Joseph Gill, an 8-year-old Southwood Primary School student, has won the prestigious Panathlon ‘Primary Outstanding Achievement Award.’

Joe, who suffered a brain injury shortly after birth due to contracting meningitis has been recognised for his tenacity and good attitude in the face of adversity.

Panathlon are a charity that aim to help children with special educational needs get active by running sports competitions and challenges.

Coronavirus hasn’t stopped the competitive attitude of youngsters from Barking and Dagenham as they took part in the London Youth Games (LYG) Virtual Games and finished 9th out of 33 boroughs.

The newly formed London Youth Games took place over four weeks and gave young people the chance to represent the borough in a series of sport-related challenges that can be done at home, school or while out for their daily exercise. 

Dance group Diversity came back home to Dagenham, to film at the site of the future film studios. It was a special homecoming for the group as Ashley Banjo and most of the other dancers, are originally from the borough.

Working with Film LBBD, the council’s film office and Londoneast-uk, Diversity produced a moving performance in response to the recent Black Lives Matters protest across the world and showed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Barking and Dagenham Council’s Cabinet Member for Employment, Skills and Aspiration is urging residents especially those from BAME communities to take advantage of the Met Police’s ongoing recruitment drive.

Councillor Sade Bright is urging the borough’s residents, especially those from communities currently underrepresented in the force to consider a career in the force and make a difference in their communities. 

Barking Riverside Limited and Thames Clippers have agreed a long-term contract to extend the capital’s leading River Bus service to the growing East London district. 

Expected to open Winter 2021, Barking Riverside will be Thames Clippers’ newest stop across the river network, which will expand the service to 24 locations along the River Thames, marking the ambition to move services to the heart of East London.  

As lockdown eased with pubs, restaurants, bars and hairdressers opening, it turned into a busy weekend for Barking and Dagenham Council enforcement officers.

As residents got their drinking and eating hats on, enforcement officers at the east London borough had a very important job to do, to ensure that businesses were following government guidance and keeping their customers and staff safe.

The trading standards team at Barking and Dagenham Council has been recognised for its excellent work in anti-counterfeiting enforcement at the annual Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG) Awards.

It’s been a successful year for the team with a significant number of seizures and prosecutions, both online and in physical premises, with one case seeing officers recover over 60,000 items of fake clothing.

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, where over eight thousand Bosnian Muslims were killed. It is also an opportunity to remember the many thousands of women and girls who suffered rape, sexual abuse and torture at this time.

 

This was one of the most horrific events in Europe over the last seventy years and we need to remember it, not just to mourn those who suffered and were murdered, but to also help us to understand how this was allowed to happen.

 

Summer is here and the Barking and Dagenham Park Rangers want residents to show their wild side by getting outside to explore the wildlife right on their doorstep.

A brand-new competition is running throughout July and August, where the council wants to see how people in the borough connect with nature in their local area.

Despite the lockdown, residents of Barking and Dagenham can still apply for a range of jobs including care work, nursery officers, apprenticeships and graduate entry positions with the police and other roles.

Residents will be pleased to know that they can now access all the jobs available from the job shops on the council’s website.

Although not open to the public as there are no face-to-face appointments, the service is still supporting local people via email, telephone or Skype.