Standing up for West End residents
Councillor Paul Church, local West End Ward resident and councillor, has a strong record for standing up residential amenity and protecting the iconic character of The West End.
Paul recently met with London's new Night Tsar, Amy Lamé, to discuss working together to help protect The West End's small, independent businesses and venues to ensure that they can stay afloat, whilst encouraging more dialogue with local residents and amenity societies. They also discussed working with local venues promoting fresh new, artists and diversity in our great City, to ensure that our West End remains world-leading.
Councillor Church commented: 'The West End is the jewel in London's crown, but it is also home to wonderful communities of residents whom I have the privilege of serving. I will do everything I can to ensure that their amenity is protected and that our small and independent businesses, which we know local residents want to keep here in The West End, have chance to flourish and grow'.
Working to reduce rough sleeping across our area
Councillor Jonathan Glanz has been working with officers, stakeholders and others to deal with rough sleeping, and the issues that come with it, across the ward.
Councillor Glanz said: “The issue of rough sleeping in the West End is not new and I have raised concerns on numerous occasions with officers and others.
“I have also been alerted to many cases of anti social behaviour which are a result of rough sleeping.
“Alongside council officers and our partners we are beginning to deal with the issue and one way that has proved effective is the Council’s outreach programme.
“Many of those who sleep rough across the West End, and in Westminster as a whole, come from other areas of London and further afield so the work of our council officers, the Met Police, Home Office Immigration Enforcement and Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) is vital in reducing rough sleeping and the issues that go alongside it.”
The outreach programme works by residents, workers and businesses contacting the Streetlink organisation to inform them of the location of a rough sleeper. They will then work with their partners, including The Connection at St Martin-in-The-Fields (CSTM), the Passage, St Mungo’s and Veterans Aid, to offer them a route off the street.
You can contact Streetlink to let them know about a rough sleeper by clicking here to visit their website or calling 0300 500 0914.
Action on mental health
Suicide is the biggest killer of people under the age of 35 in our country, but many instances of suicide are preventable with the right help and support.
Councillor Paul Church, local West End resident and councillor, is Westminster's Lead Member for Mental Health and has been working actively with a number of national charities to ensure that residents who need help can find it quickly.
A brilliant national charity, PAPYRUS, which trains people on how to act to prevent suicide, has recently moved into Mayfair and, after visiting their new headquarters close to Brown Hart Gardens, Councillor Church, organised for them to provide training for those working in public-facing roles.
Councillor Church commented: 'I am so pleased that PAPYRUS decided to locate their national headquarters here in The West End and incredibly proud of the wonderful work that they do'.
If you or somebody you know are facing issues which may put them at risk, please visit
https://papyrus-uk.org to speak to a professional who can assist and potentially save a life
Providing an update on how to report local anti social behaviour
Councillor Jonathan Glanz has been engaging with local residents, officers and the police to deal with the issue of anti-social behaviour across the West End.
Previously the local police, alongside council officers, had been holding monthly anti-social behaviour surgeries, but after assessing their success a different approach has been agreed .
Councillor Glanz said: “By changing the approach it is hoped that more residents will be able to benefit from the service and that the anti-social behaviour being reported can be dealt with in a more effective way.”
Instead of the surgeries residents will be seen in person by a member of the local Safer Neighbourhood Team or can email in their issues to the relevant officers.
To find out who your local team are visit https://www.met.police.uk/your-area/ and enter your postcode.
Additionally, the Neighbourhood Problem Solving Co-ordinator for Soho, the West End and Chinatown, Klaudija Green, can be emailed on [email protected].
