Category: Wansteadium

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The long-awaited roll-out of wheelie bins across Wanstead is about to take place, residents have been told, with bins being delivered in the coming weeks.

All properties have been assessed by Redbridge officials for their suitability for wheelie bins, and those which are deemed not suitable will be receiving red bin bags instead.

The information circulated by Redbridge confirms that the borough collects the fifth highest amount of rubbish in England. We don’t believe we’ve seen a logical explanation for this, but perhaps wheelie bins might bring the borough into line with other councils

Intriguingly the leaflet promises a “bin amnesty” – for those go-ahead households who bought their own wheelie bins and now would be landed with two. Well, the council is offering to help take unwanted bins off their hands.

What will happen to the conventional bins houses have had for years and years is less clear. Guess they’ll be have to be thrown away. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes, huh?

The old Grove Hall on Grosvenor Road – until a few years ago the church hall of Wanstead United Reformed Church – has undergone an enormous refurbishment in preparation for becoming a Montessori school.

The hall, now owned by Treehouse Nursery, will be hosting 90 under-fives each day, and will give employment to a significant extra number of staff. Grove Montessori, as it will be known, is to open in the next few weeks.

The building has for many years played a big part in the lives of Wanstead people – during the War, for instance, families whose houses had been bombed were allowed to store their furniture in the hall. It was an active church hall until a few years ago when it became an after school club.

But the new school has meant a large refurbishment by Treehouse owners Paul Samouelle and Maria Sanchez, including the addition of a second floor where the hall previously was.

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A doctor writes:

https://twitter.com/DoctorPAF/status/1352970672432160770

A black swan has been a guest on Eagle Pond for the past few days, attracting bird-lovers. He’s doing a tour of local wetlands, and has been christened Bruce (black swans generally come from Australia). He is apparently socialising well with the mute swans of Snaresbrook, proving again that Australians are generally good company.

(Thanks to spotter and photographer Pete Daly.)

Warnings that Whatsapp messages inviting people to sign up for COVID vaccinations were fakes have turned out to be wrong, following reassurances that the messages were unauthorised but nevertheless sent in good faith.

Redbridge Council leader Jas Athwal warned of the messages, but the NHS commissioning groups which organise the vaccination programmes have tweeted clarifications that the messages were not in fact fraudulent.

Apologies to @jas_athwal and residents for confusion over incorrect vaccine distribution messages posted on WhatsApp. Done in good faith, but not NHS approved. Cllr you acted under our advice to ensure vaccines are distributed fairly & we’re sorry you’ve been criticised unfairly.

— NHS North East London CCG (BHR) (@NHS_BHR) January 16, 2021

In fact at least one Wansteadium reader, Mary, commented on our original post that she had responded to a similar Whatsapp message and successfully received a vaccination as a result.

I replied with my relevant info. I was given an appointment for today by HealthDirect (our local primary care health network). I went to Hawkey Hall and was in the system . I had a vaccination and it was all very efficient and indeed terrific. It may not have been authorised by Redbridge CCG but several hundred doses have not been wasted.

The incident does highlight the difficulties of knowing exactly where messages received on various platforms are coming from, and whether or not they are legitimate. The government’s National Cyber Security Centre has issued this leaflet, pictured below, with some specific guidance on spotting scams relating to COVID-19.