We’re delighted to be attending Merton Pride on Saturday 5 September 2026, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, supporting inclusion, equality and belonging.

Merton Pride is a free community led celebration, organised by Merton Plus, who have brought together residents, local groups, charities, businesses and public sector organisations to celebrate and support the Borough of Merton’s LGBTQ+ communities.

This year’s theme is centred around celebrating inclusion and diversity, while creating a community where everyone feels safe and able to be themselves. Merton Pride promotes visibility, belonging, allyship and community connection, with a key focus supporting trans and non-binary residents.

Merton Pride is a one-day event and will include:

• A Pride fair: This will be at Morden Hall Park, and will feature stalls from local organisations, businesses and communities.
• A Pride march: The march will take place through Morden Hall Park and along the river Wandle.
• A Pride show: This will take place at Merton Abbey Mills and will include family-friendly performances and entertainment.

We are proud to be attending as an event sponsor, providing an opportunity to showcase our support for LGBTQ+ inclusion, and celebrate Pride with our residents and community partners.

Francis Burrows, Executive Director of Customer and Operational Services at Wandle, said:

“I’m delighted that Wandle will be attending Merton Pride 2026 as a proud sponsor, celebrating inclusion, diversity, and the LGBTQ+ community. We look forward to sharing our Housing Pledge and highlighting how our LGBTQ+ colleague network, Wandle Proud, will help us deliver its commitments, and what this means for our residents. We’re excited to join residents, businesses and partners in celebrating Pride and demonstrating our commitment to creating welcoming and supportive communities for everyone.”

For more information, please see here.

Last spring, we launched our residents’ photography competition with the theme ‘Housing in London’. Thank you to everyone who entered. We are delighted to announce Maryam C as this year’s winner!

Maryam C received a £50 Amazon voucher, and her photograph will be transformed into a canvas print and displayed in the resident meeting room at our Blackfriars office.

We asked Maryam C why she chose to enter this photograph, and she told us:

“The image captures a fleeting moment, where the sun doesn’t disappear all at once, it gives way to evening with patience, allowing both light and darkness to exist together for a while. The beauty of an ordinary evening in Crystal Palace – a reminder that some of the most meaningful moments are the ones we almost overlook.”

We have partnered up with Convo, a deaf-owned and globally operated platform who connect organisations with qualified British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters.

Their mission is simple – to make ‘Conversations between deaf and hearing people effortless’.

Our partnership with Convo will ensure any customer who is deaf or hearing impaired, will receive seamless communication support, making interactions clear and accessible.

If you’re hearing impaired, you can call us through the Community Directory on the Convo Now app. We have fully funded this support, so you will not incur any costs or fees. You can download the app from your device’s app store, with a one-time registration.

Alternatively, you can visit www.convo.io/uk/home to complete a one-time registration and access the Community Directory using your web browser.

If you would like a callback from us, please provide your direct number, and this can be found on the homepage of Convo Now.

Alternatively, if you are visiting our Blackfriars office or if we are visiting you at your home, you can start the conversation by scanning a QR code provided by us using your smartphone, with no download or registration required.

You can contact Wandle for all housing, tenancy and repair enquiries through Convo.

Below is a video with the full details.

This summer and autumn we are visiting our estates across south London, meeting with our residents, listening to their experiences and discussing any concerns they may have.

So far, we have visited Owen Close in Croydon and Ainsdale Drive in Southwark. Thank you to everyone who has attended so far. Your feedback will be used to strengthen our customer service and provide better support for our residents.

We have four further visits:

Tuesday 21 July, 4-7pm: Auburn Close, Lewisham

Tuesday 4 August, 4-7pm: Helsinki Square, Rotherhithe

Tuesday 8 September, 4-7pm: Clarson Court, Sutton

Tuesday 6 October, 4-7pm: Otterburn Street, Wandsworth

We’d love to see you there and if you’d like any further information, please contact us at customerempowerment@wandle.com.

Our annual gardening competition is back for 2026 and by entering you could be in with a chance of winning our grand prizes of £150 or £300.

Gardening and caring for plants is an excellent way to stay active, while also offering a calming, mindful activity that can lift your mood and support overall mental wellbeing.

This year we have three categories:

Community Project: Over the years we have loved seeing how you have evolved your shared areas into beautiful spaces for everyone to build and enjoy together. Please share your community projects and how it has brought your local community together.

Prize: £300 cash prize for first place and £150 cash prize for second place, to put towards your community garden.

Best Back Garden: If you love creating botanical spaces and spending time in your garden, we want to see!

Prize: £100 Amazon voucher for first place and £50 Amazon voucher for second place.

Best Balcony / Best Windowsill: Living in London means that some of us have limited outdoor space, so we want to see your beautiful balconies and brimming windowsills.

Prize: £100 Amazon voucher for first place and £50 Amazon voucher for second place.

You can enter the competition here and entries close on Monday 31 August 2026.

The UK is currently experiencing a heatwave, and the Met Office have issued a red warning for parts of England and Wales from 9am Wednesday 24 June to 9pm Thursday 25 June.

A red warning indicates that dangerous weather is expected, with a high likelihood of risk to health, travel and energy supplies.

Temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday are predicted to hit between 38-39C, therefore we have put together guidance on how to stay safe and cool.

When the temperature rises, make sure to:

• Use a high protection sunscreen of at least SFF 30, which also has a UVA protection. Apply a generous amount and apply frequently, especially if you are spending a lot of time outdoors.
• You can protect your skin by wearing loose fitting clothes and always protect your face with a sunhat and sunglasses.
• Try and not be in direct sunlight between the hours of 11am-3pm as this is when the sun is strongest.
• Keep babies, young children and pets out of direct sunlight.
• Never leave children, anyone vulnerable or pets in a parked locked car.
• Never exercise pets when the temperature is very high. A regular walk could become a medical emergency.
• Always test pavements, footpaths and slabs in gardens and communal areas. If it’s too hot on your hand, it’s too hot for your pet.
• Make sure to drink plenty of water and fluids.
• If there are any changes to a mole or mark on your skin, book an appointment with your doctor to make sure everything is ok.

BBQ Safety

• Never use a BBQ (including disposables) indoors or on your balcony.
• Don’t cook in communal areas. Have your barbecues in a private space, away from neighbours and well away from sheds, fences, trees or shrubs.
• Keep children, garden games and pets well away from the BBQ.
• Have a bucket of water/sand or a fire extinguisher nearby in case of an emergency. If you’re using a gas BBQ, make sure you know how to cut the gas supply.
• Never leave your barbecue unattended.
• Smoke can get into hair, clothes, eyes and lungs, and can also contain carbon monoxide and other dangerous substances. Try and keep your distance as much as possible.
• Grilling gloves and utensils with a long handle will keep arms and hands safe from flames.
• Check your food is cooked: ideally, burgers, chicken and sausages should be tested with a thermometer before eating and no pink meat should be visible.
• After you have finished cooking, check the charcoal is cold or the gas has been turned off. Store your barbecue in a safe, dry place and not on your balcony.

If you have an emergency while having a BBQ, please call 999.

Tip to keep you and your home cool this summer

• Take lukewarm or cool showers.
• Close your windows, doors, curtains and blinds closed during a heatwave to keep the hot air out. When the sun goes down, open your windows and doors to let the cool air in.
• An electric fan is relatively cheap to run and will instantly cool you down. Remember, the fan will not decrease the air temperature, so don’t leave a fan in an empty room, as you will waste energy.
• At night, you might think it’s better to not wear anything, but wearing thin loose clothing will act as a sweat barrier between you and your bed sheets, which will help you feel cooler.

To read more about sun safety, here are some useful websites:

www.britishskinfoundation.org.uk

www.nhs.uk/live-well/seasonal-health/sunscreen-and-sun-safety/

www.gov.uk/government/publications/beat-the-heat-hot-weather-advice/beat-the-heat-staying-safe-in-hot-weather

The World Cup can be a time of celebration for households across the country, but for many women and children it represents a time of fear as domestic abuse is predicted to rise during the tournament.

‘Research shows that incidents of domestic violence rise around major football tournaments, increasing by 38% when England lose and by 26% when they win’, Women’s Aid, 2026.

Women’s Aid have launched a new campaign titled ‘The Other Kick Off’, which represents the estimated time that domestic abuse is predicted to rise after an England game when abusive partners return home after watching a match.

This campaign follows longstanding research that shows domestic abuse rises around major football tournaments and can increase when England lose a match. This is due to heightened emotions and alcohol consumption that can increase abuse when it already exists.

No matter the game outcome, domestic abuse can never be tolerated.

If you need help with domestic abuse, here are a list of support services that can help:

• National Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0808 2000 247 (run by Refuge)
• The Men’s Advice Line, for male domestic abuse survivors – 0808 801 0327 (run by Respect)
• The Mix, free information and support for under 25s in the UK – 0808 808 4994
• National LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0800 999 5428 (run by Galop)
• Samaritans (24/7 service) – 116 123
• Rights of Women advice lines, there are a range of services available

If you would like further information on domestic abuse and Wandle, please click here.

We want to improve how we communicate with our residents and make sure our services are accessible and fair. To help us achieve this, we’re running surveys to gather feedback on your experience to help us provide a better service.

We’ve partnered with Acuity Research & Practice, who’ll be interviewing residents on our behalf. This time we’re approaching residents in Southwark and Merton, but we hope to roll the survey out more widely in future.

The survey will run during June and July and takes 10 to 12 minutes to complete. You’ll be asked questions about yourself and your household. You can opt out of answering the survey or specific questions if you want to.

If you’re selected, you’ll be emailed a link to complete the survey online. You may also receive a link by text message. Acuity may follow up by post or phone if you don’t complete the survey online or would prefer to provide feedback another way.

If you receive a call Acuity, the number displayed will be 0208 0890160. Acuity only makes calls between the hours of 9am and 8pm Monday to Friday and between the hours of 10am and 6pm on Saturday.

Acuity are also the company carrying out our Tenant Satisfaction Measure surveys, so you may recognise their number from this.

The surveys are strictly confidential, and you can remain anonymous on request.

Thank you for sharing your voice and helping us do better.

Take part in our residents’ photography competition for a chance to win a £50 Amazon Voucher!

We’re excited to launch our new residents’ photography competition, with this year’s theme ‘Housing in London’.

We will choose two lucky winners, with each also having their photo displayed in one of our resident meeting rooms at our Blackfriars office. The photos will also be featured in our next issue of Wandle News later this summer.

You can only enter once, and please only send ONE photo, your name and address to communications@wandle.com by Monday 18 May 2026. The lucky winners will be contacted shortly after this date and will be announced online via our Instagram and Twitter accounts. Good luck!

We are supporting Register My Appliance week.

Register My Appliance week is a consumer and public safety campaign to help encourage people to register their household appliances. The campaign is run by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances (AMDEA).

Registering your household appliances helps manufacturers know where the products are in case a repair is needed or if it is recalled. In small cases manufacturers may identify a problem with one of their products.

You could also save money by registering your appliances as it entitles you to an extended guarantee or warranty period. 

You can find out more information here:

Website: www.registermyappliance.org.uk

Instagram: @amdea_uk   

Twitter: @amdea_uk   

Facebook: amdea.uk

TikTok: amdea_uk