Surrey's Chris Tremlett in England squad for Ashes tour
Domestic violence is at 'epidemic' levels, says police chief
"IF THE same number of victims who suffer from sexualised or domestic violence had flu, it would be called a flu epidemic. There is an epidemic."
Those were the words of the borough commander David Musker at a meeting with councillors last Tuesday to discuss what types of crime Croydon was facing,
"I have been banging this drum for years – we must do something about domestic violence, it is on the increase," he said.
Reported incidents of domestic violence resulting in injury were up from 920 in 2011/12 to 1,043 in 2012/13 – a 13.4 per cent rise.
The Chief Superintendent has framed tackling the crime as "murder suppression" to the Advertiser in the past – citing that 80 per cent of murders are by committed by someone who is known to the victim.
"When there was spate of murders, we spent a lot of time interviewing people connected to the crimes and they disproportionately had histories of sexualised violence and domestic violence in their families," he said.
"They also often had siblings by different fathers and could have been arrested for the first time by the age of 11.
"This is not to say in any way that people who experience this in their childhood will turn to violent crimes but it does mean that early intervention – in schools, in family support, and enforcement by the police – is crucial."
Leslie Roberts, who runs the council's gang strategy, said there was a "huge connection" between domestic violence and gangs.
"Often children fall into gangs when protective factors crumble, when things happen one after another and they cannot cope," she said.
"Early intervention and family support is very important."
She also noted that high levels of gang crime mirrored areas of deprivation.
Monique Rebeiro, who runs Lives Not Knives, an anti-violence charity, said their projects in schools highlighted the vulnerability of children to crime.
She said: "You often don't know what these children are up against – it can be really scary to see what situation kids find themselves in.
"Violence between children is on the rise and children using violence against their own parents is also going up."
Ms Rebeiro also said violence among children could exacerbate Croydon's gang culture.
"A lot of teachers are not even aware of gangs outside the classroom," she explained.
"When we talk about gangs in Croydon, there is a danger we will start having a second generation.
"We have not had gangs for as long as other boroughs but now many members are parents with children at school.
"Teachers are asking us to go into schools to deliver programmes to kids from the age of seven."
Another factor highlighted by Ms Rebeiro was the number of girls involved in gangs and boys using girls in gang crimes.
According to the Safer London Foundation, which runs its Empower project in Croydon, "as a girlfriend, relative or friend, young women are in danger of serious sexual abuse, including rape and coercion to commit criminal offences such as carrying weapons or drugs."
Ms Roberts said the Met did not include girls in their gang matrix – a tally of members throughout London.
However, she said the council were working on strategies to reduce domestic violence and sexual violence against girls.
New school aims to create 'winners'
IMPROVING children's mental and physical fitness is at the heart of a new school being established in Thornton Heath.
The Paxton Academy for Sports and Science is one of three free schools in the borough given the go-ahead by the Department for Education (DfE) in May.
Now the backers, who include parents, teachers and business and community leaders, are celebrating the acquisition of the site on which the school, paid for by the DfE, will be built.
This site is a piece of wasteland next to the Lidl supermarket in London Road.
The academy will open for 90 primary pupils next September, operating initially from premises at Streatham/Croydon Rugby Club in nearby Brigstock Road.
The rugby club is also working with the school to provide sports facilities as part of a long-term collaboration.
The new buildings in London Road are expected to be ready for September 2015, and the school will eventually cater for around 700 pupils.
Charlotte Davies, a qualified head teacher and chairman of school's board, said the aim was to create an establishment offering children the best primary education, while being firmly embedded in the community.
She said: "If children get the right start they are set for life. We want all our pupils to be winners."
The academy will set out to use sports and pupils' physical fitness to improve general learning.
It will also have specialist science, language, and music teachers to develop subjects that the board believes are critical in preparing children to move on to high school.
Ms Davies said there was a passion among both the school's supporters and the wider community to be successful.
The school will provide much-needed primary places in an area where many pupils are currently "bussed" out by parents to schools in the south of the borough, where more space is available.
Local pupils at a local school, Ms Davies said, would help build on the existing community spirit.
She added: "The school will be available for community use and we want to show it is not somewhere that closes down at 3.30 in the afternoon."
The need for community involvement was echoed by Pat Reid, chairman of the Croydon Black and Minority Ethnic Forum (BME) and also a member of the Paxton board.
He said that working closely with parents and children would increase understanding of problems and lead to fewer youngsters becoming disaffected as they got older.
Unemployment down in Croydon for six months in row
TRAVEL: Heavy traffic on M25 and change to train service
Croydon journalist nominated for Libyan person of the year
A FREELANCE journalist who grew up in New Addington has been nominated as Libyan person of the year for helping rebuild the country's horseracing industry.
In April the Abu Sittah track in Tripoli hosted Libya's first race meeting since the fall of Colonel Muammer Gaddafi's regime two years earlier.
The new Government now wants to recognise Former Haling Manor pupil Lissa Oliver for her role in bringing back horseracing to Libya.
The incredible story began at Newmarket in December 2011 when Lissa, 49, overheard talk of wealthy Libyan buyers looking to purchase dozens of horses.
"When Gaddafi was overthrown and there was civil war, the retreating troops stole horses from various stud farms," she explained.
"The head of the Libyan Horseracing Authority had the biggest stud in Libya. Fifty broodmares were stolen as the troops retreated. They were never traced.
"I first heard about it at the sales in Newmarket. The owners of that stud farm, and other Libyan breeders, were trying to rebuild their stock, buying 20 to 30 horses at a time.
"I thought it was a good human interest story so I phoned them up and asked them about it and they were happy to talk. It was from there that I ended being the only English language reporter in Libyan horseracing."
Through her work, the Libyan Horseman's Association asked Lissa to produce a document on the benefits of horseracing to the economy. Using her experience of the industry in Ireland she estimated it might one day lead to 22,000 new jobs, attract 80,000 tourists annually and create £1.1 billion a year.
The Government was convinced and invested the equivalent of £5 million into the Libyan Horseracing Authority to develop existing racecourses and promote a sport which had been marginalised under Gaddafi.
Lissa's contacts were called upon again when it came to striking a deal on a software package, with the Minister of Agriculture publically thanking her for saving £1.8 million.
She is now making the most of being one of the few reporters writing about horseracing in Libya, knowing the industry will attract more attention as it continues to grow.
"When you see these people trying to build up from scratch you forget they are wealthy and had 50 horses before," she said.
"Suddenly they are people who are starting from the beginning again, like the country itself.
"Horses aren't a business item, they are one of the family. When these people are talking about not getting them back, you feel for them.
"It's a privilege to have been there at the beginning. Horseracing goes back hundreds of years so to suddenly be there at the beginning is very exciting."
Passion for writing
Lissa discovered her love for writing at an early age, but needed to explore outside Croydon to realise her passion for horses.
"I loved holidaying in the countryside and being out in farms, which we didn't have around New Addington," she said. "Living with houses on top of each other probably didn't help with my interest in horseracing because I'd only seen it on television. I had no experience of horses, so it made it hard to get my foot in the door in the first place."
After leaving school at 16, Lissa moved away from Croydon, working in several stud farms before getting married. A job at Ladbrokes followed before a letter to a horseracing magazine led to a career as a freelance journalist.
She has since been nominated for numerous sports writing awards and has published three novels, two on horseracing and another on the Roman emperor Nero.
First visit
Lissa lives in Kildare, Ireland, but regularly visits her sister at her home in Shirley.
Incredibly, when she travels to the capital Tripoli for the award ceremony in October, it will be the first time she has been to Libya.
"It's amazing, I know," she said. "I didn't even know they had a horseracing industry before I started writing about it."
Lissa added: "I was at Newmarket when I heard about the nomination.
"The head of the Libyan Horseman's Association said he had some good news for me.
"He said I had been nominated for person of the year and I was flabbergasted.
"My first thought was that I was a woman, and foreign.
"I told him it was ridiculous and I hadn't done anything. I thanked him and said I was very honoured.
"I've only been nominated. Hopefully someone much more deserving will win."
Surrey's Burns wins County Championship Breakthrough Player award
Tories in 'Trappist vow' over hospital, say Labour
LABOUR has repeated the call for cross-party support for its campaign to protect services at Croydon University Hospital.
Closing the trust's A&E and maternity units is the least preferred of three options being considered by a controversial review of healthcare in south west London.
Croydon North MP Steve Reed believes closure is a genuine possibility and says he wants to ensure the hospital is not seen as an "easy target".
However, he has failed to secure the support of Conservative Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell who described the campaign as "misleading".
The former Lambeth Council leader said it was time for the Tories to put aside party politics.
He said: "Labour is doing what we can to make sure Croydon residents are aware of the threat to local hospital services, but why aren't our Conservative MPs using their influence and supporting the campaign for Croydon?
"Epsom is part of the same NHS review, and their Tory MP is actively campaigning for his local hospital.
"It increasingly seems Croydon's Tories have taken a Trappist vow of silence because they have put party politics before the interests of local people."
Sarah Jones, Labour's prospective Parliamentary candidate in Croydon Central, added: "We will not take our eyes off the ball when it comes to ensuring the voice of Croydon residents are heard by NHS decision makers. I urge the Croydon Conservatives to join our campaign.
"St Helier has a strong public campaign against closures and we cannot afford to be complacent.
"Our focus is on protecting and improving the services we have here in Croydon and making sure the voice of Croydon's residents is heard."
While the Better Services, Better Value review includes the option for closing key departments at the hospital, the more likely outcome is a £75 million revamp of its A&E and maternity departments.
Lottery winner and Fifty Shades of Grey a turn off - five stories making the news elsewhere
TRAVEL: Delays on London bound trains on Southern Rail network
Could the underground be coming to croydon?
Boris Johnson has urged campaigners for Croydon Tramlink to be extended not to dismiss the possibility of improvements to other forms of transport instead.
The Mayor of London had previously given qualified support for proposals to extend Tramlink to Crystal Palace and Sutton and called on interested parties to submit business cases supporting improvements to the hugely-successful network.
But responding to question's at Mayor's Question Time last week, Mr Johnson refused to rule out underground extensions or railway improvements instead.
"You can deliver just as many benefits by properly integrating those Overground trains, increasing frequencies, improving the stations, for much less capital investment and much less disruption," said Mr Johnson, who said there was a "reasonable business case" for the Sutton extension.
"I also think it is important in south London not to shut our minds to the possibility of Underground extensions.
"One thing that worries me is that these are not popular in south London because people think 'Oh my god, if the tube comes, then we really are being colonised, we really are becoming part of London and we want to think of ourselves as leafy suburbs'.
"I am just putting it out there, as they say. It is important that we should not fetishise trams at the expense of underground railways."
Mr Johnson was responding to questioning from Steve O'Connell, the GLA member for Croydon and Sutton, who said business cases for tram extensions would shortly be presented to the mayor.
"One of the reasons why we are so keen to bring Tramlink to Croydon and Sutton is because up to now, when we have made representations around Underground, we have had an incredible pushback, not necessarily from yourself, but from others," said Mr O'Connell.
"It is refreshing to know that your door is open to this potential around tram, and I know my constituents would indeed welcome the Underground to come to their boroughs."
The question has to be asked would having a underground link to Croydon be a benefit for the area? with the increase expected of city workers and traffic congestion caused by the new Hammerfield& luxury property developments could this idea which Boris has hinted really work.
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East Croydon and Purley rail users to be impacted by festive upgrades
TRAVEL: Heavy traffic in Coulsdon
Waitrose move is a 'huge boost' to Coulsdon
Waitrose has confirmed it will open an online grocery depot in Coulsdon next year, creating up to 500 new jobs.
The multimillion-pound development is expected to begin trading in autumn 2014 at the industrial estate in Ullswater Crescent.
It is the firm's second online grocery depot and bosses say it is "designed to meet soaring demand for the service". Recruitment will start in summer 2014.
The news has been welcomed by community leaders and politicians. Charles King, chairman of the East Coulsdon Residents' Association, said: "I think it is fantastic. We will be encouraging them to employ as many local people as possible.
"It is a vote of confidence for the town."
The council and MP Richard Ottaway have urged Waitrose to come to town ever since it first expressed an interest in March last year. The company was said to be choosing between Croydon and Crawley at the time.
Coulsdon West councillor Ian Parker said the company's choice was "further evidence that Coulsdon and Croydon are particularly attractive places to invest in."
The depot is replacing outgoing occupants Ricoh and Iron Mountain, which last year employed about 100 people, meaning an overall gain of 400 jobs.
Croydon South MP Mr Ottaway said: 'This is terrific news and a major boost for our local jobs market."
The depot will join Waitrose's town centre supermarket, which has been operating in Brighton Road since 1971.
The news comes amid several ongoing developments in Coulsdon, including a new Volkswagen showroom and plans for hundreds of homes at Cane Hill.
Cllr Parker added: "We will continue to encourage developments which deliver the regeneration of Coulsdon – not just physically but also economically and socially."
Tag rugby festival is big hit with children
LAST Friday, more than 160 primary school children from 16 schools across the borough of Croydon gathered at Whitgift Sports Club for the second Croydon Primary Schools tag-rugby festival.
The event was organised by the Whitgiftian Junior Rugby Club and the Croydon Partnership, who will redevelop the retail centre of Croydon.
A team of coaches from the Rugby Football Union community rugby team, including England Ladies scrum-half La Toya Mason along with Whitgiftians coaches and volunteers from the Croydon Partnership, held a variety of training sessions for the children.
The schools all entered an exciting and closely fought tag-rugby tournament, with St Peter's School beating Chipstead Valley School 4-3 in the final.
John Burton, Westfield's director of development, said: "The Croydon Partnership is committed to supporting and promoting grass roots projects across the borough.
"The Croydon Schools tag-rugby festival, in its second year is a great example of inclusive, grassroots sports at its best.
"The kids had great fun and learned a lot. The Croydon Partnership was delighted to be supporting an important event like this."
Speroni says new-look side will soon click
JULIAN Speroni isn't pressing any panic buttons just yet and insists the new-look Palace squad will come good once they start getting used to each other.
The Eagles were outplayed by Swansea City last weekend, but he insists Palace have been playing well so far this season in the Premier League.
"It wasn't nice to lose and I think it's the first time we've felt we were never in the game," Speroni said.
"Swansea dominated completely but I think we need to take the positives and learn from the negatives.
"We tried to play, the attitude was good, but we played against a very good team. They move the ball so, so well. They're a top team, it's no secret.
"It's not the best to concede a goal after a minute or two – it killed us a little bit.
"The previous four games we played really well, and obviously we couldn't get the points we needed apart from Sunderland.
"We have played some good football so I think we need to carry on the same path."
And the custodian pointed out it's still early days in the top flight and believes the new players will be looking to "put the work in".
"You have to be professional and you have to stay positive," said Speroni. "There's no point us feeling sorry for ourselves – we need to move on.
"We have a good team, we need to put all the new players together, and as soon as we start knowing each other a little bit more we'll be fine."
Freedman among mourners at Morley's funeral
STEPHEN BROWETT has revealed his pride at the number of Palace's past and present who attended club president Peter Morley's funeral this week.
The co-chairman paid tribute to Morley, who he described as a man who "loved Palace", while adding that if there was anyone who could bring the previous owners together into one room, it would have been him.
And Browett revealed former boss Dougie Freedman also travelled down from Bolton especially.
Browett said: "The fact that Mark Goldberg and Simon Jordan were there, plus Ron Noades' wife was there – Ron is not very well – and obviously us [CPFC2010], I don't think there are many people who would have got four of the previous owners of Palace into one room at one time.
"Peter was a really nice guy and had the knack of getting on with everybody.
"He loved his football and he loved Palace. Mark Bright was there and also Ian Evans, who was our captain in the 1970s a long time ago.
"But one thing that was really nice was that Dougie Freedman came down.
"He's moved up north but he came all the way down just for the funeral, which was great because he didn't have to and he made that effort.
"We caught up a bit and he was in good form. I half expected him to be a bit down due to what's happening at Bolton but he seemed positive.
"It was really nice to see him, he was really friendly so we had a good chat."
EXCLUSIVE: Palace in talks to knock down the Arthur Wait stand
PALACE have begun talks over knocking down and improving the Arthur Wait Stand, Advertiser Sport can exclusively reveal.
A number of small upgrades were made to that area of Selhurst Park during the summer, but co-chairman Stephen Browett insists the concourse areas are "hopelessly inadequate".
And it seems the board of directors have to make a decision whether to start on the Arthur Wait first or look at improving the Main Stand, which Browett says will "bring in the most income".
"We've upgraded a number of things around the stadium like some of the toilets, seating in the Main Stand and doing up the boxes," he said. "But ultimately we'd like to build some new stands. We've done what we can to make the experience at Selhurst Park a bit more comfortable.
"It's a toss-up at the moment – we have spoken about it this week, in terms of which stand will be first to develop.
"The Main Stand would bring in the most income because it's the Main Stand, you can charge higher prices and you can get corporate deals, so financially it's probably best to do that first.
"But on the other hand, the Arthur Wait Stand is probably the most in need of knocking down because the concourses are so hopelessly inadequate.
"The actual view, if you don't have a pillar in the way, is very good. It's just the concourses, they're far too small.
"We've done up the food areas and toilets there, but it's just a small bit of work and it needs a lot work really.
"Staying in the Premier League is the number one job this season, and there will be things happening in the stadium, but not straight away. Staying in the league will affect what is done."
Meanwhile, after witnessing last Sunday's defeat to an impressive Swansea City side, Browett insists the fans can't expect the new players to "gel overnight".
And he believes they will need to take points off their "nearest competitors" if they're to survive this season.
"It's great to be in the Premier League and we always knew it would be a challenge," Browett added. "You try your best in every game, but what you really need to do is to beat the teams around you.
"At this stage of the season, you don't know who those teams will be, but you can probably work out who might struggle and who won't.
"Our track record against what you might perceive to be our nearest competitors is played one and won one.
"It would have been nice to have more than one win, but we're only five games in, especially as we've got two difficult away games now."