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Barking and Dagenham were left celebrating a major milestone after receiving the Mayor’s Cultural Impact Award at the London Borough of Culture awards on Tuesday.

The Mayor of London set a challenge for every borough in London to propose a year-long programme of world-class cultural events and initiatives and developed a plan to make culture an integral part of the borough’s future.

New electric vehicle charge points are being installed at 13 locations across Barking and Dagenham in a bid to encourage residents to switch to the greener form of transport.

The scheme is part of Source London, a capital-wide initiative which allows people to charge their electric automobiles at various sites including Dagenham Heathway, Longbridge Road, and Upney Lane.

The network plays a crucial role in encouraging the uptake of electric vehicles and contributing to the Mayor of London’s vision to improve the capital’s air quality.

The challenge was to tackle some of the biggest gender equality issues and it proved to be a weekend to remember for the winning team NOYO (Not on Your Own) at the Barking and Dagenham Gender Equality Hackathon.

The event which was held at the Barking Learning Centre (BLC) on 3 and 4 February focused on people of all ages and backgrounds from across London to find innovative solutions to two of the biggest gender issues – employment and safety and it proved to be a major success.

Barking and Dagenham secondary schools are performing above average in GCSE English and maths, according to the latest league tables that have been published.

Overall 43.1 per cent of the borough’s students achieved a Grade 5 or above in English language, English literature, and mathematics GCSEs, compared to a national average of 39.6pc.

The results are based on pupils who were the first to sit the new, tougher GCSEs in English and maths, which are graded 9 to 1 – with 9 being the highest – rather than the old A* to G method.

A new museum of women’s history is set to open in a permanent home as part of the new Barking Wharf development at the end of 2019 or early 2020.

The East End Women’s Museum was established in 2015 in response to the Ripper Museum which opened on Cable Street, but has since operated without a building, organising events, workshops, and pop up exhibitions with local partners.

History has been made after a spade went into the ground to officially start work on London’s first ever Onside Youth Zone in Barking and Dagenham.

The Youth Zone’s Chair Charles Mindenhall was joined by Barking and Dagenham Council Leader Darren Rodwell, the facility’s funders and other dignitaries, including West Ham captain Mark Noble, at a special ground-breaking celebration on cutting the first sod with a giant spade on Parsloes Park.

Barking and Dagenham School Improvement Partnership (BDSIP) has announced the appointment of Ben Spinks as its’ first chief executive.

Excitement is growing in Barking and Dagenham after preparations to begin building the first OnSide Youth Zone in London moved up another gear.

Councillor Darren Rodwell, Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council along with Deputy Leader, Cllr Saima Ashraf, Councillor Worby and the Young Mayor joined up with young people who have been working with OnSide to unveil a giant banner at the site.

The council has welcomed an announcement to review the accident and emergency services at King George Hospital.

The decision from the East London Health and Care Partnership (ELHCP) follows an independent investigation by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) into the proposals to change the Redbridge hospital into an urgent care centre.

On 30 September and 1 October, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham held the UK’s first-ever social cohesion hackathon in partnership with local technology company DigiLab.