Massive congratulations to Sasha, my Forest Gate North councillor colleague, on the arrival of her beautiful baby boy. Am so delighted for her and for all her family.

There is a reason why I am sharing this here, though, which is that with the new ward boundaries, Forest Gate North ward is now a smaller, two-councillor ward.

In practical terms, that means that for the next couple of months at least, whilst Sasha recovers, and takes some time to get to know her new arrival, it’s just me keeping things ticking over as the lone Forest Gate North councillor.

No need to feel sorry for me – I am very fortunate to be surrounded by good friends and colleagues, and various people including the Mayor have kindly offered to be on standby to help pick things up, so I am confident that things won’t be missed or dropped, and the ward and residents won’t suffer.

But in the meantime, please do bear with me as I try to balance a combination of being on my own, and the summer holidays. As always, the best and most reliable way to contact me is by email. It might take me a little longer than I’d like to get back to you, but I will get back to you and will help whenever I can. My email address is rachel.tripp@newham.gov.uk

I hope that you’re all having a lovely summer, and appreciating today’s light rain as much as I did.