News and Events Archive

MEMORIAL UPDATE Having been told by London Underground that we would not be able to proceed to build the Stairway to Heaven Memorial in the place that we have chosen, due to their health and safety concerns, the committee have taken the decision to move it 3.5 meters to the left and this has now allowed Transport for London and Mayor Ken Livingstone to withdraw their objections. They will now be working with us and have pledged their support and willingness to engage with us to move the project forward and help us with fund-raising. We have had one meeting at the GLA and are waiting to find out if TFL and the Mayor will be able to grant us some funds towards the Memorial. Our architect, Harry Paticas, is re-drawing the plans since holding meetings with the parks department of the local council and will be submitting these shortly. It will have to go through the full planning application scenario, but with the full backing of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets we hope this will not delay matters too much longer. We would dearly like to be able to tell you this time next year that the Memorial is being built. But to do that we need some more money to move the project forward. So if you can help us in any way, or know of anybody who can, please let me know. Sandra Scotting (Hon. Sec) info@stairwaytoheavenmemorial.org 7 March 2008: London Mayor Ken Livingstone has added his support. Click here to read his letter. A Transport for London spokeswoman told the East London Advertiser on 5th March : ‘London Underground fully supports the establishment of a memorial to commemorate those who lost their lives in the tragic events of 3 March 1943. We welcome the new proposal from the trust and look forward to working with them in taking this forward.’ Liverpool Station tube station collection day, 30th May. Thank you to everyone who helped at the Liverpool station underground station collection on Friday 30th May, especially Derek, Raju, Lee, Susan, Dee, June, Joan, Kim, Babs, Angela and Roger (hope I haven’t left anybody out). Everyone worked so hard as it was a gruelling day standing up for so long and we had competition from another charity that had collectors working in the mainline station part. But it was all worth it as we collected £311.60 (plus 6 foreign coins), which was much better than expected. So thank you to all the helpers and all the people who gave money in the tube station. It is very much appreciated. REUNION/GET-TOGETHER Saturday 12th April It was good to see so many survivors and families of those who died at the reunion/get-together event on Saturday 12th April. We hope it helped a lot of you by being able to talk about the Bethnal Green tube disaster to people who understood or were in the same situation. Margaret McKay and Susan Butler. Margaret McKay met Susan Butler, daughter of the lady that saved her life when Margaret was just 6 months old, and her mother handed her to Susan's mother. Margaret's mother did not survive the disaster, so if she had not been passed over to Susan's mother then Margaret would not be here today. Sadly, Margaret's father did not tell her anything about her late mother, so she is desperate to find out if anybody knew her mother - Ellen Ridgway or the Edwards family - who lived in Brierly Street before the disaster, please contact the committee. Also, there was a lady who apparently owned a shop in Bethnal Green who wanted to adopt Margaret when her mother died. We are still trying to trace her as she would also have known Margaret at the time. We think she might have attended the 65th Anniversary Memorial Service. Margaret would also like to speak to the other children under 16 who lost a parent in the disaster and had to collect the money in the trust fund at the Town Hall when they were 21 years old, as she did. There were 6 children in all, so Margaret would like to speak to the other 5. Barry Woolnough only found out after his father had died, that his first wife and daughter had died in the disaster. Barry found a folder of papers with the death certificates, photographs and cuttings about the tube disaster in it and put two and two together. His father had said nothing to him about it and had obviously married again and Barry was his only surviving child. Barry came to the reunion and was lucky to meet a lady who lived opposite his father at the time of the disaster and therefore knew his first wife and daughter and they were able to speak at some length which has helped Barry too. Alf Morris, our Chairman, gave an account of the dreadful experience he suffered being the last child to be pulled out alive. Many of his friends were not so lucky. Alf is still trying to trace the family of Mrs. Chumley, the warden who saved his life by pulling him out, initially by his hair, then managed to get her arms under his and pull him out. He owes his life to her and we would dearly love to find her family so that Alf can thank them. If you lived in Bethnal Green in 1943 or earlier and would be able to talk to some of the survivors about their deceased relatives that you might have known at the time please get in touch. Tel: 01474 702513 Toby & Karen's sponsored walk. We are very grateful to Toby Goodger for undertaking a sponsored walk in aid of the Memorial charity in April. Here is his account of what happened: “My partner Karen and I completed a walk of 10k up to Martha’s Hill in Shalford. We started at around 10 am and completed the walk by around 3pm after a break for lunch. It is quite a steep ascent up Martha’s Hill and we were glad of a rest on completion of the walk. We have raised a total of £115 towards the Bethnal Green tube station memorial fund which is an improvement on last years total of £75 including generous contributions from parishioners at our local church. My ‘interest’ in the tragic events at Bethnal Green stems mainly from a stint of around two years from 2004-2006 when I was working as a chartered landscape architect for a large firm of architects based in offices above Smithfield meat market. I worked on major residential development projects at the Tredegar estate in Bow Church, the Crossways Estate and elsewhere in the east end. I also had many previous years of working as a landscape architect in east London in Dagenham and along the Regents canal/Lee navigation for British Waterways at Old Ford Locks in Dace Road and Bow Locks. I visited a shop in Bethnal Green one lunchtime in 2005 to buy a sheet of perspex needed for a broken picture and noticed the memorial plaque at the tube station entrance. I looked up the history of the disaster on the internet and my interest grew from there especially when I realised that there was a plan to create a fitting architectural memorial designed by Harry Paticas and Jens Borstelmann. I still manage a landscape architecture practice, Goodger Design Associates, based in Windsor not far from the castle.” Toby Goodger CHARITY FUN-QUIZ NIGHT 7th DECEMBER 2007 Thank you to everyone who came along to our charity quiz night on 7th December at the Museum of Childhood. The Mayor Tower Hamlets' team won both the highest score and on the snakes & ladders board, which is quite unusual apparently. However they will be donating their prizes to another good cause, so the rest of us did not mind losing. The buffet was enjoyable and there was plenty of left-overs for everyone to take something home. We raised £491 on the evening thanks to the food, prizes and raffle items being donated, so we just had to pay for the hall hire. This was a magnificient effort on everyone's part, so a big thank-you to everyone that helped and supported us. We owe a special thank-you to our quizmaster, Richard Darlington, and his team who made it such an interesting evening and to Ken Demby who organised the raffle tickets. Also to all the helpers who produced the buffet. Thanks again to everyone for their support. ALF'S FUND-RAISING DANCE NIGHT WAS A ROARING SUCCESS (16/11/07) Alf Morris dance night on 16th November 2007 was a great success and it raised a magnificent £765. This was mainly due to Hornchurch Conservative Club loaning the venue free of charge and Asda Supermarket in Romford for donating most of the food for the buffet. Also, many of the members of Hornchurch Conservative Club donated prizes for the raffle and the entertainer, Peter James, gave the royalties from his CD's sold on the night to the charity too. So a big 'thank you' to everyone who helped and everyone who came along on the night. It is very much appreciated. Well done to Alf and Vera who worked so hard to make it such a successful and enjoyable evening. EAST LONDON PAST FAIR The Charity had a stall at the 'East London Past' history fair on Saturday 17th November at The Shadwell Centre, 455 The Highway, E1. It was a great day and there was lots to do and plenty of people came along to find out more about the Memorial and offer their support. So thank-you to the organisers and also to all the people that stopped by on our stall. We can now accept on-line donations May 2007 Please click on this link to donate on-line Raju Vaidyanathan & Jessica Sapiano with their 2007 Marathon medals. 9th May 2007. Raju Vaidyanathan with his 2007 Marathon medal and Jessica Sapiano, aged 12, with her medal for running the London mini-marathon on the same day. They are pictured outside Bethnal Green tube station together with Derek Spicer the Trust's fund raising co-ordinator. Many thanks also to Toby Goodger who completed a sponsored walk for the Trust last month at Shalford Park, Guildford and raised over £75. Well done and a big thank you to all. Raju Vaidyanathan's Marathon effort. Saturday 22rd April 2007. Congratulations to Raju Vaidyanathan who ran the marathon in just over 5 hours in very difficult and hot conditions. Well done and thanks for such a splendid effort. Pictures and more news in a few days. If you have sponsored him please let us have your expected total as soon as possible. Service at St. John's Church, Bethnal Green Saturday 3rd March 2007. The Memorial Service held at St.John on Bethnal Green Church on Saturday 3rd March was most successful with over 400 people attending, including many survivors and families of those who died in the disaster. Also in the congregation were Mr.Jim Fitzpatrick, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry, Mr. George Galloway MP, Denise Jones, Leader of London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council, several other LBTH councillors, and representatives of the Emergency Services - police, ambulance, fire, Civil Defence, Air Cadets from 444 (Shoreditch) Sqn and nurses from London hospital. Also Pearly King and Queen of Finsbury, representatives from the London Assembly, London Underground and London buses as well as TV, radio and news media. The Service was conducted by Fr. Alan Green who gave an inspirational Address and the Bishop of Stepney led the wreath-laying prayers. The names of the 173 people who died were read out by the committee members and Louiza Patikas ('Helen Archer' from The Archers). Members of the 'Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust' committee and architect Harry Paticas spoke about the progress that had been reached since the last public meeting in October. The planning application is going through the due progress and a decision is expected shortly. Charitable Status has been applied for and it is hoped it won't be too long before this is formalised. After the Service free refreshments were available courtesy of the Bethnal Green Road branch of Tesco's and everyone was able to sign the petition, fill in the marathon sponsorship form, write comments or tell the committee members their story or connection to various people involved in the disaster. John Biggs backs Bethnal Green Memorial Campaign Local Assembly Member John Biggs met and offered support to campaigners pushing for a Memorial at Bethnal Green Station Click here to read full press release. 20 February 2007. features our Memorial Appeal Click here to read the article from 11 January 2007 M.P'S Pledge their support. 11 January 2007 George Galloway M.P (Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow) has signed an Early Day motion: "That this House recalls that the worst civilian disaster in Britain during the Second World War took place on 3 March 1943 when 173 people were killed at Bethnal Green Tube station; notes the campaign by the Stairway to Heaven Memorial Group to establish a fitting memorial to commemorate the tragedy; this House congratulates the Group on its work and joins with it in calling on the Mayor of London, London Underground, Tower Hamlets Council and all relevant bodies to work with the Group to bring that about speedily, given that the station is currently undergoing refurbishment. George Galloway MP Early Day Motion in full. 8th January 2007 Andrew Rosindell MP (Conservative MP for Romford) has also sent his support: "I want to thank you for keeping me updated with this most excellent of causes which I commend you and your colleagues on. I wish you every success in your future campaigning to secure funding for a permanent memorial. Of course I support your campaign fully and would appreciate it if you could keep me updated with any future developments so that I can help, wherever possible."