Category Archives: Uncategorized

The council have issued a press release about volunteering.  

They also advise to plan in advance as online shopping deliveries currently take over 7 days to arrive. And to consider alternative delivery services to the supermarket, such as the local milk man (who can deliver groceries as well as milk) or businesses delivering food locally such as “veg box” type deliveries.

CORONAVIRUS SCAMS Please be aware that during these times a small number of people with alternative ideas may seek to take advantage of the situation. The scams include

• Thieves offering to shop for elderly but keeping money.

• Phishing emails – contacting potential coronavirus victims by email claiming to be from research organisations affiliated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), to get personal details.

• Bank scams – claiming to be your bank. Banks will never ask you for your full PIN or password, or request you move money from your accounts.

• Shopping online – using online marketplaces to sell goods like face masks and hand sanitisers that don’t exist, or even self-isolation boxes.

• HMRC fake emails – sending messages promising a tax refund asking for bank information. These may be targetted at the self employed seeking income support at this time.

• Offers for “free,” at-home coronavirus testing equipment.

• False promotions advertising diabetic insulin monitors alongside “complimentary” coronavirus tests.

• Donation requests from fabricated philanthropic organizations.

• In-person COVID-19 test distributor – phony house visits from alleged employees of the NHS, claiming to offer “door-to-door” coronavirus tests.

See this ITV link for more detail on scams

There is a wonderful initiative taking off across the country to help people isolated due to Coronavirus. Where local people are offering to help those who may need it. See this Guardian article. Is there anyone on your street or in your block of flats that might need help? Perhaps pop one of these through their door. Local Beckenham community groups are in contact to see how we can facilitate helping people across our community. We will keep you posted of any initiatives, but in the mean time let’s reach out to offer neighbourly support.

See also LB Bromley’s press release and in particular their advice to watch out for potential scams trying to make money from the crisis.

A Concert Featuring The Choir of St George’s Church Beckenham

One of our outstanding musical treasures is the St George’s Parish Church Choir, recently described as “probably the finest Parish Church choir in England”. St George’s Choir has often deputised for Cathedral choirs in various parts of England, and last year sang in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Now they are to give their first concert in a major London concert Hall, in St. John’s Smith Square, Westminster on Saturday 8 February 2020 at 7 30 pm., together with the Chameleon Arts Orchestra and sometime Beckenham resident, the outstanding young Russian prizewinning pianist, Arina Lazgiian. The concert will be conducted by Marcus Wibberley, Director of Music at St George’s.

A coach will leave St George’s Church at 6 pm on the evening of the concert returning after the concert, and tickets for the coach and the concert can be purchased from St George’s Church Office.

Above is a photo of one of the two protest demos last week, at the pedestrian crossing on Beckenham Road outside the library, against the demolition of the library building and moving the library to Beckenham Halls. Virtually all vehicles passing tooted their support, including bus drivers and lorry drivers. We hope local people didn’t mind the noise too much for just an hour!

At the meeting of LB Bromley’s Executive Committee on Wednesday evening (27^th), there was a tremendous turnout of local people – every seat taken, people standing and sitting on the steps. The Committee was left in no doubt that the people of Beckenham do not approve of these plans.

There were questions from the public on the lack of consultation before going ahead to spend £70,000 on a feasibility study, and also on why there was no impact assessment of the effects of users of the public halls, who would lose two out of three available rooms.

Of course, the Committee voted to commission the feasibility study at a cost of £70,000. But there were commitments that the move would not go ahead unless the new facilities at Beckenham Halls would be both bigger and better than the current building. We have measured both spaces and it seems to us that the two rooms in the Halls that are identified for use as the library are only one third of the size of the current library.

We were told that the proposed flats would be 50% affordable – and after the laughter had died down at the use of the word affordable, we were told that they would be genuinely “social housing” not just for sale at 80% of Beckenham market prices. It was also said that the images of the proposed flats were simply graphic examples and that the design would be put out to architectural competition. But all that will obviously become clear only if the proposals are pursued and the developer’s plans conform. Councillor Morgan’s report to the committee will be reproduced in full in the minutes of the meeting in due course, which will be available on the council’s website (under 27 November Executive Committee). We will look carefully to ensure all the commitments made during the debate are fully recorded.