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Empowering through health, wellness and historical knowledge
A nine-year-old girl who died from chronic asthma brought on by polluted air in Lewisham has been remembered at a vigil. In February 2013, Ella Kissi-Debrah, who lived in Lewisham just 25 meters from the South Circular Road, passed away after suffering dozens of acute seizures over three years. As a result of a second …
It’s terrible news for the people of Lewisham as planned expansions of the Bakerloo line to extend from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham and potentially further have been halted “indefinitely”, Transport for London (TfL) announced. East London Line reports that Andy Byford, TfL’s commissioner, confirmed the halt of both the Bakerloo line and Crossrail 2 …
Ella Addo-Kissi-Debrah is the first person in the UK whose death certificate lists air pollution exposure as a cause of death. The inquest into her death comes after her mother, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, campaigned tirelessly for air pollution to be recognised as a factor in her daughter’s death. Ella lived in Lewisham, South London, just 25 …
Lewisham and Southwark councils have welcomed Transport for London (TfL)’s commitment to extend the Bakerloo line to Lewisham following a consultation last year. Thanks to the joint efforts of Lewisham and Southwark councils Back the Bakerloo campaign, the consultation undertaken last autumn received over 8,000 responses, with 89% supporting the plan to extend the tube …
On Saturday (October 3), a crowd gathered outside Lewisham library to voice their concerns about the traffic calming measures introduced by Lewisham Council. The low traffic neighbourhood scheme (LTN), a set of road barriers to reduce traffic in Lee was brought in under Covid-19 emergency transport measures and has received mixed feedback. The scheme aims …
The London Borough of Lewisham is a multicultural borough with a large Black and Asian community, as many of the Windrush generation settled in Lewisham from the late 40s onwards. Just like Brixton and Notting Hill, Lewisham has experienced its share of racism and fascist uprisings. It was in Lewisham that British fascism suffered …
Lewisham is in the unfortunate position of having the first Coronavirus case in London. After falling ill, a woman took an Uber taxi and presented herself at Lewisham Hospital on Sunday, 9 February. Two Lewisham hospital staff are in isolation in their homes after coming into contact with the woman, a Chinese national who recently …
Miss Read (17 April 1913 – 7 April 2012) Miss Read was the pen name of Dora Saint, who wrote over thirty books from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s. Dora Jessie Shafe was born on 17 April 1913 in South Norwood, London, the youngest of three daughters of Arthur Shafe and his wife Grace Read. …
Sybil Phoenix is a community leader who has devoted her life to helping other people, especially in Lewisham, the town she made home. Early years She was born Sybil Theodora Marshall on 21 June 1927 in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana). Sybil’s mother died when she was nine, and, as her father worked in the …
When I was writing about the Catford Broadway Theatre I was lucky enough to get into an email conversation with the daughter of Norman D’Alquen, a local Forest Hill businessman and amateur photographer who took the picture of the theatre under construction in 1932. I found his history interesting and hope you do too. Norman …
Lewisham’s famous women: Rosa May Billinghurst ( 1875 – 1953) Rosa May Billinghurst (commonly known as May Billinghurst) was born on 31 May 1875 at 35 Granville Park, Lewisham. She was the second of nine children. Her father, Henry Billinghurst, was a banker. Her mother, Rosa Brinsmead, was the daughter of a wealthy piano manufacturer. …
Lewisham’s famous women: Edith Lanchester (1871-1966) Many people know of famous Catford born actress Elsa Lanchester, but what do you know of her socialist and feminist mother, Edith? Edith ‘Biddy’ Lanchester was born in Hove, Sussex on 28 July 1871. She was the fifth child of a family of eight. Her parents were Henry Jones …
Lewisham’s famous women: Clemence Dane (1888-1965) Clemence Dane was born Winifred Ashton on 21 February 1888 in Westcombe Park Road, Blackheath. In 1897 the family moved to 22 Westwood Hill, Sydenham in the borough of Lewisham, where they stayed until 1901. During this period young Winifred attended Sydenham High School. Her family then moved out …
Lewisham’s famous women: Eleanor Marx (1855 – 1898) Although commonly remembered as the daughter of Karl Marx, Eleanor Marx achieved a great deal in her own right as a feminist, a socialist, a translator, a journalist and an editor. Eleanor lived in Jews Walk, Sydenham in the borough of Lewisham, from 1895 to 1898. Eleanor …
Lewisham’s famous women: Marie Lloyd (1870-1922) Marie Lloyd is considered to be the greatest and most popular of the music hall artists, lived for several years in Lewisham, between 1887 and 1893. The house where she lived, 196 Lewisham Way, called Lewisham High Road back then, no longer exists. The site was covered by the …
Back in 2012, plans were proposed to downgrade Lewisham Hospital by closing its Accident and Emergency services and Maternity unit. The people of Lewisham and elsewhere, came together to protest the decision by signing petitions, marching and challenging the decision in court. In 2013 the High Court quashed Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt’s …
The Broadway Theatre, Catford has had many names over the decades. It started out as a concert hall extension to Lewisham Town Hall called uninspiringly “Town Hall Extension”. In 1926, Lewisham Metropolitan Council decided to develop the site of an old fire station next to Catford’s Town Hall to build an auditorium for a variety …
The building we now call the Old Town Hall in Catford isn’t that old and wasn’t the first Town Hall to be built along the strip of Road now known as Catford Road. The first Town Hall was built in 1875 to house the Lewisham Board of Works, a precursor to Lewisham Council which is …
Former Lewisham Labour Councillor David Michael was also chair of the Safer Stronger Communities Select Committee. Before becoming a councillor, he spent decades working for the police. David Michael was born in Dominica in the West Indies and came to live in the United Kingdom at the age of 11. On his 19th birthday, he …
If there are two headlines I hate seeing more than anything it is “mother of murdered teen Stephen Lawrence” and “friend of murdered teen Stephen Lawrence”. These two headlines relate to activist Doreen Lawrence and Liberal Democrat councillor Duwayne Brooks respectively. I shouldn’t have to explain who Stephen Lawrence is so I’m going to continue …
On 31 July the High Court today found that the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, had acted outside his powers and therefore unlawfully, in deciding to substantially cut services and close departments at Lewisham Hospital. Quashing Mr Hunt’s decision, the judge declared that he had breached provisions of the National Health Services …
It was good news for Lewisham Hospital campaigners today as the High Court quashed Jeremy Hunt’s decision to downgrade Lewisham Hospital saying that the Secretary of State for Health acted unlawfully. Below is the full report that comes from Leigh Day, the Law firm acting for the Lewisham Campaigners: The High Court today (31 July …
Lewisham raised author Malorie Blackman, OBE, was named Britain’s Children’s Laureate this week. A former scriptwriter for TV drama Byker Grove, she is the author of more than 60 books for children and teenagers, including Hacker, Cloud-Busting, Thief! and Pig-Heart Boy. Blackman, whose books tackle issues including racism and ethnic identity will use the role …
Lewisham Council delivered a letter launching legal action against Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s decision to press ahead with the downgrade of Lewisham Hospital’s maternity and emergency services. Mr Hunt has until February 22 to perform a U-turn on his announcement – or they will seek a judicial review of the decision. The letter states: “The …
