Hundreds join ST Patrick's day/Climate Change community barbecue despite poor weather during!

To celebrate Climate Change Week and St Patrick's Day the British Pakistani Christian Association teamed up with the East Ilford Betterment Partnership, Redbridge Recycling Team and the Prince of Wales Pub to hold a free community barbecue on 17th March 2012.  The event was really popular despite the rain and literally hundreds came to eat free burgers and hot dogs while learning how to preserve the environment and a short history of St Patrick's day.  

Read yellow advertiser press release here:

(Click here)

Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, "the Day of the Festival of Patrick") is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17th March. It commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox Church  and Lutheran Church. 

Our event was attended by a real diverse mix of people and we were thrilled when a young girl performed Irish dancing to visitors of the event. A dancing competition saw many children and adults win large St Patrick's day hats which they all donned with pride, sharing in the ambience of the day.   Habiba Ahmed of Redbridge  Recycling taught children how to make jewellery from paper, how to plant cress seeds and other activities. 

A local face-painter  created wonderful works of art on smiling children's faces free of charge in a day that brought joy to many.  

A number of homeless people joined us and it was remarkable to see how they were treated with great respect by all the visitors.  It was heart arming to see how people could put aside differences and overcome stereotypes when placed in a atmosphere promoting unity.  

A local homeless man talks to visitors to the event.

There was literally hundreds that joined the event throughout the day.

Winning dancers wore their St Patrick's day hats with pride.

Even the DJ wore a hat!

Volunteers numbered 15 and covered all the main faiths  we had Sikh, Christian, Hindu and Muslim volunteers working together in a spirit of community cohesion.

All day people dropped by to eat our tasty food, learn about the environment and enjoy each others company.

All day Redbridge Recycling provided free information on how to preserve the environment, and children workshops to facilitate green learning.

The face painting was a real treat for youngsters.

Children making paper jewellery with Habiba.

My daughters posing..

With a hug this time..

DJ play the track again..

Misconceptions of the homeless were driven away through engagement with them.  One of the local homeless showed us all how to dance and enjoy yourself despite difficulties..

Hair braiding and face-painting were very popular.

If you needed to learn about local eco-services this was the event to join.

A smaller barbecue served Halal food so all visitors could enjoy a meal. Led by Muhammed Shoaib a local businessman.

The hats were awesome.

Seasoned chicken was a sizzling treat.

The Prince of Wales Pub Car park was a busy place.

Throughout the day news visitors joined us.

Young and old had a great time.

Many families from the newly migrated Eastern European community joined us and it was great to be able to enjoy time with them and learn more about their culture.

Food was being eaten at a faster rate and we had to purchase more to sustain demand.

Local residents spent time getting to know each other.

DJ Wizard entertained visitors with Irish, Punjabi and pop music.

A short blast of wind almost blew the gazebos away.

People really enjoyed and appreciated  the party atmosphere and open invite.

Music requests were met where possible.

Dancing with joy people really enjoyed themselves.

Team London funded the community barbecue.

Volunteers represented the European, Asian, African and American continents.

A very talented Irish Dancer impressed all with her dancing.

A duo performed on a larger stage.

Much fun was had by all.

Volunteers really enjoyed getting involved.  Community feedback was positive!

Food and drinks were served for the entirety of the event.

Young people queued for the Children's workshops.

No that was not a smoke machine.

Getting busy on the dance floor..

Life is good..

Face-painting was artfully applied!

Wow fun and learning combined, the green stickers were given to those successfully completing the Eco-workshops!

A large leprechaun played music!

Busy, busy, busy but worth the effort!

Chairs were provided to tired individuals.

Hannah painted some children.

Queues asked for Hannah's great designs..

We thought we would run out of food.

Children let their inhibitions go as they danced to the varied music.

Dancing was a popular theme.

Joy all around...

Children became works of art.

Ahh... a butterfly!

A loving team served people all day.

The last face-painting of the day!

Queen to visit Ilford!

Celebrating The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

The Queen's Visit - Thursday 29 March

Come along to Valentines Mansion & Gardens on Thursday 29 March to celebrate The Diamond Jubilee as Redbridge welcomes HM Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh for a visit to one of our finest parks.  This visit is part of the Queens Diamond Jubilee National Tour and we hope to see crowds of people, so do come along and join in the celebrations.  Make sure you are in the park early in order to be there for the Queen's arrival at 10.25am.
The visit will be the start of a four-day festival and exhibition celebrating Art and Design in London over the last six decades.

·                     See confirmation of the visit on the official website of The British Monarchy.

The Festival - Thursday 29 March to Sunday 1 April

Man Shot At Krystals Banqueting on Sunday!

The scene of two shootings in just over a year!

The Krystal Banqueting on the High Road, Ilford (Just opposite Ilford Recorder's Office)  was the scene of the second shooting incident in 14 months at the venue. The shooting occurred at around 4.40am on Sunday, while 400 party-goers where still revelling despite exceeding the venues permitted hours.  resulted in closure of the road while a

The police have for a long period had reservations about the licensing of this venue and have submitted a request for an review of the existing license, which allows the serving of alcohol until 3.30am.  Cllr Javaid is said to have backed calls for a review in the Ilford Recorder, but how on earth has this review not happened sooner?

The victim is said to be stable in hospital and investigating Detectives from Operation Trident have called for witnesses to come forward.

Violence seems to be increasing in frequency on our local streets especially with the use of weapons.  Clementswood Police have agreed to hold a public meeting at Clementswood Community Centre on the 15th March at 19:30.  I urge local residents to come and join us and to meet our local Sgt and police officers. In addition to this incident we will be discussing the process for an extended No Drinking Zone along Green Lane.

If you would like more details of our forthcoming meetings please call 020 8514 0861 or email: Wilson@aasecurity.co.uk

Is this Redbridge's biggest snowman?

Sure enjoyed making this with my neighbours and children.  My younger daughters contributed but had to go to bed before we completed.  Hannah was more stoic and stayed till the end!

A day to remember - let's hope no-one smashes it overnight, I really want the little ones to see it!

Miracle prevents fatalities at collapsed Ilford City Gates church construction site

 The potentially unstable crane deemed serious hazard!

 Fire engines and other rescue services on standby to save potential casualties.

 The mangled infrastructure illustrates the lucky escape.

 Rescue teams awaiting directions- limited information from thermal imaging delayed active response.

The residual infrastructure looks ready for another cave in.

It's a miracle that no-one was seriously hurt!

A five storey church infrastructure build collapsed at 16:30pm today, and miraculously killed no-one.  Around 20 construction workers were still on site and yet none of them suffered major injury.

Firemen and other rescue crew where unable to scour the site for any casualties due to the perceived danger of the site.  Around 30 fire, police and ambulance vehicles still waited along Clements Road, and Winston Way, seeking the go-ahead for a survey of the wrecked construct at around 7pm.

The reason for the collapse has not yet been established but this near miss posed a real threat to local people. Police and fire crew worked together in partnership setting up a safety cordon of around 500m diameter around the site, concerned that the large lifting crane could be unstable.

The building site belongs to City Gates Church a large charismatic Christian group, who intend to build a 5 storey complex, including a large 1000 seater auditorium to serve their larger than normal congregation.   Other rooms would include various meeting rooms and community projects.  The construction project was headed up by Ashe Construction.

Images from the scene of the collapse indicate how close, workers and the public, were to a potentialy fatal incident.

Thick steel girders have been twisted and bent out shape, the concrete floors have been deemed to dangerous for inspection- even obscuring any tangible thermal observation via helicopter.  Fortunately an Evening Standard reporter informed Wilson, that by 8pm it had been established that no serious harm had befallen anyone.  A passing women is said to have exhibited serious symptoms of shock.  Wilson Chowdhry said;

"Being a Christian I am compelled to believe that God had a hand in preventing any loss of life, simply because with the complete collapse of the structure, at a normal operational time, a more inimical catastrophe should have occurred."  


Read an update here:


http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/news/ilford_city_gates_building_collapse_19_year_old_s_lucky_escape_from_parked_car_1_1194324

New years resolution to promote peace almost terminated due to poor weather

 The Redbridge Carnival Mascots and other visitors joined the peace gathering at our peace monument

 Later in the evening a second trip to the monument allowed us to clean the plaques for images.

Hard rainfall that lasted for over 4 hours (from 14:30 -19:00) on New Years Day, almost cancelled our new year mission to bring peace to the borough.   Although many visitors could not make it on a later  minutes silence scheduled for 19:30 those who turned up heard words of hope provided by Father Ackroyd, from Vine United reform church - read out by Wilson Chowdhry.  A minutes silence for all victims of violent crime in the borough created a sombre very sobering atmosphere.  The silence was pierced by the dulcid tones of a bugler playing reveille at the completion of the memorial.  

Our painting competition for mosaic designs to is now open and we will be launching it through local papers, our local media and via local schools, groups and colleges.  

If you would like more information of the painting competition please do make contact.

Borough-wide Peace Art Competition!

Parents of Kashif Mahmood RIP and Wilson Chowdhry during construction of monument!

The EIBP has launched a boroughwide art competition that will see young peoples art designs incorporated into the Redbridge Peace Monument - installed to commemorate victims of knife crime and to highlight the futility of knife crime.

The competition  has been launched on BBC Asia Network, Premier Christian Radio, Sunrise Radio, Ilford Recorder and Yellow Advertiser. 

We will also provide a large trophy to every school participating,  that we hope will be used for internal annual art competitions on a similar theme. 

Judging the competition will be undertaken by Mayor of Ilford Cllr Cummins, Ann Oakes-Odger MBE (Knifecrimes.org), Parvin Mahmood (mother of slain teenager Kashif Mahmood) and Gray Drostle (monument Designer).

If you as an individual, group or school would like to participate please contact us for the rules and regulations and template for the design.

Further details and images of our monument can be found here:

(Click here)

(Click here)


Wilson Chowdhry said;

"The EIBP wanted to lead by example and promote peace in the borough by opening the year with a resolution to see through this challenge.  We hope that our art competition will inspire young people to think about the world around them and how to make it a better place."