Tooting Healthy Streets were founded a few months ago to help make local streets safer, greener less polluted. James shares their latest news...

As a new community campaign, this summer we have been raising awareness of our project and building support for healthy streets in Tooting. We established ourselves on social media, hosted a public meeting, talked to parents and children at school fairs and ran a 'play street' at the Broadwater Road Community Fun Day.

We are continuing this outreach work, aiming to gather support across the neighbourhood before we approach Wandsworth Council and Transport for London to work with us on our plans.

In the meantime, dozens of you volunteered skills and expertise when you signed up to our mailing list. We will be in contact over the coming weeks to follow up on these kind offers. 

We also have a programme of events for people to get involved (see below), with the first being a community litter pick coming up this Sunday 18 August.
 

What is Tooting Healthy Streets?

If you are new to the group and want to find out more about our plans, we shared a Twitter thread with content from our public meeting, which can be seen here.

If you want a taste of what Tooting could be like if we achieve our vision for active, safe, green and social streets, please watch this inspiring five minute film that showcases the changes in Waltham Forest over the last five years. This was their plan for their neighbourhood. Ours will need to be tailored to our own place, but the film gives a sense of what can be achieved. 
 

Upcoming events:

Community litter pick
Sunday 18 August, 1-3pm, meeting outside Tooting Broadway station.

Everyone in Tooting knows we have a problem with littering and flytipping. New members Jen and Riccardo are organising a community litter pick next Sunday starting from the Tube station. We’ll also be raising awareness of our campaign and running our survey to get people’s views on the healthy streets vision.

Feel free to turn up on the day but, if you can, please let us know in advance so we can plan for the numbers attending.
 

Transition Tooting Foodival
Saturday 14 September

We’ll have a presence at the 12th annual Foodival, a brilliant Tooting event that takes locally grown produce and makes delicious fresh food with it.
 

Wandsworth Living Streets public meeting
Saturday 16 September, 7pm, Alma Pub, Wandsworth

Our allies at Wandsworth Living Streets have booked one of the leading community campaigners from Waltham Forest to speak about the changes they have made to their streets, the differences it has made for the community and how they made it happen.
 

Tootopia / Car free day
Sunday 22 September

We are working with the Tootopia festival and will be applying to close part of a side road in the town centre to traffic and open it as a play street for the afternoon. Details to follow.

We are also planning a study tour to Waltham Forest in late October / early November so that more of us can see and experience the changes for ourselves.

Want to find out more and get involved with Tooting Healthy Streets? Follow them on Twitter, join their Facebook group or email TootingStreets@gmail.com.
 

This article would not be possible without the support of our fantastic Community Partners. Click here to find out more.