Lambeth Country Show 2009 - bigger and better than ever before

The ever popular and biggest outdoor festival the Lambeth Country Show will once again be held in Brockwell Park on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July. This free event is not one to be missed!

Throughout the weekend Brockwell Park will be filled with a wide variety of music and entertainment - see this year's programme. There will be arts and craft available to buy and try, trade stalls and horticulture competitions. With hands-on activities for children and adults to enjoy with live animals from farmyard breeds to more exotic species, as well as brass bands, storytelling and a funfair, there’s something for everyone.

The festivities begin at 11am on Saturday 18 July when the array of vibrant stalls and marquees will be open for business. With an emphasis on home grown talent a variety of cherry-picked local artists will play on the main stage filling the air with music throughout the weekend.

You can see the full programme of events here.

Larkhall Labour Councillor Pete Robbins will again be taking on all comers in the Lambeth Horticultural Society's vegetable animal competition - or there is also the alternative vegetable competition run by Urban75 for those who like to think outside the (vegetable) box.

Help reward our unsung heroes - Lambeth Carers Award

Do you, your family or friends, depend on someone for essential help and support? Do you want to thank them for all their unpaid efforts? Can you help us to identify those remarkable carers who freely give their time and energy to make a huge difference to some-one else's life?

Thousands of people are like this across Lambeth, doing a fantastic job every day, caring for family or friends who are vulnerable or need help. These daily services are performed because of dedication and commitment, and are unpaid and often unrecognised.

Lambeth Council is trying to redress the balance a little by inviting nominations for the second annual Carer of the Year Award. The winner will be given gift vouchers worth £250. Carers who are shortlisted will be invited to an awards ceremony as an opportunity to celebrate the valuable contribution they all make.

Cllr Dr Raj Patil, Labour councillor for Larkhall ward said: "Many people in the borough don't think of themselves as carers as they struggle to look after a family member or loved one but the strain this can put on them personally is enormous. Lambeth Labour has increased investment into services for carers to provide the vital support they need, which is why this award scheme is so important. If you know someone who deserves some recognition it will only take a couple of minutes to nominate but it will mean the world to them, please nominate today."

If you want to nominate a carer, send us the names and contact details for both you and the person you are nominating. We will also need to know why you think they deserve the award. Nominations close at 5pm on Friday 31 July.

To nominate a carer write to: Lambeth Carers Award, Phoenix House, 10 Wandsworth Road, SW8 2LL or visit the website: Lambeth Carers' Award page and download an application form. You can also email: carersawards@lambeth.gov.uk or phone 020 7926 0773

Larkhall school gains Arstmark Gold award

Sixteen creative schools in Lambeth have scooped a prestigious national award for excellence in art, drama, music and dance lessons. The latest round of Artsmark Awards, awarded by national arts organisation the Arts Council, puts Lambeth among the best in the country. While approximately 15 per cent of all schools in England have an Artsmark, just under half of all Lambeth’s schools now have them. This year, Artsmark Gold awards have gone to 11 Lambeth Primary Schools, Artsmark Silver to four, and an Artsmark to one - the best results the borough has ever achieved.

One of the best performing schools was St Andrews CoE primary, which is in Larkhall ward. They were awarded an Artsmark Gold.

Artsmark provides a benchmark for arts provision that encourages schools to consider the opportunities they offer in art, dance, drama and music. The application form for Artsmark acts as an auditing tool, through which schools may gain an overall picture of their arts education provision.

Cllr Tina Valcarcel, one of the Labour councillors for Larkhall ward, said: "Congratulations to staff and pupils at St Andrews. Our Artsmark record puts us among the best, not only in London, but across the whole country. So many Lambeth schools have proven their commitment to developing free-thinking, creative young people."

Lambeth streets are cleaner: official

Litter and graffiti are on the decline in Lambeth according to new research that shows that the borough's streets are cleaner than at any time since current records began six years ago.

Graffiti, fly-posting and litter levels are all down this year, according to independent survey results from Encams, the body which monitors how clean streets are on behalf of local councils.

Lambeth Council says the improvements are down to a combination of better targeting of resources to get to grips with problem areas, better training for staff, as well as investment in the latest street cleaning technology, such as award-winning 'urban vacuum' cleaners called Cantonets that are particularly effective at tackling cigarette butts. The improvements are also as a result of recent education and enforcement operations for littering, fly-posting and graffiti.

Most importantly, Lambeth's cleaner streets are being noticed by residents, according to the latest residents' survey which showed a nine per cent increase in public satisfaction with street cleaning services.

Councillor Sally Prentice, Cabinet Member for Environment on Lambeth Council, said:
"Clean streets that are free from the blight of graffiti have a hugely positive impact on peoples' quality of life so I'm delighted by these latest results. I'd like to thank all those residents, businesses and visitors to Lambeth who help us to keep the streets clean - if we all work together we can make Lambeth a brighter and cleaner borough. Labour has made some major improvements to our services over the past year, investing in the latest technology, improving the training we give to staff, and ensuring resources are targeted most effectively in the streets and neighbourhoods that need them most, and these improvements are now paying off."

"These are the best results Lambeth has achieved but we know how important clean streets are to our residents so there's no room for complacency and we'll be working hard to ensure these improvements are sustained and improved on next year."

2XL programme launched in Larkhall ward

An award winning project which offers young people an alternative to gang life is to be rolled out across Lambeth over the next two years.

The 2 XL programme, the follow on programme to the X-it project, was launched at the Pyramid Youth and Community Centre, Willington Road in Larkhall ward in June. It forms part of Labour's receord £2 million investment in youth services. Youth centres will soon be open seven days a week, and additional support has been given to parents through the Parentline phone line for parents concerned that their children are in trouble.

2 XL is part of Lambeth Council's Young and Safe action plan, introduced by Lambeth Labour, which ensures vulnerable young people and those involved in the criminal justice system are able to access effective support. Since the introduction of Young & Safe, violent crime has been significantly reduced in Lambeth over the past two years. Lambeth council is one of the first local authorities in the country to have a dedicated action plan tackling the issue.

Lambeth Council's original X-it programme, which was one of the first dedicated gang exit programmes to be piloted by a London council, scooped the prestigious Children's Services Award in the Guardian newspaper's Public Services Award contest in 2007. The award followed an evaluation of the programme that showed 72 percent of participants (18 out of 25 young people) had desisted from offending during their involvement in the programme.

Cllr Pete Robbins said: "Only a minority of young people in Larkhall ward get involved in crime but when they do we need to take action. In many cases it's a lack of alternatives that leads some young people into a lifestyle that can put them on the wrong path - which is why it has been vital for our gang exit project to work."

He added: "We've cut the number of young people getting into trouble with the police by almost a third over the past two years in Lambeth, and tackling youth crime remains a top issue for the council - we owe it to the young people themselves and to society as a whole."

The innovative 2 XL programme will use intensive support through group work sessions, residential courses and leadership programmes to develop self awareness and empowerment amongst young people to help them make positive choices. It is based on the original X-it pilot project, which has helped to develop close working links with a number of agencies including the police, community safety teams, tenant associations, youth workers and young people themselves.

2 XL will be introduced at youth centres and other locations across north, southeast and southwest Lambeth over the next two years. A minimum of 120 young people will be recruited every year to each of the three areas to work as either youth or peer mentors. Mentors will receive full training and could go on to study a degree in youth work at University.