A happy group of Volunteers has returned to their recording Studio at Swail House after an absence of two years, while the virus held its sway, to continue recording the Epsom and Ewell Talking Newspaper (EETN), a free local news and magazine service for Visually Impaired residents of the borough.
Since the end of the first lockdown, a local team of dedicated Volunteers have been producing the EETN from their homes. The complicated procedure required careful management and organised deadlines, to enable the free service and free postal distribution to continue. Every two weeks, Visually Impaired People (VIP) receive a wallet containing the Talking Newspaper on a memory stick, for which the charity can also provide an easy to use audio player. People with a visual loss especially those who live alone, frequently feel and are, isolated as loss of vision results in loss of confidence to navigate the world outside their familiar home surroundings. The Pandemic has, of course, increased the isolation of everyone who lives alone and the restrictions have filled some elderly people with macular degeneration with so much anxiety that even now they remain imprisoned through fear of catching Covid.
Hence the good, kind efforts of the EETN Volunteers to bring the outside in by providing local news, magazine articles and Podcasts to entertain and absorb our many Listeners. The team are hugely proud of the independent, volunteer-run, completely free service which has been available for nearly fifty years. Wallets are still sent to Listeners who have left the area but continue to take an interest in where they once lived and of course, they continue to enjoy the information and entertainment on offer.
Judy Sarssam, Chair of EETN and herself visually impaired said: “Being unable to read any longer is a huge loss and happily audiobooks are available but unless the VIP is computer literate the whole world of print is not accessible. The EETN reflects the different interests of those who choose the articles and thus there is always something of interest for every Listener. The youngsters so engrossed in the digital world cannot appreciate that even provided with a screen reader, one has to have not only skills, which many of the older population do not have, but a good amount of residual vision and time, to navigate that world. For the present elderly visually impaired VIPs it is wonderful to have instant access to such a rich pageant of material which the EETN offers.” One Listener said “It is like welcoming old friends into their home regularly as the familiar voices are heard once again.”
If you have a family member, friend or neighbour whom you could tell about the EETN free service, please do so. Recipients of the EETN do not need to be officially registered as Blind or Partially sighted, they just need to have reached the point of sight deterioration when reading is no longer possible to do with ease. Bear in mind that they will not be able to read these words as you can.
If you know of anyone who would like to receive Epsom & Ewell Talking Newspaper please call 01372 721519 and leave a message and your call will be returned. To learn more, visit https://eetn.org.uk
Age Concern Epsom and Ewell’s 75th
Surrey Brass Friday 8th April entertained over 100 in the magnificent main hall of Epsom College in aid of local 75 years old this year charity Age Concern Epsom and Ewell. The charity’s mission statement is: “Empowering older people in Epsom & Ewell to live the most fulfilling lives they can.” The charity has an army of volunteers who befriend their clients with regular visits, help with DIY, drives to medical appointments, support for a foot clinic and a free hearing aid clinic, advice and information and other services. With demands on its services ever rising this Epsom and Ewell based charity can be proud of its year on year growth with income rising from £125,000 in 2017 to £258,000 year end March 2021. However, the Charity’s Chief Officer Dorah May explains that the challenges of the Co-Vid pandemic are placing a strain on finances with reserves being used up. “Public support is needed more than ever to keep current services going.”
As their 75th year continues Age Concern Epsom and Ewell will combine its celebration with the Platinum Jubilee and recycle old hats that will be part of their Jubilee themed stall appearing in the Epsom Market Square on Thursdays throughout the month of May. Marie Thackwell, the charity’s fundraising and marketing coordinator, said “I’m really looking forward to establishing some fun events and we already have a few great things lined up for the year ahead – after all it’s Age Concern Epsom and Ewell’s 75th anniversary – now that’s something worth celebrating.”
The Charity’s monthly Sunday teas at Stoneleigh Methodist Church continue…
Banstead fires deaths tragedies
Surrey Fire Service service would like to reiterate its sincere condolences to the family and friends of a Banstead resident who was victim of a tragic incident.
The Fire Investigation Team have concluded that the cause of the fatal fire in Banstead that occurred in the early hours of Friday 19 March was most likely due to unattended cooking.
During the first of the six 999 calls to our Joint Fire Control, a neighbour described the fire as being “well developed”.
The Fire Service want to make sure these incidents don’t happen at all and want to help people to be safe in their own homes, but if they do happen then they want to ensure residents are alerted to the danger and have an escape plan to make their way outside of the building before we arrive.
Surrey Fire and Rescue Service offers free Safe and Well Visits, where fire and rescue personnel visit homes with the aim of making them safe from a fire. They’ll fit fire safety equipment, provide fire safety advice about how to live safer as well as refer onto other services/partners if needed too.
If you’re worried about someone, whether your profession has led you to their home (carer, engineer, meter reader etc), a neighbour, or loved one – you can refer anyone to Surrey Fire Service for a free Safe and Well Visit at surreycc.gov.uk/fire..
Sunday 21 March
SFRS and Surrey Police are continuing to investigate a serious residential fire which tragically claimed the life of one resident.
Firefighters were called to a fire on Holly Lane West in Banstead at 2.41am yesterday (Friday 19 March 2021). Six fire engines, including an aerial ladder platform, were involved in the response to this incident.
Very sadly, a person who was in the property when the fire broke out was pronounced dead yesterday. Both services send thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of the resident.
Emergency service personnel remain on scene. Holly Lane West remains closed with Holly Lane open as normal.
Epsom Author Spotlight: Roger Cox
The Hanford Trilogy
Profile
I am a British writer living in the UK who recently completed his first novel, Shadow on the Sun’. There was a follow-up, Deep Earth (published in 2015), with a third, much longer book set to be completed in 2019. The aim is for the three books to complete a trilogy and in its arc, the trilogy is aimed at telling a further story necessary to complete the saga. Since moving to London 40 years ago as a journo and PR consultant I have become a ‘novel writer’. Years of writing on various non-fiction matters such as North Sea Oil and industrial heating systems led me into novel writing. One has to bear in mind during this time I had to earn a earning so as to support two ex-wives and our various daughters.
The Manhattan Project
Picture: Manhattan Project members – March 1940 meeting at Berkeley, California: Ernest O. Lawrence, Arthur H. Compton, Vannevar Bush, James B. Conant, Karl T. Compton, and Alfred Loomis /By U.S. government – Public Domain
Much of Shadow takes place in the United States, for two reasons. The first is I had travelled extensively in this country. The second is I had always been fascinated by the American ‘Manhattan Project’, the Second World War project, named after the Manhattan Engineering District its founding location, aimed at beating the Germans’ attempts to build an atomic bomb.
That the US was successful is evidenced by the abrupt ending of the war. But in the process a terrible legacy was created. Not only with the nigh on 200,000 Japanese people killed almost immediately with the atomic bomb droppings, but in the radioactive detritus that followed on for nearly seventy years affecting much of US, as well as obviously, Japanese land.
Part of the US legacy has been the awesome nuclear pollution affecting both the Columbia river, American’s third largest and the plight of the Downwinders, and the land surrounding them. The Downwinders are the people who lived “downwind” of nuclear blasts, breathing the pollution it created, often dying early, and who spent years claiming compensation.
Picture: The Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine graphically illustrated / Schoolhistory.org.uk
But perhaps an even worse is legacy is the 60,000 US Cold War atomic weapons the US built as part of the mistaken belief of forcing the Soviets to abandon either the MAD doctrine – Mutually Assured Destruction – if ever the Soviets attempted to reach nuclear stalemate with the US.
The worst polluted place in the US has been- and still is – the Hanford Indian Reservation in Washington State. It is 600 square miles of now badly polluted desert. This stems from Hanford eventually being the site of the eight nuclear reactors necessary for producing the bombmaking plutonium the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) believed it needed to meet US Government nuclear goals.
But making plutonium is no easy business. The clean-up bill to shutter eight nuclear reactors and the mess they have left behind was estimated at £130 billion in 2000. Since then figures of anywhere between $700 billion and $8 trillion have regularly been bandied about. The only accurate fact about these “costs” is every estimate far exceeds the preceding figures.
Becoming a Novelist
As a former journalist (amongst the many other hats I’ve worn) a combination of fact mixed with fiction seemed to me to be something I could try as a writer.
There was certainly plenty of material about Hanford. However, taking such a tack could be dangerous for it could mean any book would become out of date as events changed. But the issue at Hanford seemed likely to continue for several decades, more than enough to see me out! I like America and I like American writers, the latter covering the usual suspects. I like their style, the telling it like it is and not wasting words. How amazing it must have been in Hemingway’s day to have been around during his time in Paris in the early nineteen twenties. To get a flavour of it like Woody Alan’s loving movie pastiche, ‘Midnight in Paris’.
Although there is much in today’s age to keep writers occupied I hope I have found one subject for me and something’ appeals to a wider audience. Not just for Californians who are pretty clued up about the environment they live in making them wary of people washing up on their shoreline with the aim of messing it all up. The debacle of the San Onofore nuclear power station just south of President Nixon’s old home at San Clemente is but one giant sized example. So as we speak I’m plodding away on my next book in a small town close to London. How long is it going to take me? I reckon another year before it’s all done. The world of books moves exceeding slowly so it will probably take longer. Have you all the patience to wait?
N.B. This profile is taken from R Julian Cox’s Amazon profile and was written some years ago before Brightstar was completed.
A key backdrop to the stories in these books is the aftermath of The Manhattan Project, the United States’ race to develop and wield the power of nuclear weaponry towards the end of World War Two before the Germans could. Victory in this nuclear arms race and the expansion of nuclear testing and weaponry during the Cold War with the USSR led to major environmental pollution in multiple sites across the United States.
The books focus on one of largest of these polluted sites, Hanford Indian Reservation, Washington in the north west continental United States. From the end of nuclear activity in the 60s to the 80s several Federal agencies attempted to clean up the environmental damage, countering pollution of the surrounding land and nearby Columbia river. The river feeds into the Pacific North West where Seattle, a city of 7 million inhabitants, known for being the HQ of major global companies, Amazon, Microsoft and Boeing.
An additional ticking time bomb is the prospect of a more powerful series of eruptions from the volcanos underneath nearby Mount St Helens that last erupted in the 80s.
The Hub’s Conversation with R Julian Cox – Spring, 2021
R Julian Cox’s first foray into writing was penning an article, ‘All That Jass’, in 1965 for The Yorkshire Evening Press to drum up membership for The York Jazz Club. The club met at the York City Rowing Club and would occasionally host big bands on tour in the north of England. Founder member Cox mis-spelt Jass in the title as a nod to its use as ‘sex’ in American street slang. He was fond of jazz greats like Oscar Peterson and lesser knowns, like coronet player Joe Harriott.
Fleet Street
Picture: The Bee Gees on the cover of a Sony Music Japan International CD / www.discogs.com
Shortly after, Cox secured a role as an editorial assistant on the paper and progressed to writing articles. He soon left his native York, without regret, for Fleet Street in the Swinging 60s and 70s with a business journos’ job on The Daily Telegraph. His big business story was covering British Steel reporting the then largest loss in UK business history. Cox recalls attending the press conference and being invited with other journalists by chairman Sir Monty Finneston for a liquid lunch somewhere in Covent Garden. “Those days were a lot of fun!”
He moved along Fleet Street to work on The Sunday Observer. Characteristically, he readily admits his career moves were: “All about the money!” He was buying a “very nice” flat in Kew at the time and needed all the money he could get!
Cox’s highlight at The Observer was interviewing The Bee Gees at the height of their 70s fame. CDs were the new thing and Sony lacked CD-Rom recording artists so signed big acts like The Bee Gees and Paul McCartney. Cox says he remembers “the boys” as straightforward and easy to deal with.
Public Relations
Picture: Maggie, Maggie, Maggie! – Margaret Thatcher at the Conservative Party conference in 1979. / Photograph: PA
Money too drew him from journalism to PR. Cox joined an agency called Good Relations as “the writer” . His Fleet Street baptism-by-fire years, where he was expected to churn out important copy to tight daily deadlines, meant he now felt able to write on anything.
He did well in PR, marching into No. 10 in 1979 to assist the newly-elected Margaret Thatcher with copy. She was: “Pretty good, straight and easy to get on with.” He was less impressed with some of her underlings. Successive defence secretaries Tom King and John Knox were less impressive, in his estimation.
The Hub asked if, in these high-octane London years, he ever stopped to wonder how far the boy from York had come. “No, I was not star struck, I just did the job. It never crossed my mind to think about it. Maybe that makes me the Dumbo!”
He left to be the day-to-day PR lead for Barrett PR, a new agency founded and fronted by BBC journalist Michael Barrett, well-known for presenting ratings-favourite Nationwide. True to the culture of the day Barrett would regularly invite Cox to the pub around 12 and soon sink a couple of double whiskeys.
Picture: Nationwide presenting team in 1974: Michael Barratt (left), Susan Stranks and Bob Wellings (right) / Getty Images
Big accounts included 20th Century Fox and Allied Medical Group, who were running a hospital in Saudi Arabia. Cox spent two months in Saudi where the working routine was “a little different” to the West End. The heat meant starting early, stopping mid-day and finishing off after sun-down.
Falling Out & Starting Again
Picture: Labour MP Reg Prentice during a left-wing campaign to deselect him as MP for Newham North East constituency in July 1975 / www.redpepper.org.uk
After two years the company was going well, but in a repeat theme in his later PR years, Cox left because he and Barrett fell out. “Barrett had a big ego. When I arrived all the calls were for him, but after a while they were all for me. He didn’t like that.”
This time Cox set up The Grayling Company on his own, with a partner. The company was successful, but Cox was caught in a classic husband and wife squeeze. He shared a 38.5% split with his partner, but says the business relationship failed because her husband was determined to push Cox out. “Not a nice experience!”
So, he set up PR agency Catalyst with two industry friends and it took off “like a rocket!” Labour MP Reg Prentice was a member of the board and his daughter also worked at the firm. But four years later Cox fell out with his partners and finally left the PR industry.
Company Fashion
Picture: Richard Branson and Virgin Airlines staff in an early corporate uniform / Virgin Atlantic
Three years later Cox moved on to snap up a company publishing a dry-cleaning business magazine. “There was no money in dry cleaning, so I switched to a focus on companies, like banks, who wanted their staff to wear new corporate clothing.” Cox admits he was lucky to catch the corporate clothing wave just as Richard Branson highlighted the value of jazzy corporate gear for Virgin Airline. He sold the business “for a tidy sum” three years later.
Computer Chips
Picture: Steve Jobs in classic black polo pose / Medium.com – Marcus Svensson
Cox was executive chairman of computer company, Callhaven, at the time. So, he went full time and had “a lot of fun!” The company quickly grew to be the second largest Apple distributer in the UK, selling £25-30m annually. He got to know the Apple people well and met Steve Jobs who was, “Not a very warm person“.
People’s Capital
Cox’s last hurrah in business was to make money from “picking up a lot of knowledge” from raising money for his various companies. People’s Capital raised sub-£1 million for relatively small companies, typically £200k-300k, for company growth.
It was the late 90s/early 2000s and too often the company execs would use the money “to have a good time”. Cox made a good living from the business until 2006 when he says cryptically: “I got out because it became increasingly difficult to raise money without going to jail!”
Retiring to Write Those Books
Picture: Beginning / Middle / End: Actors Peter Falk and William Shatner, of Star Trek fame, in a classic scene from Colombo, the long-running ordinary detective outfoxing rich criminal TV series / streamondemandathome.com
Having made his nest egg, Cox retired and returned to writing, his first love. But he admits he found the transition from writing short copy to tight daily deadlines to the lengthier, less tangible discipline of novel writing challenging at first.
He says: “It takes a long time to write a book, to think of the idea, then get it down.” He declined to start with a structured plot. He just started writing, not knowing what he wanted to write. His editor at the time pulled him up and gave him the advice he needed.
She said: “A book needs a beginning, a middle and an end.” That made sense to him and made him realise why court room dramas are so enduringly popular, because they formulaically follow this structure.
The Hanford Trilogy
1. SHADOW OF THE SUN – published 2012
The Bright Star Defence System promises to offer mankind freedom from nuclear aggression. But we are in an uncertain time continuum as a plane crash in the 6th century attests.
2. DEEP EARTH – published 2015
This second book focuses on a new group of people uninterested in the past events covered in book one. For them, the BRIGHTSTAR system offers a chance to rebalance a military conflict that has previously pitted them as the weaker party.
3. BRIGHTSTAR – published in 2019
The three stories overlap in this final wrap-up book, inevitably with a final twist.
R Julian Cox’s The Hanford Trilogy is available via Amazon.
Editorial 25/04/22
In February 2019 the Cairncross Review “A Sustainable Future For Journalism” was published. The Report stated the decline in public interest journalism was most acute at the local level. The Epsom and Ewell History Explorer website tracks the loss of our Borough’s last dedicated local newspapers in the first decade of the 21st Century.
The Independent Community News Network states “Independent community and hyperlocal news outlets are fulfilling the traditional role of the fourth estate in local civic society, complementing the diverse range of news provision available.”
In establishing the review former PM Theresa May said “Good quality journalism provides us with the information and analysis we need to inform our viewpoints and conduct a genuine discussion”
ICNN has 122 members from Armagh to Eastbourne. Most of these local news services are run as the Epsom and Ewell Times is: “For the community, by the community”, though their organisation varies from one to another.
The Epsom and Ewell Times is politically neutral. As our values provide, we seek to promote community cohesion and celebrate the positive activities, businesses, lives and events in the Borough while being fearless in reporting matters of controversy, ensuring opposing points of view are represented in a balanced and fair manner.
Our news service is not run for profit and depends on local citizen journalists giving their time voluntarily. If you wish to join the team please contact us at admin@epsomandewelltimes.com
We hope you enjoy The Epsom and Ewell Times and will support us in the months and years to come. We rely on you and each other.
Downs right investment
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council, The Jockey Club and Epsom & Walton Downs Conservators are pleased to announce that work will soon be starting on significant improvements to amenities and infrastructure which will greatly enhance the visitor experience of the famous Epsom & Walton Downs.
A grant of £132,000 secured by the Council from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development is boosted by funding of £18,000 from The Jockey Club and £20,000 from the Epsom & Walton Downs Conservators, and is specified for supporting the local economy by encouraging visitors.
Councillor Liz Frost, Chair of the Epsom & Walton Downs Conservators, stated “I’m delighted that we’ve managed to secure significant funding to enhance what is a jewel in the crown of Epsom and Ewell.
“Epsom and Walton Downs, a key and beautiful location in the Borough, is private land which is available to the public for ‘air and exercise on foot’, providing that this does not interfere with the racehorse training, which takes place in the mornings, before 12 noon Mondays to Saturdays and until 9.30am on Sundays.
“The funding can be used for new amenities and projects only. It will provide a range of new signage, display and information boards with details of the wildlife, history and geography of this special area and some specially commissioned seating, picnic tables and bins. There will also be new markers guiding people on walking, cycling and riding routes, and a brass-rubbing activity trail”.
Councillor Frost added “Epsom & Walton Downs attracts huge numbers of visitors from near and far, especially during the last couple of years. It’s important that we maintain and protect the Downs in a way that allows people to discover the stunning views, wildlife and heritage while doing so safely and with due regard to other users”.
Work on the installation is due to start in April and there will be plenty of opportunities to see the project develop and follow events marking the completion of different parts of the programme – all in time for an official opening and to be in place for use and enjoyment over the Platinum Jubilee celebrations weekend and beyond.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council, The Jockey Club and Epsom & Walton Downs Conservators are pleased to be working together to be able to ensure the Downs are accessed safely by the public with regard to racehorse training, are well maintained and continue to offer an unrivalled experience in nature.
Simon Durrant, General Manager at Epsom Downs Racecourse, said:
“The Epsom and Walton Downs are totally unique and as The Jockey Club we are committed both to the racehorse training community who use it as a place of work, as well as the local community for whom it is an important green space.
“I’d like to thank Epsom and Ewell Borough Council for their work in securing this important funding and we’re delighted to be contributing in our capacity as the landowner and a Conservator to continue to improve the Downs and make them a place which is safe and enjoyable for all.”
Care home residents get vaccine
Care home residents have celebrated getting their Covid-19 vaccinations with banners and some bubbly.
All Surrey care homes which support older people have now been visited by vaccination teams offering the first dose of the Covid-19 jab.
At Greys Residential Home, in Woking, residents enjoyed a glass of fizz and posed with placards after getting their jabs last month.
As older care home residents, they were the top priority group in the national roll-out of the vaccine, along with the staff who look after them.
Roving vaccination teams have worked intensively over the last few weeks to visit Surrey care homes administering the jabs, with high levels of take-up. The vast majority of homes had been visited by the end of January, and now even homes which couldn’t be called on previously due to cases of the virus have been visited.
The vaccine roll-out in Surrey is being spearheaded by the Surrey Heartlands Partnership and Frimley Health and Care which bring together partners including local NHS services and Surrey County Council.
Sinead Mooney, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, said: “Celebrations like these are a joy to see after the difficult months we’ve had.
“Thanks to the diligence of vaccination teams on the ground, we’ve been able to visit every care home for older people in Surrey in the space of just a few weeks.
“We’re now working hard to vaccinate other vulnerable groups and frontline health and social care workers and I’d encourage everyone who is offered the jab to get it.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank care workers across Surrey for the incredible dedication and compassion they’ve shown throughout the pandemic.
“This vaccine milestone gives us hope but we can’t let our guard down. Care homes are continuing to follow the public health advice and we must all, even after we’ve received our vaccine, stick to the rules so we don’t let up on beating the virus.”
Erica Lockhart, chief executive of the Surrey Care Association, said: “This is such welcome news. Not only have older people in care settings been vaccinated, but care staff across all settings, who have been so heroic throughout the pandemic, are also receiving their jabs.
“There’s a great sense of relief across the Surrey care sector and beyond. The vaccine has given us hope that the overall risks will be greatly reduced in the not-too-distant future and I’d like to thank all those involved in the vaccine rollout for their tireless work.”
Sites sorely needed
Landowners, developers, site promoters and individuals are being invited to suggest sites across the borough that might be suitable for future development.
The Local Plan is being prepared and the Council has opened a new ‘Call for Sites’. This is to inform and refresh the Local Plan evidence base and ensure the information remains up-to-date.
Councillor David Reeve, Chair of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee, said “The Call for Sites is a part of the process required by central government in the preparation of our new Local Plan.
“We are committed to ensuring that our Local Plan is sustainable, and that sufficient infrastructure is provided to support it. Land will be needed for a wide range of uses, so people are invited to propose locations that could be used for housing and economic purposes”.
Sites should only be put forward with the owners’ permission. Submissions are invited until 27 March 2022
All of the sites put forward will be assessed for their suitability, availability and achievability for future development in due course. There is no guarantee that any site put forward through process will ultimately be developed, given constraints such as environmental sensitivity, infrastructure capacity, etc
Councillor Reeve added “Epsom and Ewell is a popular place to live. One aim of a new Local Plan is to set out how the borough will meet the challenge of delivering the government’s required increase in new homes in the most sustainable way.
“We want to include the borough’s communities in this process. The council must demonstrate that it has followed a logical approach to finding sites and narrowing down ones that are not suitable – the more options the council can demonstrate it has considered, the stronger its argument for the number of homes it is planning to build”
The Local Plan is a document which sets out planning policies and proposals for new development. When it is adopted, the Epsom and Ewell Local Plan will be used to help determine planning applications in the Borough.
Herald the new Bourne Spring
Herald of Spring, Bourne Hall, Saturday 12 March
Herald of Spring, a popular annual community event since the 1970s, returns this year as a celebration of local horticulture and spring flowers.
This year’s extravaganza is all about sustainability, reusing, replanting and recycling – as well as all the little things we can do to cut down on waste and protect the environment.
Alex Coley, Chair of the Community and Wellbeing Committee, said “After what has been an incredibly difficult couple of years for everyone, we are delighted to be able to welcome everyone back to Herald of Spring and help bring a little joy and colour into people’s lives again.
“We’ve called on some help from our recycling friends from Wimbledon and we’ll be getting some tips from the Wombles, so keep an eye out for these shy creatures.
“Shake off the winter chill and come and explore the beautiful indoor and environmentally friendly floral displays from Ashtead Park Garden Centre. And maybe gather some inspiration for your own garden at home!”
Returning for 2022 is the Gift Fair, organised by What’s On In My Town Group, with a range of locally-made and hand-crafted items – perfect for that upcoming Mother’s Day present!
Children will be able to enjoy a wide range of free activities and entertainment.
It’s competition time!
There are two competitions this year.
Scarecrow Competition Our scarecrow competition is back with a twist. Local primary schools and youth groups are invited to submit their best creative work “making good use” of pre-loved and recycled materials in a Womble-themed pageant.
Make Your Own Garden Tray Competition Could you be the next Capability Brown? Have fun making your own picturesque garden in a tray! This competition is open to all children including school gardening clubs.
Improvements to pedestrian routes around Epsom, Ewell West and Stoneleigh stations will be taking place over coming weeks thanks to a grant awarded to Epsom & Ewell Borough Council from South Western Railway’s Customer and Communities Improvement Fund.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council successfully secured the grant through a highly competitive bid process that saw over £14m of applications for the £5.5m fund available for the whole South West Railway network. The Council’s award is available to improve the routes to and from the stations, enhancing the public realm, and making areas safer through enhanced lighting and route-finding. We have worked with local partners to allocate funds to key measures that will make a real difference to local communities and everyone using the stations.
The project has already commenced in Epsom Town Centre with festoon lighting introduced along Station Way, the access route between the marketplace and Epsom station. Additional measures are being planned, including new planters that will be placed around the borough’s stations adding seasonal colour and making the areas more attractive and enhancing local wayfinding signage.
Councillor Colin Keane said: “We are delighted that South Western Railway have provided this funding, which will enable us to significantly enhance the visual, physical and pedestrian links between Epsom, Ewell West and Stoneleigh stations and their respective retail centres”.
Mark Youngman, CCIF Project Manager at South Western Railway said: “Here at South Western Railway, we recognise the vital role that rail plays in the local as well as the national economy, and our Customer and Communities Improvement Fund is designed to give an economic boost to the villages, towns and cities that we serve. We are delighted to have been able to support Epsom and Ewell District Council with their imaginative scheme, which enhances the links between our rail services and Epsom, Ewell and Stoneleigh centres”.
