A window cleaner scales a high-rise builidng in Canary Wharf. Photo:urban legend

Employers of the daredevil window-cleaners charged with maintaining Britain’s tallest building are backing a government campaign to emphasise safety in the workplace.

Canary Wharf Management Ltd are supporting the Health and Safety Executive’s ‘Shattered Lives’ initiative, which aims to highlight the risk of injuries at work.

Safety is a matter of particular importance to the company, who contract cleaners to wash the glass façades of the Docklands’ numerous skyscrapers.

(more…)

Pupils can play maths games on their Nintendo DS console. Photo: Dekuwa

Afro-Caribbean pupils in twelve Hackney schools are being given handheld games consoles to improve maths scores.

The new Learning Trust pilot scheme encourages students to play brain training games such as Sudoku on the Nintendo DS consoles.

The consoles are being lent out so that the young mathematicians can practice both in school and at home.

A number of schools are involved in the project including Daubeney Primary School, Northwold Primary School, and Tyssen Community Primary School.  (more…)

Photo:Metropolitan Police

Police have released an artist’s impression in a bid to identify a man whose body was discovered in the River Lea.

A member of the public discovered the body in the river, near the Bow Bridge, last December. The man has still not been identified and police hope the artist’s impression and an image of his T-shirt will help establish who he was. (more…)

Photo: Midwives aim to stay a helping hand pablogv2004

Hundreds of people attended a protest march yesterday in support of the pioneering Albany Midwifery Practise  - closed down by Kings College Hospital earlier this year.

The ‘Reclaiming Birth Rally called for the re-opening of the Albany  practice as well as the adoption of their maternity model as a standard. The practise was the only independent group of midwives to offer personalised continuous care to women on the NHS.

The organisers say the march, which went from Lambeth to a rally in Whitehall, was an opportunity for bodies like the Royal College of Midwifery and National Childbirth Trust as well as parents to lend their support  for the Albany midwives

The Albany Mums, a group of mothers who received pregnancy care from the Peckham-based practise said in a statement: “We believe that a widespread adoption of the Albany Midwifery Model is the answer to many of the problems that currently beset the UK’s maternity services. That’s why the Albany mums will be calling for an ‘Albany for All.’

Annie Francis from Independent Midwives UK said the aim of the ‘Reclaiming Birth Rally’ was not just about support of the Albany midwifery practice. “It is the model of the Albany that we are supporting. All evidence shows that it’s the gold standard of midwifery.”

The hospital said the closure was for safety reasons following the death of a week-old baby whose birth had been supervised by an Albany midwife. The practice said the death was unrelated to the involvement of the midwife.

Photo: Artist impression of proposed Hijab Gates

After sparking 158 objections and not a single letter of support, residents of the Brick Lane area now have reason to celebrate. (more…)

Photo: Cafe Crema

A popular New Cross café which has been shortlisted for a local business award is unsure how much longer it can remain in business.

Café Crema, located on New Cross Road, is in the running for the ‘Environmental’ category of Lewisham Council’s annual Business Awards.

Chris Boddington, who owns the café jointly with his wife, said he was happy to have made the shortlist. “I’m very pleased about it, and I believe you can win five grand, so that’d be handy,” he said.

However, the café cannot currently guarantee its long-term survival.

“At the moment our landlords, who are Goldsmiths College, could give us 3 months’ notice at any time. We don’t have a secure lease,” explained Boddington. “We’ve had a longer lease before, but because they’re undecided about the future of this building, they’re not giving us any definite answer.”

This precarious situation is partly due to questions about the safety of the building, part of a small row of dilapidated houses. The university, which owns a number of other buildings in central New Cross – including Deptford Town Hall – is also hoping to stimulate regeneration of the area.

According to its recently published ‘Masterplan,’ Goldsmiths wants to ‘create a permeable campus with visibility of key activities and functions integrated into the local community’.

These plans include the intention to ‘create active reuse for shops on New Cross Road, with student services and academic retail’. It remains unclear whether these plans include allowing Café Crema to continue trading in their current premises.

Boddington believes that Crema is well positioned to contribute to the area’s regeneration. He said: “I do like to think that we’re one of the more attractive aspects of New Cross – not that New Cross isn’t a lovely area. From what our customers tell us – obviously most of our customers are Goldsmiths students, and a fair amount of Goldsmiths staff – they seem to think that we’re quite important in this area. They would like us to continue.”

The ‘Environmental’ prize is intended to reward ‘the business that has gone to an exceptional length to make its practices sustainable and to help the local environment’. According to Boddington, sustainability is a vital part of Café Crema’s business model.

He said: “It’s just how we operate. We do a lot of recycling. The amount of rubbish we create is only about one carrier bag’s worth every day, so the vast majority of our waste is either recycled or composted.”

The awards scheme aims to give recognition to distinctive and well-loved businesses in the borough. Other categories include ‘Community Involvement’, ‘Best New Company’ and, for teenage entrepreneurs, ‘The Young Lewisham Apprentice’.

Tinchy Stryder at St Matthew Academy Photo: Ed Robinson

Rapper Tinchy Stryder swapped the bling for the blackboard in Lewisham today in support of the government programme to deliver personal finance in schools.The Bow singer took a teacher role in a special class at St Matthew Academy. (more…)

Binned by the MoD. How could they? Photo: Andy Woo

Let’s call him David—I don’t know what his name is. Back in 1983, 78-year-old David (more…)

Photo: Tfl - New DLR train from Lewisham-Bank

Congestion on the DLR Lewisham to Bank route will be eased by the introduction of the first three-car trains.

Extended platforms have now been completed on this section of the track. It will be the first section of the DLR to take advantage of 55 new carriages costing TFL £100million.

At the launch of the new trains on 3rd March, GLA transport adviser, Kulveer Ranger said: “We know the Bank to Lewisham branch is the most congested and heavily used and this will alleviate that demand and stress in rush hour.” He added: “This carriage feels a lot more airy, the doors have more glass, it’s a smoother journey, has better braking and, of course, more capacity.”

The expansion bodes well for Lewisham, with the Canary Wharf Group saying: “History shows that increased transport capacity in east London has stimulated regeneration, investment and new jobs, so today’s announcement is good news for all of the Docklands area.”

As well as benefiting the local community the expansion will also be a benefit for the Olympics, with the DLR expected to carry up to 500,000 people a day during the games, which is more than double the current weekday average.

Jonathan Fox, Director of the DLR, said at the launch of the new carriages : “Today marks another major milestone for DLR and its passengers as our network is further enhanced and improved. With the Stratford International extension set to open later this year, we are in great shape to meet passenger demand now and over the course of the next few years.”

Lewisham resident Francesca Waite, 20, agreed: “I think it is great. Summer is unbearable on a packed DLR train, so the new carriages will be a breath of fresh air.”

Despite the positive reaction of the majority, a poster on wharf.co.uk said: “the DLR has been severely congested for at least 8 years. At the moment, the majority of trains on the Bank – Lewisham branch are still two car. There only seems to be one three car train running. And lets not get started on the frequency of trains – during the rush hour the frequency of trains has actually decreased. Overall the DLR runs an extremely poor service and I fail to see why it is getting such praise.”

While at present only the Bank to Lewisham branch of the line has three car trains, the rest of the DLR network will be benefiting from the new trains over the coming year.