Did you know?
We all see council teams out collecting our bins and tending to the trees, flowers and grass in our parks, but did you know Redbridge Council provides over 400 other services?
Here, we are shining a light on some of the other people who are dedicated to making our borough a better place. How many of these services did you know about?
We’ve supported hundreds of local volunteers to make positive contributions to a cleaner, greener, and connected borough
Our Streets Neighbourhood Engagement and Education team has helped empower local volunteers to build sustainable living and to be the change they want to see in their area. We thank our local volunteers, who bring unique skills and passion, for getting involved. Their work has significantly improved our community and goes beyond what the Council alone can deliver.
We support our local volunteers in developing their unique skills by allowing them to grow and make positive contributions in response to what they think their community needs. We currently have over 950 local volunteers contributing to a cleaner, greener, connected borough across the following schemes:
- Play Streets scheme
- Community litter picking
- Community gardening
- Community Orchards
- Tree Pit adoptions
- Pollinator Pathways scheme
- Repair Cafes
- Reusable Nappy Friendly Childcare Settings Scheme
- Community Planting days
- Community Composting schemes
Danny said "I am proud to be asked to look after the flower planters again for another year. Flowering the planters allows me to give back to my community and helps my mental health. Thank you for this opportunity."
Visit Redbridge - Our Streets for more information and to volunteer. If there's something we've not got covered, we'd love to work with you to develop a new scheme in your area and for the borough so get in touch.
We’ve supported hundreds of local people adopting a tree pit, which helps bring biodiversity and colour to our streets
Over the last six years, the Our Streets team has been empowering Redbridge residents to adopt a tree pit on their streets for a whole year, for free. A tree pit is the soil area at the base of trees and is perfect for planting. Applicants are provided with beautiful wildflower seeds to plant and attract those all-important pollinators such as bees and butterflies.
Last year, over 600 tree pits were adopted through the scheme, increasing biodiversity in the borough and bringing colour to our streets.
Jan said, “I adopted a tree pit for the last three years. I enjoy watching the flowers grow and then the wildlife arriving. It's great for the community as no cost is involved, and even those without a garden or much gardening experience can take part. Planting the tree pit put a smile on my face and others in the street, who stopped to chat about it."
Would you like to adopt a tree pit? If so, applications are now open and close on Monday 6 of January 2025. All successful applicants will receive a confirmation of adoption letter by the end of January 2025.
Visit the Our Streets webpage for more information and to find out how to adopt tree pit.
We’ve supported thousands of local people and children through training to cycle safely in Redbridge
Since 2020, Redbridge has supported the delivery of Bikeability cycle training to over 5,300 children in schools and an additional 2,800 cycle skills sessions to our local people. Coordinated by our Smarter Travel Team and delivered by our training providers and professional instructors.
Cycle training enables local people to choose cycling as an active and cleaner way to get around the borough. Both children and adults have learned to ride, built confidence, and improved riding skills so that they can ride safely for fun, health, and travel.
Cycle training is very popular in Redbridge and often oversubscribed which demonstrates local people are keen to cycle and want support to do this.
Ejiro said “My instructor was extremely friendly and warm. Instantly put me at ease, and made me feel like I was cycling with a friend. They pushed me while taking into consideration my fears a challenges. It was a pleasant ride and I'm feeling much more confident than I imagined.”
Visit the Cycling webpage to find out more.
We offer friendly faces, and council and NHS services in community cafes
Our Public Health team run community cafés in Hainault and Loxford which help support local people by connecting them to council and NHS services. Local people can get support with housing and benefits, advice on the cost of living, and even have blood pressure tests. This is all with a friendly face, and in a place where people can socialise, have a cup of tea, and enjoy meeting new people.
Local people can drop in and play games, join in chair aerobics classes, arts and crafts, and catch up on their vaccinations or get health advice and services if needed.
Zain said “Attending the community cafe has helped me so much. I don't feel sad or alone anymore because I feel like I have people who care about me.”
Visit the Community Engagement and Cafes page.
We help children stay away from criminal gangs
Our child protection teams have used virtual reality as a tool with some children, to start conversations about exploitation and how their behaviour is placing them at risk of being exploited by other people.
It encourages them to consider what exploitation looks like in reality and how they could potentially recognise the signs in the future.
In three months our team helped more than 30 children stay away from criminal gangs.
During discussions triggered by the virtual reality process, children are able to reflect on their behaviour and identify risks:
“Watching Joe's story, I can see the risks involved and it is not as glamorous as I thought. I feel sorry for Joe, as he damaged his phone trying to communicate with his real dad and then one thing led to another and before he knew it, he was in a county lines trap house.”
Visit the child protection page
We help local people access affordable food and manage their budgets
The anti-poverty team help local people plan their household budgets, and help people
access financial support.
They’ve helped over 1200 families access food through the Community Grocery, helped over 1800 families with cost of living payments and have helped hundreds of people into work.
“Someone came to us for financial advice. I was so pleased to be able to show them how they could get a contribution towards the cost of a washing machine and a cooker, and now, using the Community Grocery store in Ilford, they can cook cheaper nutritious meals at home.”
We provide activity sessions and give children food in the school holidays
“The Holiday Activities & Food (HAF) programme was positive as it helped them have a good structure and routine during the holidays. They loved the food and snacks that were provided. The staff there were amazing and easy to talk to.”
“I feel very proud to be running a programme that is literally changing young people’s lives by providing a safe environment during the holiday to eat a healthy meal, make new friends and learn new skills.”
Astra Farquharson, Redbridge HAF Programme Manager
Visit the Holiday Activities & Food programme page
We bring health services direct to local people and into communities
The Healthy Redbridge Bus visits communities and provides health checks, blood pressure tests, vaccinations and blood sugar checks.
“Having the clinic on a Saturday made it easy and possible for my husband and I to get our booster and flu jab as we work weekdays. We really appreciate having this done locally and have also received information about local health services that we weren’t aware of.”
“The bus brings health and wellbeing to the heart of the community. Empowering people to access the right services for them to live healthier lives is a really rewarding job." Sonia
Visit the Healthy Redbridge Bus page
At Oakfield Lodge, we help people live independently when they need extra support
We provide supported living in a flat or bungalow within our lodge and give 24 hour support and help with medication, appointments, cooking and more.
“When people come to live at Oakfield Lodge, we give support with medication, cooking and staying well. This means family members can focus on spending quality time with their loved one instead of having a to-do list of appointment bookings and checking in to make sure they’re alright.” Cassie
Visit the help and support for adults site
We remove pests from flats, houses and workplaces across Redbridge
“On behalf of my 93 year old mother, Dorothy I would like to express my gratitude to the Council for the work done by Jason from your Pest Control Department, who dealt with a flea infestation at my mother’s property, attending on three separate occasions over the course of two months to administer control measures.”
We help enable generations to play together outdoors
We help create play streets in the borough, which are closed to cars for a few hours a month, enabling neighbours, children and families to “play” together.
“It was heart-warming to see neighbours who had lived on the street for decades coming out and talking to each other, as well as newcomers. I have high hopes for the beautiful, amazing relationships these play-streets will create, and I’m looking forward to the many more positive community projects it will lead to". Rayla Begum
We help people improve their skills, gain qualifications and get into work
We’ve helped 3,033 people improve their skills in 2022/23, through the Redbridge Institute.
Redbridge Institute of Adult Education has transformed up to 1 million lives across the borough, over 120 years .
“Through this learning experience, I now feel ready to present myself for interviews and undertake my daily work role” - Kaliamaldevi S.
“Now I am back at work and have gained friends and life experiences ever since. I now want to concentrate on raising my two girls and study short courses such as first aid training while working” - Michelle J.
Visit the Redbridge Institute of Adult Education
We help create a more pleasant and welcoming environment for both local residents and visitors of the borough
Our street cleansing team make sure our borough is clean and inviting for all of us to enjoy.
“It has always been rewarding to see the difference our work makes to the streets. From pavement washing to graffiti removal, it’s all part of our role to help keep the streets looking neat and tidy.” Ben
Visit the street cleaning page
We grit 227km roads on each gritting night in Redbridge
That's the equivalent of driving from London to Sheffield!
Visit the gritting and snow page
