HOPES that work on Stanhope/Schroders Ruskin Square development will start towards the end of year have risen.

The increased optimism comes as the developers announced they have received £3.7m from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to set the first housing phase on its way.

It follows the granting of planning permission last month for the first housing element of the development next to East Croydon Station, which comprises 161 one and two-bedroom apartments in a building ranging from nine to 22 storeys high.

A spokesman for Stanhope/Schroders said this week: "The challenge of major regeneration projects is that they require significant upfront infrastructure investment.

"Public sector investment in the form of infrastructure loans is one way to overcome the obstacles and issues with viability in the early phases of large-scale and complex projects."

He added: "The £3.7m loan provided by the HCA under the Government's Get Britain Building fund is crucial in acting as a catalyst so that Stanhope and Schroders expect to be on site building the first phase of residential towards the end of this year."

PALACE defender Joel Ward says it would be a "dream" to help the Eagles gain promotion to the Premier League.

The right-back has produced a string of good performances since returning to the starting XI after injury in recent weeks, but he insists the squad just need to stay calm and go about their work in the strongest possible fashion.

"We're going to do everything in our power now to make sure we're in there amongst it," he said.

"In these times you need to keep your composure, and a lot of people can get nervous and carried away. We're picking up points and going in the right direction, and that's all we can do.

"It's been a tough run lately and it's always going to be at this time of the year. We'll just keep taking the positives from the games we've played.

"It would be a dream to get Palace promoted and it's my aim to play in the Premier League.

"We've just got to have the belief we want to do that. For the fans it would be fantastic."

Palace picked up a clean sheet on Tuesday at Millwall, but despite the lack of chances in front of goal, Ward believes if they continue to play a solid approach it will make them tough to beat going into the play-offs.

And he definitely has his eye on playing a few more games to reach the top flight.

"If we can continue performing like we are then we're definitely going to pick up the points, and hopefully looking forward to an extra three games," said the former Portsmouth man.

"At the end of the day I've never been in the play-offs myself but you hear a lot of people saying it's a completely different ball game.

"With a unit like ours with the way we're playing and defensively, we've got every chance of going on and doing well to go all the way."

"We're focusing on the next game now and we're not getting carried away but we're here now and have had a fantastic season.

"We've been up in second, third and also down in 21st, but we've been consistent all year.

"The way we've kept going and stuck in, we deserve to be where we are."

On a personal level, the 23-year-old is delighted to be playing again after injury forced him to miss a chunk of the season.

"I'm feeling good and stronger with each game since I've come back," said Ward.

"For me, I'm just glad I'm back playing football – it's what I like to do and it's what I want to do for a long, long time.

"Getting regular football again is fantastic."

SO, PALACE will take their play-off dreams to the final day of the season today when relegation-threatened Peterborough United visit Selhurst Park.

With two teams looking to achieve different targets in the Championship, we could be in for an entertaining game of football in SE25, which is more than can be said for Tuesday night at Millwall.

Peterborough, known for their attacking style of play, need to win if they are to have a good chance of staying up, while Palace need at least a point to confirm their place in the play-offs.

Of course, goal difference comes into play but having worked out a number of scenarios, there are more unlikely ones than there are likely if they are to miss out.

A positive result for the Eagles means it looks like they will face fierce rivals Brighton & Hove Albion over two legs in the play-offs, with the first coming at Selhurst Park next Friday night.

Boss Ian Holloway insists his side will be a "handful" in the play-offs once they get there, but at the moment they are stumbling across the finishing line, and admittedly Brighton and Bolton Wanderers seem to be in better form going into them.

Who would have thought Palace could end up facing not only their biggest rivals to reach Wembley, but if they were to beat them and reach the final, they could then potentially meet former boss Dougie Freedman.

Put it this way, reaching the Premier League is going to be an incredibly tough task. Can Palace do it? Yes, of course, but the players will be itching to register their first win in nine matches tomorrow.

Peterborough will have no choice but to come out and attack Palace, but that could suit the Eagles and let them exploit a number of opportunities through Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie.

Glenn Murray does need a goal now, and he needs to be hitting form right now if Palace are going to do this.

In terms of the team, would you change anything? Would you change the formation or bring in a certain player to a certain position?

After Tuesday night's clean sheet, it's likely the backline of Joel Ward, Danny Gabbidon, Damien Delaney and Dean Moxey will remain unchanged while the midfield may need a slight tinker perhaps.

Peter Ramage has not featured in the last couple of games either so he will fighting for a starting place back in the side.

It could be a game to start Jonny Williams alongside Mile Jedinak and Owen Garvan, with the PFA Team of the Year trio Murray, Bolasie and Zaha doing the damage in the final third.

Garvan's passing and awareness was eye-catching at the Den on Tuesday and Palace have certainly missed him. He was replaced late on due to tiredness but he should start again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Kagisho Dikgacoi just has not been the same player for a while now compared to the start of the season and it could be a good time to drop him now that Garvan is back.

Of course, there are a number of attacking options available to Holloway, such as Stephen Dobbie and Andre Moritz, who both offer good dead-ball technique, while let's not forget Kevin Phillips who certainly can make an impact if given enough time.

Meanwhile, Peterborough have sold out their entire allocation of tickets in the Arthur Wait Stand. Around 2,600 fans are expected to make the journey down, and apparently Posh have asked Palace for even more tickets due to high demand. Their main goal threats will come through Dwight Gayle up front, who is a nippy forward and has stepped up to Championship football superbly since joining from Dagenham & Redbridge in January.

Veteran Grant McCann is very good from set-pieces while Lee Tomlin normally operates down the left where he can cut inside. At the back, Michael Bostwick is well capable of striking a ball from range while Gabriel Zakuani provides an aerial threat from corners.

However, at home Palace have been outstanding this season and they will be wanting to end the league campaign on a high note and take a win into the play-offs for sure.

It will certainly be a fantastic ride. Are you ready?

A MUM-OF-TWO from Croydon has made it through to the next stage of BBC talent show The Voice – despite being unhappy with her audition.

Cherelle Basquine performed Cheryl Cole's hit Call My Name on Saturday night's episode after producers at the show advised her to sing a pop song.

However, the West Croydon care worker told the Advertiser that she wishes she had stuck to her own style for the "blind auditions".

She said: "I usually sing soul and R'n'B songs, stuff you can really belt out like Beyoncé. But they said to me I should sing a pop song and I said 'okay, I'll try something new.'

"Looking back, I wish I'd stuck with the ballads."

Jessie J criticised Cherelle's song choice and diction, but legendary singer Tom Jones was suitably impressed with the 25-year-old and added her to his group of singers.

Cherelle, who lives in Wingate Crescent, South Croydon, with her two children, said: "I have been in the studio since I was 14 but I've never really gigged, so I thought it was time to get myself out there.

"My family have wanted me to audition for this kind of thing for ages but with raising two kids and getting my career on track it just wasn't possible. But when I watched The Voice last year I really liked the set-up and decided to give it a go.

"I was so nervous in the audition and then it was strange watching myself on TV as well, I hadn't seen what the audition looked like so it was nerve-wracking. My kids enjoyed watching themselves on TV more than they did me!

"I only told my close family that I was on there so it surprised a lot of people. It was hard keeping it a secret for so long.

"Now I'm just looking forward to the future, seeing where The Voice takes me and hopefully get my music out into the world."

In the blind auditions for the Saturday night show, the four judges – Jones, Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am, former Brit School student Jessie J and The Script singer Danny O' Donaghue – have their backs to the singers.

The idea is the performer is judged solely on the quality of their voice and, if they impress, the judges turn round to face the singer.

Jones said: "The thing that I was listening to was the tone of your voice, and the passion that you put into it. I'm looking forward to working with you."

Cherelle is one of 48 singers – 12 affiliated to each judge – who will go through to the next stage of the singing contest, which is in its second series.

The winner is guaranteed a record deal with the Universal label.

Cherelle isn't the first Croydon crooner to shine on The Voice's stage.

Last year Cassius Henry, from South Norwood, made it through to the final stages of the show – almost a decade after he'd previously enjoyed chart success.

A GANG of thugs who attacked three Afghan men in a mistaken revenge attack on a tram have been spared jail.

Six men, including two youths, were handed suspended sentences, youth rehabilitation orders and unpaid work, at Croydon Crown Court on Tuesday.

A seventh, serving prisoner, Anthony Patton, was sentenced the day before to 12 months in prison, to run concurrently with the 15 months he has left to serve for his part in a burglary gang.

Judge Shani Barnes said the men, all from New Addington, had behaved "like a pack of dogs" on the night of October 1, 2011, and should be "ashamed".

But she also spared six of the seven jail – saying "all of you sitting in the dock are charming, polite and well-mannered."

The court heard how the group cornered their victims inside a tram at King Henry's Drive stop at about 8pm, after assaulting another man at the petrol station opposite.

They wrongly believed the three men on the tram had earlier attacked their friend at a funfair, because the men were Afghan and they had been told their friend's attackers were Afghan.

Prosecuting, Teresa Hay said: "These boys [defendants] clearly wanted a fight and asked the Afghans were we with the others – a question, it transpired, perhaps to relate to an earlier incident at the funfair.

"The reply for these boys was to say no, whereupon they were punched by the group.

"When the tram finally arrived the Afghan boys got on to it, hoping this would finally bring an end to their incident.

"However, one of the group [attackers] pulled the emergency cord on the tram, which had the effect of stopping the tram from moving."

CCTV footage played in court showed one of the men, now 17, whose identity the judge banned the Advertiser from revealing due to his age, entering the tram and beckoning others on.

A second man, also now 17 and whose name the judge also banned us from revealing, enters the tram. He is followed by more than ten others, who start kicking and punching the victims.

Kieran Hawker, 18, of North Downs Road, filled a black sock with ballast from the tram tracks to chuck at the men, the court heard.

The ballast is seen to strike the three victims and others on the tram, narrowly missing a pregnant woman.

Robert Elsey, 19, of Godric Crescent, meanwhile, is seen using the tram's handlebars to "launch a swinging kick" at two of the victims trapped against the doorway.

Dean Riley, 19, of Cator Crescent, did not board the tram – hence a lesser sentence of six months suspended – but was seen on CCTV at the petrol station.

All the defendants, who also included Aaron Henery, 18, had earlier pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

Judge Barnes said she was "quite sure" the CCTV showed the boys at their "absolute worst," adding: "I have no doubt that individually all of you sitting in the dock are charming, polite and well-mannered."

But she said: "I am not exaggerating when I say that your behaviour on that night was like a pack of dogs.

"Even small dogs that nip around the ankles in a pack can be terrifying, and you were a pack."

She had the power to sentence the adults to a maximum of five years in prison, and put the youths (and one adult who was a youth when he pleaded guilty) on a two-year detention and training order.

But she opted for non-custodial sentences, adding: "What looked like a ten-minute ordeal was just under one minute of violence."

Lawyers for the defendants had promised Judge Barnes that their clients were contrite and turning their lives around.

Hawker's bid for mercy was helped by his letter to Judge Barnes, which she described as "one of the loveliest letters I have received in a very long time".

The victims, aged 18, 19, and 21 at the time, did not suffer serious injuries before plain-clothed police officers arrived and the attackers ran away.

However, one of them was, as of last year, still suffering headaches and poor vision due to the attack .

The judge added: "He now has very little confidence, is very wary of groups of young other males and is afraid of going out on his own.

"There are serious consequences and I hope you would all be ashamed."

We have a marked rise in Street Violence & Domestic Violence in Croydon. Steve Reed MP and the boss of Croydon Police are both deeply worried about this.  It's real, it's happening.  Our town is sinking once again.  Your new Shopping Centre will be worthless if no-one comes here for safety reasons.  But why is this happening?

Croydon needs regeneration. We need to create jobs & improve our image for real.  And that means cracking down on gang violence& corruption.  Get rid of them.  All of them. In a VERY public way.  Send a clear message to the local scum that they will not be tolerated.  These people are criminals, and need to be stopped.  Everything from False Accounting ( topical ) to muggings. It all adds up, and Croydon is infested with these crowds.  But… Where do these criminals come from? They don't just grow on trees. Something creates them.

A lot of it is Mental Health.  As you are watching your dreams drift further and further away, due to financial problems or Govt decisions, you get angrier and more stressed. It's quite natural.  But for some it's too much and they cross the line and do something stupid.

We need to beef up Croydon Mental Health Services, including safe-houses like Foxley Lane & Ashburton Road, for those who need to retreat from a situation BEFORE it goes bad. We also need to make sure our Mental Health services are keyed to helping those in distress.

For example:   There is NO free counselling in Croydon, unless you want CBT.  None. No grief counselling, no nothing like that.  As current services have been historically neglected by The PCT.

There are a bunch of charitable providers who are happy to help.  People like Care To Listen, Mind's Services, Croydon Drop-In, The Family Resource Centre, & Off The Record.  They can cover multiple age-groups, and multiple races/ communities. But each one has to charge in some way. As our Commissioners historically refuse to spend any cash on this VERY real problem.

Yup, there is no reliable stream of NHS Counselling for The Poor.  It's all Private & Free Market.  And due to current Govt decisions The Poor are getting poorer now.  Problem 1.

Croydon's big 3 are Anxiety, Substance Abuse, & Depression ( Dementia is coming sure, but let's focus on the 3 I mentioned ).  As of the PBMA review from 2011. It's all linked.  And when mental health starts to flare violence can appear.  It's just how it is.

Afraid of losing your job or your home?  Worried about the future of your kids?  That is stress, and it can trigger certain mental health symptoms like anxiety. Anxiety is a fear of something that is real, but the fear is so powerful it grinds you down.  It's not paranoia ( fear of something that is not real ). Anxiety is based in reality.

This can lead to Depression. A massive feeling of hopelessness as you fail to get out of the situation you feel trapped in.  As the fear keeps grinding away at you there is no way out.  You can't save yourself, and it's possible no-one will help you as well. So you sink lower and lower.

The two are often linked.

So how do people deal with this?  25% of those who suffer Depression get medical help.  And that means a WHAPPING 75% don't.  Instead they use self-help stuff.  Some self-help stuff works ( like forcing a smile to trick the brain into releasing feel-good chemicals ), but some of it is absolute quackery. St John's Wort is weak stuff, so isn't always the best ( although it can work. Speak to your GP or local Pharmacist. ).  And, sadly, many turn to Alcohol, Cannabis, and other substances.

I'm going to be completely honest here.  I used to be a massive drug user.  It was about 13-14 years ago, but I was a major cannabis fiend.  And I used to use it for stress.  It worked as well, and I can honestly say none of my friends ( I had many back then ) fell mentally ill.  None of them.

But that was 13-14 years ago.  Back then we were smoking the old resins and weeds; that were 20% the strength of the Skunks that are now the norm out there.  The stuff I smoked was 1/5 as strong as what the kids smoke these days. It's the difference between a pint of Ale ( what I consumed ) & a pint of Schnapps ( what the kids are consuming these days ).  It's a huge difference.

Now add to this how many opt for cheap and VERY strong alcohols as well and...  Ever wondered why A&E presentations based on alcohol abuse are up? Yup, alcohol poisoning and other such injuries.

People drink & consume drugs to escape.  In small quantities, being completely honest, I rarely see injuries ( source: Professor David Nutt, plus my own observations in the field ).  But the heavy consumers are the ones that then cook themselves.  And why are they doing it?  To escape life.

To escape their lives and forget for a bit.  Think about it.

It could be an abusive partner or unhappy marriage.  It could be a bullying boss.  It could be child-hood abuse that never healed properly and is now affecting someone in adult-hood.  Or it could be the substance itself being so addictive an innocent mistake has led to a collapse ( like with Crack cocaine ).  But it all comes from somewhere.    Mental Health is EVERYWHERE.  And in Croydon it is a huge issue, due to the lack of services mixed with the amount of substance abuse we have in our patch.

So why are people down?

Low pay, high bills, jobs leaving, most jobs being nothing impressive…  We all know Croydon is a bomb-site in need of major repairs.   But first we need to clear out the hordes of substance abusers that are wrecking the place.

Now I don't believe in simply calling them criminals and just hitting them.  I do believe in rehabilitation.  And that means curing them of their ills AS WELL AS getting them back on the straight & narrow. But if it's not done properly then it just won't work.  It might even injure someone further, and as such pull them under again.

So, back to our lack of Counselling Services.  Even if you are brave enough to face your issues can you honestly face it alone? Do you need help?  It takes a lot of courage to face the inner demon that is turning you to drink or worse.  And some people genuinely can't do it alone.  I've had Depression, Anxiety,& Suicidal thoughts.  Like Toni Letts of Croydon Labour I am a Domestic Violence survivor, and also a gang-attack survivor on 2 counts now.  Without help it nearly killed me.  Twice.  And I'm a tough old spud. So I would hope it obvious that many will need assistance to get through these extremely dark times.

If there is no assistance there out come the ultra-large wine glasses, everyone jokes that things are fine, and in reality you've consumed more units of alcohol then is safe for you.  That's your liver, your skin, or possibly something worse.  For real.

So let's look at booze. What does it do?

It's a double effect. The first is to lose your inhibitions ( your self-control ), so if you have Mental Health problems they could break free of your normal control & take over if you are too drunk.  You might attempt suicide whilst seriously drunk, and then sit there afterwards ( if you're lucky enough to survive ) thinking 'what the hell was that?'.  You'll have no idea where it came from if it's new, but at the same time it did just happen.   If this happens go to your GP.  Don't take the chance.  Something is clearly wrong if it has got to this stage.

The second is that booze makes you wee.  And the more you wee the more you flush out what medication you are on.  So if you're an existing Mental Health Patient ( a Service User ) like me heavy drinking can flush out the meds you need to stay well.  It's like having your dose halved, and that doesn't always work.

A Schizophrenic ( like me ) or a Depression sufferer ( like what I used to be before my boiler gassed me and made me even more ill ) can go out of control if they are too drunk.  It's just how it is.  Harm to self and/or others.  Being honest it's usually harm to self.  Schizophrenics are more afraid of you than wanting to hurt you.  That's why we stay away from the big crowds generally and prefer smaller more-intimate environments.  So, in summary, it's usually 'harm to self' that shows up.

Harm to self includes: Cutting yourself, binge drinking, heading off to take some heroine as the vodka isn't cutting it, you get the idea. Basically anything that risks your own personal health.  And, as I have stated, that is usually the most common one.  Violence is rare with the Mentally Ill.  Most crimes are carried out by those who are classed as sane.

So, bringing this back to the point.  Look at Croydon.  A town in decline for 30 years.  Jobs are sparse in number, wages are low, prices are high, and there is a LOT of uncertainty out there.  Some parts of the map are so neglected that specific projects have had to be created to try to fix things.  Like the BME outreach part of our current Croydon IAPT ( Improving Access to Psychological Therapies ), as in the past BME communities have often been left behind.  BME means Black & Minority Ethnic for those who don't know.  Croydon is nearly 50% ethnic after all.

Think about The Riots. Why did those kids rebel?  Why did they turn to crime?  Is it because there was no way out for them, and they were watching their dreams get further and further away?  It happened just after Tuition Fees were trebled and EMA was pretty-much axed ( shrunk by 2/3 ).  Is this just a coincidence, or was it a trigger that set off a bomb that had been growing for a good few years as many of us Lefties believe. Punish the rioters by all means, but surely you don't want other kids going off the rails in the future as well?  You don't want another riot?  Then you are going to need to fix the causes as well, or another generation will go. And this existing crowd will just re-offend.

People need options. Leave them without options for long enough and some will turn to crime, whilst others are forced to fight to defend themselves.  It's all stressful, and both sides will get injuries in the end.  And some of those injuries will be Mental Health ones.

Bullying can kill. Yelling 'man up princess' at the bullying victim whilst letting off the bullies solves nothing.  In my experience more people need to remember this.  You need to shut down the bullies/ bad-guys, and rescue the innocent populace.  Before it's too late and your town has collapsed under a wave of violence.

How many of the bad-guys out there are also substance abusers?  Is it just a coincidence, or have they buckled under the pressures of life and gone rogue?

Something for you to think about.

Christian Wilcox is the Chair of the Croydon Mental Health Forum ( politically neutral ), an NHS Executive ( Advisory ) for the South London & Maudsley ( politically neutral ), and works for the Labour Party privately.

DEVELOPERS have submitted plans to build on an area which has been branded as notorious for antisocial behaviour.

The Tandridge District Council-owned site in Ockleys Mead could have seven new homes built on it by Pdp Architecture LLP, working with Raven Housing Trust. But residents have taken issue with the plans on the grounds of noise, access and overdevelopment.

At the moment the site is half occupied by garages and the rest is covered by hard-standing.

Godstone Village Association chairman Felicity Gresser said: "My immediate reaction was that it is an extremely dull group of buildings and it is probably over-developed for the site.

"I think the buildings are too high and there are too many of them."

The plans propose two blocks of houses, with four three-bedroom houses and three two-bedroom houses. Thirty car parking spaces will be built, with 15 available for other Godstone residents to use.

The design statement says: "The garage site is run down and is mainly used as a shortcut from Selbourne Square to Ockleys Mead. Due to the nature of the site it has become a notorious area for antisocial behaviour."

Concerned residents have been expressing their views online – and not all agree with the allegations of bad behaviour.

Alan Johnson, of Selbourne Square, said: "Contrary to claims the area is not subject to any exceptional vandalism nor is it frequented by troublemakers. The addition of 30 parking spaces will dramatically increase pollution, noise, traffic and risk of injury."

Paul Knutsen, of Ockleys Mead, said: "Just because this area is labelled as a 'council estate' it does not mean you can dump development after development here with no thought for residents."

Developers said: "Our client has been conscious of the knock-on effect to residents with regards the loss of the current garage site in terms of parking and has requested that we provide as many car parking spaces as possible for general use."

The application is due to go before the planning committee by June.

LILLIAN'S law has moved a step closer to becoming a reality after a bill containing a new drug driving offence achieved royal assent.

The Crime and Courts Bill has passed through Parliament and now becomes an act.

Secondary legislation will now have to be brought forward to define the substances and legal limits of the drugs which will covered by the new law.

Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell, who has supported the campaign since it was launched in August 2011, described the Queen's approval as a symbolic but important development.

"It's really pleasing. What needs to happen now is for the various bits of legislation within the bill to be enacted," he said.

"There were elements of the bill – not to do with Lillian's law – which were ping-ponging between the Commons and the Lords, and I was concerned that might hold things up. Thankfully, that's not happened.

"It's an important, symbolic step. It means it's on the statute book and we're still keeping to the timetable.

"The next stage is that secondary legislation will have to be brought forward, containing details of the substances and the limits."

The penalty for the new offence will be a maximum of six months in prison and a fine of up to £5,000, with an automatic driving ban of at least 12 months.

It removes the current need for police to prove a substance impaired a person's ability to drive, done by dated balance and co-ordination tests.

Royal assent is the latest boost for the Lillian's law campaign, led by the family of 14-year-old Lillian Groves, who was knocked down and killed outside her home in New Addington in June 2010.

The driver, John Page, had been smoking cannabis prior to the tragedy.

Michaela Groves, Lillian's aunt, said: "We have to remind ourselves, this is just a stage along the process.

"It hasn't taken a long time to get to where it needs to be which is encouraging.

"They have been talking about it for nearly 15 years and now, all of a sudden, it has come along leaps and bounds.

"It's fantastic that we have been able to put something so important on the map."

In December 2011, Prime Minister David Cameron promised to revise the law, following a meeting with Lillian's family and the Advertiser at 10 Downing Street.

Last month, an expert panel set up by the Department for Transport (DfT), tasked with exploring the implications of the new offence, recommended adopting legal limits for substances such as cannabis and cocaine.

It also suggested as stricter controls for people who drive under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and thresholds for prescription drugs like sleeping pills.

These details now need to placed on the statute book via secondary legislation, which is expected late this year or in early 2014.

A testing device, a key aim of the campaign, was approved by the Home Office for use in police stations from January and, the Government says, will be used by the roadside by 2014.

EYES, eggs, ospreys and other wonders of nature have helped students win over the judges at an annual photo contest.

The winners of this year's Rotary Club of Croydon South's photography competition were announced last Tuesday at a prize-giving ceremony.

Students from Trinity School, in Shirley, performed particularly well in the contest, which was themed on the natural world.

Four of its students won prizes, including Joe Clacher, 14, who clinched the under-17 people's choice award after his teacher secretly entered his photo of eggs on a reflective table.

He said: "I was kind of worried because I got my parents and brothers to come and it was a long way for them to travel and I did not want to let them down.

"I think the photo just stood out from the others – it had a lot of bold colours."

Fellow Trinity pupil Tommy Scopes, 15, won second prize in the under-17s category for his shot of an osprey, taken while boating off the Florida coast.

Contest prizes include shadowing photographers Jan Podsiadly and the Advertiser's David Cook, and a photo-shoot of Croydon mayor Eddy Arram.

Ben Hines, 17, won the latter after coming second in the over-17s category, for his image of students' faces transposed onto Croydon buildings.

The Coulsdon Sixth Form College student said: "It is going to help my future as it will be good for my portfolio."

Billy Searle, 17, won the over-17 people's choice award, for his close-up of his mother's left eye.

Josie Evans, 18, who attends Warlingham School, won the over-17s category, for her picture of a violinist playing underneath Paris's Eiffel Tower.

Graham Upton, from the Croydon South Rotary Club, said the judges had been "very pleased" with the high quality of the entries, which were all exhibited at the Clocktower café for five weeks before the prize-giving ceremony presided over by the mayor.

Mr Upton added John Reeve, the owner of Clocktower café, has offered each winner their own exhibition later in the year.

GARETH Davies looks at the damning report into financial mismanagement at NHS Croydon, released last week...

But, as an insight into the depressing lack of accountability in our local health services, the report is far from irrelevant.

The Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee's findings expose what has been described as a "deliberate" cover-up of a £28 million misreporting of finances at the primary care trust (PCT) in 2010/11.

It shows that ever since the scandal was uncovered, the NHS has systematically done everything in its power to avoid taking responsibility.

Caroline Taylor, the trust's £145,000-a-year former chief executive, refused to give evidence to the committee and then threatened legal action upon seeing its draft findings.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has now been asked to compel Ms Taylor – given the top job at another failing trust only last month – to answer questions about why the trust posted a £5.54 million surplus when it had actually overspent by £23 million.

While the committee has singled her out as the "accountable" officer, its report catalogues numerous attempts to avoid responsibility; from the same lack of co-operation from two finance officers and two current Croydon councillors, to NHS London using legal loopholes to send just one member of staff – accompanied by a lawyer – to give evidence during the three-month investigation.

It also claims the £1 million report set up in the wake of the scandal, which prompted the scrutiny investigation, was not the review conducted by Ernst & Young.

The committee has learnt the document was NHS London's interpretation of the independent report – an allegation the trust denies. When the committee asked to see the original, it received no reply.

Committee chairman Jason Cummings said: "We have been faced by a wall of silence from key witnesses in the NHS and subsequently there are still some questions that remain unanswered.

"In particular, we still don't know why the accounts were altered and whether patients had been directly affected.

"This cannot be right, and now we call on the Department of Health to carry out rigorous investigation and ensure the relevant officers can be publicly held to account."

The review was conducted by six local authorities in southwest London, led by Croydon Council.

But its efforts to get to the truth have been hamstrung by the lack of co-operation from key figures.

Stephen O'Brien, director of finance, refused to take part. During a long period of absence he left Mark Phillips, the interim deputy director of finance, in charge of the trust's cash.

Mr Phillips, a former nightclub owner and unqualified accountant, was found in the initial report to have made "unwarranted adjustments" to the agreement of balances. He, too, declined to answer questions.

Croydon Council leader Mike Fisher said: "If this was a local authority I can guarantee that the leader and the chief executive would probably be out of the door or would at least be in front of the council answering very serious questions about what had gone on.

"Here you have individuals who have moved on to other highly paid jobs within the health service who haven't even thought it necessary to turn up and answer questions, despite the fact that in some way their actions led to this huge discrepancy in the accounts."

While the committee rounded on all three executives, it was less scathing in its criticism of councillors Toni Letts, former chairman of the trust, and David Fitze, in charge of the audit committee, who also snubbed invitations to appear.

The panel disagreed with NHS London's insistence that there was no adverse impact on healthcare in Croydon, mainly because practices were so poor it was impossible to track where the money had been spent.

It called for future committees to be given the power to compel witnesses to attend, and Clinical Commissioning Groups, the GP-led organisations that replaced primary care trusts at the start of April, are recommended to review qualifications of all staff who have responsibility for finances.

But, with much of the report punctuated with disclaimers, it looks like the detail of what went on at NHS Croydon will remain away from public scrutiny.

When asked whether the report had ultimately been a waste of time, Cllr Fisher said: "What the report has done is shine a light on the NHS and has shown there's a lack of accountability.

"They would have liked to have gone further but what this shows is that its very difficult to get at the truth."

THE man who was probably the last surviving political figure from Croydon's days as a county borough has died at the age of 91.

John Aston, who lived in Lloyd Park Avenue, Croydon, for more than 40 years, was first elected to the county borough council in 1952, representing the central ward and following his father Leonard into local politics.

He served two terms as deputy mayor in 1958 and 1960 before becoming mayor in 1962, when the highlight of his year was to preside over the opening of the Fairfield Halls by the Queen Mother.

In 1964 he added another string to his bow by being elected to the old Greater London Council, serving for two terms.

After Croydon became a London borough in 1964 he was chosen as one of the council's first aldermen – a non-elected post recognising political experience.

The role of aldermen was abolished in 1978 but Mr Aston kept up his unbroken service on the council by being elected as a councillor for the Fairfield ward, a seat he held until his retirement in 1994. In that time he served on major council committees, chairing the highways committee for a total of 13 years.

Lord Peter Bowness, who was leader of the council at the time of Mr Aston's retirement, said this week: "John was the last link with Croydon as it used to be when it was not part of London.

"He was a very significant figure and was always very active politically. He was a quiet, self-effacing man who did a lot of work without being noisy about it."

Present council leader, Mike Fisher, who served with Mr Aston from 1990 to 1994, said "He was very old-school and very shrewd."

A surveyor by profession, Mr Aston leaves a widow, Sylvia, a son, David, and two grandchildren, Rachel and James. A date for his funeral has not yet been finalised.

UNPREDICTABILITY is a fundamental part of human nature. Following news of Margaret Thatcher's death last month, I was expecting a deluge of letter and emails – I do, after all, represent more than 100,000 constituents, many of whom are not afraid to express their views. As it happens, I received just two pieces of correspondence; both complaining about the cost of Mrs Thatcher's funeral.

One wanted to know how much each person would be paying in taxes so they could deduct it somehow. We now know that amount to be six pence. I'm not sure you can even buy a penny sweet with that these days, but I do know each and every one of us owes Mrs Thatcher a lot more!

Six pence is a mere drop in the ocean when you consider the £75 billion she got back for Britain through the EU rebate. Six pence is negligible when you consider that she inherited an economy with inflation in double digits and being held to ransom by the unions. Many of you will remember the Winter of Discontent in 1979, when almost half the hospitals in the UK were accepting only emergency patients, rubbish collections ground to a halt and fuel shortages loomed as transport workers picketed the refineries.

Under Mrs Thatcher, this country saw a massive surge in productivity. Manufacturing output during her leadership increased by 7.5 per cent, compared with a fall of 5 per cent in the previous decade. Her Right to Buy scheme has to date given more than 7,800 Croydon council tenants the security of having their own home for life and for future generations of their family.

As a young MP, I co-authored a pamphlet "Privatisation 1979-1994: Everyone's a winner". Leafing through it the other day reminded me just how quickly Mrs Thatcher's programme of privatisation gave customers better service, better value for money and more choice. The number of private investors in the UK boomed. For example, when BT – historically a big employer in Croydon – was privatised in 1984, a staggering 95 per cent of the workforce bought a stake in the company. I'm sure the dividends came to more than six pence.

Mrs Thatcher has had a lot of flak – she was a strong leader driven by deeply held convictions of a Conservative Britain that gave individuals and families the tools to succeed and to aspire to better themselves, no matter where they came from. For this she courted controversy, but it also earned her widespread respect and a place in the canon of great politicians.

Mrs Thatcher reversed the economic decline and re-established our standing in the world. She made Britain great again. And for that, she deserved a valedictory fanfare.

And so, to those two constituents who think otherwise, I will write to them and give them a detailed breakdown of the costings. And I will gladly reimburse them their six pence. In fact, I'll do better than that, I'll throw in a quid.