Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust
Registered Charity Number 1118618
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Bethnal Green Tube Disaster 1943.
On 3 March 1943 a crowd of people entered Bethnal Green tube station which was used at the time as an air-raid shelter. After the searchlights went on and an anti-aircraft battery a few hundred yards away in Victoria Park launched a salvo of a new type of anti-aircraft rockets the crowd surged forward. Someone tripped on the stairs causing many others to fall. 300 people were crushed into the stairwell within a few seconds, 173 of them died and over 90 were injured. The worst civilian disaster of the 2nd World War. |
| Full planning permission has now been granted by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for the Memorial to be built. Now all we need to do is raise the money.
Details of how to donate to the trust are given at the bottom of this page and on the 'Appeal / Donations' page. If you have any additional fund raising ideas please let us know. |
posted: 10th January 2012
Friends in America
We've had contacts with a really lovely guy called Charles Jenkins who was born and grew up in Bethnal Green but now lives in America.
He has a brilliant website full of incredible pictures of old and new Bethnal Green and lots of other places in the East End. I hope you will take some time to look at his site and read some of his great stories about life in the East End when he was young. It certainly brings back some wonderful memories.
It’s good to know that people in America are also interested in the East End and he is also appealing for donations to our charity on his website, so we hope you will also pass on details to your overseas friends.
Here are the details:
EAST END MEMORIES by Charles S.P. Jenkins, at www.eastend-memories.org.uk. Charles includes a number of stories and remembrances of the Bethnal Green of his childhood and of today on his
website.
posted: 10th January 2012
Sundial Community Centre
For the three Sundays leading up to Christmas we were allowed to have a
couple of stalls at the Sundial Community Centre in Shipton Street, just
behind Columbia Road flower market. It was great fun to share the room with
the Golden Girls and some other lovely sellers on those special days. We
raised £357.77 over the 3 weeks so that was really brilliant for us and also
gave us the opportunity to sell some of our calendars and books about the
disaster to supporters. We are very grateful to the Sundial Centre staff
for making us so welcome and allowing us to share the event with them. Also,
their soup and refreshments were delicious!!
If anyone would like one of our calendars or Sean Dettman's book about the
disaster please contact the secretary on info@stairwaytoheavenmemorial.org
for more details.
posted: 16th December 2011
Round up
Suzie Pearson has so far raised over £156 on her sponsored half marathon. Julian Applerley presented us with his sponsored sky-dive cheque for £600 and one of his customers also raised £110 for printed yellow high vis jackets for us. Our sincere thanks to everyone involved as this money was raised through a great deal of effort on each one’s part.
The wonderful play ‘A long Night in London’ written by Bernie C Byrne was performed over 3 days at the Network theatre in Waterloo. With a slight rewrite and a brilliant cast it was even more powerful than ever. It had us singing along to wartime songs, laughing at wartime jokes, then tearful at the climax. The scene is set to look like an underground station and all the cast wore costumes, hairstyles and make-up of the 1940’s.The transformation was amazing. If you have never seen it before you should try to catch it when it is performed again. We also raised just over £278 as a result of the play, so our grateful thanks to Bernie and all the cast for such a wonderful effort for us and for showing new people what happened on 3rd March 1943.
Bernie is planning to take the play along to colleges and 6th forms at various schools next year so if you are connected to a school please let me know and we will see if it is possible to organise it in your area.
We had a last minute stall at Spitafields market last Friday where we were able to offer some of our Christmas goods and raised just over £77 and to talk about the disaster to the many visitors to the market.
If any of your families have pledged to raise money towards your loved ones name/s being etched on the memorial or one of the plaques, please could you either donate online now or send the cheque soon. If you need more information on costs please let us know.
We now have 2012 calendars in stock. They have colour photographs for each month of the year from various fund-raising events, the Memorial Service, Tommy Walsh, etc., and cost £5. if you would like to order one or pick one up let us know and we will be able to let you have that information. Though we will be at Liverpool Street mainline station on Wednesday 23rd November with them.
We also hope to have a few more copies of Sean Dettman’s book about the disaster. They cost £10 so please order your copies as soon as possible.
Sandra (077324 60 444)
Derek (07722 162 168)
Morpeth School
This picture shows some of the pupils at Morpeth School who read out words
they had written themselves about the disaster on Armistice Day at the site
where the memorial will be built.
Many of their former pupils died in the
disaster and some survived. One of the survivors being Babs Clark, seen here
in the light blue jacket. She was able to tell them about her experience of
that night.
The children then observed a 2 minute silence with relatives of those who
died and two survivors - Babs & Irene - at 11am on 11th day of the 11th
month 2011. Babs went back to the school with Derek Spicer for tea and
cakes and, as both were former pupils, they were shown the old original
building where they were taught and were delighted to find their old
classroom. Needless to say the school is almost unrecognizable now as it is
large, modern and light, but it still has that one small old building that
used to be the only one on the site during wartime.
They found the room where the headmaster's office was - they had been
summonsed there once or twice!! The new restaurant where the children have a
wonderful choice of food was a far cry from their experience of school
dinners!!
It was a lovely gesture for the pupils and teachers to take the two back
down memory lane and we really do appreciate their kindness and support.
A Long Night in London.
The first two photographs show the cast of the play A Long Night in London, from left to right: Heather Wilson, Sally Lofthouse, Cheryl Felgate and Murray Smith.
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In the third photograph the cast are joined by writer and director Bernie C Byrne.
Click on any of the photographs to see larger versions.
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posted: 8th October 2011
Suzie half marathon.
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Suzie Pearson has taken part in a half marathon for us. She did it in 2 hours 30 minutes which is a very respectable time. Three of Suzie’s family were involved in the disaster so it is very close to her heart.
If you have pledged sponsorship please could you pay up now? We'll let you know how much she has raised in due course.
Well done Suzie and thanks very much for your help and support. Hope you’ve recovered now.”
Click on Suzie for photos. |
posted: 7th October 2011
Julian Apperley makes his sponsored parachute jump.
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Julian Apperley, publican of The Hare Pub in Cambridge Heath Road, completed his skydive on 1st October. The weather was perfect.
If you have sponsored him please could you pay up now? Hopefully if everyone pays their pledges he will have raised £600 which is really magnificent.
Click on Julian to see some photos from the day. |
posted: 13 September 2011
Sponsored cycle ride.
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Well done to Ronnie Spicer for undertaking his sponsored bike ride from Lands End to John O’Groats. It was a gruelling 10 day ride through some pretty awful extremes of weather and he needed replacement pedals and brakes on the journey.
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However, he has now recovered and is collecting in his sponsorship money. If you have pledged money please could you pay online or ring Derek Spicer on 07722 162 168 to organise collection of your cash or cheque.
If all the money comes in he will have raised £1,575, which is really magnificent and we thank him very much for all his efforts and to all his family for their support too.
posted: 30 June 2011
We had a great family fun day!
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We had a great family fun day at The Hare pub thanks to its licensee Julian Apperley who organised it all.
READ MORE
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posted: 19 May 2011
Sandra's report on the latest fund raising events
Sandra has reported back on two recent fund raising events, the Foresters Scooter Club meeting and the Art Auction, read her report on the News and Events page
here.
Letter of support from Prime Minister Cameron.
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We have received a letter of support from Prime Minister David Cameron, which can be viewed
here.
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posted: 18 August 2010
New Patron – Tommy Walsh.
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Tommy Walsh – of Ground Force, Quest TV’s daily DIY show, and several TV adverts – has agreed to be our charity patron.
He is just as lovely in the flesh as he is on TV, so we are delighted about this. Tommy has lots of contacts and hopefully will be able to help us to reduce some of the costs of the memorial. With his help we hope that it will bring us closer to being able to start building within the next 9 months.
For more information about anything to do with the Memorial and the charity please ring Derek Spicer on 07722 162 168 or Sandra on 077324 60 444. |
posted: 27 April 2011
2011 Marathon.
Our wonderful marathon runner, Raju Vaidyanathan, who is also one of our trustees, completed the London Marathon
in 5 hours 51 mins despite suffering from a very painful knee.
It was also extremely hot on the day and lots of the athletes appeared to be struggling in the difficult conditions. We even got burnt just standing on the sidelines waiting for him to come by, so it must have been
really hot for the poor runners.
We did give Raju the option of giving up when we saw him at the 22 mile stage, but he insisted on finishing. So we are very proud of him and thank him very much for all his hard work in the training and running on the actual day.
We have not had a lot of sponsorship for him, so if any of our supporters could please give a small donation it would really make his efforts worthwhile.
posted: 27 March 2011
Daily Express article.
The Daily Express recently published an article on the disaster which you
can read here.
posted: 28 March 2011
ITV news item.
The disaster was featured on a London Tonight news item, which can be viewed here.
posted: 10 March 2011
Commemoration Service for the 68th anniversary
of the disaster
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The Service was very comforting and beautifully organised by Revd. Preb. Alan Green (Rector of St. John’s Church). He is also our Pastoral Trustee. It was great to have Rushanara Ali, the MP for Bethnal Green & Bow, read the first Lesson and our Patron, Tommy Walsh, give the second one.
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Tommy also helped us read out the names of the victims while 173 candles were lit on the altar by Rev. Green and Revd Brian Ralph from St. Barnabas Church.
Read more ...
posted: 11 March 2011
‘The Report’ by Jessica Kane.
Jessica Kane’s book called ‘The Report’ was launched at Bethnal Green library last Thursday 3 rd March. She is a lovely young American who has written this book of fiction from the perspective of the author of the Dunne Report. You have to appreciate that it is a work of fiction, so none of the characters, apart from Lawrence Dunne the author of the official Report, are real people. However, it does transport you back to the time of the disaster and it has met a much wider audience than we could ever have hoped to. The publishers have gained lots of publicity and the book is selling well. So, we hope it will bring in more donations and awareness about the event. The book should be on general sale for £12.99, but if you are unable to obtain a copy from your local book shop please let me know. We raised some donations during this library book signing event and also the local Liberal Democrats councillors collected donations at a social event the same evening and put their money in the same bucket. So that day we raised £162.04 and we are very grateful to everyone involved that evening and thank Bethnal Green library for hosting the book launch and the Liberal Democratic Party for raising so much money for us among their councillors.
posted: 28 February 2011
REPORT ON THE PLAY AND FILM OVER THE WEEKEND OF 17-19th FEBRUARY
We had a super run of the play ‘A Long Night in London’ at the Oxford House Theatre in Bethnal Green . The writer/director Bernie Byrnes did a great job as it was even more powerful and edgy than the last time. The 3 actresses and 1 actor that played several parts were brilliant and the setting, like an underground shelter, really brought it home to us all exactly what happened on that Long Night of 3rd March 1943. I know that it helped some of the audience, particularly some of the survivors, to come to terms with parts of the event.
Thank you to everyone who came along to the play and film especially those who had never attended any of our events before. We were all delighted to see our Patron Tommy Walsh and his wife ( sorry girls!!) on Friday evening and on Saturday afternoon. He inspired the audience with his update on the project and how he is trying to help us. There will be another opportunity to see him at the Memorial Service on 6th March at 2.30pm.
Tommy was able to accept a cheque from the Foresters Charity Stewards UK Trust for £500 and with another cheque for £400 from the East London branch of the Foresters Friendly Society ‘Industry of Cobden’ from the previous week, that was an additional £900 for our funds from The Foresters.
Also, Alex Frappell, a university student, is doing her dissertation about the disaster and she raised money at a coffee morning among her fellow students and brought along all the change, which amounted to £27.25, which we are delighted with. I have some questionnaires from Alex for survivors and relatives of the victims to help her research. If you would like to take part in this (which will only take a few minutes) could you please let us know so we can either e-mail or post it to you . It is just one A4 sheet of paper. We would like t o support Alex ’ s research. She is also continuing to help try to raise more money for our charity funds and will be at the Memorial Service.
With all the money raised over the 3 days and Alex’s collection the total raised was £621.45. If you add in the £900 from the Foresters branches we had £1521.15 to bank from th at weekend . So a big thank-you to everyone who contributed as this was a magnificent effort on everyone’s part. However, the biggest thank-you must go to Bernie Byrnes, the playwright, and the cast and sound/lighting guys for working so hard to make it such a successful 3 days and particularly to Oxford House for allowing us to use their theatre without charge. We are very grateful to all concerned.
The Wind in the Roses ” Another play - in Oxfordshire this time
We have just heard that “The Wind in the Roses”, a play about the War, performed during the week up to 26th February at Steeple Aston Village Hall, ( half way between Oxford and Banbury ) played to almost full houses over the 3 day run. A collection for our charity was held each night and raised £250. Our grateful thanks to all the cast and particularly to Stephen Nash who wrote & organised it all and to everyone who came along and gave donations.
If you need any more info about any of the events please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sandra ( Hon. Sec. ) 077324 60 444
Any time over the next week or two ...
You might hear on radio, TV , and in the papers about a new book called “The Report” by Jessica Kane. Jessica is an American author and she has written this book of fiction about the disaster from the point of view of the person who produced the official report afterwards. She is helping us to raise some money and has made a donation to our charity, but you do need to realise that this is a work of fiction and therefore not everything you read in it is based on facts. It is, however, a good read, so don’t let me put you off as you will learn more about the cover-ups from reading it.
She is having a book launch at Bethnal Green library next Thursday 3rd March from 6.30pm and there will be information and displays about the real disaster in the library and we will be there collecting donations and giving out information and possibly answering questions. So, please come along to find out more.
Also, that same evening 3rd March a new art exhibition starts at Oxford House (just off Bethnal Green Road), which will run for 4 weeks. One of the artists will be showing a work about the BG tube disaster featuring 173 flat packed cardboard coffins. It sounds very interesting and as the exhibition will run during the day and evening over the following weeks you might like to go along and learn some fascinating facts about that part of the war.
On Radio London on 3rd March the lunchtime programme of Robert Elms will interview Jessica and she will also be speaking about her book and about the disaster at the London Transport Museum’s film night on 8th March at 6.30pm. Just turn up and pay on the door. Also, there will be a book slot on LBC radio on 8 th March on Ian Dale’s programme that evening and an article in The Times this coming Saturday 5 th March in the Review Section.
posted: 15 February 2011
Saturday 5th February
Jessica Goyder's wonderful concert at St. John on Bethnal Green Church was
very enjoyable. Unfortunately I could not be there, but everyone I have
heard from said what a lovely evening it was. The music was haunting and
the whole atmosphere in the church was brilliant and very entertaining.
Jessica has a beautiful voice and one of our supporters said how nice it was
to be able to hear all the words for a change. Jessica and the Pocketwatch
trio all worked very hard to make it such an enjoyable evening and we would
like to thank them all very much for all they did for us. The entry
donations raised £407 for the charity which really delighted us, so we are
extremely grateful to everyone that came along and particularly for all the
artists who gave their time freely. It was a wonderful evening and I'm
gutted that I could not be there.
You can look at Jessica’s website and hear her sing.
Sandra Scotting (Hon. Sec)
posted: 18 February 2011
New City Primary School
Children at The New City Primary School in Plaistow received a visit from Alf Morris and Derek Spicer on 10th February.
They gave a talk about life during the war for a child and also about what happened in the Bethnal Green tube disaster. The talk was given to 150 Year 3 and 4 pupils and their teachers in their assembly hall and the children asked some very good and interesting questions afterwards. They have been busy learning about World War Two and helped raised £69.73 for the Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust, so we are really delighted with all their efforts and thank them and the teaching staff very much for making Alf and Derek so welcome.
If your school would like a talk please contact Derek Spicer on 07722 162 168
posted: 27 January 2011
“A Long Night in London”
A play by Bernie C. Byrnes about the Bethnal Green tube disaster will be performed at Oxford House, Derbyshire Street, E2 6HG (just off Bethnal Green Road a short walk from the tube staion and MacDonald’s, on Thursday 17th, Friday 18th and Saturday 19th February at 8pm, finishing about 9.30pm. There will be a matinee at 2pm on Saturday 19th. Tickets are £8 (£5 concessions) in advance, or £10 on the door - they can be bought from ticketsource.co.uk or through the website www.kippertietheatre.com. The play will be performed in the theatre at Oxford House and refreshments will be available. These will be professional actors who are all giving their services, free of charge, to raise money for our charity, so please support them and fill the seats.
It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow
On Saturday 19th at 4pm there will be a private viewing of "It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow”, the black & white 1970's TV film about the disaster by Bernard Kops, who we hope will be there to talk about it. So this will at the same theatre in Oxford House between the matinee and evening performance of the above play. If anyone would be interested in staying on to see it or coming early before the evening performance please let me know in advance. Donations will be taken on entry.
The New City Cockney Night
The New City Cockney Night (which will include an Abba tribute Band entertainment, bingo and a raffle) on Friday 25th March at The West Ham Supporters Club, Castle Street, London E13 (the road next to West Ham’s football club). Tickets are £4 each to include a fish & chip supper. There is a pay bar available. 6.30pm for 7pm. Please book your tickets early to avoid disappointment, as numbers are limited, at:
School Office
New City School
New City Road
Plaistow
London
E13 9PY
020 8472 2743 or info@newcity.newham.sch.uk
If you need information about any of the above please feel free to send me an e-mail or ring me or ring Derek Spicer on 07722 162 168 or 078 28 197 236. We really need your support to make these events worth putting on.
posted: 7 January 2011
Bonner Street School fundraisers
Bonner Street School children have just raised £190 for our charity after having a talk from Alf Morris and Derek Spicer. So our thanks to all the children for working so hard to achieve this.
Well done!
posted: 7 January 2011
Keith Miller evening
The Keith Miller’s medium/clairvoyant evening on Monday 13th December at Oxford House, was a fascinating evening. Most of the people received messages and were very comforted by then. They were very specific to each of the people present so it was very impressive. Keith did this event free of charge to support our charity because of his family’s involvement. We raised £425.62 with ticket money, raffle and goods sold. So thank you very much Keith for a wonderful evening and all your hard work in organising it and thanks to everyone that attended.
posted: 29 November 2010
November/December updates
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There didn’t seem to be very many people around on Saturday for our Christmas Fair (not surprising as it was bitterly cold), so we didn’t think we had done that well. However, we were very pleasantly surprised when we added up all the money to find we had raised £1046.50 (and no foreign coins!!). So it was a brilliant result and most unexpected. |
W. English & Son's grand total
This takes the total raised by W. English & Son, funeral directors in Bethnal Green Road , over the last 2 years since they started to help us, to just over £20,168, which is absolutely magnificent. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the bosses of English’s for all their help and support over this time and particularly their staff – Terri Fitzpatrick (who is quite poorly at present) and her husband, Den, plus Sue Camilleri and David Kemp who all organise the events on their days off and it is a very long day for them.
Thank-you also to everyone who donated goods for Saturday (and over the last 2 years) and to all the helpers we had on Saturday who worked their socks off all day, not only setting up, but selling and helping to pack away and clear up at the end. This includes Kerry who was there all day and Babs Clark who made tea, coffee and mince pies to keep us going in the cold. Also, to Evelyn Teichmann who was dressed as Mother Christmas, standing out in the cold all afternoon ringing her bell to attract people to the Fair. And, as ever, a big thank-you to our own Derek Spicer and Lee Scotting who (with me) stood outside all day and helped out from early in the morning until late (I think I had a red nose that would put Rudolph to shame by the afternoon with the cold wind). Derek’s wife, Barbara, gathers in a lot of the goods we have to sell and drives them up to English’s and her family helped out too (Bev, Bev & Pat) during the day. We also take a car load up each time usually donated by our friends and neighbours. Other helpers included Joan & Tom Wilson and Frances & Jo Speakman at different times during the day. Many of these have long journeys (especially Pat Spicer from Reading), so we are indebted to everyone who helped out as we could not have done it without them all .
As previously mentioned, there won’t be any more sales days there as the premises is being refurbished in the New Year, so we will miss this opportunity to raise money on a regular basis. If anyone knows of any shops or businesses that could help us out (in London or Essex) by allowing us to hold sales days once or twice a month on a Saturday please let us know.
The Fountain’ pub in Sceptre Road
The Fountain’ pub in Sceptre Road (off Globe Road and behind Barmy Park) raised £600 for us 2 weeks ago with a snooker & darts tournament and also donations in the bottle on the bar and a ‘guess how much was in the bottle’ competition. So, our sincere thanks to everyone who took part and particularly to June, the landlady, and her husband, John, for their help and support. If you are passing that way please pop in and say hello to them and also have a drink and put some money in the new bottle on the bar that they have just started.
posted: 9 November 2010
Fireworks event in Victoria Park.
The fireworks event in Victoria Park on Sunday 7th November organised by Tower Hamlets Council certainly went with a bang. We were given permission to collect donations during the evening on 3 gates so we had 14 wonderful volunteers spread out along the perimiter, including John & Darren Walters, Pearly King and Pearly Prince of Finsbury, who always work so hard collecting money for us.
The fireworks themselves were brilliant and it was completely free to go in. Our patron, Tommy Walsh, opened the proceedings and spoke about our project and hoped that the spectators would be generous when they see our collectors on the way out. We were therefore delighted when we all finished counting the money at the end of the night as we raised £2,080.24. We would like to thank all those who gave money to our collectors and also to Tower Hamlets Council for allowing our charity to collect at the event. Also, a really big thank-you to all our volunteer collectors as it was a cold night (though dry, fortunately) and the buckets were pretty heavy by the end of the evening. We could not have managed without them all.
posted: 6 October 2010
Fun Race night.
We held a fun race night on Saturday 25th September at All Saints Church Centre, Ash Road, Hartley, Kent. It really was a fun evening and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. As well as having a good night out we raised £530.50 for the charity, so it was a good evening all round.
posted: 9 November 2010
W. English & Son Sales Days.
The October sales day raised £925 and we also received a donation from the Foresters Charity Stewards for £300 on the same day. We are extremely grateful to both organisations for their help and support to our charity.
posted: 10 September 2010
70th Anniversary of the Blitz.
Last Saturday we held the 70th anniversary of the Blitz @ Bethnal Green library day. This was a very interesting afternoon on 4th September commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Blitz and talking about the Stairway to Heaven Memorial project. Unfortunately we ran out of time and could not hear talks from many of the survivors, so we might have to do this again another day. But everyone who spoke about their time during the War gave us a fascinating insight of what it was like to live through it.
Sean Dettman spoke about his book about the disaster and started a very interesting and thought-provoking discussion about who was responsible for the disaster. He also signed copies of his book about the event and we had lots of goodies for sale and postcards available for supporters to write to the Queen, Prime Minister and Mayor Boris Johnson urging them to help us.
The afternoon was opened by Cllr. Denise Jones and we are very grateful to her for talking about her support for our project and the need to preserve the heritage of East London. Also, our thanks to Chloe who read some great book extracts and poems from the wartime. She was dressed in 1940's style and made us all feel very envious of the fashion of the day as she looked so beautiful.
Thanks must also go to Richard Bolt and all the staff at Bethnal Green library for making this event possible. You will be pleased to know that we raised £199.17 from donations and sale of goods.
posted: 18 August 2010
Video clips.
The following links are for video clips relating to the tradgedy on YouTube.
The first is a short documentary telling the story of the Bethnal Green Tube shelter disaster.
The second is an interview with Dr Joan Martin MBE, who was on duty as a junior doctor on March 3rd, 1943.
The third an interview with Sandra Scotting, whose grandmother and cousin were killed in the Bethnal Green Tube shelter disaster, explains the impact on her mother and the importance of the memorial.
posted: 18 August 2010
Keith Miller – Medium/ clairvoyant evening.
This took place on 28 th July and was very impressive. Most people in the audience seem to receive messages. We raised £345, which included donations, so it was also a very successful event financially.
We would therefore like to thank Keith very much for all his hard work in conducting the evening completely free of charge and also to Lesley and the staff at Eastbourne House (Globe Town Community Centre) for allowing us to use their premises free of charge. It was a great evening. We will organise another medium event in the autumn and will let you know once we have a date & venue booked .
posted: 18 August 2010
Cockney Music Hall.
Cockney Music Hall evening at St. John on Bethnal Green Church 31st July 2010.
We had a great evening at the cockney music hall. We had colourful entertainment, magic, tricks, dancing, singing and all the wonderful Pearly Kings & Queens helping us to have a really fun time. Hope those of you that attended enjoyed themselves.
I would like to thank everyone who came along and also to St. John on Bethnal Green Church for allowing us to use the church for the event free of charge. Also a big thank-you to the artists Underbling & Vow (Nanna & Rosie) and the whole cast who performed free of charge. Also thanks to the Spicer family who ran the tea & cakes bar and to all the Pearly Kings & Queens who helped out and performed during the evening, especially John Walters, Pearly King of Finsbury , who organised everything. Everyone worked so hard, without any remuneration, as always, to make it such a successful evening.
Also, ‘Minty’ from EastEnders (actor Cliff Parisi ) came along and kindly brought the ‘Albert Square’ signpost that had been signed by all the cast (including Barbara Windsor, Patsy Palmer and everyone), which we will auction in due course. He kindly posed for photographs with his fans as well as contributing to our funds.
At the end of the evening we were very surprised to be presented with a cheque for £1000 from the Pearly King & Queen Society and a further £150 from the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, Islington branch. So with all the donations, ticket money, raffle and tea money we raised £2845.26, which was magnificent and we really can’t thank everyone enough for coming along and making it such a brilliant evening.
There are some photographs from the evening on the 'Cockney Music Hall 2010' page.
posted: 18 August 2010
Woodhouse Players.
We would like to thank Leslie Winterflood and the Woodhouse Players who raised £100 for us at a recent show. If you see any of their shows around London please go up to the actors and actresses and thank them again for us.
posted: 18 August 2010
Are you an Eastenders fan?
If you would like to bid for the Albert Square signpost that has been signed by the cast please let us know and we ’ll keep you informed when we auction it off.
posted: 26 April 2010
A list of injured.
There is a new page entitled 'List of the injured' that has been compiled from Police reports of the time.
posted: 18 March 2010
BBC London News coverage.
There is a
video clip on YouTube from BBC London's coverage of the Memorial Service.
posted: 11 March 2010
BARBARA WINDSOR LIFTS MORALE AT THE 67TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BETHNAL GREEN TUBE DISASTER
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Barbara Windsor kept up morale for the survivors and relatives of those who died in the worst civilian disaster of the 2nd World War when she joined with the Pearly Kings & Queens in an impromptu knees up and sing-song on the steps of St. John on Bethnal Green church on Sunday 7th March. |
Barbara was there with her husband Scott Mitchell to lay her own wreath to the people of Bethnal Green who suffered so much during the War.
The church was packed with survivors, relatives of those who died and local people who just wanted to know more. They found the Service, conducted by Rector Fr. Alan Green, Rev. Stuart Lee and Rev. Fiona Green, moving and comforting. The names of all 173 victims were read out by some of the trustees of the Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust in front of the altar where 173 candles shone out as a reminder of their loved ones.
The secretary of the charitable trust, Sandra Scotting, asked the congregation to help them raise the remaining £450,000 to erect the Stairway to Heaven Memorial as quickly as possible, as time is not on the side of the survivors due to their age. She asked if anyone had a few tons of high quality bronze they did not want or if they knew any bankers with bonuses playing on their consciences!! The trustees and supporters have worked tirelessly to raise funds in the last year, especially W. English & Son, funeral directors in Bethnal Green Road, who have raised over £11,000 in the last year. However, it is now accepted that outside help is required from local businesses and various funds and hopes that they will climb on board with sponsorship or donations for the sake of the heritage of East London in time for the Olympics. The charity trustees are now applying for lottery grants to help move the funds closer to their target.
After the Service relatives laid flowers and wreaths on the railings above the staircase leading down to Bethnal Green tube station, where everyone had died. Barbara Windsor laid her lovely arrangement of white roses and other white & green flowers. She signed her card ‘With all my love Barbara Windsor’. Fr. Alan Green then gave the blessing and white doves were released by a little girl who had to persuade them to fly from the white basket. Everyone then returned to the church for an exhibition about the disaster and refreshments provided by the Beigel Shop in Brick Lane, the local Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s stores.
American historian Sean Dettman, who now lives in Bethnal Green, was on hand to sign copies of his book “The Bethnal Green tube shelter disaster – A Stairway to Heaven”. It includes interviews with survivors and relatives and also uncovers many government papers from before, during and after the event. It is available to purchase for £9.99 at W. English & Sons, 464a Bethnal Green Road, E2, and at LXV books, 65 Roman Road, E2, East Side Books, Brick Lane or through the charity’s websitewww.stairwaytoheavenmemorial.org.
That morning there had been considerable coverage about the disaster with interviews from some of the trustees on BBC Radio London’s Leslie Joseph programmer and later in the evening the Service was shown on the BBC’s regional London news at 6pm and 10pm.
Some pictures of the day can be found on the 67th Memorial page
Make a note in your diary for next year’s Memorial Service on Sunday 6th March 2011.
posted: 29 March 2010
Sean Dettman’s book
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‘The Bethnal Green tube shelter disaster – a Stairway to Heaven’ is still available at £9.99. We have books left to sell, so please buy up copies for your family members. They are available by post from me Sandra on 077324 60 444 or from English’s 464a Bethnal Green Road, LXV Books at 65 Roman Road, E2. |
posted: 27 January 2010
Interview with Alf on Youtube.
There is an interview with Alf on Youtube that can be viewed
here.
FUTURE EVENTS
If you have any ideas or would like to run something for us please get in touch.
Coffee mornings, raffles, sponsorship events, jumble sales or basically anything you can do to raise some money, then let us know. It can just be a one-off event, you don't have to commit to doing something on a regular basis.
Remember - every little helps!!
HOW TO DONATE TO THE MEMORIAL APPEAL.
Now that we have our Registered Charity number we can accept on-line donations.
If you have any queries about fund raising please contact Derek Spicer, Fund-raising co-ordinator, tel: 07722 162 168 or 01277 372 938
info@stairwaytoheavenmemorial.org
Please make your cheques payable to "Stairway To Heaven Memorial Trust" and send them to:
Derek Spicer
Treasurer
28 Priory Close
Pilgrims Hatch
Brentwood
Essex
CM15 9PZ
You can also text a donation
If you prefer you can now donate up to £10 to our charity by sending a text message on your mobile phone.
Just start your text with STHM43 with the amount you wish to donate i.e. £10 and send the text to 70070
