As many of us are filled with excitement for the festive period, in Barking and Dagenham there are a number of children in the care of the council who have experienced a year they will never forget. We need your help to give them a safe and loving home.



We are looking for experienced foster carers and people interested in fostering to join our team and help make a difference to the lives of our borough’s children. 

During what has been a difficult and unprecedented time for everyone, Barking and Dagenham Council wanted to recognise the incredible work local NHS staff and keyworkers have done, and continue to do during the pandemic. To celebrate them, the council created a ‘Forest of Thanks’ at Parsloes Park in Dagenham.

This week, Sophie Linden, Deputy Mayor, for Policing and Crime attended a virtual visit to Barking and Dagenham Council to hear more about the borough’s whole system approach to tackling domestic abuse, which includes its innovative work focused at perpetrators.

Business operating in Barking and Dagenham who have been impacted local and national Covid-19 restrictions are being invited to check if they are eligible for grant support.

The council is currently accepting applications for the new round of grants – there are four different types of grants all with different eligibility criteria and grant award amounts.

Residents of Barking and Dagenham are able to apply for a range of jobs including care work, nursery vacancies, apprenticeships and graduate entry positions with the police and a host of other opportunities by contacting the council’s job shops.

Residents looking to sign up for work and training can still contact the council’s job shops. Although not open to the public as there are no face-to-face appointments, the service is still supporting local people via email, telephone or Skype.

Barking and Dagenham Council certainly isn’t afraid of trying new ways to stop people dumping and fly tipping on the borough’s streets and starting from this week residents will see the council’s ‘Don’t be a tosser’ campaign on council vehicles.

The council have now branded up its 7.5ft caged tipper trucks with the messaging in a continued hope that it will put off residents from messing up the borough with their rubbish.

Back in the Summer, Barking and Dagenham Council asked residents to show off their photography skills, for a local wildlife photo competition called ‘Wild and Free’, run by the council's Ranger Services team.

They were asked to explore local wildlife in the borough’s parks and green spaces and to take photos that showcased how wonderful the wildlife is in the borough. The judges were not disappointed by the skills on show as they received lots of amazing pictures from anything to sunflowers to green woodpeckers, demonstrating how diverse the local wildlife is.

Barking and Dagenham Council is working with local voluntary organisations to bring some ‘Christmas Cheer’ to the borough, in what has been an awful year for everyone. With residents being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in one way or another, and as we get closer to Christmas, the council wants to start putting a smile back on people’s faces before the year is out.

The council’s ‘Christmas Cheer’ campaign is about providing hope, re-connecting people who might not be able to see each other at the moment, and supporting people who need a bit of help this festive season. 

For her work with hard to reach communities and support for grassroot organisations, Barking and Dagenham Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement, Cllr Saima Ashraf, was last night (Thursday 26 November), awarded the coveted Community Champion Award at the LGIU and CCLA annual Cllr Awards 2020.

 

Cllr Ashraf was chosen because of ‘her ability to work with different and hard to reach sectors which is needed now more than ever. Judges were impressed by the sustainability, breadth and longevity of her community work’.

This news article was published in 2020 so refers to an old event.