As we are emerging from a long, dark, cold, challenging winter into a brighter spring (though not quite as warm as we might like), there is a growing sense that we are leaving the most acute stage of the pandemic behind, at least for the time being. Of course, the impact of the pandemic will be long-lasting, especially in a borough like Newham that was contending with health inequalities, high levels of deprivation and homelessness even before COVID-19 hit. Across London, Newham has the highest proportion of residents directly affected by the economic impact of the pandemic - either on furlough or claiming additional benefits, with up to 42,000 jobs at risk. But with children back in schools, and more staff in the office, there is increasing hope of things returning to something more like normal. In children and young people's services, we've been working on improvement throughout the last year, but recently it's been possible to focus on more of the creative opportunities.
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