Christchurch
Green in Wanstead has a mixture of memories for me. I walk across there all the
time. At this time of year it is a beautiful place to be. Sun shining people
out exercising, children in the playground area and sun bathers. A balmy
evening walk through the tree lined paths to the high street is another
pleasure.
However, the
tree lined paths hold other less pleasant memories like the one when I was
heading over to the high street to get a bit of shopping and a guy stepped out
from behind a tree and asked for my wallet. I pushed him aside, then another
came and another. I managed to get past all three and attempted to run to the
high street but the gang were well organised – eight in total. As I made the
attempted run to the other side, a shout came from behind to “trip him.” I was
duly tripped by another guy sliding in across me.
There was
then a frenzied attack, kicks and I later found out a knife round the back.
They got the wallet eventually, whilst I made it to the high street, when the
police were called. They came quickly, taking me round the streets to see if we
could spot the attackers.Unfortunately, they’d gone.
I eventually
recovered from the attack, though the
psychological effects were far worse that the physical.For a long time
going out was a bit traumatic, you tended to think everyone was a threat. This
all happened back in 2001.
There has
always been crime in this area. Cutting the police does not help confront it.
One of the plus points that came out of my attack was the campaign to save
Wanstead Police station. This was achieved for a number of years but was closed
a few years ago.
So yes there
are things we can do to confront crime. One important thing that came from my
attack was a determination not to be intimidated. The psychological effects
immediately after the attack meant I didn’t like walking on the streets. But a
couple of months later I was due to go up to South Woodford to see a friend. It
was then I decided enough was enough, I wasn;t going to let those who had
mugged me reduce my freedom of movement. I walked and there were no problems.
I tell the
story because there are many threats to our open spaces and community. It is
vital that people come together as community to confront those threats. So we
should not let those who try to destroy our community to succeed. The mass of
people who enjoy spaces like Christchurch Green need to make sure it remains an
area for the people to use, not somewhere where people maybe concerned to go at
night. A place where daybreak reveals vandalised benches and other things. Many
of those doing this sort of damage live in our area, they are part of our
communities. They don’t all come in from other parts of London to the promised
land that is Wanstead. We need to stand together to stop such attacks on our
precious public spaces. Without them we will be a far poorer community.
No comments:
Post a Comment