https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/Local news, what's on and the information you need for Ilford, Wanstead and Woodford.en-GBMon, 05 Oct 2026 06:47:19 +0000https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-crime-figures-august-2026/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-crime-figures-august-2026/Sun, 04 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsRecorded violence in Redbridge rose 12.5% in the year to August 2026 and shoplifting 27.5%. Wanstead Village had the biggest rise of the 22 wards, all ranked.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-halloween/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-halloween/Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000What's OnHalloween in Ilford 2026: a free Day of the Dead light-up parade from the Central Library at 5pm on 30 October, a £10 Hainault Forest trail and Owls parties.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-roadworks-travel/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-roadworks-travel/Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000Local InfoLights on Cranbrook Road at Coventry Road until 8 October, Woodford New Road shut overnight 5 to 10 October, and Winchester Road closed to 12 October.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-ratha-yatra-2026/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-ratha-yatra-2026/Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsThe Ratha Yatra chariot leaves Valentines Park at noon on Sunday 4 October for Redbridge Town Hall. Free festival to 5pm; rolling closures on Cranbrook Road.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/hallmark-woodford-green-care-home/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/hallmark-woodford-green-care-home/Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000SponsoredHallmark breaks ground on 15 October on its Manor Road care home: 110 en-suite rooms for residential, dementia and nursing care, due to open in 2028.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/whats-on-ilford-this-month/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/whats-on-ilford-this-month/Mon, 28 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000What's OnIlford's free Day of the Dead parade leaves the Central Library at 5pm on 30 October, then three bonfire displays on 6 and 7 November. 46 dated listings.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-food-waste-collections-all-houses/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-food-waste-collections-all-houses/Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsEvery Redbridge house not yet on food waste collections joins in November or December. Letters land October to November. Flats come later, separately.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-school-term-dates/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-school-term-dates/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000Local InfoRedbridge schools break up on Friday 18 December and return on 4 January. Half term is 26 to 30 October, but Bancroft's and Seven Kings stop earlier.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-october-half-term/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-october-half-term/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000Local InfoRedbridge half term is 26 to 30 October. The free Festival of the Dead parade leaves Ilford's Central Library at 5pm on the Friday; swim crash courses are £45.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-remembrance-sunday/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-remembrance-sunday/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000What's OnRemembrance Sunday is 8 November. The borough service at Ilford War Memorial has started at 10.50am two years running, with gates closing at 10.40am.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-christmas-travel/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-christmas-travel/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000Local InfoNo trains run on Christmas Day and last year the Elizabeth line was shut on Boxing Day too. The first weekend to plan around is 28 to 29 November.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-santas-grotto/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-santas-grotto/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000What's OnRedbridge's Santa's Christmas Workshop runs 19 to 24 December after Elf Jr at Redbridge Drama Centre, £26.50 a child. Switch-ons start on 20 November.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/valentines-mansion-christmas/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/valentines-mansion-christmas/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000What's OnValentines Mansion is free and open Sundays and Mondays, 11am to 3pm from November. Its lights switch-on is Sunday 22 November, 4pm to 6pm, also free.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-christmas-market/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-christmas-market/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000What's OnIlford's Christmas market has 100 stalls on the High Road from 20 to 22 November, free. Hainault Forest and Wanstead hold smaller markets later in the season.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/harrison-gibson-ilford-social-rent-homes/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/harrison-gibson-ilford-social-rent-homes/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsWork has started on the empty Harrison Gibson store on Ilford High Road: 326 homes, every one for social rent, after two earlier schemes for the site stalled.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/thames-water-redbridge-scrutiny/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/thames-water-redbridge-scrutiny/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsRedbridge councillors want Thames Water to answer in public for August's Woodford burst mains. Next scrutiny meeting: 30 November. What else Full Council agreed.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-new-in-business-september-2026/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-new-in-business-september-2026/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000News60 new companies registered in Ilford from 21 August to 4 September, from a bakery to an arts studio. Plus the Redbridge firms in this month's Gazette notices.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-council-this-week-28-september/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-council-this-week-28-september/Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsA Goodmayes food hall's alcohol licence bid, opposed by 17 residents, is heard on 1 October. Schools Forum shares £230,500 for falling rolls that morning.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/wanstead-school-petition-full-council-debate/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/wanstead-school-petition-full-council-debate/Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsCouncillors debate the Wanstead High School and pool petition at 7pm tonight. Officers recommend they simply note it, and the pool still has no agreed design.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-planning-committee-call-in-ends/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-planning-committee-call-in-ends/Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsThree neighbour objections or a councillor's call-in can force a public planning hearing today. From 31 October neither can. Councillors vote on it tonight.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/cambridge-park-yellow-box-junction-pcns/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/cambridge-park-yellow-box-junction-pcns/Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsRedbridge has issued 13,329 tickets at the Cambridge Park and Blake Hall Road box junction since 2023. Adjudicators keep allowing appeals against them.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-town-centre-plan-6000-homes/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/ilford-town-centre-plan-6000-homes/Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsThe new plan for Ilford wants 6,000 homes by 2050. Its own audit says 784 were built after 2018 and half of tall schemes are stalled. Comments close 30 October.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-claimant-count-august-2026/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-claimant-count-august-2026/Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000News12,735 people in Redbridge claimed out-of-work benefits in August, up 350 in a month. Only 11 of London's 33 boroughs rose, and Redbridge rose the third fastest.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-house-prices-july-2026/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-house-prices-july-2026/Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsThe average Redbridge home lost £13,153 in a year to July, the third monthly drop in a row. Last month's 3.6% rise has also been revised down to 2.5%.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-school-places-falling-rolls/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/redbridge-school-places-falling-rolls/Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsRedbridge wants 150 fewer Reception and 180 fewer Year 7 places as rolls fall. Closure is a last resort, but 23 of its 54 maintained schools ran a deficit.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/kenneth-more-theatre-reopening/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/kenneth-more-theatre-reopening/Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsIlford's Kenneth More Theatre reopens in December, two years after RAAC closed the auditorium. More than £1m spent, but the panto is still a foyer show.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/new-rush-hall-school-places/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/new-rush-hall-school-places/Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsRedbridge's only SEMH special school has 103 pupils in 80 places. The council has approved a statutory notice to take it to 140 from September 2027.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/hermon-hill-south-woodford-flats/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/hermon-hill-south-woodford-flats/Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsOfficers recommend approval of nine flats and a shop on the old Fir Trees pub site despite 124 objections. Redbridge Planning Committee decides on 16 September.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/granville-road-ilford-hmo/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/granville-road-ilford-hmo/Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000NewsA former Ilford children's home has housed up to 24 people without permission since April 2024. Officers now recommend approval at the 16 September committee.https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/hainault-fire-station-open-day/https://ilfordtoday.co.uk/hainault-fire-station-open-day/Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000What's OnHainault fire station opens to the public on Saturday 12 September, 11am to 4pm, with a fire engine to see, safety advice, a bouncy castle and face painting.