Letters, contributions and comments sent in from Recorder readers this week.

Happy 80th (Sir?) Jimmy

Rob Meyers, Barkingside Football Club historian, writes:

Here's a blast from Barkingside Football Club's past from 10 years ago now.

Welcome back to Mr Jimmy Greaves who played for the 'Side for a short time as a youngster in the early 1950s and was coached by Sid Shaw.

Here Jimmy is pictured with still current, committee member Martin Meyers at Oakside Stadium.

Everyone at Barkingside Football Club wishes Mr Greaves well on his 80th birthday, and hopes too that he may receive a long overdue knighthood.

Every victim of crime should be heard

Shaun Bailey AM, Conservative candidate for mayor of London, writes:

This week, Sadiq Khan launched his Mayoral campaign and didn't even mention crime as an issue.

I'm sure readers will know that knife crime in London has hit a record high and murder rates are at an 11 year high.

I know soaring levels of crime is a top concern for Londoners and it's my number one priority. It's clear the mayor doesn't want his record on crime discussed in this election, but I've had enough of standing by and letting victims of crime go unheard.

I'm making a public appeal to hear your readers' experiences of crime in London. I want to hear from Londoners directly, whether it's to tell me their house was burgled, or their phone was stolen, or they don't feel safe walking home from the tube - I want to know. Every crime story matters. And every victim of crime should be heard.

I want to be a platform for Londoners. We must make London safe, and part of triggering that change is hearing from your readers and understanding what they think needs to be done.

So I'm asking your readers to share their stories by sending me an email at shaun@shaunforlondon.uk or at fb.com/ShaunBaileyUK/.

Networking meetings for tenants

Pat Turnbull and Pauline Hutchison, Tenant and Resident Association (TRA) representatives from Hackney and Hammersmith & Fulham and London Tenants Federation (LTF) representatives, write:

As Tenant and Resident Association (TRA) representatives, we've always found that having other TRAs to share and exchange with and learn from has given us the best possible support in our efforts to get a good service from our landlords.

We are also members of London Tenants Federation (LTF) and are looking to provide more opportunities like this for tenants' groups across London.

We are going to hold two networking meetings a year, discussing issues brought up by social housing tenants whether, for example, about major repairs, health and safety issues or selling off our estates' green spaces.

LTF now has associate membership and is keen to publish local tenants groups' news articles in our newsletters and on our website.

Our networking meetings are to be held in addition to our regular members' meetings.

If you are a TRA, tenant managed organisation (TMO) or co-op representative, it would be really helpful if you would complete our survey, which can be found through a link on the homepage of our website at londontenants.org. The deadline for responding is March 30, 2020.

For more information please email info@londontenants.org

Autism help for schools

Caroline Stevens, chief executive, National Autistic Society, writes:

Our charity wants the 2020s to be the decade where society finally starts to work for autistic children and adults. Schools in your area have a key role to play in this - so we're inviting them to get involved in World Autism Awareness Week (March 30 - April 5).

One in every 100 children are autistic and almost three quarters go to mainstream schools.

Most people have heard of autism now. But far too few know what it's actually like to be autistic - both the unique strengths and how hard life can be if you have difficulties communicating or feel intense anxiety in social situations.

We have a range of free resources for schools (autism.org.uk/SAAW), including lesson plans, videos and posters. We're looking forward to working with lots of local schools.

Better understanding and support will improve the lives of the 700,000 autistic children and adults in the UK.