Author: admin

Covid-19 Vaccine – The roll-out is starting

~ admin

The NHS is starting to vaccinate the most at-risk groups: some people aged 80 and over who already have a hospital appointment in the next few weeks; people who work in care homes and health care workers at high risk.

The NHS will be starting to call people who fall into the priority groups over the coming weeks to book appointments.

You can really help the NHS deliver this effectively to those who need it most. Our asks are:

  1. We will contact you when it’s the right time to come forward, so please don’t contact the NHS to seek a vaccine before then;
  2. Please act on your invite when it comes, and make sure you attend your appointments when you arrange them;
  3. And of course, please continue to abide by all the social distancing, wearing of face masks and hand hygiene guidance, which will still save lives.

If you have not yet been approached about having the vaccine, please read the information: why you are being asked to wait.

Find out more about the roll-out at: nhs.uk/covidvaccine

Croydon University Centre welcomes new look and additional courses for 2021

~ admin

Croydon College has unveiled a new look for their Higher Education provision as it celebrates ten successful years of being a university centre, alongside a new university partnership and additional courses to move into its next decade.

Now titled Croydon University Centre it has never been more important to have a higher education offering in Croydon for local people, with a drive for people to build further skills for the ‘new world’ and also with easy access.

Alongside the new name, the Croydon University Centre has announced it will be running new courses for local people to start from as early as January 2021. The HNC Business, a teacher training course, HNC Construction, and HNC in Art & Design, are just some of the courses it will provide as it looks to help local students to upskill or reskill.

It has also launched its new BSc Adult Nursing course, in partnership with the University of Roehampton, with applications now open on UCAS for a 2021 start. The partnership also allows students to be able to study University of Roehampton validated degrees, including Business and Management, Criminology, Psychology and Social Justice, Early Childhood Studies, Public Health and Social Care, from September 2021 on the Croydon College site.

Caireen Mitchell, CEO and Principal, Croydon College said: “We have been delivering higher education in our university centre for nearly ten years, which has been a remarkable achievement by all and with some amazing alumni. It seems fitting that as we move into a new decade, with all the changes this will bring following recent events, that we have a refresh of the name and offering we provide, allowing us to move forward and reach even more students across the borough and wider.”

The next open day for students to find out more will be taking place virtually on 7th January from 4.30pm – 6.30pm.

To find out more and view the new e-prospectus please visit www.croydonuniversitycentre.ac.uk

Croydon College/Croydon University Centre

Croydon College is one of the largest and most successful providers of Further (college) and Higher (university) Education courses in the South East, judged ‘Good’ at all levels in all areas by external inspections by Ofsted and the Quality Assurance Agency (for Higher Education).

Officially opened by Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, the University Centre Croydon – now Croydon University Centre, has built on the already successful educational offer at Croydon College which dates back nearly 150 years to the original Croydon School of Art. The College is the only further education college to have been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) and is currently graded “good” by Ofsted (2018).

With the ambition to ensure that all students can reach their full potential, the College offers a wide range of academic and vocational qualifications, including degrees, Apprenticeships, BTEC, City and Guilds and NVQs.

www.croydon.ac.uk or www.croydonuniversitycentre.ac.uk

Planning Report – December 2020

~ admin

To find out the latest news on what is being planned in your local area, check out our latest Planning Report with up-to-date information on Planning Applications including developments in:

  • Ash Tree Close
  • Land to the Rear of Shirley Inn Public House
  • Orchard Avenue
  • Orchard Park High School
  • Orchard Way
  • Sandrock Pub
  • Shirley Road and Woodmere Avenue.

With additional updates on our Planning Complaints; the latest Autumn Update on the Croydon Local Plan Review; Case Officer Reports publication procedures and London Plan Guidance Documents.

Also, take a look at the MORA Planning App, which gives you an easy way to track all the current and recent planning applications within the MORA area. It’s simple to use and free for you to access.

DEMOC Campaign Update

~ admin

Campaign update

In mid-2019, when we started this campaign we could scarcely have believed how far we would come and how badly the current council system would fail our borough.  Croydon Council with the issuing of the Section 114 notice has declared de facto bankruptcy.

Grant Thornton, Croydon Council’s external auditors summed up the problems with the current system of governance when they said: “There has been collective corporate blindness to both the seriousness of the financial position and the urgency with which actions needed to be taken”

One might say Croydon Council as it stands today has ‘been weighed on the scales and found wanting’. Due to today’s system, it’s inherent lack of accountability and the financial mismanagement that resulted from it, we have in effect lost democratic accountability for the people of Croydon.

This must change.  We now need to deliver that change!

Our campaign has met with the new Chief Executive and new Leader of the council to try to secure a date for referendum. We hope they will agree to hold the referendum in May next year on the same day as the elections for London Mayor This would save the council money – which we think is the only sensible thing to do in the current situation. But whenever the referendum comes, as the corona virus restrictions are eased going into the new year, we will be restarting our campaign activity. We hope you will join us in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, see below for details of a video conference where you can get more detail on the latest developments.

Zoom meeting

On Wednesday 9th December at 6:30pm we are holding an update call for our supporters to update on what’s happening with the campaign.  Simply send an email to info@democ.org.uk if you would like to attend and we will send you the invite details.

Thank you again for all your support.
LET’S MAKE THE COUNCIL LISTEN TO RESIDENTS

From: The Campaign for a Democratically Elected Mayor of Croydon