Redbridge Peace Monument - close to becoming a reality!

Many of you will remember former posts in which Wilson informed residents of a scheme to introduce a Peace monument to South Ilford.  The East Ilford Business Partnership a group that Wilson Chairs, have raised £7500 towards a potential peace monument in Redbridge.   Only Recently a £5000 grant was provided via the East London Community Foundation.

The proposed monument would be installed at the Winston Way Roundabout just outside the town centre and the location of the tragic attack to Kashif Mahmood. We have a range of designs of which the smallest monument design would cost £10,000 and the highest cost being £20,000 we are hoping our Council Cabinet would fund the remainder of the cost of our project.   We would choose a design based on the amount of funds received.

The Cenotaph in London is a poignant reminder of the futility of war, we hope our monument will be a reminder of the futility of knife and gun crime.

We will allow families of existing victims and future ones to add a small plaque to the base ensuring that the monument always has a current focus. 

Once the project funds are in place, we will be holding boroughwide Schools competition for the design of small mosaics around the floor of the base. This will give ownership of the project to young people.

In time we hope schools will take children and young people to the monument for talks and presentations and Parvin Mahmood the mother of victim Kashif Mahmood, has agreed to talk to schools about the impact of the attack that led to the loss of her son's life. She has already spoken in various schools and colleges across the borough.


If anyone would like to donate towards the project please do make contact. 

Read more (Ilford Recorder)

Here is what our funders form the East London Community Foundation said:

"East London Community Foundation assists a large number of community groups in Redbridge with small project grants up to £5,000. We support local people - like the Mahmood family and Wilson Chowdhry - to take the initiative and do something positive to tackle local issues. We were pleased to offer funding from our Grassroots Grants programme to East Ilford Business Partnership for the Peace Monument in Winston Way roundabout. We feel the monument will be a useful focal point to raise awareness among young people that using knives as a weapon can so easily have lethal consequences. We liked the multicultural and inclusive nature of the monument, and the fact that local children will have the chance to be involved in its design. We hope it will unite local people to prevent violence and knife crime."


The "East London Community Foundation" is an independent charitable company limited by guarantee that aims to promote local giving to community and voluntary groups in the following London boroughs: Barking & Dagenham, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and City of London. ELCF can be contacted at 0300 303 1203, enquiries@elcf.org.uk or www.elcf.org.uk

In Redbridge, East London Community Foundation currently distributes grants on behalf of the Office of the Third Sector (Grassroots Grants), the London Borough of Redbridge (Redbridge Small Grants).

Both are open for new applications and can fund a wide range of volunteer-led community initiatives.

Grants of up to £5,000 are available. Full details are on our website at www.elcf.org.uk/apply_open.cfm