This month's blog is written by PC Bradley Hall, Community Safety Engagement Officer based in Harlow for Essex Police. As Harlow Community Safety Engagement Officer, I enjoy speaking with people across the community in Harlow, from residents to community groups, charities and businesses. My role is to find out what matters to them and work with them to ensure effective crime prevention. As a police force, we are proud to be Harlow Ambassadors and through joining Discover Harlow we are pleased to have already started helping other Ambassadors keep their businesses safe and prevent crime. We are really excited to be partnering with Harlow businesses to provide advice, including safeguarding training [...]

From the age of 10, I wanted to study Law. My inspiration derived from the sharply-dressed lawyers on the 80’s American TV series LA Law. During my GCSEs and selecting a college to attend, I realised my dream of becoming a lawyer was no longer the career path I wanted to pursue. I can recall flicking through different college prospectuses hoping to find an alternative. I recall not receiving any guidance or knowing anyone who could relate to what I was going through. I felt pressured as most of my friends had their career paths mapped out and sensed they felt I should know which area of interest my future lies, [...]

This month’s blog comes from Kat Pulford, Community Manager at St Elizabeth’s Centre in Much Hadham, who employ over 650 people - half of whom are living in Harlow. St Elizabeth's is a national charity founded in 1903 supporting around 200 children and adults of all ages with epilepsy and other complex medical conditions. Over the past 117 years, St Elizabeth's has grown and developed and it now offers: non-maintained special school for both boarders and day students a specialist further education college domiciliary care for college learners residential care with nursing for 102 adults across 12 purpose-built bungalows a comprehensive day opportunities programme for residents and day clients 24 hour [...]

When I joined Harlow Art Trust as Artistic Director two years ago, I knew the value of public art in theory, but it took a global pandemic for me to understand it in practice. Artistic Director Kate Harding with Auguste Rodin’s ‘Eve’ (1897) in the Water Gardens, Harlow Town Centre. Harlow’s sculpture collection is a result of the Second World War: the last truly global crisis in modern memory. At the outset, it was an imaginative and ambitious attempt to rebuild communities. The sculptures were a way to create public spaces people would enjoy using and sharing with their neighbours. They reflected the optimism of the post-war period and projected [...]

Public Health England (PHE) is among many organisations at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. There is hardly anyone within the organisation either not working on or supporting the totally unprecedented operation to tackle the virus which has dominated media headlines for many weeks now. At the tip of that effort are the hundreds of PHE scientists working with partners nationally and globally who are striving to contain and then eliminate the virus on a scale never seen before. Running parallel to that incredible work, is the programme which will deliver PHE’s new world-leading public health science campus at the former GSK site at Harlow. With state-of-the-art facilities and [...]

This month's blog comes from Sarah Thompson, CEO of St Clare Hospice, a local charity which cares for hundreds of people across West Essex and the East Hertfordshire border each year. This month we really should be celebrating; it’s St Clare Hospice’s 30th birthday, and we have just received an ‘Outstanding’ rating from the Care Quality Commission. However, due to coronavirus, we have put plans to celebrate on hold. Now is not the time. Instead we have had to launch an urgent fundraising appeal in a bid to offset the projected income loss of up to £100,000 from cancelling and postponing many of our key fundraising events this year. This amount [...]

Santhosh Gowda is the Chairman of Strawberry Star Group who are working on a new residential scheme HQ (Harlow Quarter) in Harlow town centre.  These are certainly exciting times for Harlow and we are proud to be part of this new chapter for the town! A vibrant Harlow town centre with upgraded amenities and facilities, including entertainment, new retail, cafes and bars, green spaces along with modern residential units in the heart of the town is soon set to become a reality. Over the past few years, our property company Strawberry Star has been creating new vibrant neighbourhoods through residential schemes in London and the commuter belt towns. Now, we are [...]

Photo Credit: David Levenson Guy Nicholson is the Chairman of the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town board. Over the last 20 years I’ve been involved in regeneration projects for communities and was part of the London 2012 Olympics project, supporting local communities in shaping the Bid, the Games and the Legacy. Playing a part in realising a new vision and legacy for Harlow is a great privilege and its reputation as a sculpture town is one that sits alongside my lifelong passion for arts and culture. The Harlow and Gilston Garden Town heralds a brand-new chapter in the history of Harlow and this March will see the community launch of the Garden [...]

Doreen Goodall is the General Manager of CanalAbility, a charity based in Harlow, dedicated to providing facilities for people with disabilities and special needs to enjoy boating on the river with specially adapted canal boats. A lot of people don’t even know about the river which winds its way secretively along the northern fringe of Harlow. I must admit, even I wasn’t aware of the River Stort until I became involved with CanalAbility. Working in London, I jumped on the train at Harlow Mill each day and then I put my head down until I arrived at Liverpool Street. But it’s amazing what you can see when you do get the [...]

Justin Hopwood is the Manager of Pets' Corner, the farm that has been at the centre of our Town Park for over 50 years. What is Christmas without reindeer, Santa without Rudolph? But I wonder how many of you have actually seen a reindeer. Not many children have, so getting the chance to meet one can really add something special to their Christmas. At Pets’ Corner we take our reindeer to visit local primary schools, nurseries and care homes to bring a bit of Christmas magic. We also like to support different charities each year with a reindeer visit – this year we are supporting PACT for Autism. [...]