De-stress at the London Buddhist Centre

MEDITATION classes and tips on how to cope with stress will be on offer at a Total Health Day at the London Buddhist Centre in Bethnal Green.

There will be a range of events on offer at the London Buddhist Centre and Bodywise on Roman Road on Saturday September 19 from 11am to 5pm.
They include talks about dealing with stress and learning medication, a film about practising Buddhism in east London and a yoga class.

Visitors who pop into each of the participating venues in the Buddhist village and get their programme stamped will be entered into a prize draw.

Further information is on www.lbc.org.uk

London’s air quality is deadlier than H1N1 flu

Over the Bank Holiday I was out leafleting for the forthcoming European elections in Old Ford Road when an irate resident approached me brandishing the rolled up newspaper I had put through his letter box. (no plug included) It is the moment all politicians dread. I need not have worried.
“Air quality”, he said, what are you going to do about it. Old Ford Road, he said, is a rat run for cars that turn off Cambridge Heath Road. I could see the problem as we tried to talk whilst a bus manoeuvred its way along the narrow roadway.
It is unfortunately that the swine flu virus has dominated the headlines over the past few weeks as it has overshadowed the release of a report by the London Assembly t that will be of more concern to Londoners and in particular to places like Old Ford Road
Just as the swine flue is carried in the air, air quality is affected by pollutant particles called PM10 and inhaled by people. Yet everyday in London people are breathing in polluted particles that the report believes kill an estimated 3,000 Londoners a year, in particular people who suffer from asthma, as well as heart and lung disease.
The report by the London Assembly’s Environment Committee states that London air quality, already among the worst in the country as well as the rest of Europe, is having a costly effect on the National Health Service.
Government figures estimate air-quality related health costs for the UK to be up to £20 billion a year.

Emissions from diesel vehicles contribute to a range of health problems, from coughing and sneezing to more serious illnesses, requiring hospitals. Children and the elderly are worst effected. Among the worst affected areas is the City of London and surrounding boroughs.
London’s air quality is well below the targets set by the European Union. Despite this, the Labour government just before the report was released submitted an application for a further delay on current EU air quality targets – targets that the government was meant to meet in 2005!
The Committee in its report calls upon Boris Johnson to act upon the recommendations of the report.
They include forcing motorists to fit particulate filters to reduce emissions by 90 per cent. To reconsider his rejection of the introduction of stage three of the low emission zone which would have taken 90,000 of the most polluting vehicles off London’s road.
Londoners should not hold their breath, so to speak, upon the Mayor taking such action.
Despite his election pledge to “take action to make London the greenest city in the world his decisions in office show that he, or his advisors, has sided with the ‘dirty white van man’ than the interests of the health of Londoners.
Whilst he himself cycles he has cut the cycling budget by half. He has also halved the number of people in the environment team at City Hall. As a result of the Mayor’s decision not to ban polluting heavy goods the UK is facing the prospect of a heavy fine from the EU in the region of £300 million. That is the price Londoners will pay for poor air quality and something for not only the man in Old Ford Road to think about then they vote on June 4 in the European elections.

Terry McGrenera, Coordinator, Tower Hamlets Green Party.