Our urgent needs list – 28th July 2022:Thank you to those who arranged supermarket deliveries directly to us last week, we really appreciate getting donations we need this way.We have completely run out of:Chocolate spreadChocolatePowdered milk
We urgently need:Tinned vegetablesTinned fishNoodlesPasta sauceCooking sauceBrown sauceSmall bags of sugarSponge puddingLong life fruit juiceSquashBiscuitsRice puddingChildren’s treats – Freddo’s, chocolate buttons etc.Sanitary towelsAdult toothbrushesBaby wipesNappies – size 5, size 6 and size 6+Washing powderHousehold cleaning products – antibac spray, cleaning wipes, oven cleaner etc. (No bleach please!)Please no more of these items as we are fully stocked: Pulses, pasta, beans, rice, washing up liquid, cat food, dog food, peanut butter, milk UHT, non-dairy milk.Booking a supermarket delivery? Let us know when to expect it. You can donate at the usual supermarket points, or bring donations to our car park (please wear a mask);Epsom & Ewell Foodbank, Good Company Hub, (Behind West Ewell Primary School), Ruxley Lane, Ewell KT19 0JGDonation drop off times: Monday to Friday 9am – 2pm. We are closed on Bank Holidays.* Please make sure all donations are sealed, in date and do not contain alcohol*
New Epsom Pantry offers more than food to the struggling….
A Pantry has been officially opened by the Mayor Clive Woodbridge last month. It has been launched in Epsom as another way of helping people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, to try to reduce dependency on foodbanks. The shop in South Street stocks a wide range of food, including fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen and chilled produce as well as tinned and packaged items. Members pay £5 a visit and can choose items that value around £30, so they can save money on their grocery shopping bills. Epsom Pantry has been set up with support from Epsom and Ewell Borough Council. The Pantry is part of the Good Company charity, which runs numerous projects in Surrey including five foodbanks and the East Surrey Poverty Truth Commission.
Jonathan Lees – director The Good Company
Jonathan Lees, Managing Director of Good Company said: “This year Epsom and Ewell Foodbank is marking 10 years of existence. That is not acceptable. We cannot accept dependency on foodbanks, which are only meant to be a temporary measure.”
As well as helping with the cost-of-living crisis, Epsom Pantry will offer other community services such as cooking on a budget, debt management and housing and job advice.
Epsom Pantry Manager Bex Loomes said: “Since the Pantry opened its doors, it has been filled with a sense of community and togetherness. The cost-of-living crisis means more and more households are struggling to make ends meet. We know that the Pantry offers vital financial savings, and we hope that access to healthier foods and the development of skills and confidence through volunteering will allow us to tackle isolation in our community.”
102 year old Epsom veteran wears his medals again!
A 102-year-old Surrey war hero who was unable to wear his medals due to the condition of the ribbons can finally pin on his honours again, thanks to a local veterans’ project which arranged a repair mission.
George, who served in the British Army during the Second World War and now lives in Epsom, showed the old, frayed ribbons to a trained volunteer who was documenting his life story as part of the Force for Change veterans’ project.
On hearing George’s predicament, Tracey Morris, the project lead for Epsom and Ewell, contacted THE SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AIRMEN AND FAMILIES ASSOCIATION [SSAFA], the Armed Forces charity. Tracey, a communities and prevention coordinator in the county council’s adult social care team, worked with Adrian Mundin, SSAFA’s divisional secretary, to arrange for the honours to be sent to medal specialists in London.
SSAFA has strong links with the London Medal Company, which was pleased to support George’s request. The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans then stepped in to transport the medals to the company’s premises in Leicester Square, because of the age of the medals and to ensure their safe delivery and return.
The taxi collected the honours from an event marking the third anniversary of the Epsom and Ewell Veterans Community Hub, where George was showing his medals, still in the cardboard box in which they were delivered to him more than half a century ago. The honours were then conveyed from the hub to the medals company for repair.
Complete with new ribbons and displayed on a rack, the medals were reunited with their owner at the Comrades Club in Epsom, where George was also able to meet and thank Kim Morton, representing SSAFA, Ian Lingham, of the taxi charity, and Tracey.
The local veterans’ project brings together former service personnel through friendship groups, events and days out and may involve an opportunity to record their life stories for the archives.
It’s a pilot scheme which is initially focused on three areas of Surrey – Epsom and Ewell, Guildford and Surrey Heath. Places are available in all three locations. Former service personnel, whether younger or older, are encouraged to get involved.
The county council is working with armed forces charities and local museums and organisations to deliver the project, which is funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, under its Force for Change programme.
Sinead Mooney, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, said: “Thanks to everyone involved in this heartwarming project and particularly to George for telling his story and highlighting the benefits of the groups and networks for veterans in Surrey. I’d encourage anyone who has served, whether younger or older, to find out more about the opportunities in the county.”
Helyn Clack, chairman of Surrey County Council and the Surrey Civilian Military Partnership Board, said: “It’s particularly fitting during Armed Forces Week to be celebrating the repair and return of the medals that George so richly earned. I’d like to pay tribute to him and indeed all those across Surrey who have served, and are currently serving, for their courage and contribution.”
For more information about support for veterans across Surrey, visit Surrey Information Point. You can also download the free Forces Connect mobile app which signposts veterans, armed forces personnel and their loved ones to local support and advice. Search “Forces Connect” in Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store.
The Epsom and Ewell Veterans Community Hub is holding an indoor street party on Sunday 26th June to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Any veteran wishing to attend must register in advance (contact tracey.morris@surreycc.gov.uk or call 07790 585352).
Surrey Independent Living Charity
Surrey Independent Living Council is evolving! Following on from an independent external review the trustees agreed to change the name of the organisation to Surrey Independent Living Charity. (SILC) They believe that the change in name from Surrey Independent Living Council to Surrey Independent Living Charity better reflects the charitable objectives of the organization and avoids confusion with Surrey County Council. SILC is a User Led Organisation that has been active in Surrey for almost 25 years and was formed as Surrey Independent Living Council in 1998 by a group of disabled people. SILC’s primary purpose was to provide support to disabled people who wanted to use local authority funded Direct Payments to employ Personal Assistants to provide the care and support they needed. Between 1999 and 2017 SILC continued to provide support services in Surrey and their growth reflected the increasing number of people using Direct Payment in Surrey. During that time, the charity expanded to provide one off Direct Payments to Carers and Personal Health Budget support to individuals funded by the NHS.
Chief Executive, Richard Davy, said to Epsom and Ewell Times: “The change in our name to Surrey Independent Living Charity honours the history of the charity and the work that has been undertaken over the last 25 years, whilst looking ahead to the future and focusing on our charitable objectives and our vision, mission and values.”
SILC believes that everyone can live independently with the right support. At the heart of everything they do is the social model of disability and the concept of full human rights. They believe that these give a basis for treating everyone with respect, understanding and fairness. They also believe that disabled adults, children, older people and carers can learn from and support each other. Surrey Independent Living Charity (SILC) will continue to provide its existing range of services, details of which can be found on www.surreyilc.org.uk. In addition to this, the charity intends to put a greater focus on its role as a champion and facilitator of independent living for people in Surrey who require support to live in the community. SILC will also be further developing peer and volunteer led information, advice and support for residents who need it. Chief Executive, Richard Davy, “We at SILC are very proud to have been supporting people in Surrey to live independently for almost 25 years. We’re on a mission to extend the awareness of the support we can provide to families and individuals living with disabilities as well as older people with care needs, and to raise additional funding to widen the range of services we can offer to the people of Surrey”. To find out more about SILC and how you can support them or access their services, please visit the SILC website www.surreyilc.org.uk.
Blooming Ewell
Ewell Village has entered Britain in Bloom – a national competition which seeks to use flowers and greenery to transform communities. Judges will visit the village on the morning of Tuesday 5th July 2022. This competition entry is part of a broader effort to rejuvenate the village. Making Ewell high street and surrounding areas more attractive through flowers and planting is just one thing that the community, businesses, groups, organisations and community leaders have been working on to improve our local area.
For Ewell Village in Bloom, volunteers have been working on:
revitalising the memorial garden outside Sainsbury’s
getting The Grove cleared up and grass re-seeded
cleaning up the High Street and Bourne Hall park – with monthly volunteers meeting at 10am on the 4th Sunday of every month
planting in Bourne Hall park
getting ready for a yarn bomb attack of crochet flowers in the village for judging day!
Everyone in the Ewell are can take part! The big idea is that if everyone did something small to take a bare area of their property frontage to make it more beautiful, then collectively we can make a big difference. This may be as simple as putting a pot on your doorstep, adding a hanging basket or putting a summer wreath on your front door.
Once one person in the road does it, other people copy, and the momentum starts to build. They would love people to send their before and after photos to Ewellvillage@outlook.com. The Mayor of Epsom and Ewell Cllr Clive Woodridge will judge the best road overall. For more information, please contact Alison Price at Ewellvillage@outlook.com.
Epsom Rotary in Motion
Epsom Rotary will be holding a stall at the Epsom Marketplace on Saturday, 02 July 2022 and welcome anyone to come and visit to learn more about Epsom Rotary and ways that they could get involved. Each year The Rotary Club of Epsom is involved in a range of local community events. The club organises the annual Epsom and Ewell Borough Family Fun Day with the Rotary Club of Ewell. There are gardening sessions at Old Moat Garden Centre and they have created and now maintain the Community Allotment together with Ewell Rotary. The club also runs the local Young Musician, Young Photographer, Young Chef and French Speaking competitions annually. They helped marshal the Cancer Research UK Race for Life event at Epsom Downs Racecourse this year and of course, there are the annual Christmas collections around Epsom.
Supporting community events
The club has a varied social calendar with recent events including sporting event and nights out at local restaurants, as well as the regular meetings. Being part of a large, international organisation they also have the opportunity to compete against other local Rotary clubs in the district sports competitions.
Allot a lot more allotments say Rotarians as they tend this one.
Cuddington Residents Association did. That’s who. On June 18th Saturday’s “BIG DAY OUT” in Shadbolt Park, Worcester Park in the north-east end of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell, a thriving community came out in their hundreds, with their dogs, to enjoy a wide range of “external activities”. Duck dogs, sorry shepherd dogs, duckflocked ducks, while Cllr Eber Kington “dogpacked” (?) the dogs in the many classes show. Dance groups of all ages danced in the performance area. The people enjoyed a wide range of charity, community and craft stalls from the local Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Surrey Stands With Ukraine, honey makers (“apiarists” to you and me) and many more. Watch out for the Big Day Out next year. All photos courtesy of Richard Johnson who promotes Worcester Park via his Facebook
Wells Centre’s Appeal
Epsom and Ewell Times reported 25th April 2022 on the new lease of life promised for the Wells Estate, Epsom community centre. The charity Epsom Wells Community Association hope to fund repairs from grants but to cover legal and other initial costs they need to raise money from the public.
EWCA and are working hard to re-open the centre after being awarded a 125-year lease by the Epsom and Ewell Borough Council to operate it. The centre, and its wooden predecessor, have welcomed all ages – from toddlers and pre-school children to pensioners – for over 70 years. There is a shortage of social centres in Epsom. The Longmead Sefton Road centre is frequently over-subscribed so, the Wells centre has been sorely missed.
The Wells Centre and top Wells Estate c. Alan Becken
Vanessa Marchant of EWCA said to our reporter: “Leaflets are being delivered to homes asking for donations – no matter how big or small. After fighting doggedly for five years EWCA wrote an extensive business plan to convince the Council to back us. Just like buying a house, there are legal hoops we have to jump through before we get the keys. We need financial help to deal with the legal, accounting and insurance costs for the purchase.”
In addition, volunteers who have specific skills to donate, or who want to be part of the “big plans” to re-open, should contact: contactewca@gmail.com
In an exclusive for Epsom and Ewell Times, we report on Paul Matthews’ (of Lewins Road Epsom) recent experience taking aid provided by Epsom based Surrey Stands With Ukraine [SSWU] to the bombed and neglected Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odessa.
What is it really like to be take humanitarian aid to Ukraine?
Many people have responded to the terrible situation of the war following the invasion by Russia, but what really happens to all that money and donations that are made in the UK?
Paul Matthews returned last week after travelling in a borrowed van packed with generators and medical supplies destined for Odessa on the Black Sea coast.
Paul in blue shirt with Ukrainian volunteers
Most aid is handed over at the western border between Poland and Ukraine, but for the 21st supported vehicle to travel for SSWU the plan was to try to take the aid to where it was most needed.
Paul left with with co-driver Alan Avis of The Greenway Epsom and volunteer coordinator of Surrey Stands With Ukraine, for the two days to Krakow and stopping off at a major hub for refugees from Ukraine. This was aid on an industrial scale with a large number of women and children quietly waiting their turn to collect a carrier bag of food and an opportunity to find a pair of shoes for a child or jacket. A phone call with the hosts in Odessa leads to urgent additional supplies filling the van and then the roof rack. The site is open each day, and each family can visit only once a week. Another completely different group will be here tomorrow. What we also learn is that what are the needs in Poland are different to those in the south and east of the country close to the war, and that transport is a key problem, but only one of many.
Poland was the last place to get fuel. Russia destroyed the only refinery in Ukraine, and then targeted the storage facilities, so if you go into Ukraine you need to take all your fuel needs. That meant next stop was finding fuel cans to buy and fill, so with a mixture of 10, 7 and 5 litres cans the day ends with a full tank of 90 litres, and another 192 litres in the back. Time to say goodbye to Alan who flys back from Krakow, and on to the border for Paul.
The plan was for a Ukrainian national to meet and co-drive at the border, and immediately that plan went wrong as he couldn’t get to the border control. With helpful Polish and Ukrainian officials, and a Red Cross sign stuck on the windscreen to enable Paul to drive past miles of waiting traffic he was through in a couple of hours. Then eight hours of driving to Uman before the nighttime curfew started. Uman was the base for two nights with a daytime 3-hour dash to Odessa to drop the aid and leave, but that was just another plan that was not to happen.
On arrival the Odessa lawyers Bar Association gave a warm greeting mixed with a need to get down to the business of offloading and learning about the situation, along with the background wail of an air raid siren…something Paul would soon get used to. And that is when everything changed again. Fuel in Ukraine is difficult to find, and the further away from Poland the situation worsens. Now the group of volunteers who before the war spend their days in court were now feeding and caring for IDPs (Internally Displaced People), who had been forced from their homes or were damaged and now uninhabitable.
Without a working vehicle or fuel to put in it the aid would not be very helpful. So plans changed and Paul was to spend the next week in Odessa and towns to the east. His accommodation was a hotel, but not the one he was booked into on the seaside since missiles had recently destroyed one nearby. So with a change of accommodation, and the trying on of a bullet proof vest and a, “sorry, you can’t keep that it’s needed for someone else”, it was off to find out more of the situation in Odessa.
Over the next week Paul spent time either making aid drops to towns and villages or meeting with other humanitarian aid groups and local volunteers. But there was a troubling question. Where is the international and European aid? Well, not much really. Once past Lviv in the west the presence of organisations from outside Ukraine seem to disappear. In Paul’s time since going south and east he never found another UK or even west European number plate. Only one organisation he met had any external funding, from a charity in Germany.
Local NGO’s (Non-Government Organisations) have sprung up in response to the war in Ukraine. Paul met only Ukrainians who in their previous life were teachers, builders, shop workers or IT engineers, who now were splitting litre bottles of vegetable oil between three families who had arrived from the east. I did eventually bump into an Australian who had arrived last week and was busy helping, and one German TV crew filming a well known shopping centre that had recently been destroyed (and no sign of any military there). For 500 metres all the blocks of flats had shattered windows and frames and were now also deserted and uninhabitable. Two missiles destroyed a shopping centre and made a couple of hundred people homeless. The destruction was in the centre of Odessa, but also in the east and west. Some looked targeted with cruise missiles, and others random. Paul visited a block of flats near the sea hit by a shell from the Russian navy. Just one shell, but as the husband went out to buy food his wife, her mother, and their 3 year old child stayed in, and three generations of a family killed together. Now the block stands empty as the shock wave also badly damaged the block, and even killed a man who was sitting in his van 50 metres in front of the block. Random, and deadly. The situation was best described when asking “if it’s safe?” by the answer “No where is 100% safe.”
Everywhere Paul went he was met with gratitude and appreciation and often someone wanting to offer a coffee or share whatever little they had. He found himself realising that everyone he met was deeply affected by the war. Either people were also receiving aid, or volunteering to help give aid, and often both. People who helped were scrupulous beyond his expectations at managing the aid received, and this usually was given by other Ukrainians. Whilst some dealt with IDPs others prepared and cooked food and gave it free from soup kitchens sometimes on the street or gave it to volunteers working all hours to help others. Nothing was wasted, and every piece of aid was recorded, listed, and only given after registration and proof that you were a refugee in your own country. No one got angry. No one took more than they could be given. Everything was in short supply and people also had to be turned away. Some NGO’s will only help families with three or more children such is the scale of problem. Others try to help pensioners who can no longer get their medication and try to find donors and pharmacies locally who will donate the drugs.
People have lost jobs. Businesses have closed. Odessa is a vibrant lively summer beach resort. Odessans love their Black Sea and promenade and still go to the beach (especially as it costs nothing). Taking the kids to play in the sand is one of the few possibilities to help the kids forget the war for a few hours, but even that has issues. The main beaches where a sea borne invasion is possible are off limits now with minefields. Even where there are no mines (if the beach is too small), then no one is allowed in the water as it’s heavily mined by both Ukraine and Russia. Mines just under the water regularly end up on the beach. In the meantime a few beach bars open behind the red and white tape to mark the minefield, and children play in the sand in the few feet left before the tape. That is life in Odessa, and then there is the air raid sirens, and occasionally the missiles.
If it is difficult in Odessa it’s worse outside in the smaller towns and villages.
Arriving in Mykoliv, to more air raid sirens, but this time with the almost mechanical sound of thunder. It’s incoming artillery. Landing far enough away that no one runs for the shelters. Those that can wear their body armour. There is an App for everything, and now one that tells you where is being hit, it’s called Liveuamap. A must have for every smart phone here. However, phone and internet signal is not everywhere and in the area you need it most such as the “Grey” zone. Appropriately coloured on the Apps map is not clearly under Russian or Ukranian control. The next stop for the van was to mothers with babies and the elderly in villages that had not seen any aid and with all the men under 60 having left to fight as we were close to the front line. On arrival the village mayor had organised the waiting mothers and elderly, or it required a visit to take the aid to them.
Another place to get too was through a Grey zone corridor to Bashtanka where an Odessa NGO was supporting a church turned into a forward IDP hub. All known as “hubs”, this one was known as the bunker. Paul was shown why. The basement had a large room with bare walls, and here, for three weeks, 120 women, children, babies, and elderly lived. Water was usually carried in buckets. Sanitary situation was bad, and there was not enough room for most people to lie down.
Above them the Russians arrived, and fighting did take place with locals with rifles and burning tyres to try to stop their “liberation”. The area stretching from Donbas and the border with Russia to Odessa is all Russian speaking. Many who can now try to remember to speak only Ukrainian in this dual language country.
The people remained in the bunker of the church praying not to be discovered as the Russians used a tank to hit the village’s main shops in a tiny central area. Where its not burnt out machine gun holes and shrapnel pepper the buildings around and again, glass is everywhere from broken windows and shattered homes, houses, and businesses. Paul was told most people left before the Russians arrived, and then Basktanka had many come from other attacked villages further east. The charity and church run high risk trips in minibuses to collect those wanting to leave from behind Russian lines passing through Ukranian and Russian checkpoints (though the latter usually require a “present”). The church building is quiet now as vehicles had just taken the last group to Odessa and now the kitchen starts preparing food again. Mattresses on floors are packed close together, are tidied and clean sheets put on ready for the next group. In a side room there is a pop-up pharmacy, the only one in the area after the Russians looted and destroyed the local hospital as they retreated a few weeks ago.
Paul and his Ukrainian guide/minder/bodyguard are offered some vegetable soup and coffee before leaving to return to Odessa with an empty van and leave these many locals to their fate. Not long after Paul sees on the App that Basktenka was shelled. The journey back passes lovely countryside, and they stop briefly in Mykolaiv as Andre (name changed) wants to show the city centre and where he used to enjoy summer days and evenings on the Parisian styled boulevards with cobbled streets and boarded up businesses. Around the corner they are stopped from entering and put away phones…this is where a Russian missile hit the high-rise municipal town hall killing 34 office workers and punching a huge hole through the centre of the building. Paul recognises it from the TV pictures back home. At checkpoints they are usually met with a friendly chat, mainly due to being the only UK registered number plate vehicle they have seen.
Paul started his return to Epsom after a week in Odessa and areas east. A near empty van is added to with donations given by his hosts keen for me to bring gifts for SSWU and a jar of Arcasia honey. It is a long way from home now and Paul is alone. The checkpoints thin out between Odessa and Kiev, but you need to be alert. One time Paul saw a small rise in the road and slowed, and found it was the edge of a crater caused by an airstrike on a fortified structure…a bus stop.
Paul’s most memorable meeting was not planned. It happened in a tiny village outside Odessa on one of the aid drops. A young woman wanted to talk and she spoke English. Aged 20 and studying culture at university in Kherson was under attack. She left with student friends and fled to Odessa terrified before it fell to the Russians. Her parents were further east and caught behind the Russian lines and unable to leave. Why was she in this tiny village? Odessa was then attacked from the sea and an invasion expected and her friend asked her to come to stay with her family. Her life is disrupted and twice she has become homeless in two months. It is quiet, cut off, but it feels safe. Throughout she struggles to talk between tears, but wants her story told. She fears for her parents most of all. Every few days a phone call or internet works long enough to talk to them. They ask if she remembers a neighbour who is an elderly man with a small field next the family home. Yes, of course she answers. He was shot tending his vegetables by a Russian sniper. And another woman was walking on the street they live on with her shopping. Shot as well. Others are mentioned. She can not talk anymore.
On the way back from Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kiev, Urpin and everywhere else Paul is thanked for coming and for the aid brought from Surrey. Somehow it doesn’t seem enough.
Donations of money are needed most, to be directed to give immediate humanitarian aid to the oblast (region) of Odessa and it’s villages. Support for this can be made to Surrey Stands With Ukraine
Long term support, in partnership with the UN and others using helicopters is planned, and this can be supported with donations to humanitaid.com
Paul is taking an ambulance to deliver further aid to be used in the Odessa Oblast. Donations for this can be made to Just Giving, Medical Life Lines Ukraine with the reference “Odesa”.
Epsom & Ewell Health Walks are looking for volunteers
Epsom & Ewell Health Walks is a small Charity registered with HMRC No. XT 37422. The objective is to provide walks for older people who are unable to walk long distances as they could in their youth. Many women understandably do not like walking alone so one benefit of our walks is that we provide company and security. All our walks start at 10:00 am and either last for 30 minutes or 1 hour. Each walk has a leader and a backmarker.
Our shorter walks are designed for people recovering from health issues and those who feel they would like to meet other people but don’t want to walk far. These walks take place on a Monday.
The schedule for June and July is: 6 June Epsom Downs 13 June Poole Road 20 June Priest Hill 27 June Epsom Common 4 July Nork Park 11 July Nonsuch Park 18 July Ashtead Common 25 July Horton Country Park
Our longer walks take place on Sundays and Wednesdays. The schedule for June and July is:
Sunday 12 June Banstead Woods 19 June Horton Country Park 26 June Epsom Downs 3 July Ewell Court 29 10 July Chipstead Road 17 July Epsom Common 24 July Oxshott Heath 31 July Nonsuch Park
Wednesday 8 June Chipstead Road 15 June Bourne Hall 22 June Epsom Common 29 June Banstead Heath 6 July Nonsuch Park 13 July Oxshott Heath 20 July Headley Heath 27 July Ashstead Common
There is no charge to attend any of these walks. But to keep going we are looking for more volunteers to lead and back mark our walks. Full training will be provided for leaders and all volunteers will be given dayglow jackets. Details of how to get to our walks can be found on our website: www.epsomandewellhealthwalks.org.uk. We are holding our Annual General Meeting at Ewell Hall on Wednesday 15 June at 11-30am.
This is opposite St Mary the Virgin Ewell Parish Church. All walkers and those considering volunteering are welcome to attend.
