Thanks to people like you, we successfully campaigned for Croydon to be run by an Elected Mayor chosen directly by the people of Croydon. The result was incredible, with 8 out of 10 voters choosing a new way to run Croydon. The people from every one of the 28 electoral wards voted to have a Mayor.

This May we get to choose who that Mayor will be – and, as a politically non-aligned organisation, we want to give you the chance to hear candidates summarise their credentials for becoming Mayor of Croydon and how they will run our town if they are elected. Also, to answer your questions.

Please join us at 7:30pm on Thursday 7 April as we welcome the five main political candidates. The venue is at St Matthews Church, Chichester Road, Croydon CR0 5NQ which is 0.6 of a mile to walk from East Croydon Station (about 13 minutes). Two buses from East Croydon Station stop nearby – the 64 to New Addington and 433 to Addington Village.

There is plenty of street parking as well as space in the Church car park.

To ensure we have enough time to get you the answers you want, please let us know your key issues for an incoming Mayor by 31 March at the latest, setting out one or possibly two that you consider to be most important. Please be as brief and precise as possible.

We will review all we receive and endeavour to ensure as many as possible are covered. Also, if you have a question for the candidates to which only a “Yes” or “No” reply is sought, please let us have the question by email as well.

The Hustings will start at 8pm and finish promptly by 9.45pm.

Entry and seating will be on a first-come basis and as we are expecting high attendance, we recommend early arrival to be sure you can attend. The hall will be open from 7.30pm.

This is our chance to shape the future of our borough, so please let your Croydon friends, family, neighbours and colleagues know about this hustings on Thursday 7 April.

The DEMOC Mailing Address is:
Campaign for a Democratically Elected Mayor of Croydon (DEMOC)
PO Box 3254
Purley, CR8 9ER

West Wickham & Shirley Baptist Church are collecting first aid items for those in Ukraine. We are joining our Ukrainian Chef, who has links in her home town of Lviv. The items we are collecting are:

• First Aid kits,
• Bandages,
• Plasters,
• Medical tape,
• Paracetamol,
• Ibuprofen.

Please check dates on these items.

We will be collecting these items on an ongoing basis, until necessary.

These items must be delivered to:

West Wickham and Shirley Baptist Church,
Wickham Road,
Croydon.
CR0 8EH

Thank you so much in advance.

An appeal is being launched by the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee to help the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the conflict.

Fifteen UK aid agencies – including the British Red Cross, Oxfam and Save the Children – are joining together to ask the public to donate.

Homes in Ukraine have been destroyed and water supplies, hospitals and schools have been hit, the DEC says.

The charities say people urgently need food, water, shelter and medical care.

The appeal will help people who have fled Ukraine, but also those who have been displaced to other parts of the country.

DEC members and local aid agencies working with them say they are operating in Ukraine and in the neighbouring countries of Poland, Romania, Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia.

They are using donations to provide trauma care along with medical treatment, food, water and shelter.

All public donations will be doubled by the UK government, up to a total of £20m.

You can donate to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal here.