You can read more about my fundraising and motivation here:
https://events.armybenevolentfund.org/fundraisers/vanessazopp/cateranyomp2026

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For over 10 years, Havering Dementia Carers Support Group (HDCSG) has been a lifeline for local people living with dementia and the carers who support them every day.

What We Do

HDCSG provides a safe, welcoming and supportive space where:

• People living with dementia can take part in stimulating games and activities designed to support memory, communication and wellbeing.
• Carers can connect with others who understand their journey, reducing isolation and emotional strain.
• Both carers and those they care for can enjoy outings and social events that bring joy, dignity and normality to everyday life.

Why We Need Your Support

We rely on donations to continue running our group. Your contribution will help us to:

• Pay for our meeting hall so we can continue offering a regular, safe space.
• Fund activities, games and resources that stimulate and engage those living with dementia.
• Organise trips and social events that provide meaningful experiences and precious moments of happiness.
• Ease the burden on carers by giving them support, companionship and respite.

The Impact of Your Donation

By donating, you are:

• Helping reduce loneliness and isolation.
• Supporting carers who give so much of themselves every single day.
• Improving quality of life for people living with dementia in our community.
• Ensuring this vital local service can continue for years to come.

Every donation — large or small — makes a real difference.

Together, we can continue to provide comfort, connection and care to families facing dementia.

If you are able to support HDCSG, please consider making a donation today by scanning the QR Code below:

Warm wishes, Havering Dementia Carers Support Group (HDCSG)

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Caroline was rushed into hospital in the April 2021 with extreme abdominal pain. The doctors rushed her in for an emergency operation, due to the fact her bowel had ruptured. She was told if she had entered the hospital just a moment later, she would have died that very day. Thankfully though the surgeons managed to give her life saving surgery. She then had to do some tests, and was told by an oncology consultant at Queens Hospital Romford, that the tests results had shown, that not only did she have cancer of the bowel, but also cancer of the liver too. The consultant then proceeded to tell her that she only had 6 months to live. To which Caroline replied “no I will beat this, and I will be your case study” the consultant told her “I admire your faith, but I’ve never seen anyone beat cancer this aggressive”

She was then put through 12 rounds of extensive chemotherapy, which ended in the December of 2021. On January the 17th (which coincidentally is also today’s date) 2022 Caroline had her final scan, and much to her consultants amazement and Caroline’s delight, her cancer in the bowel and liver had all but disappeared. Caroline was now in remission.

I met Caroline in January 2023 and we hit it off straight away. I was struck by her beauty, her kindness, her selflessness, her zest for life, along with many more admirable qualities. She was everything I’d ever wanted in a partner.

Unfortunately 6 months later, in the July 2023 some results came back from a test (she used to have bimonthly check ups) that the cancer had Manifested in her lungs and her Consultant advised that she should undergo chemotherapy again. She was told this time it was going to a revolutionary chemotherapy treatment that was coming over from that United States, and that she would be the only one in the UK receiving it and she indeed would be a case study. Caroline accepted the treatment and got started in the August of ’23. Initially it was supposed to be 3 months of treatment, 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. It really took it’s toll though and due to the fact that some weeks she wasn’t strong enough, and her blood cells were down, she couldn’t attend treatment, so in fact it lasted 5 months until December 2023. Just after Christmas2023 (our first and only Christmas together) Caroline and I went to see the consultant, to get some scan results. The consultant sat us down and said “I’ve really good news” at this point I was so excited to hear what she had to say. “The cancer has reduced dramatically and is at much lower levels than it was earlier in the year” she continued. Immediately I replied “I thought you were gonna say it’s gone” to which she replied “it’s never going away Daniel”. You can’t imagine how deflated I felt at that moment, after thinking it had disappeared to then hear that. I am actually crying right now thinking about it. She was then given the option to carry on with treatment or to take a break. Caroline chose the latter as the chemotherapy really beat her up, and she needed some rest .

Caroline could see I was down and when we left the consultants office, she smiled and said to me “hey, don’t worry about it. I’ve proved her wrong before and I will do it again”. That was typical of Caroline’s strength and attitude. I remember thinking, she is right and my mood lifted straight away.

Caroline, then suggested we go on holiday to Tenerife for some winter sun and to celebrate her improved health. Whilst we were there I proposed and to my delight she agreed to be my wife. Unfortunately a few days in to the holiday, Caroline was getting abdominal pains, and was suffering from constipation, something that would later last for 6 months. And for those 6 months she couldn’t empty her bowels without the use of an enema.

When we returned home, the consultant told her it was the cancer in abdomen causing her the pain. She was subjected to more tests and was set to start some more treatment in the spring of 2023. This didn’t stop Caroline returning to the gym though, as the gym was her safe place, she used to get up at 4 am to attend the gym most mornings and I believe without her fitness she would never have lived as long as she did.

Around late March early April ’24, she began to get a pain on the bridge of her nose, and I remember saying to her “you’re holding your nose a lot, what’s up” and she replied “hayfever I think”. In hindsight I think she knew it wasn’t, but Caroline had a way of always trying to protect her loved ones. So much so, that one time we were in hospital for a week or so and a family member called her, to ask where she was, because they hadn’t heard from her in a while, and Caroline replied “in Chelmsford at Daniels” I then asked her why she didn’t tell the truth and her reply was “why worry them” again so typical of Caroline.

Anyway, her consultant was concerned about the pain on her nose and ordered in for some tests and scans. Then in late April she had a consultant meeting, where she was told there was a lump in her brain the size of a satsuma and that she would need a biopsy to see if it was cancerous. She was also told, that if it was cancer she wouldn’t see Christmas of ’24. 2 months she waited for the biopsy, and then 2 weeks for the results. So basically 2 and a half valuable months lost of no treatment at all. all the while the cancer was growing in her lungs, her lymph nodes and her brain. After the biopsy she was put on another course of chemo for her lung cancer and it knocked her badly, so bad that she refused to do it again as she believed it would kill her, and if she was to die she wasn’t going out like that.

In the late August, Caroline lost most of her sight and this was the thing that affected her the greatest, and the only time, through the whole ordeal I witnessed her mood drop slightly. She used to say “I can cope with anything, but please don’t take my sight” she was then told by her consultants, radiotherapy was key to reducing the tumour, she was very apprehensive after her previous chemotherapy session, but was assured the radiotherapy would not be as aggressive. And with the thought of losing her sight completely on her mind, she accepted the radiotherapy treatment. This did indeed improve her vision, but physically she had lost so much strength it really took it’s toll once more. She had been 70 kg in late April, she was now 50kg and had to summon all of her strength to get through it. Unfortunately after the radiotherapy, she was pretty much housebound apart from trips and stays in the hospital, which were horrible experiences, sometimes she was left in corridors for over 40 hrs, the NHS is on its knees, but the staff were always amazing.

Her strength had deteriorated rapidly day by day, for example it could take her 30 minutes or more to walk from her bed she had made up in her front room, as she could no longer tackle the stairs, to her toilet which was a mere 8 meters or so walk. We used too put dining room chairs out so she could take breaks en route to the toilet, as she was so determined to get there by herself and she would stubbornly refuse help. She had so much dignity.

Monday the 4th on November ’24, she told me “I think I need to go to the hospice, not for long though, just for some symptom management” I told her “what ever you need to do, we will do it babe” and we rang the hospice and they got her a bed the following Wednesday.

We left Caroline’s home in Barking on Wednesday 6th of November and I remember as I wheeled her out of the front door in her wheelchair, catching a glimpse of her face as she looked back into her home. I could see she was thinking “I hope I see you again” I then told her “not to worry, we will be back babe” as I put my hand on her shoulder to comfort her, and she then put her hand on mine without saying a word.

We arrived at St Francis hospice Romford, and were greeted by the staff, who were all so absolutely wonderful and welcoming. We were then taken to her room, and luckily I was allowed to stay with her 24 hours a day, which I did… Unfortunately she was now in rapid decline, and each hour took it’s toll. By the Saturday I was told by the Dr that we had entered end of life stages as she wasn’t eating or taking in much fluids. Caroline and I managed to have a very short but beautiful conversation that day, which ended in our declaration of love for each other and a beautiful tender kiss on the lips (something we hadn’t done for a while as she was so scared of infection)
Unfortunately it was one of the last conversations we ever had because soon after, she had gone into an almost comatose state. And that’s how she stayed until her final passing on Monday the 11th of November. Remembrance day..11:11 such a perfect day for her to leave us. I miss Caroline more than I could ever put in to words and I plan to live out the rest of my life in honour of this remarkable human being who brought so much love and joy to the world

Anyway thank you for reading and please stay tuned and share my story, as I share it with you. I will need all of your help to get my charity event off the ground. I promise you all it will be epic and I am so appreciative of all your help and support. But for now…

God bless

If you want to help Daniel raise funds for St Francis Hospice then go to his go fund me page – 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/london-to-ghana-5k-mile-walk?attribution_id=sl%3A3eea0c95-70d0-4d84-ad0a-865d49cea5c4&utm_campaign=natman_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp14_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwVERDUAPzF6RleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe2aBLYRsmAZNYHW0akrrIDe4oh6BhdX0YvfVuGeppJRGHhV6vsAS7UzoEbRs_aem_p5C0-DyyASmYvATw4btVDA

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Stephen Moffat’s The Unfriend is coming to Harold Wood!

The post Stephen Moffat’s The Unfriend is coming to Harold Wood! appeared first on HWHPRA.

January 2026 Gallows Corner newsletter final

The post Gallows Corner Jan 2026 Update appeared first on HWHPRA.

The post Harold Court Primary School appeared first on HWHPRA.

Group Sessions, 1-2-1 Sessions, Girls Football, Half-Term Camps, Birthday Parties and much more. Starting from age Five up to Adults.

If you love football or looking to build confidence and #ReachYourPotential Walker Sports can certainly help. Could the next star be from Harold Wood? We would love to see you at one of our sessions.

Please Contact Sam on 07933044633 for more information.

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Council response.

1. Can you advise us what are the plans to ease the disruption for the Harold Wood community.

• The Council continues to work closely with TfL and its contractors to minimise disruption. Measures include:
  • Maintaining an embargo on non‑emergency street works along diversion routes to prevent additional congestion.
  • Pressing TfL and Costain to improve traffic management and signage to discourage rat‑running through residential areas.
  • The council have also pushed for business continuity signage on the A12 and continue to review the operation of diversion routes.
  • Weekly operational meetings and high‑level engagement with TfL to accelerate progress and improve public communications and engagement with local businesses.

2. What are the plans to reduce traffic, pollution and help the local businesses.

• TfL have implemented a travel demand management (TDM) strategy to inform residents of the works and plan travel during this difficult period of disruption. Travel advice for roadworks at Gallows Corner can be found on TfL’s website here: Gallows Corner flyover works – Transport for London
• Additional measures include:
  • Traffic: The Council are pursuing the introduction of 20 mph zones in affected residential areas to improve safety and reduce the impact of diversion traffic.  This includes Church Road, Squirrels Heath Road, and the streets surrounding Redden Court School.
  • Pollution: Air quality monitoring is being carried out using the Council’s diffusion tubes alongside additional monitoring installed by TfL to provide robust data.
  • Businesses: While the Council does not have powers to offer direct compensation, we continue to lobby TfL and the GLA for support measures for businesses impacted by the works.

3. Are TFL or the council looking to make changes to the current school street scheme in Harold Wood and the lack of traffic control on the zebra crossing by kings park.

• No, however if there are any specific issues in these locations we would be happy to investigate further.

4. Will the Council or TFL open barriers or streets to allow flow of traffic

• The Council will not be opening barriers or restricted streets. This approach is necessary to prevent rat‑running through residential areas and maintain safety for pedestrians and local communities. We are continuing to work with TfL to optimise diversion routes and improve traffic flow through measures that do not compromise these priorities.

5. Will TFL get rid of the unnecessary cones on the approach to B&Q or Tesco. Which appear to be pointless and create further delays.

• The Council has asked TfL to review the cones on the A12 Colchester Road.  This has also been raised by Councillor Mugglestone. We are expecting a response on this shortly.

6. What compensation will be paid to residents.

• The Council does not have the legal authority to apply reductions in council tax or provide any other form of compensation for circumstances such as roadworks. Our focus remains on delivering practical mitigation measures to reduce disruption and safeguard residents’ wellbeing during these works.
• The Council has raised the issue of business support with TfL and the Greater London Authority. Any changes to property valuations or relief schemes fall under the remit of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and central Government. TfL is currently exploring opportunities for a temporary reduction in business rates with the VOA and are compiling a list of affected businesses based upon engagement to date. Please note that the outcome of the discussions with the VOA is by no means certain at this stage.

Mayor/TfL response 

Thank you for getting in touch with the Mayor of London about the work at Gallows Corner, he has asked that I reply to you directly on this occasion.

I appreciate the frustration amongst residents, businesses and amongst members in the most affected wards. We understand the concern and the frustration this disruption is causing. Whenever major works like these take place, there are inevitably businesses and residents that feel the impact.

As you will know, alongside our flyover renewal we have been coordinating with Essex & Suffolk Water (ESW), who are replacing an ageing water main at the same time. Given the complexity of this project, particularly with the amount of groundworks still to do, it is not possible at this stage to commit to a specific date when we will be able to re-open the flyover and roundabout. We did explore the potential for opening part of the roundabout early, however, when assessing the impact of re-opening part of the roundabout ahead of the flyover, this approach was shown to have a significant negative impact on local roads and bus services. Concerns were also raised about the impact this approach would have on traffic levels in Romford Town centre. It would also have made completing the works slower, and more difficult to manage. Given this, we decided not to pursue this approach. We will continue to explore any opportunities to reopen elements of the roundabout if this can be achieved without a significant negative impact on local roads.

Your suggestion to remove cones has previously been raised with us directly and we have looked at it in detail. The taper to a single lane starts around 600 metres from the Gubbins Lane junction and is within traffic management guidelines for the speed and type of road. There isn’t any space within this design to modify the arrangement at this location.

We are continuing to work to ensure both businesses and residents are supported in every other way possible during the works. We are doing this by working closely with Havering colleagues to support local road users and businesses with regular project updates, assisted delivery arrangements, business continuity messaging and ongoing engagement with local stakeholders, including you and other members. There isn’t a legal framework for traffic authorities to compensate businesses for loss of passing trade, and creating a one-off scheme would risk setting a precedent that couldn’t be applied fairly across London.

We have instead been engaging with the Valuation Office Agency. We have supplied them with information on our programme, the roads closures in place and have supplied a list of over 50 businesses, which includes Amber Cars, that we consider to be most affected by our work (TfL/Havering & Costain). They have advised us that they will review all the information we have provided and determine whether a temporary reduction in the Rateable Value is appropriate and if so, how much. They are aiming to be in position to conclude this review early in the new year and they will begin to contact businesses directly, including any more than the ones we referenced who they deem to be affected.

We have also raised with the council your suggestion to relax modal filters and other timed restrictions. They have said that they have seen that rat-running pressures are increasing across our network as a direct result of our closure of Gallows Corner.  It is their position that any measures which compromise the effectiveness of these controls, even with the intention of providing temporary access for local traffic only, are highly likely to result in confusing messaging and lead to a significant rise in through traffic and HGV’s using this route. Such an outcome would be neither acceptable nor appropriate for residential roads and the communities they serve.

Lastly, early in the new year we should have completed our additional groundwork to install new piles for the flyover foundations and ESW should have progressed with its micro-tunnelling which will allow us to potentially narrow the completion window down from spring 2026 to a narrower timeframe.

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Lest we forget

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