Last Friday was a historic day at Roding Primary School as headteacher Brian Fox left the school to enjoy his retirement after 40 years teaching in the borough.

When it comes to experience of schools in Barking and Dagenham, Mr. Fox can definitely be counted on as he did not only teach in the borough but also went to primary and secondary school here.

Brian attended Ripple Infants and Juniors from 1961 to 1968 before heading on to Eastbury Secondary until 1975.

HRH The Duke Of Sussex will officially open Barking and Dagenham's Future Youth Zone on Thursday 11th April.

The new Youth Zone in Parsloes Park, Dagenham, is being developed by the national charity OnSide Youth Zones. OnSide has raised the £6.15million construction costs for the facility, from funders including Barking and Dagenham Council, The Queen's Trust, the Jack Petchey Foundation, The Serioussi Foundation via Vistra Jersey and UBS Optimus Foundation and the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.

Fourteen households on the housing waiting list will now be able to move into their brand-new council homes as they got handed the keys for the new properties at Truscott House.

Truscott House in North Street, Barking, comprises of 14 homes - 12 one-bedroom terraced courtyard houses and two 2-bed wheelchair accessible homes. The homes are designed to a high standard with generous living space and are in close proximity to transport links and local amenities.

Eastbury Community School was, yesterday, awarded The Parliament Week of the Year Award for 2019.

UK Parliament Week took place from Monday 12 November and is an annual festival that engages people from across the UK with Parliament. 

During the week, the Politics Department at the school facilitated the following activities and all 1800 students and over 200 staff were invited to participate:

Barking Abbey girls football team, last week, played in the U18s ESFA National Schools Final for the third time in a row.

Up against Thomas Telford School, Telford the girls unfortunately went down 2-0 but can be incredibly proud of themselves.

Taking place at AFC Fylde’s stadium, Thomas Telford went 1-0 up just before half time before grabbing a second with around 10 minutes to go.

Barking Abbey had a number of good chances throughout the game but were unable to put the finishing touch to any of their moves.

Students from Gascoigne Primary School got their sweat on last Friday as ‘The Body Coach’ Joe Wicks came calling.

The TV and internet star visited the school as part of a project to see 10,000 children in schools across the country and go through a 20-minute workout with them.

Autism Awareness Week kicked off in Barking and Dagenham with a flag flying ceremony outside Barking Town Hall this morning.

Steve Dixon and supporters from the Sycamore Trust were joined by local councillors and members of the community for the event which launched the week.

Councillor Maureen Worby, Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration, said: “I am really proud that we are supporting Autism Awareness Week, and long may it continue.

An exciting new community project is coming to Barking and Dagenham, with local people being invited to get together and create handmade flowers that express their personalities.

Flower Folk will see people from across the borough knitting flowers and making them out of plastic bottles. These will then be displayed during the whole Summer of Festivals programme, which is taking place from June to September this year.

An urban farming project that is set to appear at the Chelsea Flower Show 2019 will be coming to Barking and Dagenham later this year.

“Gardening Will Save The World” sees IKEA team up with British designer Tom Dixon to collaborate on a project that encourages city-dwellers to grow food locally.

The cutting-edge garden will be divided into two levels, with the lower garden featuring natural edibles and the raised level containing trees, flowers and plants with medicinal, health and environmental benefits.

A shop owner has been ordered to pay £3,275 and carry out 100 hours of unpaid work for selling counterfeit cigarettes and alcohol without a licence. 

During a routine inspection by the council's Trading Standards officers on Thursday 8 June 2017, Mr Jahangir Chowdhury, 51, from A1 Cash and Carry, 185 Broad Street, Dagenham RM10 9JD was found to have 600 counterfeit, smuggled cigarettes, 13 pouches of tobacco, and 43 other tobacco products. The tobacco products did not display correct health warnings and were not in standard packaging.