Caroline was delighted to speak at the official opening of Dulwich Wood Nursery School and Children’s Centre on 12th September. Nursery Schools and Children’s Centres provide the valuable start in life that children need and offer access to a wide range of services such as health and parenting advice to ensure that parents have the support they need to bring up their child or children.
Cllr Caroline Pidgeon officially opened the new ceramics classroom at the Thomas Calton Adult Education Centre in Peckham on Monday 10th September.
Caroline joined her ward colleague Cllr Jelil Ladipo at the Brandon Festival on 18 August. The event had grown since last year and had the most spectacular activities for children and young people, including huge bouncy castles and slides, giant outdoor chess and other games, crazy golf, an inflatable climbing wall and trampolining. In addition there were stalls from local groups such as Friends of Kennington Park.
Caroline recently visited the Salmon Youth Centre to see progress with their building works, compared to a year ago when she last visited.
The Salmon Youth Centre will be a hub in the north of the Borough and will be one of the largest youth centres in the country. The sports hall is already up and running and it is hoped that the final works will be completed over the summer for an August/September opening.
Groundwork Southwark have teamed up with local store fonehouse on a new scheme to recycle old mobile phone handsets with the money raised going to support Burgess Park.
Whilst out and about in Rotherhithe ward over the weekend, Cllr Jane Salmon and Cllr Caroline Pidgeon were struck by the beautiful water lilies on Surrey Water.
“Surrey Water is a beautiful oasis, and the water lilies reminded us of a Monet painting!” said Caroline.
Photo: Caroline with Cllr Jane Salmon by Surrey Water
Thursday 5 July saw the official opening of the new Kintore Way Children’s Centre in Bermondsey. Kintore Way was designed by local architects and the opening included a wonderful cello piece by Julian Lloyd Webber.
Caroline attended along with Simon Hughes MP, Cllr Nick Stanton and the Mayor of Southwark Cllr Bob Skelly.
Liberal Democrats on Southwark Council have warned that local communities are set to lose out on using school buildings because of delays by Chancellor Gordon Brown.
Southwark Lib Dems have been campaigning for some time to make new school buildings VAT exempt. In his budget in March, Gordon Brown made reference to accepting such a change but the delay in announcing details could hit Southwark hard.
Liberal Democrat Councillors were out in force outside Borough Post Office to collect signatures on a petition to save the Borough High Street Post Office, which faces closure. The Government has already closed the Post Office at the Elephant and Castle, and now looks set to close yet another Post Office in Southwark.
Simon Hughes MP, Ward Councillor Caroline Pidgeon, Deputy Mayor Cllr Eliza Mann and former councillor Catherine Bowman joined local residents and members of Kagyu Samye Dzong London at the opening of their new Tibetan Buddhist Centre, in the 100 year old, listed Manor Place Baths in Walworth on Saturday 17 March.
Kagyu Samye Dzong London is a branch of Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland, a group supported by Lord Steel in his former constituency.