So grateful and excited to have had my second vaccine. Quick and painless and one of the best moments in my life.
If you are in groups 1-9 and have hesitated - do book your appointment. It's not too late. It's safe, quick, and vital with the more transmissible variant now spreading.
Homes should be homes – not speculative investment opportunities for finance vehicles or absentee landlords who have no interest in it being a home.
The Government needs to step up and fix the housing market.
Thank you Sustainable Hackney for an interesting discussion with lots of expert insight.
I'll keep pressing the Government to spell out the detail behind the path to Net Zero.
If levelling up means anything, it should not mean levelling down or keeping people in Hackney squeezed into inappropriate and overcrowded accommodation.
See me press the Prime Minister to build more good-quality, properly affordable housing in Hackney and in London.
See my full speech here.
See this excellent video from St Mungos's on how we can be #HomelessWise
There's two easy ways you can help people sleeping rough:
1). Smile
2). Contact Streetlink (website here)
Two COVID-19 variants of concern (one first identified in India and the other first identified in South Africa) have been found in parts of Shoreditch and Dalston.
If you live or work in these parts and are over the age of 16, please get a COVID-19 PCR test even if you do not have any symptoms.
The affected areas are parts of Shoreditch (around Old Street and Great Eastern Street) and parts of Dalston town centre, (around Dalston Lane and Kingsland High Street). Find out if you live in an affected area by clicking here.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the membership organisation for nurses and midwives, has extended the deadline for the RCN Nursing Awards 2021.
The RCN Nursing Awards 2021 are your chance to help a nurse, midwife, health visitor, or nursing support worker get the recognition he/she deserves.
You now have until the 24 May to nominate someone for the Patient's Choice award. Nominate here and see here for further details.
COVID-19 forced the closure of museums, galleries, cinemas, music venues, nightclubs, theatres, arts centres, archives and heritage sites from the 23 March 2020, with many not due to reopen until summer 2021. Even when they can reopen they are likely to have reduced visitor capacity. The Government’s answer to supporting these cultural institutions and businesses was the Culture Recovery Fund. This was a £1.57 billion fund of grants and loans designed to support only 75 per cent of these struggling businesses and organisations.
See this powerful film about mothers learning of their son's death.
Calling with information about knife crime may feel hard - but there are harder calls. If you ever have any information about knife crime, you can anonymously call Crimestoppers and help prevent further deaths.
See here for further information and to learn more about these mothers' stories.
The COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, and the best way of protecting ourselves and our loved ones.
It is vital we all take the vaccine as soon as it is our turn to do so. I've recently had my first jab and it was quick, easy, and pain-free.
Hackney Council has produced an excellent booklet with further information about the vaccines and Hackney's vaccination centres. Click the pdf link below to read it in full.