The idea was born out of frustration as more families are pushed to rely on food banks, while deeper problems remained untouched.

Drawing on a model first piloted in Tower Hamlets, Victoria Steward Todd – Director of The K+C Foundation and colleagues from the First Love Foundation – organised community engagement sessions on the estate and carried out a detailed needs assessment to identify exactly where support was lacking — and what could make the biggest difference. Last week, that vision became reality.

Photo: Family and Friends

More than 50 people — including funders, frontline charities and local political figures — gathered at the World’s End Youth Centre to formally launch and celebrate The Beacon Partnership.

In her opening remarks, Ms Stewart Todd said the partnership could mark a turning point for the estate. She said: “When charities work together, they are often greater than the sum of their parts and the Beacon Partnership’s aim is to offer a holistic, wraparound service that meets our residents’ needs.”  

At the heart of the partnership are three frontline charities, each tackling a different pressure point in residents’ lives. Ubuntu Pledge will focus on digital skills and IT training; Nucleus Legal Advice Centre will help residents navigate the complex world of housing, tax and benefits; while Family Friends will work to build resilience and social connections among both adults and young people. And the need for support is urgent.

“With the government and businesses pushing more services online, people’s IT skills need to keep up,” said Henry Otim from Ubuntu Pledge. “The NHS is increasingly relying on digital communication, and without the right knowledge, some — particularly older residents — risk being left behind.”

Photo: Family and Friends

For many, even basic digital tasks can feel overwhelming.

“People come to us with all sorts of fears about using technology,” he added. “We’re here to guide them, build confidence and help them develop skills that open doors.”

The youth centre will now operate as a community hub during the day, offering residents a place to seek advice, learn new skills and build connections. Two dedicated caseworkers will provide consistent, one-to-one support.

Crucially the Beacon Partnership is backed by a three-year funding commitment, so residents won’t face the fear of support suddenly disappearing.

Annual evaluations will track what works — and what needs tweaking — with the potential for the model to be expanded to other communities if it proves successful.

For the families on World’s End, the Beacon Partnership offers something increasingly rare – not just emergency help, but the chance to build something more secure for the future. We wish them every success.

The funders for the Beacon Partnership 

The Julia Rausing Trust

 The Caerlow Trust

The Mercer Foundation

Cadogan Estates

The Martin Charitable Trust

Police were called to the historic graveyard on Fulham Road at 8.45am on Friday, 27 February, following reports of a man discovered unresponsive among the tombs.

Officers and paramedics attended, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.

The Metropolitan Police have told The Citizen the man has not been named and: “the death is not being treated as suspicious. A file is now being prepared for the coroner.”

As part of its useful and community-spirited campaign ‘Your Council Comes to You’, RBKC representatives will be at Old Brompton Library, 210 Old Brompton Road, SW5 0BS from 6.30-8pm on Tuesday, 3rd February.

The previous meeting in this series was held at Chelsea Theatre at World’s End on 15th January and generated a forthright and interesting exchange between residents and the council.

That said, only around 40-50 residents could be bothered to turn from Riverside Ward, which contains many thousands of residents. It is also worth noting that only one of the three ward councillors attended – and she was 51 minutes late (TCC clocked the arrival time at 7.21pm!) and, subsequently, did not contribute to the meeting. Nevertheless, Two House Points for showing up.

Does what it says in the blurb

Maybe the turn out can be somewhat better from C&R residents.  As the council’s website blurb says: “This is your forum to have your voice heard and help shape the future of our borough”.

If you care, be there.

The team from RBKC at the Riverside Ward meeting

The Italian Sea Group (TISG) has filed a €456m (£399m) lawsuit in Sicily against Angela Bacares Lynch – a long-time resident of Chelsea who survived the sinking – and is the legal owner of the company that owns the £30m yacht. The firm claims sales collapsed after the vessel capsized off the coast of Sicily during a freak storm in August 2024.

Mr Lynch, one of Britain’s most prominent technology entrepreneurs, died alongside his teenage daughter and five others when the yacht sank. Mrs Bacares Lynch, who lives in a £7m Georgina house on one of Chelsea’s most prominent streets, declined to comment.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, TISG argues the sinking was caused by crew negligence, not a design fault, and says it has suffered “ruinous” financial losses, including a complete halt in sales of Perini Navi yachts, the brand that built the Bayesian.

A source close to the Lynch family dismissed the claim as “opportunistic”, pointing to a UK investigation that raised concerns about the yacht’s design and stability. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch previously said the vessel had vulnerabilities unknown to the crew.

The lawsuit also names the yacht’s captain and two crew members, who are under criminal investigation by Italian prosecutors.

Mr Lynch founded Cambridge-based Autonomy, sold to Hewlett-Packard for £7bn in 2011. He died while celebrating his acquittal on US fraud charges. His estate is already facing a separate £1.5bn legal claim from HP.

Disturbing new figures reveal flat prices in the Royal Borough have plunged by up to 17% in just a year, wiping hundreds of thousands of pounds off homes once seen as rock-solid blue-chip investments.

The average flat in Chelsea and Kensington is now selling for under £950,000 — down from almost £1.15 million a year ago. And for many owners, it is far worse.

Across the borough, three in every ten flat owners who bought in the past 20 years and sold last year lost money, even before inflation is factored in.

And anyone who bought a new-build apartment in the past two decades is now highly likely to sell at a loss, according to estate agent Hamptons. In 2025 alone, two in five new-build flat owners across London sold for less than they paid.

Price falls are most savage in prime central areas. City of London: prices down 18%, Kensington & Chelsea: down 17%, City of Westminster: down 16%.

In Westminster, the average flat has crashed from £946,000 to £791,000 in a year. Even traditionally solid Victorian and Georgian conversions aren’t escaping the slump.

Experts say a toxic cocktail sent prices into a tail-spin – including sky-high service charges, the end of Help to Buy, fewer high-paying City jobs and higher taxes on overseas buyers and non-doms.

Many flats still come with punishing ground rents that rise with inflation or double every decade, turning once-manageable costs into long-term liabilities buyers are desperate to escape.

The result? A flood of sellers cutting their losses — and prices tumbling further as desperation feeds the downturn.

What was once London’s safest bet now looks like its biggest property gamble. And in Kensington and Chelsea, the crash is no longer theoretical. It’s already arrived.

But on a brighter note, one canny estate agent told The Citizen: “With falling prices – there’s never been a better time to snag a bargain!”

In an emotional and heartfelt post – entitled in capital letters “LEAVE THIS WORLD A LITTLE BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT” – on his Instagram account, the Italian football maestro said:

‘My journey with Chelsea began with the preliminary rounds of the Conference League. I leave with the inner peace of leaving a prestigious club like Chelsea where it deserves to be.

I want to thank all the Chelsea fans for their support over the last 18 months. Support that was crucial to achieving Champions League qualification, winning the Conference League, and winning the Club World Cup. Victories that I will always hold in my heart!

A special thank you to all the players who have accompanied me on this wonderful journey. I wish everyone who has shared every moment with me every success in this second half of the season and in the future.

Thank you, CHELSEA 💙 from me and my family.’

Maresca, who has 731,000 Followers on Insta, added a number of key photos from his time at the club to illustrate the post. The message had been Liked 232,000 times within the first few hours and had drawn more than 17,000 comments.

Anyone can attend the meeting at the Town Hall in Kensington and make representations, or add further comments, by emailing the committee at:  licensing-governance@rbkc.gov.uk

The reference for the application is LICPR/25/367600/01.

Fury canines will strut their stuff in spooky style in the hunt for the Best Dressed Dog title, which wins a hamper of Love My Human goodies and a complimentary grooming session.

Organised by Love My Human and the King’s Road Partnership, the parade is modelled on a version in New York that has become an iconic event. Pets will set off from Chelsea Theatre at 11:30am and make their way up the King’s Road, expecting to arrive at Sloane Square at around 1pm.

Registration has now closed, but everyone is welcome to join and cheer on the contestants. The parade also supports Therapy Dogs Nationwide and Pets As Therapy.

For more details, visit HERE

Property developer Qatari Diar are holding a public meeting to show how they have altered the designs to reflect feedback from two consultations earlier in the year.

The meeting will be held from 6-7pm on Wednesday, 24th September at Retail Unit, Garrison Square, Chelsea Barracks, SW3W 8BG.

To secure your place at the meeting email: cb5consultation@conciliocomms.com.