Today marks the one-year anniversary since the bright and promising life of 15-year-old Elianne Andam was taken away, when she was the victim of knife crime. As a community we have felt the loss of Elianne, we have come together and mourned and together we will heal. Like Elianne’s family we are resilient and steadfast as a community. Her family and friends and community gathered today for the unveiling of a mural in Croydon town centre, created in her likeness and her memory, ensuring that Elianne will never be forgotten.

Elianne’s passing must continue to remind us of our duty to protect our young people. Violence against women and girls, has no place in our society. It must be eradicated, and we must work tirelessly to ensure that no family has to go through the heartbreak that Elianne’s family has endured.

New model for our library service

We know how loved and valued our libraries are, as community spaces, as well as for books. That is why we are developing a new model that will see nine libraries open a minimum of five days a week, including Saturdays, as well as a new outreach service and more events and activities. The decision to close four libraries to fund this service improvement, agreed at Cabinet on Thursday, was a very difficult one. However, we must meet our best value duties and  improve the service for our residents. This is not about asset sales or development and we will be running an active programme of engagement, including in-person meetings, site engagement, and pro-active support for partners, so that all four closed libraries remain in use as community bases. This will ensure that we maintain these important buildings and their social benefit at the heart of our communities, protecting the existing clubs that take place in them and hopefully opening them up with a wider community offer.

We’ll also be setting up a home library service, digital collections and a weekly, accessible bus shuttle service from the closed libraries to the next nearest library, making sure everyone continues to have access to a library.

Remembering PS Matiu Ratana

It was an honour to attend the unveiling of a National Police Memorial in honour of PS Matiu (Matt) Ratana. Many will remember that PS Ratana was killed on duty, on 25 September 2020, whilst dealing with an arrest in the custody suite in Croydon. He was remembered for his strength, dedication and leadership in his policing role, in a job he loved. The memorial at the custody station honours PS Ratana’s bravery and reminds us of the sacrifices that our partners at Croydon Police make in protecting our community.

Mental health awareness

I was delighted to meet healthcare professionals and volunteers at the Black Mental Health Conference: A Community Culture Shift, this week. Looking after our mental health is so important and it’s vital that we address health inequalities for Black communities and understand how we and our partners in the health and care sector can make a difference.

Croydon Harvest

This week has started to feel very autumnal, which is fitting as preparations are underway for Croydon Harvest. On the weekend of 5-6 October, our town centre will look very different – with goats, rabbits, sheep and chickens visiting from Vauxhall City Farm and lots of fun events on offer, from folk dancing, to storytelling and theatre. The harvest festival will honour Croydon’s long history of The Walnut Fair – an annual tradition which took place in our town centre as far back as 1314!

Have a good weekend.

Jason Perry

Executive Mayor of Croydon