Ten Croydon schools have won national awards for their arts coverage. The schools were recognised with Artsmark awards for dedicating significant teaching time to arts including theatre, music, dance and photography. Five of the schools
A pair of Hook GP practices have been given permission to buy their "leaky" and "cramped" surgery and spill over into the clinic next door. But a plan to start a new "super surgery" walk-in centre nearby which patients fear could damage the
A special school in Southfields is becoming a national pioneer in education for the visually impaired. It’s often said the blind have an almost supernatural sense of smell, touch and sound. Whether that be true or not, it’s certainly important
Medal-winning gardener Louise Cummins will open her garden to the public for the first time as part of the Walton-on-Thames Open Gardens Day this month. Horticultural enthusiasts will get a rare opportunity to discover how she created her garden
A dry cleaners has celebrated 25 years’ service. Addiscombe Dry Cleaners first opened in 1974 and taken over by owner Nicos Michael in 1984. The business is family-run, with Nicos’ wife Vas- oulla, who used to be a dress maker, doing
A renown Iraqi ceramicist has helped volunteers to create an extraordinary mosaic as a centrepiece of the Sutton Imagine arts festival. Yasmin Omer, a fine arts graduate, revived intricate techniques used by pioneers of the “eternal art” more
A team of New Malden workmates will take on the might of Britain’s tallest mountain, Ben Nevis, in memory of former colleague Ian Rattenbury, who recently died of cancer. Staff from recruitment company Hays have already raised more than £4,500
A self-confessed ladies’ man boasts he can teach ugly and diffident men the art of seduction. Rob King, 26 from Banstead, claims he is a professional pick-up artist or PUA who is willing to impart his tricks and tips on how to attract the ladies
Croydon-based environmental consultancy CEN has been encouraging its employees to get on their bikes and try cycling. The London Workplace Cycle Challenge is a fun, free competition that encourages organisations to compete against each other
A Territorial Army (TA) soldier from Tadworth teamed up with Essex police to keep kids active and out of trouble. Staff Sergeant Dean Chalmers, 34, a TA officer from 151 London Transport Regiment based in Sutton, teamed up with TA colleagues
Jan Ravens has been at the forefront of female impressionists for as long as I can remember, so it comes as a surprise that her current UK tour is her first on her own. The star of Dead Ringers, Spitting Image, Bremner Bird and Fortune and
A wildlife charity has plans to reintroduce a long gone resident to the banks of river Wandle. London Wildlife Trust was awarded £58,000 by Natural England through Defra’s Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) to assess the feasibility
Students at ACS Cobham International celebrated completing their high school education at their graduation ceremony on the Wednesday, June 17. Joining in the ceremony was Tracy Edwards, skipper of the first all-female crew to sail around the
As part of National Tackling Drugs week, Figges Marsh safer neighbourhoods team (SNT) attended the Mitcham Carnival, offering advice and literature to residents. The team attended the event with the mobile reassurance vehicle, a fully equipped
A hospice will welcome visitors to its grounds for its Summer Fun Day on Sunday, June 28. St Raphael’s Hospice, which cares for 900 terminally-ill patients each year, is offering a day out for all the family that will include traditional stalls
Many disabled and housebound elderly residents in Lambeth are being denied the care they need to live dignified and independent lives, according to a charities protecting older people. Lambeth Council does not offer care to older people whose
Stylish hairdressing students at Kingston College brought iconic fashions from around the world to the borough on June 15, after being challenged to create designs based on themes such as the Rio Carnival and Tokyo’s Madame Butterfly. The
Oscar Wilde was once quoted as saying: "Work is the curse of the drinking classes", and this was nowhere more true than in 18th Century Putney down by the river. On a sunny Friday evening, hundreds of workers, commuters and traders still settle
