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Barking and Dagenham Libraries and Pen to Print are proud to host Readfest, a literary festival, now in its ninth year and will take place from Monday 7 September to Friday 25 September.

For those who enjoy reading, writing stories or reciting poetry, this is a wonderful opportunity to get involved as people will be able to virtually meet authors, discover new genres and celebrate the joy of reading through lots of fun events.

The first of three new COVID-19 test centres for Barking and Dagenham opened its doors to the borough’s residents.

This follows a successful bid for three walk-in centres within the borough, a COVID-19 test centre has opened today (Thursday 3 September) at Mayesbrook Park car park on Lodge Avenue.

The new test centre will make it easier for residents with symptoms of COVID-19 to get tested for coronavirus, near to their home, and is one of three coming to the borough.

Barking and Dagenham Council are taking no prisoners when it comes following social distancing rules as another business has been closed down. 

As of today, Friday 28 August, QQ Bar & Grill of Becontree Avenue, Dagenham will be forced to close its doors from 8pm and must remain shut until 8pm on Friday 4 September.

The action has been taken after the council received a number of complaints about the bar from local residents and following a visit from council enforcement officers, they were concerned about the risk to public health.

A hard-hitting, short film that has been released by Barking and Dagenham Council to tackle youth violence and anti-social behaviour is heading towards 25,000 views in two weeks.

The film is part of a wider campaign called Lost Hours that talks directly to parents, asking them to take more responsibility for their children by knowing where they are and what they’re up to…before it’s too late.

Barking and Dagenham Council is inviting local businesses to register their interest to supply the film and TV industry ahead of the brand-new Hollywood style film studios, coming soon to Dagenham.

The Mayor of London recently backed the plans to create a permanent home for the film and TV industry in Dagenham – which brings the borough a step closer to seeing the studios come to life.

It was relief and joy in schools around Barking and Dagenham today as youngsters celebrated their GCSE results.

Many young people and their parents were rightly worried following the debacle of A-Level results last week, but following the Government’s U-turn that Centre Assessed grades would be used, for many, the concerns turned to moments of joy.

Council Leader, Darren Rodwell, visited the Pocket Living Harbard Close development in Barking today 20 August 2020 with deputy Leader Councillor Saima Ashraf, to officially launch 78 brand new affordable homes.

The Pocket Living development, designed by Reed Watts, offers local first-time buyers the opportunity to get onto the housing ladder with 100% ownership affordable homes sold at 80% of local prices. The homes have been prioritised for key workers and the first home to be reserved is to a local community school teacher.

Residents of Barking and Dagenham interested in a career or jobs in the construction industry should get in touch as there a number of roles currently available.

There are vacancies for groundworkers, steel fixers, shuttering carpenters, labourers and concrete finishers all to work locally and for an immediate start.

September sees the wider re-opening of schools for all pupils in Barking and Dagenham, with safety measures now in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

After months of lockdown, parents are encouraged to send their children back to school when they re-open in September. For some pupils, this could be their first year at a new school and for many others it will be the first time they’ve gone back to school since March.

A number of senior councillors in London with responsibility for education and schools have written to the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson MP, expressing their relief at the government’s U-turn and the decision to fall back on using teacher assessed grades and to put on record their objections to the standardisation of grades by Ofqual.