In this latest report, you’ll hear more about…
- The Citizen Watch Initiative: A platform to empower local communities in Walthamstow to raise their concerns, hold authorities accountable, and protect the vulnerable where governments and media fall short.
- Engaging with Local Citizens: Through meaningful conversations with residents and business owners, we’ve gathered valuable feedback and built relationships to address crucial community challenges.
- Insights from the Community: The feedback revealed strong support for a platform to have local voices being heard, with many business owners and individuals expressing a desire to address concerns such as accountability, supporting vulnerable groups, and tackling systemic issues in the area.
- How You Can Get Involved: Learn to use your voice to stand for justice, the vulnerable and expose evil. See how to register at the end of this report.
At Walthamstow Lighthouse Media, we believe in shining light on injustice and giving a voice to those too often overlooked. This past weekend, we returned to Walthamstow, continuing our efforts to connect with local businesses and residents, gather their insights, and raise awareness of pressing community issues. Our work is inspired by a deeply Christian commitment to protect the vulnerable and empower conscientious individuals to stand up for the truth and stand against tyranny.
Above: Lighthouse Associates on the ground in Walthamstow, from left, Daniel Schmitz, Diane Cubitt, Tom Hasker, James Mills, Anon, Melissa Deichler, Jessica Holder.
For this reason and much more we have developed the Citizen Watch initiative. A platform where communities can come together to address concerns that are too often ignored by local councils, government bodies and the legacy media. It asks important questions:
Are your voices being heard?
Are your needs being met?
Are the vulnerable in your community protected?
What can we do about it?
The overwhelmingly positive feedback from Walthamstow locals is a testament to the growing need for such an initiative.
A Day of Connection and Discovery
One local resident we spoke with was passionate about mentoring disadvantaged youth, expressing a sense of frustration at the government’s lack of action in supporting these young people.
Another resident shared their concerns about the rise of corporate entities pushing out independent businesses in the area, emphasizing the importance of grassroots community efforts to protect small enterprises. These encounters underscored the vital role Citizen Watch plays in amplifying voices and fostering collaboration among community members.
We were also moved by a conversation with a local graduate who had a personal connection to a high-profile case of abuse at a local special needs school. Their story highlighted the systemic failures that continue to harm the vulnerable. They expressed hope that Citizen Watch could shine a light on these issues and hold authorities accountable both in Walthamstow and beyond.
Building Relationships with Local Business Owners
Our interactions with coffee shop owners and workers were equally illuminating. In one café, a worker opened up about their concerns over crime and safety in the area. They shared a personal story about theft in their shop, pointing to a broader sense of insecurity felt by many small business owners. Another owner expressed enthusiasm for Citizen Watch, offering their café as a potential meeting space for community discussions.
Through these conversations, we recognized the potential for a Citizen Watch Directory; a resource to promote local businesses while symbolising unity against injustice. Businesses that participate could display our flyers, demonstrating their commitment to the initiative. This directory would not only amplify local voices but also create a tangible network of support within the community.
Building Momentum and Defending Truth in Walthamstow
Our ongoing efforts in Walthamstow reflect our broader mission to confront the injustice perpetuated by powerful institutions like the media and government, which too often disregard the needs of local people and communities while targeting Christians like us and other conscientious voices. In previous visits, we have consistently faced the challenges of exposing abuses of power from members of parliament like Stella Creasy, while building trust among residents who feel neglected by those abusing their positions of power.
Moving forward, our work will focus on solidifying relationships with local businesses, residents, and community leaders. Instead of feeling helpless and voiceless at the mercy of those abusing their duties in government and the media, we aim to create spaces, platforms and publications where concerns can be raised and addressed collectively. By documenting these issues and advocating for actionable change, we will continue to hold those in authority accountable while fostering a culture of mutual responsibility and care.
We invite everyone to join us in this mission—whether by providing feedback, participating in the development of Citizen Watch, or simply standing alongside us in the pursuit of justice for the vulnerable. Together, we can build stronger communities that stand on the truth to protect those in need.
How You Can Get Involved In Your Local Area
The core of the foundation of Citizen Watch is the belief that ordinary citizens have the power and responsibility to demand accountability from those in authority. We pay taxes, elect officials, and trust our institutions to act in our best interests. When they fail to deliver, it is our responsibility to hold them to account.
We invite the people of Walthamstow and beyond to join us in this mission. Whether you’re a business owner, a resident, or someone passionate about making a difference, your voice matters. Share your concerns, ideas, and feedback with us. Help us identify the issues that need attention and the solutions that can bring about real change.
Register your details (you can do so anonymously) here and we will get in touch with you very soon.
Additionally, displaying our flyers in your business or community space is a simple yet powerful way to show your support. Together, we can create a visible network of conscientious citizens standing against injustice.
Our Vision: Empowering Communities, Protecting the Vulnerable
The journey we’re embarking on is about more than addressing individual grievances. It’s about fostering a culture of accountability and truth. Citizen Watch aims to be a platform for positive, upbuilding and truly progressive change; rooted in the shared values of truth, justice, and community. While our Christian faith inspires us and guides us, our mission transcends religious and secular lines, uniting all who care about protecting the vulnerable and no longer tolerating the abuse of power.
Walthamstow Lighthouse Media remains committed to this cause, drawing strength from the relationships we’ve built and the voices we’ve heard. Each interaction brings us closer to our vision of seeking first the Kingdom of God, on earth like it is in heaven – where everyone’s voice is valued and the vulnerable are shielded from harm.
Again, please register if you have not already. And if you know others who want to make their voice heard for the truth, please share with them this opportunity.
We need communities to stand together, help one another, and support those who feel they are not being heard. Too many get left out and because of that, they are open to attacks. What I value about this project is that we as citizens, (We the People) will stand up for what is right and speak for those who do not have a voice, but more importantly, help educate them on how to use their voice.
Walthamstow Citizen Watch (WCW) is only the starting point, Citizen Watch is needed globally 🙏
Too often officials are elected and then they ignore the people who elected them.
Too often our voices are not heard and too often we all just live with it.
Now is the time to start making a change and actually have our voices heard and action taken to hold to account those who we have put in place to govern and lead us.
They work for us!
I love this, I love the value being gleaned in the local area and the value being generated. Wonderful work guys thank you. We have seen Stella Creasy claim to speak on behalf of Walthsamstow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Nol4x5-wA&pp=ygUfbGlnaHRob3VzZSBnbG9iYWwgc3RlbGxhIGNyZWFzeQ%3D%3D yet the reality is that the very local residents are yearning for their voices to be heard. Maybe Ms Creasy can realise what they need and work with us to tend to those needs, rather than promoting her own image. I hope… and in the mean time, God bless you for the work you all are doing there.
Speaking with people in Walthamstow, on the streets and in coffee shops, revealed a widespread feeling of disconnection and frustration. Many expressed that they do not feel represented by the government or the media, and often feel left on their own without the support they need. One person summed it up, saying: The government hears, but they don’t listen!
There was a strong resonance with the Citizen Watch Initiative, to bring people together to protect one another and stand against injustice. The idea of mutual support seemed to strike a chord that can lead to real change.
The situation involving children at the special needs school in Walthamstow was especially heartbreaking. Speaking with someone personally connected to this situation showed the urgency for change and the importance of more care and accountability inside the community.
Opportunities for people to make their voices heard, to create real change, and to connect with like-hearted and like-minded individuals seem far too limited. Many expressed a desire for progressive relationships built on shared values.
I’m looking forward to being back in Walthamstow and to further connect with local citizens 🙏🏻
“Our work is inspired by a deeply Christian commitment to protect the vulnerable and empower conscientious individuals to stand up for the truth and stand against tyranny.”
I love the questions we are asking as part of the Citizen Watch initiative! A few conversations have already revealed that questions like these, will not be encouraged and asked by people like Stella Creasy or others who could not care less about the vulnerable.
Citizen Watch is overdue and by the Grace of God, with all we have experienced and learnt through many years of persecution, He has given us a way to help others too.
Please get in touch above and come and meet with us, we will be in Walthamstow regularly and would love to speak with you!
Is it just a dream, a whole community joined together to stand up for truth and justice. Big supermarkets complain when they have shoplifters who try to get away without paying. Yet what do they actually give back to the community.
Youth clubs in the old days were like a step up for young people where they could join with friends and receive support from wise team leaders or whomever was appointed that position to be there running the club. Sometimes several workers were employed to do that work. It was usually successful in keeping down crime, violence and drug abuse. But local councils did not agree and in many towns these services were abolished.
Maybe them in authority saw that crime pays, as we were taught in our sociology classes. The students laughed but the tutor explained why it was true. It kept police and other much needed services employed.
There were separate clubs for people with disabilities and clubs that encouraged them to join together. Certainly that is the way it was in Wales, when crime was pretty low in comparison to today. Also in the English Welsh border.
These youth centres were very successful. I recall them buzzing with activity.
Although late joining I was a member. That I never regretted, even though I was told off once that taught me a valuable lesson on how and why it was the right thing to show other children respect; even if you were told by another boy someone “A” was going to knee you one where it hurts.”
When that person approached I did it first. But it turned out he was telling lies. I learned to avoid him when he did same thing years later when I was at work. But this time he said that same person “A” who had just joined the factory where we worked was getting more money than me already and I had worked there 3 years. I complained to my boss. I felt terribly sorry it was meant to be a secret and that person “A” came to me in tears, striked me in the face. But I didn’t retaliate. I simply apologies. We became close friends afterwards.
Some years later I also worked in social clubs for people with disability and people that didn’t have disability. They are very important for our communities. I got to know Lord Lloyd Webber’s secretary. They sent us funds to support our drama group, not every year but on a number of occasions. Here I am as Skater-boy with the group; it’s only amature video but everyone had fun; https://youtu.be/NSj9YCGeLQE?si=FlF_WpX7riqsToMD
God bless you Anthony. You’re right, “crime pays” the authorities in power. If all the crime was resolved, they would be certainly out of a job, and so it is of no surprise the amount of ineptitude and incompetence seen in government authority figures, abusing their positions and trying to promote themselves instead of deal with the real issues. Thank you for sharing your personal experiences and making your voice heard.