Last Friday began in the Kitchen Table Café, in St Bartholomew’s Community Centre.  I was visited by a constituent with concerns about East Ham high street and competition with Westfield Stratford. I was also visited by Tamer Yigit from the Dialogue Society, an organisation based in Turkey and set up to foster cultural dialogue. The Society has six branches nationwide and is keen to be active in East Ham.

Following that I visited the Little Ilford estate, where I was first elected a councillor in 1984.  I enjoyed talking with residents and visiting the local community centre.  It struck me that the estate looked much better cared for than it did in the 1980s, although residents pointed out problems with recent work and told me of serious local problems – for example with drug abuse.

I briefly returned to the Kitchen Table to discuss the prospect of having local young people dance in the Olympic Opening Ceremony with dance teacher Anna Samiyamoorthy.

I finished my day in the Beckton Globe, holding my usual surgery.