, run by East London NHS Foundation Trust will provide assessment, treatment and management of mental health problems to older people.

The service is for people over 65 years old suffering from mental health issues. Common problems include anxiety, depression, dementia, schizophrenia or any other mental health or psychological problem.

The team will provide specialist advice for hospital staff relating to the management and treatment of mental health problems including delirium, sleep disturbance, aggression, memory problems, anxiety, mood disorder or challenging behaviours.

The team of seven specialists will also assess people under 65 years old who have a suspected memory problem.

Barts and The London NHS Trust Medical Director Dr Steve Ryan said the service would be invaluable for staff and patients at the new Royal London Hospital.

Ryan told EastLondonLines: “Physical and mental health are closely linked and in an acute hospital like the Royal London, we often see cases where a patient’s physical issue closely affects their frame of mind. “Older people are particularly vulnerable as they already have a higher risk of developing mental health conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.”

Team Manager, Melanie King said: “The aim of the service is early detection and treatment of mental health problems in older adults admitted into hospital. A large part of our role will be to support ward staff in managing their care during their stay on the ward. We will work together with the ward clinical teams, the patient and their carers to help to ensure individuals also have the right support when discharged from hospital. ”The team can provide information to families about the mental health issues and arrange ongoing support when the individual goes home.

The Older Adult Psychiatric Liaison Service is based at The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel and can be contacted on 020 7377 7000.