Wansteadium

A crowdfunding effort to make good the damage to the playground in Christchurch Green following a fire last month has raised more than £5,000 from Wanstead residents.

It was much more than was needed to replace the equipment (and squidgy ground) and, as promised by the crowdfunded’s organiser Paul Canal, the surplus has been donated to the Wanstead Fringe to help fund this year’s activities.

Giles Wilson, chair of the Wanstead Fringe Association, said it was hoped the donation would help fund some theatrical activity at this year’s Fringe. “We’re really grateful to all the donors whose generosity will be further helping the cultural life of Wanstead – and also to Paul who helped it happen.”

This year’s Wanstead Fringe is taking place between 10 and 25 September, with the Wanstead Festival happening on Sunday 18 September. The open air Kinema will be on Saturday 10 September and the Jumble Trail on Saturday 17th.

Following up the shots of a pseudo Wanstead High Street, with bakery fakery, fishy frontages and fake newsagents, is this Sky News local election coverage advert, kindly captured for us by reader EJ.

Wansteadium has a special affection for hedgehogs, as longtime readers know. It’s not so much the animals themselves as the indication that living things were here when Wanstead was all woodland and fields and farms and the like.

For a number of years we’ve invited readers to send in pictures of hedgehogs, though in the past couple of years there haven’t been very many sightings of them, dead or alive. But reader Ruth King has just kicked the season off in style.

Eighteen months ago she bought a trap camera to see if she could find evidence of hedgehogs. But it wasn’t until last week that she set up a feeding station – a plastic storage box with a lid – and put some meat-based cat food and water inside. Then she waited.

For two nights.

And these photos are what she discovered in the morning (click/tap picture to enlarge).

Labour’s solid support in Wanstead has continued with all five Redbridge seats which were up for election going to the party. That seems to have been replicated across Redbridge with, at the time of writing, only four non-Labour candidates being elected. Full results below from redbridge.gov.uk and here.

Wanstead Village

Candidate	Party	Votes
ACTON Crispin William	Liberal Democrats	841
BLACKMAN Jo	Labour Party	2,058 Elected
CHAMBERS Gavin	Conservative Party Candidate	958
DONOVAN Paul Francis	Labour Party	1,817 Elected
HEPWORTH Neil	Liberal Democrats	804
HUSSAIN Fatema	Conservative Party Candidate	863
KALSI Sharn	Conservative Party Candidate	822
LAFFERTY Richard William	Green Party	394
MARSHALL Susanne	Green Party	504
MORGAN-THOMAS Daniel Huw	Labour Party	1,713 Elected
ROWLANDS John Herbert	Green Party	293
WILDING Scott Raymond	Liberal Democrats	694

Vacant seats: 3

Electorate: 9570

Ballot papers issued: 4082

Turnout: 42.65%

Wanstead Park

Candidate	Party	Votes
ALABA Bayo	Labour Party	1,463 Elected
BAIN Sheila Agnes	Labour Party	1,541 Elected
BRUCK David	Liberal Democrats	200
CORNISH Janet May	Liberal Democrats	296
GUNSTOCK Ashley	Green Party	548
MCWATT Duncan	Conservative Party Candidate	560
VORA Zak	Conservative Party Candidate	490

A weird pseudo-Wanstead in which the fishmonger is called Jenny, la Bakerie is called La Bakery and the BHF shop is a fake newsagent is being seen on tv in a new advert.

The ad, for Sage Accounting, flashes the doctored view of Wanstead High Street briefly (and was spotted by sharp-eyed Wansteadium reader Ruban Kumarachandran).

It’s not the first time Wanstead High Street’s picturesque attractions have featured in adverts. Who can forget the old laundrette (now Bare Brew) becoming a flowing meadow in a bottled water ad? Or Wanstead Barbers in a bookie’s advert?

Polling takes place for councillors to sit on Redbridge Borough Council on Thursday 5 May from 7am to 10pm. These are the candidates for the two Wanstead wards.

Wanstead Village Ward

• Crispin Acton Liberal Democrats
• Jo Blackman Labour Party
• Gavin Chambers Conservative and Unionist Party
• Paul Donovan Labour Party
• Neil Hepworth Liberal Democrats
• Fatema Hussain Conservative and Unionist Party
• Sharn Kalsi Conservative and Unionist Party
• Richard William Lafferty Green Party
• Susanne Marshall Green Party
• Daniel Morgan-Thomas Labour Party
• John Herbert Rowlands Green Party
• Scott Wilding Liberal Democrats

Wanstead Park Ward

• Bayo Alaba Labour Party
• Sheila Bain Labour Party
• David Bruck Liberal Democrats
• Janet May Cornish Liberal Democrats
• Ashley Gunstock Green Party
• Duncan McWatt Conservative and Unionist Party
• Zak Vora Conservative and Unionist Party

There is a list of polling stations with addresses here.