London

Responding to the Prime Minister's roadmap out of the current coronavirus lockdown restrictions, Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville said:  

For the latest information on coronavirus and to access help and support, visit the Coronavirus Support pages.

Council services worth nearly £12million every year will be reclaimed from private companies as part of a new strategy to deliver better, more reliable public services in-house rather than outsourcing them.

More than 360 cleaning, maintenance and parking enforcement staff will be transferred to Council employment by March next year, under a plan to bring in services from for-profit companies approved by the Council’s Cabinet last night. 

The model sets out the process by which all outsourced contracts will be reviewed according to quality, performance, value for money, and staff terms and conditions to explore whether they can be insourced.

The move is part of the Council’s work to rebuild a fairer local economy after the pandemic, using its land, assets and services for public good, creating quality and fair employment opportunities for the borough’s residents. 

Between January 2020 and March 2022, five services worth £11.6m will have been insourced under the policy, including: 

• Schools caretaking and cleaning services, worth £2.5m, with 116 staff brought back in-house to the Council and schools in January 2020
• Gully and winter cleansing service, worth £300,000, brought back in-house in September 2020
• Office cleaning service, worth £1.8m, with 110 staff brought back in-house in January 2021
• Fleet maintenance service, worth £1.4m, with 10 staff due to be brought back in-house in April 2021
• Parking enforcement, worth £5.6m, with 132 staff due to be brought back in-house in March 2022

These decisions build on the Council’s record of insourcing other services over more than a decade, including its benefits, recruitment, waste collection, IT and jobs teams.

Insourcing and sustainable procurement is just one way the Council is rebuilding a fairer local economy as the borough plans its recovery from coronavirus, with extra employment support for young people and those who have lost work, working with businesses to pay the London Living Wage and building new genuinely affordable workspace for local businesses.

Sadly people are going to have to celebrate Purim a little differently this year due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions.

This year Purim takes place from Thursday 24 to Sunday 26 February. The usual customs for the holiday of donating to charity, dressing up in colourful outfits, street dancing and the reading of the Megillah in synagogue will need to be adapted, to keep everyone safe and prevent the spread of coronavirus. 

To ensure people are kept safe during the holiday local representatives from the Orthodox Jewish community in Hackney have been working with the Council and the Police to plan and ensure people have the information they need to celebrate the holiday safely.

Usually there is a series of street parades as part of the festivities. However, this year, people are instead celebrating in their own homes with their households or support bubbles. Charity collections will be coordinated through synagogues and risk assessments and multiple religious services are being put in place to ensure places of worship are covid-19 safe and people are able to stay 2 metres apart at all times. 

Children will still be able to dress up and schools are putting on special Purim activities that they can even take home to also enjoy on the Saturday. 

A guide to celebrating Purim 2021 safely 

Megillah

As always, Megillah will be read in shul. This year there will be further readings of Megillah in shuls, at different times, to avoid people having to hear the Megillah in private houses. 

Gabboim are responsible for ensuring that the covid guidance is followed in shuls.

Please follow the rules set by your shul, including washing your hands often, social distancing and mask wearing.

Mishloach Monos

• Giving or receiving food and parcels to family, friends and neighbours is permitted
• Food or parcels must be delivered at the front door only and ensure social distancing at all times.
• It is not permitted to enter another person’s house unless you are from the same household/family and/or support bubble

Matonos l’evyonim

• Fundraising and giving should be done in shuls or schools, not door to door.
• Do not shake hands when greeting, parting or offering thanks.
• Group fundraising, with or without vans or coaches, is not allowed.

Seudas Purim

• Families can celebrate the Purim meal only with their family who they live with and support bubbles. 
• When celebrating in a shul, avoid playing recorded music at a volume that may result in people using raised voices or shouting to communicate with each other.

Other activities

• Dressing up is a key way to celebrate Purim and is permitted
• You may still celebrate at home or in your back garden with people you live with or who are in your support bubble
• Gatherings with others are not permitted
• In order to stop crowds gathering, mobile music systems such as loud speakers in vehicles are not permitted.
• Street or public dancing is not allowed
• Gatherings outside of venues are not permitted

Just like every year people can fulfill all the mitzvos of Purim, but some things need to be done differently this year. You should only go out for essential purposes. The virus is dangerous and we all need to do what we can to protect ourselves and our family and friends. Happy Purim.

Young people with a passion for making a difference in their community are being urged to sign up to Hackney Youth Parliament (HYP) ahead of elections in Spring 2021. 

Under the brand new format there will be six elected young leaders with opportunities for 60 more young people to take part in the HYP work. The group will be given a budget to work with and will help call the shots on how services for young people are delivered in Hackney.

Members of the youth parliament will learn what it means to take part in a democratic system, to advocate for your communities and push for positive change on issues such as climate change, systemic racism and mental health. 

Successful candidates will be expected to find out the concerns and needs of other young people in Hackney, and represent these views to decision-makers on a local level. 

During their term in office, members will have the opportunity to get involved in a variety of events, projects and campaigns, as well as working with the Mayor of Hackney and attending Council meetings. 

There will be a residential this summer, for members to get to know their fellow young parliamentarians, as well as other trips organised by HYP (dependent on lockdown measures). 

Those interested must be a young person who is a resident or attends a school in Hackney, aged between 14 and 19 years old or up to 25 years old with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The Council is encouraging those who are underrepresented in our current cohort to apply, including young men, members of the LGBTQ+ community and members of the Jewish, Turkish and Kurdish communities.

If elected, terms in office would end in October 2023, with members committing at least three hours per month on HYP activities.

Interested young people can get inspired by watching our video. 

Young people can get involved by registering interest here and the team will respond as soon as possible. Any questions can be directed to Nana Adae-Amoakoh at nana.adae-amoakoh@hackney.gov.uk or call 020 8356 8555.

Four new names have been shortlisted to rename the green space formerly known as Cassland Road Gardens and residents are now invited to vote for their favourite. 

Since the announcement of the renaming of the gardens in July 2020, submissions have been sent in by local residents keen to help make history. 

The gardens are being renamed as part of the Council’s Review, Rename, Reclaim project which is reviewing the names of local landmarks, streets, buildings and public spaces to ensure they reflect the long history of Hackney’s diversity. 

The community steering group involved in the project, local councillors and the Mayor of Hackney, have now whittled down the list and have launched a public vote between Celestine, Crowley, Owuasu or Straker Gardens. Each of the four names reflect a hidden story of an influential individual in the multicultural history of Hackney. 

Residents within the Cassland Road area will be sent a letter from the Mayor along with a consultation pack containing information on Sir John Cass and the histories about the potential new names. They will also be invited to two online community sessions. 

Cassland Road Gardens was named after Sir John Cass – director of the Royal African Company who made profits from the enslavement of African people in the 16th and 17th centuries. The former Cassland Road Garden sign now lives in Hackney Museum as an educational artifact.

Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville / Cllr Carole Williams, Cabinet Member for Employment, Skills and Human Resources said:

Short histories on each of the shortlisted names are below. More information can be found online at hackney.gov.uk/naming-review

S.J. Celestine Edwards (1857/1858 - 1894) - Dominican-born activist for social justice and influential lecturer, speaking throughout the country. He studied theology at King’s College and medicine at the Royal London Hospital and lived in Hackney from 1891.

Kathleen ‘Kit’ Crowley (1918-2018) - a Cassland Road resident born in 1918 who contributed to the WW2 effort by working on the railway as a porter and spent 32 years working at Wentworth Nursery. She is described as a role model for the children of the Windrush generation on Gascoyne Estate. 

Francis ‘Frank’ Owuasu (1954 - 2018) Frank came to Hackney in 1967 from Nigeria as a political refugee. In response to educational underachievement of African and African-Caribbean children, he founded the African Community School with his wife Kome. 

Ralph Adolphus Straker (1936 - 2013) - an influential campaigner for racial equality. He moved to London from Barbados in 1956 as a recruit for London Transport and helped reverse the educationally “sub normal” classification of many Caribbean children at the time. In 2002 he was appointed an OBE for his works in community relations. 

Residents can cast their votes until 11 April.

 

Notes for editors 

To find out more about Review, Rename, Reclaim visit hackney.gov.uk/naming-review

For more news and press releases on the renaming of Cassland Road Gardens, visit the Hackney Council newsroom. 

Residents are invited to suggest names for future renaming projects via the new Hackney Naming Hub hackneynaminghub.commonplace.is Suggestions can also be submitted by calling 020 8356 4501 or emailing NamingHub@hackney.gov.uk 

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