Latest news with #WalthamForest
BBC News
10-07-2025
- BBC News
Murder charge after 27-year-old man is stabbed in Waltham Forest
A man has been charged with murder after a 26-year-old man was stabbed to death in east London, the Metropolitan Police Hayward died at the scene after being found with a stab wound on Chingford Mount Road, Waltham Forest on Sunday evening. Peshman Ahmedi, 22, of no fixed address, was arrested on suspicion of murder on Tuesday and subsequently suspect remains in custody and is due before Willesden Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Revealed: The areas where rates of foreign-born mothers have TRIPLED in a decade - find out what the situation is in your area
There are now more foreign-born mothers than British mums in dozens of authorities, MailOnline can reveal. Nationwide in 2024, women hailing from outside the UK accounted for 33.9 per cent of live births – up from just below a quarter in 2008. Yet the rate exceeded half per cent in 55 councils across England and Wales. This is twice as many as in 2013, according to an Office for National Statistics (ONS) report. Newcastle-under-Lyme recorded the biggest jump, MailOnline found, going from 5.8 per cent in 2013 to 18.6 per cent last year. The share also tripled in Halton (from 4.2 per cent to 13.1 per cent) and Knowsley (4.5 per cent to 13.5 per cent). All but 24 of 305 councils saw rates increase, including 27 where the proportion has doubled at the very minimum. In Waltham Forest, 63.7 per cent of babies born in 2013 were to mothers hailing from outside the UK. This fell to 50.5 per cent in 2024. India (4.4 per cent of all live births) is the most common country of origin for non-UK born mothers. Pakistan (3.6 per cent), Nigeria (2.5 per cent), Romania (2 per cent) and Bangladesh (1.7 per cent) round out the top five. Eight of the ten areas with the highest rates of babies born to foreign mothers were in London. Harrow and Brent (both 77.1 per cent) topped the table, ahead of Newham, Ealing and Hounslow. Slough and Luton ranked eighth and ninth, respectively. The analysis comes after MailOnline revealed last month that British mothers are now outnumbered by foreign-born mums at nearly one in seven maternity units. At Northwick Park Hospital, in Harrow, 84.2 per cent of all live births in 2023 were to non-UK mothers. When broken down into ages, UK-born mothers have the second-highest rate of births under 20 years old (2.9 per cent), behind Romanian mothers (4.8 per cent). Between 25-29 was the majority age group for Pakistani and Bangladeshi mothers, while for UK, Polish and Romanian mothers it was 30-34. Polish mothers have the highest rates of motherhood between 40-44 (10.2 per cent). The ONS data also showed that two-fifths of babies last year had at least one parent who was born in another country. In total, there were 594,677 live births in England and Wales in 2024. This represented the first overall increase since 2021. Births remain at historically low levels, however, with 2024 ranking as the third lowest total since 1977. Greg Ceely, ONS head of population health monitoring, said: 'In 2024, the annual number of births in England and Wales reverses the recent trend of declining births, recording the first increase seen since 2021. 'Despite this overall rise, the number of births to mothers under 30 fell, as people continue to put off having children until later in life. 'The largest decrease is seen amongst those under 20 years old, which fell by almost 5 per cent, while the number of mothers aged 35-39 grew the most. 'A couple of other long-term trends are continuing, such as seeing around half of live births within marriage or civil partnership, and an increase in births to non-UK-born mothers.' It comes after Keir Starmer unveiled a crackdown on immigration last month, warning that failure to control the system risked turning Britain into an 'island of strangers'. Downing Street was forced to deny angry comparisons from MPs that it was an echo of Enoch Powell's infamous 'Rivers of Blood' speech. Scrambling to blunt the threat of Reform, Sir Keir vowed to give Brits what they had 'asked for time and time again' as he announced a package to 'take back control of our borders'. Under Number 10's long-awaited blueprint to curb immigration, skills thresholds will be hiked and rules on fluency in English toughened. Migrants will also be required to wait 10 years for citizenship rather than the current five and face deportation for even lower-level crimes. Policymakers estimate the government's package will bring down annual inflows by around 100,000. Yet official figures show immigration was already tumbling from record highs before Labour took power. Official figures showed net long-term inflows were 431,000 in the year to December, compared with 860,000 across 2023. The Tories said that the ONS data demonstrated their curbs were already having an impact – although the level in 2024 was still roughly equivalent to the population of Leeds. Migrants arriving in Britain play a vital role in supporting key infrastructure, such as the services industry and the NHS. Experts say they also may play a role in bolstering the UK's freefalling birth rate. Fertility rates have plunged to their lowest levels since records began in the 1930s. The stark drop has triggered doomsday warnings about population collapse, which demographers believe will devastate Western economies. If the downward spiral continues it may leave countries with too few younger people to work, pay tax and look after the elderly. Demographers claim the spiralling figures mean we may need to become reliant on immigration to prop up our economy. Women prioritising their education and careers, and couples waiting to have children until later in life have fuelled the trend. Rising costs, especially the price of childcare and housing, is another factor thought to be putting people off starting families. Fertility rate statistics were not provided by the ONS in the latest update as mid-year population estimates were not available.
The Independent
04-07-2025
- The Independent
Council pays domestic abuse victim £1,600 after leaving him homeless for weeks
Waltham Forest Council has agreed to pay £1,600 to a domestic abuse victim after a watchdog found he had been left homeless for five weeks. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said the man first asked the council for help in January, saying he could no longer live with relatives who were abusing him, and for a second time in February. The council only acted in mid-March after legal action was threatened, offering hotel accommodation but no further action when the man said his abuser knew where he was staying. Ms Amerdeep Somal, of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: 'Waltham Forest Council let this man down when he approached it for help. 'This should not have happened, and I am pleased the council has acknowledged the gravity of its errors and accepted the recommendations I have made. I hope other survivors of domestic abuse will be treated better in future.' Councillor Ahsan Khan apologised, telling the BBC that the council took on board the report's findings, and would "ensure we use these to improve the service we provide for residents in the future". The council has not yet responded to The Independent 's request for comment. During his stay at the hotel, the council also failed to confirm a booking which again left him homeless for three nights, the report said. The man said he was assaulted during these three days. The man also lost his possessions because the council refused to store his belongings without a payment of £500 up front, which he could not afford, the investigation found. The investigation criticised the council for the three-month delay in accepting that it had a duty to support him with housing, as well as finding that the council failed to consider the man's vulnerability and the suitability of the hotel accommodation. The council agreed to apologise and pay the £1,600 to the man, the report said. It has also agreed to review its housing policies and improve how it handles cases involving vulnerable people.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- BBC News
Waltham Forest Council fined for failing to support abused man
A domestic abuse victim was left to sleep on the streets for five weeks despite asking Waltham Forest Council for help, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has man, who has not been named, asked the council for help in January saying he could no longer live with relatives who were abusing him, the report council has agreed to pay £1,600 to acknowledge the man's Ahsan Khan apologised and added the council took on board the report's findings and would "ensure we use these to improve the service we provide for residents in the future". He added the council was "aware it did not reach the high standards it sets itself". Booking error The Ombudsman reported the council did not help the man until March after the man's representative threatened the council with legal found the council then offered the man hotel accommodation but did not change the hotel when he said his abuser knew where he was this, the man stayed at the hotel but a booking error on behalf of the council meant he was then left homeless again for another three nights, during which time he said he was assaulted, the report Ombudsman's investigation also found the man had asked the council for help storing his belongings while he was homeless but was told this was only possible with an upfront payment of £500. As he was unable to pay this, he lost his possessions. The report summarised that the council had failed to consider his circumstances when he first approached them as homeless and also failed to consider whether he was vulnerable as a result of the domestic abuse he had investigation also criticised the council for the three-month delay in accepting it had a duty to support him with housing. 'Should not have happened' Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: "Waltham Forest council let this man down when he approached it for help."This should not have happened, and I am pleased the council has acknowledged the gravity of its errors and accepted the recommendations I have made."I hope other survivors of domestic abuse will be treated better in future."The Ombudsman has instructed the council to remind staff of the rules around housing, especially to those who may be vulnerable. Waltham Forest Council told the Ombudsman it had agreed to create an action plan to reduce its delays in considering the main housing duty to people in its would also review its policy on how it protected the property of homeless people to ensure it complied with the law.
The Independent
30-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Made-to-order ‘before midnight' transfusion helps save mother's life
A woman saved by a 'fake immune system' blood donation has described how her treatment has given her a 'lifeline' as she urged people to sign up to become blood donors. Fahreen Virani, 42, said her life came 'crashing down' when she was diagnosed with leukaemia last year. After chemotherapy she needed a stem cell transplant but was struck down by pneumonia which was not responding to usual treatments. As a result, Mrs Virani was told she needed a special 'before midnight' transplant of components taken from blood. Granulocytes are white blood cells which attack and break down bacteria, fungi and viruses. But they have a short shelf life and have to be given to a recipient before midnight the day after donation. Transfusions of granulocytes are made using normal blood donations but have to be quickly tested and processed before being rushed to hospital. Mrs Virani, a dentist from Waltham Forest in north-east London, said: 'I remember waking up early every day thinking 'are they here, are they here?' 'If you go past midnight, they have to dispose of them, they expire, that's why I was always so eager. 'I knew this would lessen the fungal pneumonia and that then I would be fitter and healthier so I could have the stem cell transplant. 'They drastically helped me to be ready for the transplant, they were a lifeline.' Mrs Virani, who has a son, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in February 2024 after noticing symptoms of tiredness, backache and low haemoglobin counts. 'I was terrified. I had a boy who was going to turn four two days later,' she said. 'We had a young family, we had just moved house, and everything came crashing down.' She had chemotherapy so her body would accept a stem cell transplant but the chemotherapy also prevented her bone marrow from making enough white blood cells, making her vulnerable to the fungal pneumonia. 'The doctors said that when someone has a stem cell transplant there's a 10% chance it will result in death but with the fungal pneumonia it was 30%,' Mrs Virani said. 'They treated me with antifungals but that didn't fully work, so that's why they started the granulocytes – it would give me a fake immune system.' Each granulocytes transfusion is made for a single patient. A standard transfusion is two packs, with each pack made from 10 blood donations. Fewer than 2,000 packs are sent to hospitals each year, NHS Blood and Transplant said. As a result of the treatment, Mrs Virani received her stem cell transplant in July last year. 'I can walk my son to school every day,' she said. 'We can go to Hyde Park and hire a bike. A few months ago, I never dreamed I would be able to do that. 'The donors whose blood was used for the granulocytes are in my prayers every night. I am so immensely grateful. I don't know where I would be without them.' NHS Blood and Transplant has highlighted low blood stocks in England and concerns have been raised over a dip in donors over the summer. Gerry Gogarty, director of blood supply at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: 'Your blood contains all kinds of components such as red blood cells, plasma, platelets, and white blood cells, which can all be separated out to save or improve several lives. 'So as well helping people with your red cells, the same donation could give someone like Fahreen a potentially lifesaving immune system boost. 'But to keep supplying hospitals this summer we need more donors. 'We hope Fahreen's story shows the unusual and unexpected ways that blood is so vital to the wider NHS. 'Our stocks are low and we need people to register and book appointments at
