☀️ Today, Thursday 08/10/2026: Mostly fine and dry after a chilly start, with cloud building later. Top temperature around 15°C. Rain is expected to move in overnight.

☔ BROLLY ALERT, tomorrow, Friday 09/10/2026: Cloudy with outbreaks of light rain, clearing in the afternoon or evening. Breezy, with highs up to around 19°C. Take a brolly out with you.

🌤️ This weekend: A sunny start to Saturday, with showers for some in the afternoon.

Source: Met Office and The Sunday Guardian. Forecasts can change, so check before you head out.

Croydon Council's draft budget for 2027/28 was published this week and proposes a council tax rise of 4.99% from April 2027, made up of a 2.99% general increase and the 2% adult social care levy. The council says this stays within the limit the government is expected to set for London boroughs.

The council has not yet published a pound figure. Croydon Today has worked one out from this year's bill: at Band D, the council's own share would go up by about £104 a year, or roughly £2 a week. That leaves out the Greater London Authority share, which the Mayor of London sets separately early next year.

The draft also shows Croydon still needs £120.7 million of government borrowing support to balance its books in 2027/28. Residents will notice proposed savings including higher parking fees and charges, LED street lights and more housing savings. A separate list of policy changes, including closing the discretionary disabled Freedom Pass to new applicants, has been agreed in principle only. None of it is decided.

Have your say: Cabinet discusses the draft at the Town Hall on Wednesday 14/10/2026 at 6:30pm, six weeks of public engagement start on Monday 19/10/2026, and full council sets the budget on Wednesday 24/02/2027.

Source: Croydon Today, citing Croydon Council's draft budget papers

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The last public consultation on rebuilding the Whitgift Centre opens today, Thursday 08/10/2026. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield's updated masterplan goes online with a short survey, before an outline planning application is lodged with the council, expected in early 2027. The scheme now proposes up to 4,000 homes, up from 2,500 to 3,000 when the spring consultation launched.

Want to see the plans in person? Drop-ins are outdoors and weather dependent:

📍 Today, Thursday 08/10/2026, 10am to 12pm, Surrey Street Market

📍 Wednesday 14/10/2026, 4pm to 6pm, East Croydon station

📍 Thursday 15/10/2026, 1pm to 3pm, North End

Source: Croydon Today and Inside Croydon

🎶 Legacy and Hope Concert with Pegasus Opera Company, 7:30pm to 9:30pm, Braithwaite Hall, Croydon Clocktower, Katharine Street, free. Opera, musical theatre and songs inspired by the Black diaspora, with the Croydon Harmony Choir joining the singers as Pegasus marks 30 years. Source: Croydon Today, via Croydon BME Forum

🎨 Sip and Paint with Croydon Talking Therapies, 11am to 1pm, The Wellness Centre, first floor, Whitgift Centre, part of Black History Month. Source: Croydon Today, via Croydon BME Forum

🎤 Karaoke Night, 8pm, The Porter and Sorter, free. Source: Croydon BID

🚋 Trams are due back between Reeves Corner and Wandle Park today, so check TfL before you travel. Source: East Croydon Community Organisation

Times can change, so please check each organiser's listing before you travel.

🎭 The Voice of Black Opera Grand Gala Finals, 7pm, Fairfield Halls, where five finalists compete for the Sir Willard White Award. Source: Londonist

🎸 The ELO Experience, Fairfield Halls. Source: Fairfield Halls

🧁 Bake Well Being Fundraising Afternoon, Saturday 10/10/2026, 1pm to 3:30pm at The Cricketers, 107 Addiscombe Road, CR0 6SG. Source: Bake Well Being on Instagram

🚴 Pure in Motion 10k Fun-draising Cycle, Saturday 10/10/2026, from about 9:30am to 1:30pm, starting and finishing at Wandle Park Café, Cornwall Road, CR0 3RD. Source: Cycling UK

🧸 Pollock's Toy Museum Pop-Up, Saturday 10/10/2026, 11am to 4pm, Whitgift Centre, free. Source: Croydon BID

🎷 Sunday Jazz at The Oval Tavern, every Sunday in October from 12pm, 131 Oval Road. Source: East Croydon Community Organisation

🧠 EMHIP Mental Health Conference, "Roots of Resilience", Wednesday 14/10/2026, noon to 5pm, St Mary's Church, CR0 2AR, free with a hot meal included. Source: Croydon Today, via Croydon BME Forum

🎵 Croydon Male Voice Choir Open Evening, Thursday 15/10/2026, at the choir's Sandilands headquarters. No experience needed. Source: Inside Croydon

Does your child love to dance? Sandra Randall Dancing School, based in Thornton Heath, offers Ballet and Tap classes for children from age 2 up to 18, and for adults too, with a particular welcome for anyone with SEN or neurodiversity. One of Sandra's pupils has gone on to leading roles in the West End in Tina Turner and Moulin Rouge.

Classes run on Fridays at St Oswald's Church, St Oswald's Road, Norbury, SW16 3SB: 4:45pm for little ones and 5:30pm for big kids. To enquire, call 07809 582225.

Source: Sandra Randall Dancing School, via the Croydon Local Pulse Business Spotlight form

⚡ Electrician of the Year: Joseph Matthews of South Croydon-based Electrotech Construction has been named Electrician of the Year for London at the Checkatrade Regional Awards, picked from more than 2,500 nominations nationwide. Source: Inside Croydon

🦮 A win for accessibility: Croydon accessibility activist Yusuf Osman has secured audio description tours for blind visitors to the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum after a legal challenge. Source: Inside Croydon

🌳 Croydon Roots: a three-day celebration of the borough's Black heritage runs Friday 23/10/2026 to Sunday 25/10/2026 at 62 George Street, with live performances, heritage workshops, film screenings and intergenerational activities. Source: Croydon Today

🧡 Winter shelter appeal: gifts to the Croydon Together night shelter are doubled until Monday 12/10/2026 through Croydon Voluntary Action's match funding campaign. Source: Croydon Today

🏛️ Stanley Halls restoration: the public survey on the Grade II South Norwood hall's restoration closes at the end of October. Source: Croydon Today

📝 Council Tax Support: Croydon's consultation on cutting the scheme is open until 09/11/2026. Source: Croydon Today

Surrey Street Market, which is marking 750 years this year with a new gateway and an 18-metre mural by Vic Lee, was the backdrop for Nadia Rose's track Skwod. Ten years on, young people can join a free dance workshop at noon and a music video shoot at 1:30pm under the market archway on Sunday 25/10/2026, as part of the council's Amplifying Surrey Street project.

Source: Croydon Today and Croydon Today

🧸 Half term starts on 26/10/2026, and the planning starts now: the free Pollock's Toy Museum Pop-Up is at the Whitgift Centre this Saturday 10/10/2026, 11am to 4pm, and The Kids' Table runs at BOXPARK Croydon on Sunday 11/10/2026, 12pm to 4pm, also free. Source: Croydon BID

👻 The Museum of Croydon spooky family trail runs 17/10/2026 to 31/10/2026, 10am to 4pm on Level 1. Source: Museum of Croydon

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The Croydon Local Pulse Team