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☀️ Good morning, Croydon!
It's Thursday, which means the week is nearly done and Croydon has been keeping busy. From facial recognition results making national headlines to a fridge turning up in a train tunnel (only in Croydon), there's plenty to chew on. Let's get into it.
Forecast from Accuweather
⚡ PULSE POINTS
🎤 TONIGHT -- When Croydon Was the Centre of the Universe | Talk by Londonist editor Will Noble at Croydon Clocktower (Braithwaite Hall), 7pm--8pm. Covers Croydon Airport's 1920s--30s golden era, Imperial Airways, and celebrity connections. Exhibition viewing from 6:30pm. Tickets £5.Book here
🔐 TODAY -- Cyber Safety Workshop | Free online safety training for frontline staff and community volunteers at Croydon Central Library (1st Floor Digital Zone), 2pm--5pm. Covers phishing, ransomware, and supporting others after cyber incidents. Free entry, refreshments included.Details
🎵 SUNDAY 17 MAY -- Jimmy Regal and The Royals at The Oval Tavern | Live music at one of Croydon's best-loved venues.
🎉 FRIDAY 15 MAY -- Box Bingo at BOXPARK | Bingo with a Croydon twist, 6pm--9pm. Tickets via Eventbrite.
🎭 SATURDAY & SUNDAY 16--17 MAY -- Surprised! Festival | Free two-day celebration of Asian culture in Croydon town centre. Street performances, large-scale puppetry, live music, Bollywood Brass Band, Vietnamese Lion Dance, craft workshops. No tickets needed -- just show up.
🌏 Surprised! Asian Arts Festival -- Sat-Sun 16-17 May, Croydon town centre. Free, family-friendly. Street performances, giant puppets, live music, workshops, food stalls.
Source: brumdaily.uk
🏙️ BOX BINGO: Bingo with a Croydon Twist -- Fri 15 May, 6-9pm, Boxpark Croydon. Tickets via Eventbrite.
🎢 Patel's Millions 2 -- Sat 16 May, 7:30pm, Fairfield Halls Ashcroft Theatre. | fairfield.co.uk
🎥 173 ARRESTS -- CROYDON'S FACIAL RECOGNITION TRIAL RESULTS ARE IN
The Met Police have published results from their six-month live facial recognition pilot on Croydon High Street (Oct 2025--Mar 2026). Static cameras on lampposts scanned over 470,000 people and led to 173 arrests -- roughly one every 35 minutes. Overall crime dropped 10.5%, and violence against women and girls fell 21%. Suspects arrested included individuals wanted for kidnapping, rape, and a woman sought since 2004. Mayor Perry called it proof that "we are taking back control of Croydon town centre." Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch has called for stricter safeguards. The cameras are staying.
Source: BBC News | The Standard
🏛️ PERRY'S SECOND TERM: 100-DAY PLAN INCOMING
Mayor Jason Perry has officially begun his second term (2026--2030) after securing 35,871 votes -- the highest total in Croydon's mayoral history. His priorities: cleaner streets, a thriving town centre, zero tolerance on crime and antisocial behaviour, and restoring financial stability. A detailed 100-day priorities roadmap is due in the coming weeks. Watch this space.
Source: Croydon Council Newsroom
🌊 STARMER UNDER PRESSURE -- AND CROYDON'S MPs ARE BACKING HIM
The Labour leadership crisis is deepening nationally -- over 80 MPs have called for Starmer to resign following heavy local election losses, and four junior ministers have quit. But Croydon's own Labour MPs (Steve Reed, Sarah Jones, and Natasha Irons) are backing the PM. Reed is described as one of Starmer's key defenders. Starmer says he's not going anywhere.
Source: Inside Croydon | Ilford Recorder
🛁 A FRIDGE. IN A TRAIN TUNNEL.
A discarded fridge has appeared in the foot tunnel under Norwood Junction station, near Platform 4. Social media is calling it an art installation. DEFRA data already ranks Croydon as England's worst borough for fly-tipping. The council's waste contractor Veolia is unlikely to remove it -- it may be on private property. The fridge remains.
Source: Inside Croydon
🔍 THURSDAY THEME: CROYDON IN THE SPOTLIGHT
This week Croydon has been national news -- and not just for the usual reasons. The facial recognition trial results landed in the BBC, The Standard, The Independent, and The Register simultaneously. Whether you're for it or against it, one thing's clear: what happens on Croydon High Street is being watched by the whole country.
Croydon has always been a testing ground. First international airport. First tram network revival in modern London. Now the first permanent fixed facial recognition deployment by the Met. Love it or loathe it -- Croydon keeps making history.
💡 DID YOU KNOW?
Croydon Airport -- the world's first international airport -- was also the birthplace of the air hostess. The first ever in-flight meal service was offered on Imperial Airways flights departing from Croydon in the late 1920s. Tonight's talk at the Clocktower covers exactly this era. History on your doorstep.
📊 THIS WEEK'S POLL
The facial recognition cameras are staying on Croydon High Street. How do you feel about it?
🔵 Safer streets -- worth it
🔴 Privacy concerns outweigh the benefits
🟡 Depends on the safeguards
Drop your vote in a reply email
👋 Outro
That's your Thursday Pulse. Big week for Croydon -- nationally covered, locally felt.
If you found this useful, forward it to a neighbour. If someone forwarded it to you, subscribe here -- it's free and it lands in your inbox every morning.
See you tomorrow. 👊
-- Croydon Local Pulse
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