The London Minute ⏰ Thursday 19 June 2025
Summer Streets fund, Notting Hill carnival cash fear, Wimbledon campaign raises £200k, how TfL is tackling Central and Bakerloo graffiti + hidden mile of Holborn
🌤️ Good morning London. Here’s Thursday’s London Minute.
🍻 Brixton, Leyton, Shoreditch and the West End have been announced as the first beneficiaries of the Mayor’s Summer Streets fund, introducing al-fresco dining and later opening hours. - Sarah Hooper, Metro.
⮑ Soho is not part of the new scheme, but Sadiq Khan has said the move is “just the beginning”, reports Megan Howe in The Standard.
🏙️ Controversial plans for nearly 600 student flats next to Deptford Creek have been refused. - Darryl Chamberlain, The Greenwich Wire.
🎾 A campaign group fighting plans to expand the home of Wimbledon tennis has raised £200,000 for an upcoming judicial review. - Chris Slegg & Olivia Demetriades, BBC London News.
💃 The future of the Notting Hill carnival could be in jeopardy without ‘urgent funding’. - Nadeem Badshah, The Guardian.
🏠 A High Court judge has dismissed a challenge to Lambeth council’s decision to take back more than 160 former council homes being rented in the private sector and use them to house homeless families in urgent need of support. - Alan Slingsby, Brixton Blog.
🚔 Police are appealing for help following the murder of a woman in Camden. Detectives said 69-year-old Jennifer Abbott was ‘known professionally as Sarah Steinberg’. They added:
“Jennifer was a popular member of the community. She was often seen walking her Corgi dog in the Camden area, including on Tuesday, 10 June when she was last seen by neighbours.” - The police appeal also mentions that her murder could be linked to a missing watch.
🇮🇪 “It was expected to be hundreds but in the end it was thousands who stood outside Westminster magistrates court”, supporting a member of Kneecap. - Allison Morris, Belfast Telegraph.
🚄 Eurostar passengers saw up to two dozen services between Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and London cancelled or delayed yesterday. - Simon Calder, Independent.
🌙 A new investigation by London Centric and Democracy for Sale asks questions about Sadiq Khan's new nightlife adviser.
🛍️ Selfridges has applied to open a private members’ club at its flagship store on Oxford Street. - Adrian Zorzut, MyLondon.
🏫 Two schools in Tottenham and one in Bounds Green will see new traffic restrictions introduced to boost road safety for children, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter in the Haringey Community Press.
🚇 TfL is struggling to keep up with the level of graffiti on the Central and Bakerloo Lines. More than 33,000 pieces of graffiti removed by cleaners in last two months – including 5,500 ‘repeat hits’. - Ross Lydall of The Standard. went along to find out how they’re dealing with it.
✌️ Better news (we need more!)
This section aims to include better news from all over London. It’s a wide range of things, and as always you’re welcome to submit yours here. My hope is that it inspires more civic pride and community spirit, new plans in your calendar and a few smiles or laughs along the way.
🎨 Serpentine boss Hans Ulrich Obrist's guide to London: the River Cafe and the Zoo's aviary, in The Standard.
🪑 London Festival of Architecture continues until the end of the month. Among the pieces out there is a series by artist Simone Brewster, whose cork sculptures contain hidden carvings. - She talks about their meaning in Dezeen.
✨ Marble Arch shines again after first major clean in nearly 20 years - IanVisits.
🗺️ A new 2.9km cycling and walking route following the New River through Enfield has been opened. - James Cracknell, Enfield Dispatch
🚇 There’s a mile of Holborn very few people ever get to see. - Matt Brown of Londonist went underground on a special site visit and took some very cool photos along the way.
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📌 “Luke Jerram's Helios large-scale illuminated sun sculpture appears on the Downham Estate as part of a National Trust tour to celebrate the solstice and 100 years of the garden estate's founding. It's viewable from Thu 19 June-Sunday 22 June. At 3.30 a.m. on Saturday 21 June, gather at the artwork to watch the sun rise on the longest day of the year.” - Thanks to Vicky for sharing this.
📌 “As part of the Home Truths series, the Museum of the Home and UCL invite you to make Time for Tea. This collaborative workshop blends art, research, and survivor experience to generate messages about how to support those experiencing domestic abuse. In creating a safe space that is conducive to conversation, like meeting up for a cup of tea, the group aims to raise awareness and improve responses to abuse.” - Thanks to UCL for sharing this.
📮 What’s missing from the newsletter? Share your local news or events here.
📈 The most-viewed links from the last newsletter:
🚔 Murder probe after stabbing and gas explosion in Stoke Newington.
🚔 Man, 67, arrested in connection with Finchley Road cinema ‘attempted rape’.
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