Oakwood 0-5 Epsom & Ewell, Southern Combination League – Division One, Monday 29th August 2022. Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk. Reporter: Richard Lambert.

Any disappointment felt in the FA Vase defeat at Redhill on Saturday was firmly banished less than 48 hours later as we thrashed Oakwood 5-0 on the Bank Holiday Monday morning to go top of the League table for the first time this season.

It was almost a perfect day for a Salts supporter. Five goals, no bookings, a clean sheet and no apparent injuries. In fact, the only disappointment was the lack of a match day programme from the hosts, who had promised there would be one online. As far as I am aware, a programme is still mandatory in our league, yet it’s the third time in recent months that this has happened and it is probably time that the League reminded the clubs of their obligation to produce something that many supporters still want to see at each game.

The quick turnaround between fixtures always meant it was likely there would be changes to our line up, although only three were made; Johnny “Sonic” Akoto was unavailable, so Zach Powell moved to left back and recent re-joiner Gavin Quintyne made his first start for us, slotting seamlessly into Powell’s vacated midfield role. Up front Josh Alder came in for Jaevon Dyer and at the back Andy “Woody” Hall came back in for the absent Aaron Bogle. We would see two further debuts from the bench in this match as Nick Wilson and Jack Porter would each get their first run outs of the season.

We had performed creditably at Step Five Redhill, but so had Oakwood as they had lost narrowly 3-2 at another good Step Five team in Fisher, so although they had been struggling with early league form, this looked like it would be a tricky fixture to negotiate. However, after an even ten minutes we scored an early goal going down the slope and never looked in danger from that point onwards.

The scorer of our first goal was Jubril “Jibs” Adamson who received the ball from Tiago Andrade and curled the ball left-footed into the far top corner from outside of the penalty area in just the eighth minute. You couldn’t have placed the ball any further into the corner of the net without hitting the post or bar and the keeper, understandably had no chance of saving it.

We had already made a couple of chances by this point with a Hall header and an Alder volley both being just off target, but the home team had put a couple of dangerous balls in to our area themselves; one coming just after our opener with a far post header from the Oakwood number 11, but we were soon back on the attack and Adamson struck at goal once again after being found by a clever back heel by Andrade, although the home keeper was able to make the save easily enough.

We nearly extended the lead when a Smith free kick was up and over the wall, but was inches wide; grazing the back stanchion of the goal from twenty yards out and then Peters, already looking for his fourth goal of the season, saw his shot deflected over, although a goal kick was awarded.

We had a shout for a penalty when the home keeper came out for a high ball and appeared to clatter into Andrade first, but the ball was only half cleared to Smith and his long range shot was deflected kindly into the path of Alder who kept his composure to slot the ball under the advancing keeper from eight yards to register his first competitive goal for our club in the 37th minute.

We had further chances before the half with Alder and Andrade both forcing saves from the keeper and then Alder dragged a low shot across goal, just beyond the far post from a good position. However, we were well in charge by this point and I was confident that we could go on and score further goals in the second half.

And that is just what happened, although we had two good opportunities before that third goal did come, firstly from Quintyne who ran on to a good pass, but then saw his shot well blocked by the keeper, and then when Athan Smith-Joseph’s ball across goal took a hop on the long grass and bounced straight over Adamson’s leg. Fortunately our winger was on target soon after this, thanks to a lovely slide rule pass from Quintyne, only to see the shot saved but rebound onto the knee of the retreating number 3 and dribble apologetically into the net for an own goal in the 55th minute.

Wilson, Ricardo Fernandes and then Josh Owen joined the match and Matt Walton had a rare involvement as he had to tip a header from an Oakwood corner away, but we scored our fourth goal in the 62nd minute when Owen held the ball up on the left and drew defenders before crossing for the unmarked Fernandes to stroke the ball into the far corner from ten yards.

Owen was unfortunate to see his powerful header from Wilson’s free kick ruled out for an offside flag, but we had a fifth goal in the 75th minute and it came from an unlikely source as Gideon Acheampong had made a fine run and received a return pass into stride from Smith-Joseph and finished clinically low to the keeper’s left and just inside the near post from eight yards out. Cue large celebrations as it was only our Captain’s second goal for the club in his 69th Salts appearance.

That would conclude the scoring for this match, although Walton had a scare at the other end when he appeared to take his eye off the ball and it came back off the frame of the goal before he gathered it, while our coach Porter came on in the final moments, getting bundled over in the box, but the referee wasn’t interested and to be fair, he was probably right!

In truth this was a very comfortable win for our boys. Oakwood were not in the same league on the day and with a few more performances like this, maybe the two teams will actually be in different leagues next season as for the first time in 2022/23 we can actually look down from the top of the table, even though we probably won’t be there after next Saturday as we are the odd team in a seventeen team division and have no league match that day. Our next competitive match is a challenging League Cup tie at Step Five Crawley Down Gatwick on Tuesday 6th September.

Epsom & Ewell: Matt Walton, Gideon Acheampong ©, Zach Powell, Ryan ‘Butch’ Smith, Brad Peters, Andy “Woody” Hall, Athan Smith-Joseph, Gavin Quintyne, Tiago Andrade, Jubril “Jibs” Adamson, Josh Alder

Subs: Nick Wilson for Smith (57), Ricardo Fernandes for Alder (57), Josh Owen for Adamson (59), Louis Chin for Andrade (65), Jack Porter for Smith-Joseph (89)

Salts battle hard but Lobsters progress in the Vase. Redhill 2-1 Epsom & Ewell. Isuzu F.A. Vase – First Qualifying Round. Saturday 27th August 2022. Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk Reporter: Richard Lambert

Our first Vase match of the season also became our last as we were defeated by Redhill at Kiln Brow on Saturday, but our opponents will know that they had to work for the full ninety minutes before coming through in a match that was ultimately only decided by a defensive error.

In fact, over the ninety minutes we had the greater chances and against a team in the top four of Step Five at the time the match kicked off, it was hard to tell that there was a full step between the two opponents. Although that didn’t count for much in the end, our boys deserve a lot of credit and know that performances like this will result in a promotion at the end of the season, which was and remains our ultimate goal this season.

We made four changes to our starting line up with the injured Steve Springett, the unavailable Andy Hall and Adam Grant and the suspended Richard Pingling replaced by Johnny “Sonic” Akoto, Aaron Bogle, Tiago Andrade and Athan Smith-Joseph respectively. However, I have referred to our strength in depth and we looked as good this week as we had seven days previously at Worthing United.

Following a minute’s silence for a Redhill Vice-President, Les Smith, we had a couple of early half chances with Ryan Smith’s strike at goal and a nice bit of interplay between Jaevon Dyer and Andrade finished with a Dyer shot that was well blocked by the Redhill keeper Mike McEntegert. At the other end Matt Walton saved a low shot from Fred Hill with his feet after we were caught out by a long ball.

Our next chance fell to Zach Powell but he scuffed his shot from a good position before a defender made a great challenge to deny Dyer in the act of shooting. Then Dyer turned provider but Smith-Joseph couldn’t quite direct his header on target at the far post. Next to try his luck was Smith from fully thirty yards although it was just wide of the post.

On the half hour Dyer struck another shot which I can confirm was creeping inside the post, but a defender’s leg blocked the effort and the hosts broke with speed, earning a corner which was headed wide by Antonio Simeone. Then Walton was in action again, blocking away a shot from Jason Kaate, before Lyndon McGugan made a superb challenge after it looked as though Smith-Joseph would be able to finish easily when the ball fell kindly for him. Both of these Redhill players were with us briefly during the Covid friendly phase, although neither made a competitive appearance for us.

Dyer was giving the Redhill defence a lot of work and just before the break he was brought down by Sol Patterson-Bonner who earned the first yellow card of the day, but overall both teams looked solid in defence as we went in for half time with the goalless scoreline.

This looked like being a really tight encounter, decided by maybe just one goal, so when we took the lead in the 51st minute it looked like it might be pivotal. Dyer was again involved as he connected with a low ball in and his shot was well saved for a corner and from the Smith delivery Brad Peters rose highest to head home his third goal of the season from eight yards; his finish across McEntegert was unstoppable.

We could and maybe should have extended our lead a minute later when the ball was fed to Smith-Joseph, but his shot from ten yards was kept out by the keeper’s feet. However, the game turned in the 56th minute. Dyer was brought down inside the penalty area, but it didn’t look enough for a penalty for me. Meanwhile Redhill broke at pace and within seconds Yannick Monga ran in from the right and struck a low drive across Walton into the far corner. We had led for just five minutes.

Still we made chances as Andrade’s delicious pass to Smith-Joseph was in stride, but his shot from six yards was straight at the advancing keeper and our flying winger was denied again by a saving defensive challenge minutes later. A couple of substitutions followed as Dyer and Jubril Adamson departed, but we failed to carry the same attacking threat that Dyer had posed and then in the 80th minute we tried to play out from the back, only for Max Oldham stole the ball, ran in and drilled the ball below Walton from close range for what proved to be the winner.

Moments later our Captain Gideon Acheampong to pick up a harsh yellow card for trying to get the ball off Oldham and nudging him over, although it should be noted that Oldham also received a card, but disaster then occurred in the final seconds when our defender tried to reach the ball to block an upfield clearance and he was adjudged to have caught the Redhill player, picking up a second card in the fourth minute of injury time. Clearly our Captain was angry at the decision, which I also thought was the wrong one. As it is Acheampong will now serve a one match suspension.

It is always unfortunate to depart the FA Vase. It is a competition that we have an indelible link with, having been one of the first two finalists in 1975 and we recognise our part in its history. However, as a Step Six team currently, promotion has to be our top priority and if we were going to get the rough end of a decision like that, then at least it didn’t cost us league points. Hopefully we can put this result behind us when we face Oakwood on Monday morning as we go for our fourth League win in a row.

Epsom & Ewell: Matt Walton, Gideon Acheampong ©, Johnny “Sonic” Akoto, Ryan ‘Butch’ Smith, Brad Peters, Aaron Bogle, Athan Smith-Joseph, Zach Powell, Tiago Andrade, Jubril “Jibs” Adamson, Jaevon Dyer

Subs: Gavin Quintyne for Jaevon Dyer (69), Ricardo Fernandes for Adamson (69), Josh Alder for Powell (85)

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council signs the Anti-Social Behaviour Pledge.

Councillor Clive Woodbridge, Mayor of Epsom & Ewell Borough Council has signed an Anti-Social Behaviour Pledge which commits the council to supporting victims of anti-social behaviour.

The pledge is a set of principles put forward by the victims’ charity ASB Help. ASB Help have previously assisted the Community Safety Partnership on complex community trigger applications.

A community trigger can be activated if an incident has been reported three or more times within a six month period and not received a satisfactory response. This gives the victim the right to demand that agencies deal with persistent anti-social behaviour.

The pledge’s aims are as follows:

• Promote awareness – Actively encourage the use of the community
  trigger to residents and partner agencies
• Legality – Confirm an organisation is legally compliant and embracing
  the spirit of the community trigger
• Ensure accessibility – Publicise the community trigger so the most
  vulnerable know what it is and how to invoke it
• Develop the process – Embrace the full potential of the community
  trigger by continually reviewing and learning from best practice
• Generate inclusivity – Use community trigger review meetings to work
  collaboratively and strategically, formulating solutions to end the anti-
  social behaviour
• Establish a precedent of using the community trigger to put victims first
  and deter perpetrators

Councillor John Beckett, Chair of the Environment and Safe Communities Committee, said “Anti-Social behaviour is not welcome in Epsom & Ewell and we work hard with partner agencies to both reduce and prevent it. Anti-social behaviour can be anything from neighbourhood issues and noise nuisance to tall vegetation, bonfires, flytipping and inconsiderate parking. 

“I would like to reassure victims of any sort of anti-social behaviour that we are there to support them. Signing this pledge is a reminder for us as a council and for our partners in the Community Safety Partnership to work more closely with ASB Help and ensure victims are effectively assisted.”

For more information on how to report a community trigger please see https://epsom-ewell.gov.uk/residents/communities-health-and-wellbeing/epsom-and-ewell-community-safety.    

Baroness Sheila Hollins has joined Freemen of the Borough, the local MP and others in their Patronage of The Friends of Horton Cemetery. Baroness Hollins is a leading figure nationally and worldwide in the field of psychiatry. A former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the British Medical Association, she is an adviser to The Pope on the protection of minors and is a cross-bench member of the House of Lords.

The Charity’s 50+ strong research team leader, Kevin McDonnell, said “We are truly honoured that the charity’s objects have Baroness Hollin’s endorsement. Especially as on 6th September we launch our project “Out of Sight, Out of Mind“, supported by Historic England and Kings College London. The story of the Cemetery and the Stories of the lives of those buried there are becoming significant locally, nationally and internationally. We have researchers and followers here, across the United Kingdom and overseas. An extraordinary heritage putting Epsom on the world map.”

Dr Alana Harris, Director of Kings College’s Liberal Arts Department said “The project aims to restore dignity to the 9000 patients buried beside Epsom’s Hook Road, in Europe’s largest asylum cemetery. Our project seeks to recapture these stories and to create a crowd-sourced memorial, overcoming historical amnesia, neglect, and inaction. We are seeking volunteers (who will be trained, and work in pairs) to lead public engagement ‘chat and craft’ workshops, which will discuss the history of the ‘Epsom Asylum’ cluster and its cemetery.”

You can find out more at an information session on Tuesday 6th September 4pm-6pm at St. Barnabas Church, Temple Road, Epsom KT19 8HA and you can contact the Project via www.hortoncemetery.org

Epsom Posties go on strike. Photo above: Local workers and Labour Party activists outside Epsom’s East Street Royal Mail sorting office today. The biggest strike of summer so far will began today as 115,000 postal workers came out for a  “dignified, proper pay rise”. Members of the Communication Workers Union – which represents Royal Mail Group workers – have started a series of national strike action .

This will be followed by further strike action on Wednesday 31^st August, Thursday 8^th September and Friday 9^th September.

The decision follows the union’s recent ballot for strike action over pay, which saw members vote by 97.6% on a 77% turnout to take action.

The union is demanding that Royal Mail Group make an adequate pay award that covers the current cost of living increases for our members.

Management imposed a 2% pay rise on employees, who were classified as key workers throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, through executive action earlier this summer.

In an economic climate where inflation looks set to soar to 18% by January 2023, the imposition would lead to a dramatic reduction in workers’ living standards.

CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said: “On Friday, we will see a tremendous outpouring of workers’ unity in villages, towns and cities across the country. There can be no doubt that postal workers are completely united in their determination to secure the dignified, proper pay rise they deserve. We can’t keep on living in a country where bosses rake in billions in profit while their employees are forced to use food banks.

“When Royal Mail bosses are raking in £758 million in profit and shareholders pocketing in excess of £400 million, our members won’t accept pleads of poverty from the company. Postal workers won’t meekly accept their living standards being hammered by greedy business leaders who are completely out of touch with modern Britain.

“They are sick of corporate failure getting rewarded again and again. Royal Mail’s leadership have lost the dressing room – and unless they make efforts to get real on discussing a pay rise that postal workers deserve, serious disruption will continue.”

CWU Deputy General Secretary Terry Pullinger said:  “Our members worked miracles during the pandemic and know full well what they are worth. They are fighting for a no strings, real-terms pay rise – something they are fully entitled to. Those managing Royal Mail Group are treating our members with contempt by imposing such a minimal amount. Royal Mail Group have failed to recognise the strength of feeling and have clearly lost the dressing room on pay, so they have left us with no choice but to fight. Our members deserve a pay rise that rewards their fantastic achievements in keeping the country connected during the pandemic, but also helps them keep up during this current economic crisis. We won’t be backing down until we get just that.”

Royal Mail has responded according to the Financial Times: “The CWU had rejected a pay award worth up to 5.5 per cent, which would have added about £230mn to Royal Mail’s annual “people costs” at a time when the business was already lossmaking. This decision by the CWU is an abdication of responsibility for the long-term job security of its members. In more than three months of talks, CWU has failed to engage meaningfully on the business changes required.

“We’re really sorry for the disruption that this strike action is likely to cause to you. We want to reassure you we will do everything we can to minimise disruption and get our services back to normal as quickly as possible.

Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but they cannot fully replace the daily efforts of its frontline workforce. We will be doing what we can to keep services running, but customers should expect significant disruption. 

On days when strike action is taking place: 

• We will deliver as many Special Delivery and Tracked24 parcels as possible
• We will prioritise the delivery of COVID test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible
• We will not be delivering letters (with the exception of Special Delivery) 

What you can do:

• Post your items as early as possible in advance of the strike dates 
• Continue to post your items at Postboxes or Post Offices, however collections will be less frequent on days when strike action is taking place”

The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) Epsom welcomes the return of its in person postgraduate shows with work created by our master’s students 2022.

For one week only, UCA Epsom will be displaying innovative work by Epsom MA Graphic Design students as they take the next step in their careers and begin to shape their futures in the creative industries.

Gillian Nichols of Epsom and Ewell Foodbank writes: What price do you put on mental health? Among the people that visit foodbanks, many have severe mental health issues due to traumatic experiences, poor circumstances, and often unaddressed medical issues they’ve faced in their lives. At Epsom Foodbank we have a higher motive than simply feeding the people who need us.

We want to help reduce the need for our Foodbank services through addressing the cause of the problem, not just the problem itself. And we are already doing this very successfully.
Our outstanding counselling service has been sitting alongside the foodbank, working with clients to help them move on from their problems towards independence and work.
It’s hard for many of us to understand the plight of the people we help. It is best described in their own words which you can read at the end of this letter.
To have a qualified Counsellor available at our Foodbank is a huge asset which has changed lives. We really want to do more of this. But we need funding in order to do it. And it doesn’t take a huge amount. In fact, just £50 per month would make all the difference.
A partnership or donation from your company can enable our Counsellor to keep working with people, building their confidence, and helping them escape from dependence by listening, offering therapy services, and having them know someone is there and looking out for them.
Everyone knows the importance of mental health, and how poor mental health lies at the root of so many social issues. If you can help support this incredible life-changing service, contact gillianaudreynichols@gmail.com

Mavericks receive a repeat dose of the Salts. Worthing United 0-3 Epsom & Ewell – Southern Combination League – Division One – Saturday 20th August 2022. Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk Reporter: Richard Lambert.

In October 2021 we made our first visit to the Robert Albon Memorial Ground; the home of Worthing United, and won 3-0. Ten months on we repeated the scoreline without too much alarm and moved up to second place in the table as a result.

Our Management declared themselves happy enough with the result, but not quite so happy with the performance, and it’s true to a point, as the match was a little scrappy at times. However, the warm conditions, bone dry surface and strong winds all played their part in that, as indeed did an extremely eccentric second half performance from the officials.

I have referred previously to the size of our squad, although the starting eleven is now starting to look more regular and for the second match in a row we made just one change with Athan Smith-Joseph moving to the bench as Jaevon Dyer made his first start for the club out on the left wing.

We kicked off with the wind at our backs and made a positive start. An early Ryan “Butch” Smith corner was headed back across goal by Brad Peters for Andy “Woody” Hall to hook the ball inches over the bar in just the seventh minute before a long throw from Jubril “Jibs” Adamson bounced through the six yard box and Richard Pingling saw his close range shot blocked by a defender. Peters was then at full stretch but was unable to direct his header from a Steve Springett free kick on target. All of this occurred in just the first fifteen minutes!

Pingling sent a thirty yarder just over the bar and in the 17th minute he was the creator of our opening goal, doing well on the right to beat two men before crossing with his right foot to the near post where Adam Grant was able to head the ball just inside the near post from six yards.

Springett had a fine game on Wednesday against Forest Row, but his afternoon would end painfully and prematurely after falling awkwardly and dislocating his thumb in the 26th minute. Play stopped for six minutes and the thumb was popped back into position, but our defender had to visit the local hospital for a scan. Hopefully it will reveal no further damage. Louis Chin came on in his place with Captain Gideon Acheampong moving over to left back in our defensive four.

We had a scare just before half time after Hall bundled his opponent over just outside the box and the free kick appeared to go through our wall, but Matt Walton was there to make the save and this was the most worrying moment for our boys from a defensive point of view as Walton would go on to claim his first clean sheet for our club. In fact as the half closed Hall nearly made his mark at the other end with a diving header from a Smith corner that Mac Scott in the Mavericks goal did well to claw away. However, there were still six minutes of injury time to play and Adamson forced another save out of Scott, but in the fourth minute of injury time we scored a second after Pingling sent a high ball in on the right hand side of the penalty area. Adamson got himself in front of the defender to shield the ball, held him off and then hooked it across goal, where Dyer was able to stretch and knock the ball in from close range.

We came out confidently with our two goal lead and looked for more. Dyer made a good run on the left but was denied for a corner by a great final second block from Andrew Younger, although the defender tweaked his ankle in making the challenge and was required to leave the field after treatment. We made that one man advantage count from the Smith delivery in the 55th minute as Peters launched himself at the ball, knocking it forward, and whilst he was blocked from following it up, Dyer was there to knock the ball past Scott from close range. However, that description doesn’t really tell the full story. I do not know whether our man has ever practised Taekwondo, but as the ball was heading towards goal it was behind him, and somehow he got his leg up to head height and knocked the ball in with the back of his heel for a skilful and acrobatic finish!

We made a couple more substitutions soon after this goal when Tiago Andrade and Josh Owen joined the action in the 63rd minute. However, the final twenty minutes of the match were all about the officials. I have no idea why but the referee suddenly started to issue cards, starting with Dean Sherwood the Worthing United Captain who was sent to the sin bin. While we had the one man advantage Andrade played a perfect pass into the stride of Pingling and as he drew his foot back to shoot, he was clattered into from behind by Younger, yet somehow neither the referee nor the Assistant saw the foul. It has to be one of the most clear non-awarded penalties I have seen in recent years and insult was added to injury when Andrade was involved with some good interplay with another substitute George Membrillera, but as Andrade drilled the ball below Scott the flag was raised for offside. It is possible that one or other of them may have been, but after the previous “non-call” a few minutes before, it was impossible to have confidence in the decision and certainly our players didn’t seem to agree with it!

Things got stranger. Pingling was taken out by Younger in the 76th minute and as the yellow card was raised, you wondered whether it really should have been a second one after Younger had also committed the “foul” for the non-penalty. However, even though the offender had been booked, Pingling was still made to leave the field after treatment. This was confusing and a few minutes later after Pingling had been substituted, the Assistant then overheard comments from the dug out and brought the matter to the referee’s attention who then sent our man off. People who were over there have confirmed that it was just conversation between people on the bench, but for some reason the officials chose to get involved.

There was still time for a home player to receive a yellow card for diving before Membrillera picked up a strange yellow card after he rolled the ball into the net after being flagged offside. This could easily have been dealt with by a quick word, but the referee then also booked Adamson in injury time for what looked like just incidental contact, following a Smith-Joseph run during which the ball had gone out of play, but which you’ll probably be unsurprised to hear was also missed by the officials!

The ending of the match left a bit of a sour taste as it stopped both teams from playing football and the scoreline remained unchanged at 3-0 as the final whistle blew. Still, it was another three points and our third win in a row places us in a healthy position with our next League encounter at Oakwood coming up on the August Bank Holiday morning. Before that we visit Step Five Redhill in the F.A. Vase on Saturday; a good team who will certainly give our boys a test.

Epsom & Ewell: Matt Walton, Gideon Acheampong ©, Steve Springett, Ryan ‘Butch’ Smith, Brad Peters, Andy “Woody” Hall, Jaevon Dyer, Zach Powell, Jubril “Jibs” Adamson, Adam Grant, Richard Pingling

Subs: Louis Chin for Springett (32), Tiago Andrade for Grant (63), Josh Owen for Smith (63), George Membrillera for Dyer (71), Athan Smith-Joseph for Pingling (81)

Epsom & Ewell 5-2 Forest Row Southern Combination League – Division One. Wednesday 17th August 2022. Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk. Reporter: Richard Lambert.

On Wednesday night at Fetcham Grove we thoroughly deserved the three points on offer with a 5-2 League win, although required two superb headers from Brad Peters to seal the points as the visitors threatened to take something from the match with the score at 3-2 midway through the second half.
Peters had been substituted on Saturday at Seaford Town, having been yellow carded and sin-binned in quick succession and it was notable that for this match Gideon Acheampong was wearing the Captain’s armband instead, but our centre-half responded well with a superb performance defensively and the two goals provided the cherry on the cake! It was just a pity that his goals were only seen by a crowd (counted twice independently) of 66 people on a Wednesday night when there were few other matches taking place.
We made just the one change to our starting eleven with Adam Grant coming in for the unavailable Tiago Andrade and retained the back four which had worked well at Seaford three days previously. Peters nearly opened the scoring in the second minute when he guided a header from a Ryan Smith free kick just wide of the post twelve yards out, before Grant saw his shot on goal blocked a couple of minutes later. However, we opened our home account for the season in the eleventh minute when Grant made a fine run down the left and his pull back skimmed off the boot of Athan Smith-Joseph out to Richard Pingling just inside the penalty area, where his low strike found the bottom corner and gave Ben Abbott in the visiting goal no chance.
Smith-Joseph was giving the opposition defenders trouble as usual and he broke through on the left; cutting in and striking across goal, but Abbott was able to claw the ball away from the danger area. He then beat some more defenders before rifling a shot just over the bar, aided by the slightest touch from Abbott, although the goal kick was still awarded. We then had a pair of yellow cards, one for each side and both correctly awarded, with Jubril Adamson receiving his for a late lunge which caught an opponent.
The visitors drew level in the 42nd minute when a nice move from the left was finished off by a cannonball strike from the 18 yard line from Brett Caiger, whistling past Matt Walton into the roof of the net. However, their jubilation was short lived as a Steve Springett cross from the left was not dealt with and Adamson tucked away the loose ball into the corner in the 44th minute, so the half ended with our boys ahead once again.
Although Forest Row had been dangerous on occasions, we deserved our half time lead and extended it in the 47th minute when a great through ball from Zach Powell was perfectly weighted into the stride of Springett and he drilled the ball across Abbott into the bottom corner to make it 3-1.
We were on top now and Springett and Pingling forced good saves from Abbott, but then the Row pulled a goal back somewhat against the run of play in the 62nd minute when Steve Major eluded his marker to glance a near post corner across Walton into the far corner.
The game was a little too open for a while after that, but we settled down and Grant was denied from close range by Abbott and then substitute Jaevon Dyer, making his debut, made a great run through a crowd but sliced his shot wide. It would have been one of the best debut goals I’d seen, but we didn’t have to wait long to make the game safe. Peters earned a corner with a dangerous ball across goal that was turned away at the far post, and from the delivery our defender remained up for the set piece and thumped the header past Abbott from close range in the 78th minute. Four minutes later he did it again from a Springett free kick, this time maybe six yards out, but still unstoppable.
As the match wound down we also had a couple more debuts as Eldi Baze and George Membrillera joined the fray late on. The latter had in fact been on the scoresheet in our last home match, although it was for the opposition when Dorking Wanderers Reserves won here back in April, but this time we were already home and dry and a late card for Grant for an unnecessary nudge in the back made no difference.
The final whistle blew soon after and we moved up to fifth place in the table as a result; only behind Billingshurst on alphabetical order. The Row had won their previous match, defeating Seaford Town 4-1, but this win tells me all I already knew from pre-season, which is that we will be challengers this term. One thing to note is that in three matches so far we have used all fifteen available substitutes and we clearly continue to have much strength in depth. We visit Worthing United on Saturday, hoping to keep our winning run going.
Epsom & Ewell: Matt Walton, Gideon Acheampong ©, Steve Springett, Ryan ‘Butch’ Smith, Brad Peters, Andy “Woody” Hall, Athan Smith-Joseph, Zach Powell, Jubril “Jibs” Adamson, Adam Grant, Richard Pingling
Subs: Jaevon Dyer for Adamson (52), Eldi Baze for Pingling (71), Joshua Owen for Smith (75), Louis Chin for Powell (79), George Membrillera for Smith-Joseph (82)

A Tadworth man who stole empty CoVid vaccination vials and sold them on Ebay gets a suspended prison sentence. What do you do when you get given one of those proof of postage receipts in your local post office? Crumple it up and stuff it in the bottom of your bag? Pop it in the recycling pile by the back door when you get home? Diligently file it away somewhere safe?

Luckily for our investigators convicted thief and fraudster Steven Flint took the last approach, but unluckily for him, his neat and tidy admin was eventually his downfall.

Flint was working as a contract security guard at three vaccination sites in the county during the peak of the Covid vaccination roll-out in January and February 2021 when he stole a large quantity of empty Covid vaccine vials to sell them on eBay.

Investigators initially used Post Office CCTV footage and eBay account details to connect Flint to the crimes and he was arrested on suspicion of theft and fraud at one of the sites he worked at in February 2021. Flint had completed 13 shifts before he was arrested.

During a subsequent search of his house, police officers found empty vaccine vials and multiple receipts for packages posted to Flint’s eBay buyers.

Surrey Police detectives also discovered that Flint had fraudulently used the details of an acquaintance to set up a new eBay account to cover his tracks.

Steven Flint, 34 of Bidhams Crescent, Tadworth was found guilty of theft on 19 July at Staines Magistrates Court. He had previously pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation. He was sentenced to one year imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, at Staines Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 17 August.

Flint was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.

Detective Inspector Paul Gordon from Surrey Police’s proactive investigation team said: “Covid vaccine vials remain the property of the NHS. Due to their sensitive medical nature, this ownership is maintained before, during and after the vials are used. Taking these items could only have been theft.

“Flint’s crimes took place when the very successful national vaccine programme was in its infancy and any actions which jeopardised public confidence in the vaccine roll-out were treated with the utmost seriousness. We, along with our health service partners and the vaccine manufacturers, reacted extremely quickly to the situation, working together to identify and arrest Flint.”

Lorna Hart, Surrey Heartlands Covid Vaccination Programme Director said: “The NHS will never charge for a Covid-19 vaccination and patients should only ever accept a vaccine from an NHS vaccination service.

“Thanks to the success of our NHS vaccination programme, frontline teams have done an incredible job, delivering over 2.2 million Covid-19 vaccines to people across Surrey Heartlands.

“As part of the autumn booster programme many people, including everyone aged 50 and over, will be offered a Covid-19 booster, as well as a flu jab, to help increase people’s protection against respiratory viruses ahead of winter so we would encourage anyone who is invited to get vaccinated. We also continue to offer the Covid-19 vaccine to anyone who is eligible.”

Written by Karen Parker of Surrey Police

Surrey Police have issued witness and information appeals for two serious stabbings by knives both taking place on 16th August 2022. The first in Horley at about 10.20pm and the second in Leatherhead at about 11.10pm. Epsom and Ewell Times reprints the Police appeals below:

Surrey Police.

We are appealing for witnesses after a man was stabbed in the chest in Horley last night (16 August).

Police were called after the victim, a man in his 20s, was found with a single stab wound on a grassed area near Roffey Close around 10.20pm.

The man was approached from behind and thrown from his bike to the ground by two men wearing balaclavas. He was then believed to have been dragged along the ground before being stabbed.

Two men were seen making off from the scene towards the recreation area near Sangers Walk shortly afterwards.

The victim was taken to hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition.

Enquiries are underway and we are appealing to anyone who witnessed the attack, or who has any dashcam or doorbell camera footage or any other information, to come forward.

Detective Sergeant Lee Marks said: “We would like to reassure local residents that we are doing everything we can to identify those responsible and ensure they face the consequences of their actions.”

If you can help, please contact us straightaway quoting reference PR/45220087990 via contacts below

………………………….

We’re appealing for witnesses following a stabbing in Leatherhead yesterday (16 August).

Last night officers received a report that someone had been stabbed on Kingston Road, near to the junction with Cleeve Road and the footpath leading to Leatherhead train station. This assault occurred between 11pm and 11.15pm. The victim was taken to hospital with stab wounds to his hand and arm.

Officers cordoned off the area last night to conduct enquiries and this was taken down at 10.30am this morning.

Sergeant Elliott Hartley, of Mole Valley Specialist Neighbourhood Team, said: “I know that many local residents will have been concerned this morning after seeing the police scene on Kingston Road. We’re continuing to work hard to establish what happened last night and we’re asking anyone who was walking home from the train station around the time of the assault to please get in touch. The victim has been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home.”

If you witnessed this assault, or have any information which could help our investigation, please contact us quoting PR/45220088010 via

•            Webchat on our website https://www.surrey.police.uk/

•            Our online reporting tool https://www.surrey.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/

•            Calling us on 101

If you do not wish to leave your name, please call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Bus drivers strike affecting the people of Epsom and Ewell. There are planned bus driver strikes during the 19th till the 20th of August. Passengers from west and south west London, as well as parts of Surrey will be impacted. The affected Epsom and Ewell bus routes will be; 470, 293, 406, 418 and 265.
166 may be affected as well, even though it has not been listed. The dispute is over the lack of pay rise in 2021, the 3% increase offer for 2022, cuts of pensions and lack of guarantee job security.
Affected bus routes:
470 – from Colliers Wood station to Epsom High street ,
293 – from London Road/ Morden station to Epsom Hospital,
406 – from Cromwell road bus station to Epsom hospital,
418 – from Cromwell road bus station to Epsom Station and
265 – from Putney Bridge station to Tolworth / King Charles road
166 – from Epsom hospital to West Croydon bus station, (even though it is not listed, it may be affected
as well)
More than 1600 bus drivers are going to be striking, as a result of the company’s (RATP) pay package offer, as it would amount to a wage cut in real terms due to the rising costs of living and inflation rate, which is at 11.8%. RATP offered bus drivers an increase of 3.6% in 2022 and promised a 4.2% increase next year, Unite the union and the company are yet to agree on a pay package which could satisfy both parties.
Unite General Secretary, Sharon Graham said: “RATP is fabulously wealthy and it can fully afford to pay our members a decent wage increase” as “Unite’s members play a crucial role in keeping London moving, and they are not going to accept seeing their pay constantly eroded”
The workers are employed by London United, which is subsidiary to RATP, a French owned company. And according to UNITE’S website, they turned-over £4.8 million in 2021, profiting of £174 million in the last year.
Catherine Guillouard, RATP’s chairwoman and CEO, during its meeting on the examined and approved RATP’s financial statements on the 30th of July 2021 said: “the Group’s half-year results show a clear increase in the first half of the year, with a €141m (+5.1%) growth in turnover and a €193m increase in the Group’s share of net profits, standing at €105m, despite the lingering negative impact of the health crisis”
Unite Regional Officer, Michelle Braveboy claimed: “this dispute is of the company’s own making, it can make a fair pay offer to its workers but has chosen not to, so it now faces the prospects of a highly disruptive strike action”
Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps had previously stated in regard to ongoing and planned strikes: “Unfortunately, it’s too late to call off today’s damaging strikes but I urge the RMT and indeed all unions to stop holding the country to ransom with the threat of further industrial action and get off picket lines and back around the negotiating table.”
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan gave the following statement when discussing TFL operations: “It’s no secret that we’re talking about [a matter of] days in relation to TfL’s ability to carry on operating the services it’s providing without the additional support from the government […] what’s important though is for TfL and department for transport officials to try and reach a resolution.”
The TFL has stated some of the routes from Surrey will not be operating during the 19th till the 20th, along with the no running of night buses, throughout these two days. Services will continue to be impacted in the morning of the 21st of August, however, from 08:00am, services will resume as normal.
Passengers wanting to travel to London might be affected as well as there are strike actions being held for other TFL services such as; the London overground, the Elisabeth line, the National rail service and the Tube, among others. The strike will also impact workers based at Hounslow, Hounslow Heath, Park Royal, Shepherd’s Bush, Fulwell, Stamford Brook and Tolworth depots.
TFL recommends to not make unnecessary journeys from the 18th until 08:00am on the 21st. Although ifone must, they are advised to plan in advance, allowing more time for making the journey. They also suggest people to either cycle or walk, if necessary journeys need to be made, as the buses and other TfL services that will be running are expected to be extremely busy.
TFL’s Chief Officer, Andy Lord stated: “walking and cycling is likely to be the best way to get around this action”.They have guaranteed that Santander cycles will be available across London, and teams will be sent out to ensure they are distributed at key locations according to demand. And they recommend citizens to use planning tools, such as; Journey Planner and TFL Go, to be updated in real time about the strike actions.
For the latest information about the strike action one can also go to TFL.gov.uk/strikes.
https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2022/august/london-bus-workers-to-take-strike-action-
in-pay-dispute/

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2022/august/tfl-issues-travel-advice-for-customers-ahead-of-upcoming-strike-action-with-most-tfl-services-likely-to-be-disrupted

Sadiq’s quote: https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/sadiq-khan-warns-every-london-
24722175

Ro Stretton from Epsom has signed up to the Baylis & Harding Free Recycling Programme offered by recycling experts TerraCycle. By sending waste to TerraCycle, Ro also raises money for charities Univida and Christ Church Epsom. Ro also collects other items for recycling including Pringles tubes, cheese packaging, biscuit and snack wrappers and bread bags

Epsom resident, Ro Stretton, has signed up as one of the UK’s first public collection points for recycling used Baylis & Harding products.  The free recycling programme was created by Baylis & Harding in partnership with TerraCycle, the world leaders in recycling “hard-to-recycle” waste.

Ro has set up a publicly accessible drop-off location at her home at 233 The Greenway, Epsom, allowing the whole Epsom community to drop-off items including Baylis & Harding caps, hand and mist pumps, flexible plastic lotion tubes, screw tops and Goodness hand wash refill pouches to be sent to TerraCycle for recycling.

While most Baylis & Harding products can be recycled through traditional methods, unfortunately some products can end up in landfill as local councils simply don’t have the infrastructure to recycle these materials.  By taking their waste to Ro’s location, members of the community can give their Baylis & Harding products a second life.

The collected waste Ro sends in to TerraCycle is recycled by shredding, cleaning and turning into a pellet format which can then be used by manufacturers to create new generic plastic products, reducing the need to extract new resources from the planet.

Ro commented: “Everyone is aware of how important it is to waste less and recycle more, but this can be a challenge when kerbside recycling collections are limited to certain items. TerraCycle’s free programmes are great because they allow whole communities to give a second life to the waste that’s usually destined for landfill or incineration.”

As well as recycling the waste they receive, TerraCycle awards points for each parcel of waste Ro sends in, which can be redeemed as a monetary donation to the causes of their choice – Univida and Christ Church Epsom.

Ro continued: “So far we’ve raised more than £1,500 for charity by sending this waste to TerraCycle. We donate the funds to Univida, which provides education, support, and food to children in Brazilian Favelas, and Christ Church Epsom which provides support to local people in need. The more we collect, the more we can donate, so I’d encourage everyone in the community to get involved.”

As well as collecting Baylis & Harding products, Ro also collects on the Cathedral City Cheese Packaging, pladis (the company behind McVitie’s and Jacob’s) Biscuits and Snacks, Marigold Gloves, Philips Dental Care and Babybel Free Recycling Programmes, among others, enabling the people of Epsom to recycle waste including cheese packaging, biscuit and snack wrappers, dental care products and packaging and more. For a full list of what Ro can accept, visit https://www.facebook.com/greenwayterracycle/.

There are other similar drop off addresses and Epsom and Ewell including one at 72 Hookfield, Epsom and Rymans in Epsom High Street. Go to TerraCycle for details and search locations

About TerraCycle

TerraCycle is an international leader in innovative sustainability solutions, creating and operating first-of-their-kind platforms in recycling, recycled materials, and reuse.  Across 21 countries, TerraCycle is on a mission to rethink waste and develop practical solutions for today’s complex waste challenges. The company engages an expansive multi-stakeholder community across a wide range of accessible programs, from Fortune 500 companies to schools and individuals. An estimated 6.9 million people across the UK have helped us to divert more than 231 million items of packaging waste from landfill while earning over £2,000,000 for schools, charities and non-profit organisations. To learn more about TerraCycle and join them on their journey to move the world from a linear economy to a circular one, please visit www.terracycle.co.uk.

A Surrey Police officer who “deliberately concealed” her friend’s criminal damage to a car has been barred from policing. The officer told her friend she had put her in “an awkward position”, and an accelerated hearing at the force’s Mount Browne headquarters heard she would be dismissed without notice.

The hearing, in Guildford on August 1, heard that Special Constable 6846  Leigh Beams did not report her knowledge of the incident until several weeks later, when she was questioned by her supervisor.

SC Beams was present, though off duty, on April  13 2021, when a friend of hers committed criminal damage to a vehicle – but she did not take any proactive steps to notify police.

Despite being at an early stage of her career, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens said he did not believe such a “lack of judgement” was compatible with a continued policing career. He also noted she had “limited experience and basic training, and a previously unblemished record”.

“Ms A” has subsequently admitted this offence and received a conditional caution but the initial police investigation was closed due to insufficient evidence, most notably the identity of the offender.

Chief Constable Stephens said: “I consider it to be serious gross misconduct where personal interest was put before public interest, in such circumstances where it was obvious what the consequences would be for the victim.

“In short, the failure to act amounted to a deliberate concealment of relevant evidence.

“I do not believe that such a lack of judgement is compatible with a continued career, including a voluntary one, with policing.

“That is, to continue in policing would declare to others that it is possible to put friendships ahead of justice, and this is clearly not acceptable. You’ve put me in an awkward position”.

In his decision, Chief Constable Stephens said the officer’s culpability was “high” because as a “key witness” she made a conscious choice not to report the offence “over a protracted period”.

The hearing was told she had recalled a conversation with the offender immediately after the offence had taken place, in which SC Beams said: “I said to her: ‘What have you done? You’ve put me in an awkward position here.’”

Ms A’s response was said to be: “Oh don’t worry about it, it’s fine, no one will know.”

It was May 2 before SC Beams gave any account of the offence, and the hearing was told this only happened due to a complaint being made about her involvement.

SC Beams was not present at the hearing, and was not represented there but Chief Constable Stephens was satisfied the appropriate steps had been taken to give notice of the hearing and allow her to attend.

Chief Constable Stephens had considered a final written warning, given how early SC Beams was in her policing career, but said he did not think it would protect the force’s standards or public confidence.

He said: “I accept that the position was awkward for the friendship or relationship, but I do not accept that it was awkward for policing duties.

“That responsibility is very clear to any reasonable person, and I consider that if SC Beams’ conduct was known to the public then it would seriously undermine their confidence in the impartiality of policing. Failure to act was ‘wrong’”. He said that while SC Beams had some insight into her conduct and reflected afterwards that her actions were wrong, he also believed evidence showed SC Beams knew immediately after the offence that her failure to act was wrong.

He added that “she was more concerned about what the implications would be for her friend, who was the offender, and herself”.

In his decision, the Chief Constable said the “key aggravating factor” was that the officer “continued to conceal the wrongdoing, even after subsequent discussions on what had taken place”. He said SC Beams had recalled in interview a conversation which happened the following day with Ms B, who was also a witness, about how to report or seek advice.

Chief Constable Stephens added: “This continuing concealment is a fundamental lack of judgement required for public service.” The hearing judged that she had committed gross misconduct, should be dismissed without notice and would be placed on the College of Policing’s barred list.

Chief Constable Gavin Stephens said: “Such actions had the potential to deprive the victim in this crime of justice, and at the same time seriously undermine public confidence in the standards, impartiality, and effectiveness of policing in Surrey.”

Seaford Town 1-2 Epsom & Ewell FC Southern Combination League – Division One Saturday 13th August 2022 Report Source: www.eefconline.co.uk Reporter: Richard Lambert.

With one swish of the left foot and a low scissor volley with the right, Jubril “Jibs” Adamson and Joao “Tiago” Andrade registered their first goals for the club and provided the Salts with a healthy seaside tonic as they put last week’s loss at Shoreham firmly in the rear view mirror with a 2-1 win at Seaford Town on Saturday.

It was Adamson’s debut, although he was not even in the original starting sixteen when it was announced, replacing Jahobi Maher in a pre-match line up change, who I presume was injured in the warm up, but it proved to be a successful change as his strike enabled our boys to recover from a shaky start and ultimately take the three points.

This was not an easy match to watch on a day where it was too hot for supporters, let alone players! The searing heat was constant, although in a strange way the players were helped a little by the stop-start nature of the game as a result of an over fussy and at times uncertain refereeing display which confused players and viewers alike. However, there were a number of positives to be taken from this match in addition to the obvious win. Both teams maintained a really high tempo throughout and the contest was a totally competitive one throughout, while we also showed good game management, both on and off the pitch to ensure that we remained ahead against an opponent who will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

We had a strange and unexplained delay to the start of the game and the players were kept waiting before we finally got underway seven minutes late and the first thing my boy noted was that we had started with a back four, after playing all pre-season with a back three. On the Seaford surface which was understandably brown, but with occasional patches of green speckled across it, we looked like we would be off the a good start from the opening exchanges, only to fall behind from a right wing ball in that was met at the near post with a strike from Callum Connor that was blocked, but he was first to reach the loose ball and smashed it past Matt Walton from close range in the sixth minute.

It would have been easy to think back to the previous week when we conceded after nine minutes and never recovered, but if anyone was thinking like that, it wasn’t for long after a delightful through ball just two minutes later found Adamson and his early strike was low and just inside the post from twenty yards before Seaford keeper Mike Platt, with a career as a Ben Stokes lookalike ahead of him, was able to do anything about it. In fact he couldn’t have reached it if he had been holding a bat!

It got better in a hurry too as Athan Smith-Joseph made tracks down the right wing in the 15th minute and sent a cross over. Platt came out of his goal and called for it, but the ball was already landing on the defender’s head and he cleared it away. However, the clearance fell straight to Andrade just inside the penalty area and he showed good technique to keep his volley down, which flew into the net that Platt had vacated.

Both sides had another good chance before the break. The hosts had a 37th minute free kick that was met with a decent header, although Walton appeared to get a hand to the ball before it hit the post and flew away, and then on the counter attack Smith-Joseph got down the right again and his pull back was sent just over the bar from Andrade from twelve yards. One more chance followed when a Ryan Smith free kick out on the right was met by the incoming Brad Peters, but he couldn’t quite get a sufficient contact and glanced the ball wide with his head.

The half had seen plenty of stoppages and the referee was the reason for most of them. Delays were frequent because of odd decision making and his habit of wandering over to his Assistants, almost as if he was after some sort of validation. This was proving a little frustrating and just before the half time break Peters found himself sent to the sin bin. Although I don’t know what was said, you had sympathy for our Captain at this point and he missed the final seconds followed by the opening ten minutes of the second half. Despite being down to ten men in those closing seconds there was still time for Steve Springett to show good energy and make advances down the left, although his ball in was volleyed over by Andrade.

The second half commenced with another unusual decision as Gideon Acheampong just reached the ball after it had already gone out, but sent it out of the ground and picked up the first yellow card of the day in the 50th minute, although we were down to ten at the time so that may have factored into the referee’s thinking. However, I’ve seen far worse completely ignored before! Peters returned after ten minutes actual play had occurred, but he then picked up a silly yellow card for a push right on the edge of the area and when moments later Connor picked up a yellow for the home side after a foul on Andrade, our Captain was taking a risk by clapping very clearly in the referee’s direction. Well aware that a second sin bin offence would leave us with ten men, our Assistant Manager Matt Chapman and his team, in the absence of both joint Managers today, made the wise decision to replace Peters with Johnny “Sonic” Akoto who made his debut at left back with Springett moving into the centre.

The hosts tried to push us back. Literally in one case when a long throw came in and Springett was sent flying, but the referee missed this foul that I could see from 100 yards away and the ball needed to be cleared out from under our crossbar by Andy “Woody” Hall. We then saw our left winger Richard Pingling kick the ball away into a hoarding, but fortunately for us, although inconsistently he didn’t receive a card. Pingling and Smith-Joseph asked questions of the Seaford defence all day and were a regular threat.

As the match progressed, further substitutions followed and one of these, Adam Grant just saw his header sent over the bar from another Smith-Joseph delivery and there was time for a new player Joshua Owens to come on for his debut where he, along with Owen Higgins and Louis Chin bolstered our tiring midfield. Chin came on in the 91st minute, yet we played nine minutes over, and whilst there were a couple of minutes taken for the mid-half drinks break, it was a very long time before the whistle blew and we could celebrate the points.

On another day, the home team could have taken a point, but our players looked much more solid this weekend and rarely looked in trouble during the second half. We kept a very good side at arm’s length for much of the contest and for that reason I believe we were worthy of the three points, something also acknowledged by the Seaford Manager Paul Wise in his always honest post-match comments. We now host Forest Row next, but please note that this match has been moved from the Tuesday to the Wednesday at short notice. Such are the hazards of ground sharing, although I imagine that our players will be grateful for the extra day’s respite between games!

Epsom & Ewell: Matt Walton, Gideon Acheampong, Steve Springett, Ryan ‘Butch’ Smith, Andy “Woody” Hall, Brad Peters ©, Athan Smith-Joseph, Zach Powell, Jubril “Jibs” Adamson, Tiago Andrade, Richard Pingling

Subs: Johnny “Sonic” Akoto for Peters (64), Adam Grant for Adamson (75), Owen Higgins for Smith-Joseph (84), Joshua Owens for Andrade (86), Louis Chin for Powell (91)

An online auction of a collection of 15 hats created for the Platinum Jubilee by some of the UK’s leading milliners has raised close to £9,000 for Brain Tumour Research. The collection of hats was inspired by the seven decades of The Queen’s reign and entitled “Hats Fit For A Queen”.

Pieces by Royal milliner Rachel Trevor-Morgan and milliner to the stars Stephen Jones OBE formed part of the collection, which was displayed in the Queen Elizabeth II Stand at Epsom Downs Racecourse on both days of The Cazoo Derby (June 3 rd & 4 th ), before subsequently being auctioned online.

The Cazoo Derby formed part of the official celebrations for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The project formed part of Go Epsom’s wider Platinum Jubilee festivities across the Borough of Epsom and Ewell, which celebrate The Queen’s lasting association with hats and their continued importance as a quintessential piece of raceday style.

The initiative was a new collaboration between Go Epsom, The British Hat Guild, Brain Tumour Research and Epsom Downs Racecourse and was promoted via the hashtag HatsFitForAQueen.

The project formed part of Go Epsom’s wider Platinum Jubilee festivities across the Borough of Epsom and Ewell, which celebrate The Queen’s lasting association with hats and their continued importance as a quintessential piece of raceday style.

The initiative was a new collaboration between Go Epsom, The British Hat Guild, Brain Tumour Research and Epsom Downs Racecourse.

Karen Pengelly, Bid Manager for Go Epsom said: “I am delighted that we have been able to help raise so much money for Brain Tumour Reaseach with ‘Project Hat’. It was very satisfying to see some of these incredible hats being worn over The Derby weekend by some extremely well known celebrities. And to know that they have now gone on to be cherished by their new owners is wonderful. If Her Majesty the Queen had been able to attend the Derby I feel sure she would have been very touched to have seen the efforts that the UK’s top milliners had gone to as a nod to her.”
Hugh Adams, Head of Stakeholder Relations at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We are extremely grateful to Go Epsom, Epsom Downs Racecourse and The British Hat Guild for staging this wonderful exhibition, creating such a valuable platform to raise awareness of brain tumours and for the money raised. The auction proceeds will fund the equivalent of three days’ research at a Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence where scientists are focused on improving treatments and, ultimately, finding a cure. To be a part of this wonderful initiative during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations have made this very special for us.”
Edwina Ibbotson, on behalf of The British Hat Guild, said: “All the 15 members of the British Hat Guild who took part were honoured to participate in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. We loved the idea of making hats from all decades of  HRH The Queen’s reign from styles which would have been worn at The Derby in the 1950’s and right through to the modern day.  The Guild have a close relationship with Brain Tumour Research, and we were thrilled that our members creations could be auctioned off to raise vital funds for them and their important work.”
Simon Durrant, General Manager at Epsom Downs Racecourse, said: “The Hats Fit For A Queen display at The Cazoo Derby proved to be a great success and the whole Jockey Club team are delighted to see the collection raise close to £9,000 for Brain Tumour Research. It was a great honour for The Cazoo Derby to be part of the official celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee and we hope the money raised for Brain Tumour Research will ensure that there is a positive and impactful legacy for this initiative.”