My Shooters Hill action team were out in force last Saturday.  More than 20 of us knocked on doors across the ward and asked residents to share their thoughts on local and national issues.

Unsurprisingly crime and anti-social behaviour, fears about the future of local hospitals and the continued threat of a congestion charge were all mentioned.

Sadly, so was the issue of racism, with a number of residents saying they had seen or heard of incidents of racism, not in their neighbourhood but down the hill in Eltham itself.

My thanks to all those who helped the massive exercise, especially in the biting cold. 

What a pleasure last night to attend the Eltham Lights Up event, which saw large crowds enjoy the pedestrianised High Street.  The beautiful lantern parade and fireworks were fantastic and all the children (and adults!) involved should be very proud of their achievement.

What a pity, though, that so many shops decided to close as normal rather than get into the party spirit.  Would they be the same shops that will complain that the High Street is dead and they need more help to survive?  The shops which deserve to prosper are those which recognise they are a part of our community and get involved.  Shoppers support local businesses; this was a great opportunity to support the community.  Well done to those that did.

PS - congratulations to Demelza House on the opening of their new shop in Eltham High Street.  I was pleased to see it packed with shoppers.  I have ordered my Christmas cards and can't wait to receive them and start signing.  I hope it's a huge success and generates large sums towards their capital appeal.

At a recent Safer Neighbourhood Panel a lady explained that in partnership with the Met Police, Greenwich Council, Victim Support and others, Greenwich Homesafe offer a security assessment service to all Greenwich residents, regardless of age or income. 

Within a fortnight of that presentation, I had been visited by one of their team, whose name I was given on the telephone in advance so I knew who to expect.  He wore their trademark bright yellow shirt and carried ID, arrived on time, and advised I needed a new lock for the front door, new security chain, reinforcement to the doorframe, a new spyhole, a guard to the letterbox to avoid someone fitting their hand through and so on.  All of these things were fitted a week later with minimal fuss, by a friendly chap who even offered to sweep up after himself.

And all this was free.

The area we live has seen a spate of burglaries in recent times and it is reassuring to know many other flats have received the same service.  I strongly urge everyone to give them a call and say you heard about it here.  There's no catch, it really is free and could save you becoming a crime statistic in the future. Call Greenwich Homesafe on 020 8316 4188 - TODAY!

For 50 lucky Eltham residents last night was a real treat as they were

treated to a vintage performance by David Cameron on the day the Government sunk to their greatest crisis yet.

Speaking at a private function he spoke - without notes - for 20 minutes on the choices facing our country, the incompetence of the current government and his own plans for reforming public services when he enters Downing Street.

He spoke of the two groups of people who will decide the course of the future - the cynics who believe all politicians are the same (i.e. useless) and the pessimists who believe politicians have good intentions but fail to make a real difference. Those are the people in his sights in the coming months as he sets out his vision - something we are still waiting for from Mr Brown.

On local issues he spoke passionately about the proposed NHS reforms which could lead to the closure of one of our three local hospitals. He said we need patient driven policies, not top down policies, a comment which drew huge support from his audience.

Among the guests was David Gold, Eltham's own Conservative Parliamentary candidate, and Jo Elvin, the editor of Glamour magazine who was David's guest.