Following a strike of mail workers and a picket at Epsom’s East Street Sorting Office CWU workers picket the telephone exchange on the other side of the street. See our report on postal strike HERE.

The dispute, which involves more than 40,000 CWU members working for BT and Openreach, was triggered by BT’s imposition of real-terms pay cuts for all CWU-represented grades, claim the Trade Union.

CWU claim that instead of following normal negotiating protocols – under which a draft deal that is fair and acceptable to both sides is arrived at through discussions, and then recommended by the union to its membership for their ratification – this year BT abruptly terminated the talks after just six short meetings. Firm proposals had only been tabled by management in the latter two of those meetings.

BT claims the flat-rate settlement of £1,500 equates to between 3.8% and 8% dependent on where individuals sit on the pay scale.

The CWU therefore calculates that even the biggest beneficiaries of this year’s imposed flat rate pay award have only received around 5%  – with the vast majority of CWU-represented grades receiving only a little over 4% and some below 3%. That compares with spiralling inflation that saw the Government’s preferred (typically lower) CPI measure hit  10.1% in July  (RPI  12.3%) and  even the Bank of England predicting CPI will top 13% within months.

In 2021 members received no consolidated pay rise at all, and even the agreed settlement in 2020 was slightly below inflation. In fact, since 2020, BT pay for CWU grades has increased by just 6.6% (including the £1,500 imposed award for 2022).  Without any improvement to the imposed £1,500 award, this represents a real-terms pay cut since 2020 of 6.9%  based on RPI, and 2.8% based on CPI. This is despite BT’s declaration of a £1.3bn annual profit, a £761 million dividend payout for shareholders and a 32% pay increase for the CEO.

The CWU conducted its first company-wide industrial action ballot in BT Group since 1987 in June. In Openreach, where 28,425 CWU members were entitled to vote, participants recorded 95.8% ‘yes’ vote for industrial action on a 74.8% turnout.  In  BT, where 10,353 were issued with a ‘yes’ vote of 91.5% was recorded on a 58.2% turnout.

As a result, the first national industrial action in BT Group for three and a half decades took place on July 29 and August 1 and again on Tuesday August 30 and Wednesday August 31. 

Spelthorne councillors are “not behind” the authority’s plans for 9,000 homes in the borough, according to a neighbouring council.

An Elmbridge Borough Council response to Spelthorne’s draft local plan also raised concerns surrounding the wording of the plan, which was introduced as making Spelthorne “a less attractive place to live”.

At an individual cabinet member decision making – planning and environmental health meeting on Thursday (September 1), portfolio holder Councillor Karen Randolph agreed the wording of a letter to be sent to Spelthorne Borough Council regarding its local plan, which is currently going through public consultation.

The neighbouring councils have a duty to co-operate on each other’s plans for homes, with Elmbridge focussing its response on the areas of the plan which could have cross-boundary implications for the borough.

Cllr Randolph’s letter said that Elmbridge appreciated there was a “balance to be struck” when preparing a local plan, and that, like Elmbridge’s the Spelthorne plan “centred around place-making and responding to the climate change emergency”.

She added: “However, it would appear that Spelthorne councillors are not behind the draft local plan and have been led by a continued over-emphasis on the perceived requirement that its housing need must be met in full.”

The letter went on to quote Spelthorne’s local plan, for 9,270 new homes in the borough, which said: “Whilst it is appealing to consider producing a plan that does not meet our need in full, this will not be a sound strategy and would be rejected by the Planning Inspector.”

Elmbridge’s local plan went through its regulation 19 representation stage up until the end of July, and will now be sent to the planning inspector for feedback.

A spokesperson for Spelthorne said since June 2020, a ‘collective team’ of officers and councillors from every ward had spent more then 100 hours in task group meetings, and debated the plan at cabinet and environment and sustainability committee meetings.

They said this was to ensure the draft local plan and draft Staines development framework were “the best, most robust and most defensible they can be”.

The letter from Elmbridge said the authority would query how Spelthorne’s approach to meeting its housing requirement was consistent with central government policy, and how, overall, it had been “positively prepared”.

The letter said the plan outlined that development within the town centres would consist of “sterile, high-rise blocks”, something, according to the letter, “that no Councillor wants to support”.

Catriona Riddell was brought in last September by the then leadership at Spelthorne to do three workshops with councillors on developing a shared vision around not just the local plan but working with local communities.

The document she had worked on with councillors was not voted through for inclusion in local plan documents at a full council meeting on December 9, 2021.

Speaking before this week’s Elmbridge meeting, she said in terms of a council’s local plan being “positively prepared”, this would include community responses to consultations, the plan’s approach to growth and its “overall vision for a place”.

She added: “It’s very much about when a local council gets to an examination, they’re sitting there saying: ‘This is the plan we want, this is our plan.

“This is going to make a difference to the local area in a positive way. And it’s ours.’”

The plan releases around 0.7 per cent of the borough’s green belt for development.

The Elmbridge response said none of these were on the boundary of the two authorities, and highlighted Spelthorne considered this to allow the building of family homes with gardens, and lower building heights in Staines.

The response also questioned the release of green belt in Land to the west of Long Lane and South of Blackburn Trading Estate for the building of 200 homes, over sites such as Land to the South and West of Stratton Road, Sunbury and Land off Worple Road, Staines.

The other sites could take 260 and 256 homes respectively, according to the response, which queried that they had been discounted because they may “not aid distribution of development across the borough” and because of negative feedback at a previous preferred options stage.

Cllr Randolph’s letter said: “The approach taken appears inconsistent and that these sites have been discounted on the basis of the reception of the community.”

The Spelthorne spokesperson said: “Between them, the [draft local plan and draft Staines development framework] have been considered by councillors at either cabinet or committee on six different occasions to ensure that members were comfortable with the direction of travel and the progress being made at every stage.

On May 19, 25 of the 33 councillors at the authority’s full council meeting voted to send the plan to public consultation.

The council spokesperson added: “The local plan strategy proposed seeks to meet Spelthorne’s housing needs in full and is considered to be a measured approach that takes into account the views of stakeholders and the evidence developed through the local plan process.”

Public consultation on the plan has been extended up to September 19.

Spelthorne local plan: 

Elmbridge meeting agenda: 

Spelthorne December meeting: https://democracy.spelthorne.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=133&MId=3470

Surrey libraries are the second most visited in the country according to the latest UK Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) data, with the figures showing the libraries attracted over 550,000 visits last year.

CIPFA surveyed residents as part of the findings, with questions ranging from the overall customer experience, satisfaction with the quality of book stock, and the role libraries play in combating loneliness and isolation.

97% of respondents said they received good or very good standard of care when visiting Surrey’s libraries, whilst 83% felt the choice of books on offer was either good or very good (with a further 93% happy with the physical condition of the books).

The results also reinforced the important role libraries play in their communities, with 62% of those surveyed who felt lonely saying libraries help to reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation.

The findings from the CIPFA survey reflect the broadening appeal of Surrey’s libraries and emphasise that modern libraries provide more to residents than just books. They have become a place for performances, workshops and exhibition spaces and offer a myriad of services including free digital access for those without access to a computer.

Below are some examples of what libraries have been providing over and above their core service offerings:

• A year-long partnership with Farnham Maltings has resulted in libraries being a space for some exciting creative events to be staged, exhibited and performed, extending the reach and accessibility of cultural experiences.
• Ensuring that no one is left behind libraries have been the backbone of delivering Surrey’s Period Dignity campaign with period products available to be collected for free or donated at all 52 libraries. 
• Libraries are there for all people in the community and have been welcoming families from the Ukraine ensuring books in Ukrainian and Russian  are available on their shelves. Young Ukrainians have been able to take part in this year’s Summer Reading Challenge thanks to translated materials provided in Ukrainian and Russian.
• This summer during the Jubilee weekend there were 85 Jubilee events and 46 Big Lunches hosted in Surrey libraries as an opportunity for communities to come together and celebrate – to ensure everyone had an opportunity join up and join in with their community.

Sue Wills MBE Assistant Director Art, Culture, Heritage and Libraries said “This is just the tip of the iceberg! We’ve come a long way in terms of the diversity of services that libraries can offer. This is an exciting period of transformation for our much-loved Surrey Libraries where spaces are re-imagined to deliver a place where social, educational, economic, and cultural activities can be made accessible to all in the community, often free of charge. It’s not the physical building that changes it’s what’s happening inside at the heart of the building that changes.”

To find out about all the different events taking place in Surrey Libraries follow on Twitter and Facebook or visit the Surrey Libraries web pages. Libraries – Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)

Results are from the Surrey County Council CIPFA plus survey, 2022

The Borough’s libraries are:

Epsom Library

6 Epsom Square, Epsom · 03456009009

Ewell Court Library

Ewell Court House Lakehurst Road, Epsom · 03002001001

Stoneleigh Community Library

1 Stoneleigh Broadway, Epsom · 03002001001

Bourne Hall Library

Spring Street, Ewell  020 8393 9571

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)