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Lambeth honours its civic heroes

03 April 2009

A galaxy of Lambeth residents, all of whom have made an outstanding contribution to the borough, have been honoured with the council's annual civic awards, presented at a special ceremony.

Nominations for the awards came from the Lambeth community, with recognition in categories covering the five town centres, as well as borough-wide. There was also the Lord Scarman Award, given for achievement in promoting inclusion and equality.

His work towards making Vauxhall Park the beautiful green space it is today secured the North Lambeth Award for Ivan McCracken, a founding member of the Friends of Vauxhall Park.

Also from North Lambeth, Sheila Smith's untiring work as an active resident and friend to all on the Wellington Mills Estate won her award.

From Clapham and Stockwell, Sue Lilly's efforts in supporting and extending the Neighbourhood Watch scheme brought recognition.

Twenty years dedicated work with young people, in particular on the Brixton Summer Football League, saw Wallace Hermitt take the Brixton award.

For Norwood, Jean Monaghan was honoured for her commitment to the University of the Third Age, an organisation furthering ongoing education, particularly for older citizens.

Karen Davies, from Streatham, got her award for a range of community activities, including her role in the Friends of Streatham Vale Park group's successful campaign for new facilities for the park.

The Streatham Civic Award was also given posthumously to Gordon Richardson, who sadly passed away last year and is much missed among Streatham’s community activists. He was especially well known for his role in chairing the Friends of Streatham Common.

The borough-wide Civic Award went to Martin Walsh, who has worked voluntarily for the community of Lambeth for over 40 years. He has been involved with the Lambeth Pensioners’ Action Group (LAMPAG) since 1991 and a founder member of the Lambeth Pensioners Forum.

Also receiving a borough-wide award was Brian Bloice, who will be 70 this year and will be retiring as one of South London's longest-serving and best-known local history lecturers. Brian's contribution to the study of Lambeth's local history is widely acclaimed and regarded by the many students who have attended his classes over more than 30 years at various locations in Lambeth.

Jane Warwick, who has lived in Lambeth most of her life, was the recipient of the Lord Scarman Award. She was honoured particularly for organising a team of volunteers who act as the appropriate adult when the police want to deal with or interview a vulnerable person in detention. Jane is registered disabled and past retirement age but she is on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week in a voluntary capacity.

"We are privileged to have these people working in our community to make a better life for all," said outgoing Lambeth Mayor, Councillor Angela Meade. "It is a pleasure to thank them with these awards."

Notes on Award Winners:

North Lambeth Civic Award

Ivan McCracken was a founding member and committee member of the Friends of Vauxhall Park (FOVP) that was set up in 1999 by concerned local residents to halt the decline of Vauxhall Park. He subsequently became chairman of the Friends in 2003 retiring in 2008. Ivan has also represented FOVP for many years at meetings of the Lambeth Parks Forum and the Kennington, Oval and Vauxhall Forum. Since 1999, Vauxhall Park has been transformed from a neglected and under-used corner of the neighbourhood into a thriving community resource and much of this is due to Ivan's work and commitment to the park. His two main achievements are: the awarding of the Green Flag award for the park in 2007 and 2008 and the opening of Parco Café in the park’s redundant toilet block. The Green Flag Award is the gold standard for the best green spaces. Other major projects Ivan saw through to successful completion were the Vauxhall Motors Centennial Lavender Garden, the development of a Vision Masterplan for the park, the restoration of the original main gates and pillars, and the erection of new Victorian-style perimeter railings.

Ivan is by nature collaborative and one of his roles with the FOVP has been liaison with Lambeth's Parks Department. He has done this with outstanding energy, humour and attention to detail, recognising the importance of working alongside the council, building good relationships not just with officers but also with the park workers. His patience and tenacity are legendary and they have made the relationship between the FOVP and the council a very positive one, which paid off a huge dividend when the improvements to the park were recognised by the Green Flag Awards. Since opening in the autumn of 2008, the Café has quickly established itself as a valuable local resource, enhancing the amenity of the park and providing an important local meeting place to provide cohesion for our diverse community. Ivan is a true friend of the community, which is richer for his work. Despite retiring as chairman, Ivan has continued to play an active role in the local area and can always be counted to be a source of valuable information, advice and support. As chair, he was keen to involve all sectors of the local community in ownership of the park, specifically learning Portuguese the better to communicate with the local Portuguese community and drawing on his family knowledge of Polish to translate notices and encourage involvement from this new aspect of the community.

North Lambeth Civic Award

Sheila Smith moved into the newly built Wellngton Mills Estate in July 1976 with her husband, two sons and young daughter. From the start together with her husband; she was involved in a range of social activities for children and adults as the new community was formed. During her 30 years unobtrusive service, she was closely involved in the formation of the cooperative and in organizing and participating in the voluntary work overtaken by residents in the years before staff were employed. She has been a member of the management committee for more years than she can remember and assistant secretary, taking meticulous minutes, for a very long time. Sheila was secretary from 2006/7 – 2007/8 and chair of the Publications Committee, the Constitution Workers group and is still a negotiator for the management agreement. Most importantly, Sheila is universally respected and admired for her courtesy, calm and common sense. She is both a role model and a friend to many residents.

Clapham and Stockwell Civic Award

Sue Lilly has been an active member of her local neighbourhood watch for over 12 years and chair for the last 7 years. When she first joined, only one side of North Street was represented together with Lydon, Orlando, Lillieshall and Lambourn Road, plus Charlotte Row and Bobbin Close. On Sue's suggestion, the watch expanded to cover the whole of North Street and since taking chair have expanded to cover Wandsworth Road, Hannington and Mackay Road and more recently Clapham Old Town. Under Sue's leadership the neighbourhood watch keep going from strength to strength with regular meetings, a newsletter distributed to around 700 residents and an effective email network to help highlight issues and share information. Sue volunteers a large amount of her time to maintain momentum, always open to encouraging others to become more involved together with being open to contributions of others. Without Sue's energy and commitment, the neighbourhood watch would clearly not be as successful.

Brixton Civic Award

Wallace Hermitt has given over 20 years selfless community service as the Senior Youth Development Worker for the Brixton Summer Football League (BSFL), which was founded in 1996, and latterly as coach for the Ferndale Football Team. Both sporting activities have a long association and have operated as a community group from the Ferndale Sports Centre in Brixton. The BSFL is entering its 14th year as a community run organisation that organises a full summer tournament over 12 weeks from June to August each year to promote the participation in football amongst central Lambeth residents, especially young people. This culminates in an Annual Presentation of League Trophies, normally held in Lambeth Town Hall. The 2008 tournament consisted of 22 teams; 10 senior teams; 6 Under 17's teams and 6 Under 15's teams.

Wallace Hermitt works with a group of dedicated BSFL honorary officers, but he has been instrumental in managing and organizing the youth tournaments including coaching activities of both the BSFL and Ferndale Football Club in a voluntary capacity since both the League and Club were founded. Without reward or recognition, every year Wallace promotes the year's Football Tournament and club through networks of players, cubs, teams and contacts, with very limited sponsorship publicity or funding. Wallace then goes on to develop and coach individuals and teams, as well as carrying out the daily administrative duties of the League. Significantly, the BSFL has never sought direct financial assistance from Lambeth Council to continue its annual tournament. It prides itself in being 'The Peoples League'.

Mr Hermitt exemplifies the type of unsung hero of our communities who continues each year to reach out to hundreds of young disadvantaged and marginalised youth people in Lambeth in the hope that through organised sport they can gain a sense of self-esteem, friendship, sportsmanship and citizenship. BSFL lives by the following motto, which appropriately reflects Wallace Hermitt's selfless community service:

"We the willing led by the unknown are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much for so long with so little. We are now qualified to do anything with nothing".

Norwood Civic Award

Jean Monaghan served on the Norwood Forum Committee and its various committees, especially community safety, from 2004-2008, was chair of her Neighbourhood Watch for 8 years and in particular, founded a Norwood branch of the "University of the Third Age"- a national NGO dedicated to ongoing education especially for senior citizens.

After a number of years of hard work, Jean had to step down from the Forum last year for a variety of reasons, yet despite heavy personal commitments elsewhere, she served an extra few months to let new committee members "bed in", which was a generous and onerous offer – the Forum is recognised and supported by the Council. In 2006, she founded the "Norwood U3A" branch. It is a great success, providing talks, lessons and outings for those who are retired or semi-retired. Jean runs this group almost single-handedly, yet it goes from strength to strength.

Streatham Civic Award

Karen Davies has lived in Lambeth for 30 years during which time she has sought to play an active part in community affairs. Whilst living in Estreham Road in the 1980's she helped to set up the Barrow, Estreham and Lewin Road Residents Association and since moving to Streatham Vale in 1993, she has taken an active interest in the Streatham Vale Property Occupiers Association (SVPOA), becoming an inaugural member of the subcommittee set up to campaign for the retention of a GP surgery in the Vale in 2004 which was ultimately successful in persuading the Lambeth Primary Care Trust to build a new surgery in Woodgate Drive opening in December 2008. A teacher by profession, Karen taught at Sunnyhill School, moving to St Andrew's School in 1986 where she was also a governor. She was additionally a learning mentor at St Bede's Primary School and Crown Lane Primary School and worked for the charity 'Place 2B' taking counselling into primary schools. She continues to support children in the Borough and also mentors adults with addiction, relationship and bereavement problems. In 2003 Karen set up the Friends of Streatham Vale Park (FOSVP) which under her enthusiastic direction has transformed the hitherto run down Streatham Vale Park with a programme of repairs and improvements and the introduction of annual park 'fundays', leading to the creation of the Park Master plan in conjunction with the Groundforce organisation which will establish a range of new facilities in the park alongside the already existing One O’clock Club and adventure playground.

Karen continues to work to improve the quality of lives of those around her and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Streatham Civic Award (posthumous)

Gordon Richardson sadly passed away last year and is much missed among Streatham's community activists. For the last 5-6 years, Gordon had chaired the Friends of Streatham Common. In this role he led an organisation which is effective in pressing for improvements and maintenance of the common. He was unstinting in pressing the council where appropriate but also quick to praise good work.

During Gordon’s tenure; the Friends ran many popular events on Streatham Common which included the annual dog show, Shakespeare in the Rookery, Kite Day and regular nature and bird walks. Gordon was a gentleman with a rye sense of humour; he will be much missed.

Borough-wide Civic Award

Martin S Walsh has worked voluntarily for the community of Lambeth for over 40 years. He has been involved with the Lambeth Pensioners' Action Group (LAMPAG) since 1991 and a founder member of the Lambeth Pensioners Forum. He has always strived to better the conditions for pensioners both nationally and locally by attending rallies, conferences and protest marches. He is currently a member of the executive board of the Darby and Joan Club at Woodlawn's in Streatham. He contributes to the lively discussions as to the best way forward for the club, which is undergoing great changes as a result of two very successful lottery bids. Vida Walsh, Martin's mother, a great campaigner was instrumental in providing the Careline Alarm Service for people requiring urgent medical help. She faced strong opposition initially. No doubt, she would be pleased to know that her son continues to fight for pensioners and pensioner's rights.

Borough-wide Civic Award

Brian Bloice will be 70 this year and will be retiring as one of South London's longest-serving and best-known local history lecturers. Brian’s contribution to the study of Lambeth's local history is widely acclaimed and regarded by the many students who have attended his classes over more than 30 years at various locations in Lambeth including Morley College and the Adare Centre in Streatham, where his class is one of the best-attended courses on campus. Earlier he ran local history evening classes as at Granton Road School in Streatham Vale. As well as his lecturing for many years he has planned the programme and helped to run the Local History Group of the Streatham Society which is one of the largest groups of its type in South London, mainly due to his leadership. Each summer he organises a series of local history walks in Streatham and co-ordinates a similar programme of walks for Lambeth run by other local history organisations in the borough. For many years he has also organised annual history tours for the Streatham Society and the Southwark and Lambeth Archaeology Society. Brian has also been a staunch and tireless advocate for Streatham's heritage and runs the Streatham Society Planning Committee which campaigns to conserve, preserve and promote the area's architectural heritage. In addition to his local history lecturing, walks and associated activities, Brian is chairman of the Streatham Society, the Lambeth Local History Forum and the Southwark and Lambeth Archaeology Society.

His retirement from college lecturing will not see an end to his activities in this area as he plans to continue lecturing on local history to the Streatham Society, local groups, the National Trust and other organisations.

Lord Scarman Civic Award

Jane Warwick has lived and worked in Lambeth for most of her life. She worked for Lambeth Social Services from 1973 – 1985 which included dealing with children from very difficult backgrounds – she put many unpaid hours into this role; often at weekends.

From 1990 – 2003, she was the Administrator for the Community Police Consultative Group (CPCG) and also the Panel of Lay Visitors -later known as the Panel of Independent Custody Visitors. At a time when there was often very fraught relationships between the police and the community, Jane (often in her own time) would act as intermediary between the police and often very angry members of the public, often resulting a better understanding between the two parties and thereby helping to divert what could have been a serious disturbance. Even though Jane worked full time, she was involved in many voluntary activities including the organisation of a knife amnesty and later helped organise a firearms amnesty, which resulted in a period of 4 weeks, 28 firearms being handed in to the police, 3,000 rounds of ammunition and even a hand grenade!

In 1996 – 2000, during her work in Lambeth and Corpus Christi Church, Jane was aware of the number of people on the streets of Lambeth who had various mental issues and nowhere to go for a chat and welcome cup of tea. With Canon Charles Walker they rented a space in Talma Road, Brixton that they called 'The Sanctuary' which became a huge success and was also used by people from other boroughs. However it had to be closed when the owners wanted the building for other purposes. According to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), the police cannot deal with or interview a vulnerable person in detention unless they have an appropriate adult to ensure that their welfare and rights are upheld whilst in detention. Jane organised a team of volunteers, trained them according to PACE and soon Lambeth Social Services made it known that they wished to use the scheme. The Metropolitan Police have said that the scheme was a godsend in helping them deal with vulnerable detainees speedily in interviews and releasing them as soon as possible. Jane is registered disabled and past retirement age but she is on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week in a voluntary capacity.