Together, we make a difference

We're a small borough and council, but we are passionate about what we do. We work hard with and for our residents to make Epsom & Ewell a great place to live, work and visit.

We're telling some of the stories of the work done by Epsom & Ewell Borough Council's staff, Councillors and residents that make a positive difference to our borough.

Take a look at the case studies below; there is a selection of stories on this page, or click on the link in the list below to read more about that particular story:

Assistant Development Manager at Bourne Hall

Heather is our Assistant Development Manager at Bourne Hall and is responsible for bringing new and exciting events to the venue. The choice of events is key to ensure Bourne Hall gives visitors an inclusive and, most of all, fun customer experience. 

Her most recent challenge has been to keep up with the fast-paced growth of Bourne Hall, coming up with innovative ideas to maximise the use of the space.

Heather said of her role:

“I help and support local groups to keep a wide range of activities on our timetable, in the aim to have something that appeals to everyone. Through my time doing this, I have seen Bourne Hall grow to be a routine part of local residents life.

“Every day is so different. One day, you’re working at a birthday party and the next, your helping throw a wrestling event. It definitely keeps you on your toes!”

Heather is currently part of the team working on Christmas at Bourne Hall and has been helping to install a Christmas Grotto in a studio room.

She adds:

“I find this to be an exciting challenge as it requires a huge amount of creativity, as well as providing an opportunity for loads of departments to work together to deliver a successful event.”

Find out what’s on at Bourne Hall this Christmas - www.bournehall.org/upcoming-events

Arts, Culture and Heritage Programme Assistant

Our Arts, Culture & Heritage Programme Assistant helps to drive the council’s creative ambitions, bringing partners together to deliver an engaging programme of events across the borough.   

Viktorija is currently in her third year of studying at the University for the Creative Arts and is currently enrolled in the Music Business & Management BA/BSc (Hons) course. 

Viktorija chose to apply for a role at Epsom & Ewell Borough Council during her placement year and supports our Arts, Culture and Heritage Programme Officer. Viktorija’s role involves research, project planning, setting up exhibitions and liaising with community partners. Whilst doing so, Viktorija is building an impressive book of contacts and learning how to network in order to add value to each project she works on. 

Here, she tells us about some of the recent work she’s coordinated: 

“During my placement at EEBC, I have loved getting involved in community murals, meeting the characters from the upcoming Christmas panto, coordinating history projects with schools and coming along on a walk along Epsom Downs to raise awareness for World Suicide Prevention Day – my job is extremely varied, which I love! All of the projects I work on are closely linked to the Arts, Culture and Heritage objectives that are set out in the Annual Plan.” 

Executive PA, Chief Executive & the Mayor

Our people are central to the delivery of services to the community, and we empower staff to make a difference to local causes close to their hearts through the council’s Employee Volunteering Scheme. This allows them to use up to 2 days to support a charity of their choice.

Lolly, Executive PA to Epsom & Ewell Borough Council’s Chief Executive and seconded to support the Mayor of Epsom & Ewell for the last three years, volunteered to support veterans throughout their visit to the Poppy Factory, organised by the Royal British Legion and Epsom Rotary for their Veteran Hub in Ewell. The visit included talks about Remembrance and activities that the 35 veterans could take part in, such as a poppy making workshop, seeing how wreaths are made, and exhibits showing Royal wreaths designed for His Royal Highness King Charles III, Her Royal Highness Queen Camilla and His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council enjoys a close relationship with the armed forces, with veterans joining us to mark key occasions throughout the year.  Councillor Graham Jones MBE also joined the tour and is the council’s Armed Forces Champion with over 40 years’ service in the military. He supports the Army Benevolent Fund, the Soldiers’ Charity, is on the London Committee and organises fundraising events for the Royal British Legion including the Poppy Dinner.

Lolly Adams said:

“Supporting the armed forces means a great deal to me and the council’s Employee Volunteering Scheme gave me a real opportunity to help veterans at an especially poignant time, leading up to Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day. It was a truly rewarding experience, and a real privilege, to assist veterans throughout the day by serving teas & cakes and supporting them on and off the coach. And it was truly humbling to be someone they could share their memories with and hear their experiences first hand.

Touching even one person’s life makes volunteering worthwhile.”

For more information on Remembrance day activities, please visit Remembrance in the borough of Epsom & Ewell | Epsom and Ewell Borough Council

Home Improvement Agency

Our Home Improvement Agency team work to assist disabled, elderly and vulnerable residents to stay in their homes safely and independently. This is achieved through home assessments, using  various forms of grant assistance and our handyperson service. Debbie tells us more about her team's work:  

“Prevention is the key to all the work my team does. By safeguarding against slips, trips and falls through home improvements, we not only help people feel safe in their home but also prevent potential hospital admissions and reduce the need for residents to move  to a care home.

“My team works closely with both Surrey County Council’s Social Care Team and the NHS to enable our residents to get more cohesive support.

“We contacted Epsom General Hospital to share our services with the hospital's discharge team, physiotherapists and district nurses and were pleased to receive positive feedback from the hospital. We have received numerous referrals requesting our assistance with people at home and in need of hospital discharge.

“In the last year, we have helped 350 residents with a variety of advice and assistance. Some examples of the work we carry out include deep cleaning and decluttering, repairs to boilers, fixing leaks, fitting grab rails, providing wheelchair accessible bedrooms and bathrooms to name just a few.

“We will also look to signpost to other services, such as applying for benefits or the befriender service for those feeling isolated and alone.”

To find out more about the Home Improvement Agency, please visit Home Improvement Agency | Epsom and Ewell Borough Council (epsom-ewell.gov.uk)

- Debbie, Principal Housing Grants Officer

Senior Countryside Officer

Sarah is a Senior Countryside Officer within Epsom & Ewell Borough Council’s Countryside Team. She has worked at the council for nearly 23 years. Collaborative working plays an important part in being able to provide safe and biodiverse green spaces for our residents, and visitors. Never has this been more keenly demonstrated than through the Epsom Common Local Nature Reserve (LNR) achieving the Green Flag Award, an international quality mark, for an amazing 18th consecutive year.

Working with partners and volunteers helped us to meet the ‘Welcoming Place’ criteria for the award, ensuring Epsom Common LNR is healthy, safe & secure; clean & well maintained; and sustainable with signposts, benches and other furniture sourced and produced locally.

We work alongside the Epsom Common Association and an amazing volunteer workforce that includes EcoVols (volunteer arm of the Epsom Common Association) who regularly lead conservation tasks, The Countryside team volunteers and Lower Mole Partnership volunteers.

Green spaces are for everybody to enjoy, and it’s great being part of such a passionate team that works hard to make this a reality. Our strong relationships with partners and volunteers enable us to manage biodiversity, improve public access and enhance visitor experiences within our local nature reserves. Ultimately our aim is to provide residents with habitats and areas they be proud of. 

Our countryside walks are designed to help residents and visitors explore - click here.

- Sarah, Senior Countryside Officer

Arts, Culture & Heritage Programme Officer

Our Arts, Culture and Heritage Programme Officer drives the council’s creative ambitions, bringing partners together to deliver an engaging programme of events across the borough.  

Lucy tells us about a recent project which she coordinated: 

“In September 2023, ten local secondary school students worked in collaboration with the council and international graffiti artists from Positive Arts to create a large-scale mural celebrating the biodiversity within our borough. The artwork dramatically improved the aesthetics of the building, which previously looked tired and in need of renovating. 

Watching a cohort of young people succeed in a creative environment was just wonderful! The project is a true visualisation of the impact being creative can have on people and their wellbeing. After completing the mural, one of the young creatives said that he’d “been able to breathe a little easier for a few days” while being with us on the project – it was a lovely way to describe his feelings and it’s moments like these that make my job so rewarding. 

This type of project sits within the emerging Cultural Strategy for the council, which seeks to nurture and champion the creative talents within our community while increasing access to creativity for all to enjoy and engage with. 

I love the variety of partners that I get to work with in my role – from curators, to artists, teachers, charity workers and countryside officers. Every person I meet has a unique knowledge of what makes our borough brilliant and it’s my job to showcase this!” 

- Lucy, Arts Culture & Heritage Programme Officer

Transport & Waste Services team

Our Transport & Waste Services team make half a million collections a month, and sometimes find themselves dealing with the unexpected.

“We’re responsible for refuse and recycling collections in Epsom & Ewell, including developing the waste & recycling strategy which involves developing our recycling services over the years, and responding to the government’s national waste strategies.

My team of 38 people and I are responsible for collecting refuse & recycling across the borough.

We make around half a million collections (yes!) every month so there is always – always – the opportunity for something out of the ordinary to happen. We’ve rescued live animals from bins, from hamsters to dogs to terrapins (often they’ll find a new home with one of our staff!).

Since the pandemic, a big challenge has been the lack of drivers, without whom we can’t make collections. You may have read in the news about the national shortage of LGV drivers which has made it hard to recruit new drivers. Another challenge sadly is the aggression we’ve found in society since the pandemic. We’ve had to call the police four times in the last year as a result of verbal or physical abuse against our operatives.

The most enjoyable thing about working in this team is our team spirit. And we really appreciate the many people we see when we’re out and about in Epsom & Ewell who smile at us and say hello.”

Democratic Services team

The Democratic Services team supported around 20,000 people to vote in the last local election.

“I manage the Democratic Services team at Epsom & Ewell Borough Council which is responsible for the management of the council’s committees, electoral registration in Epsom & Ewell, elections management and Councillor support services. 

Elections are an interesting and exciting time for everyone in the borough, and a high-profile project for us. We begin planning around a year before the election, reserving a venue for the election count hall and venues where people will be able to vote. Last year this was at Epsom Racecourse.  

We form a project plan and an election management team to oversee its implementation and ensure compliance with all legal and other requirements, and work with colleagues across the council  to organise and run the election.

Borough council elections are perhaps the most complicated of the elections we run. Last year there were 135 candidates for 35 council seats across 14 different wards.  Each ward had separate candidates, election agents and polling stations. It was imperative that across the voting and count periods that none of the ballot papers or information became mixed.

Nearly 59,000 polling cards and over 9,500 postal votes were sent out in advance of the polling day and around 20,000 ballot papers were counted.  Last year's election also saw the introduction of voter ID for voters at polling stations for the first time, a significant change for the election management team to plan, communicate and implement.

Day to day, we maintain the Register of Electors, which contains the names and addresses of everyone eligible to vote at elections held in the borough and run elections in Epsom & Ewell. The register is updated every month when people move in or out of the borough but there is also an annual canvass to make sure that the register is as accurate as possible.  The canvass involves contacting all residential properties in the borough (over 33,333 properties) by various methods to ensure the details on the Register are correct. In Electoral Services we receive registration applications and enquiries each day, both from the national portal and directly from local residents.  At times, there will be several detailed and sensitive enquiries to manage, such as researching records from decades ago. 

My team and I also support the five policy committees: the Community and Wellbeing Committee, Crime and Disorder Committee, Environment Committee, Licensing and Planning Policy Committee and the Strategy and Resources Committee as well as regulatory and audit committees, three advisory panels, and joint and sub-committees. These committees decide upon the strategy of the council, how public funds are allocated and how the council is run. We ensure that all public matters discussed at committee, and decisions, are available to view on our website; and that meetings are able to be run smoothly and broadcast live on YouTube, so that people can watch at home.”

- Tim, Democratic Services

Housing

The Housing team work with residents and partners to reduce homelessness within our borough. Arjan tells us more about his team's work;  

“I’m the Strategic Housing Manager at Epsom & Ewell Borough Council. My team and I help people find accommodation when they need it, for example if a family find themselves to be homeless for any reason: perhaps they have been evicted without warning or are fleeing domestic violence. The main challenge we face is the shortage of affordable housing in our borough, particularly for families.

We work hard to find short-term accommodation solutions, like the Private Sector Lease scheme. We are also seeing increasing numbers of people with complex needs coming to us for support. We work with other agencies, like mental health services and adult social care, to find lasting solutions for people. We work strategically to prevent homelessness across Epsom & Ewell wherever possible, for example working with developers to maximise the number of affordable homes planned as part of new housing developments in the borough. 

I also oversee the Home Improvement Agency which offers financial assistance to help people with disabilities or additional needs make changes to their home, so they can continue to live independently.

The dedication and skill of the team makes a huge difference to how we are able to help our customers. While I’ve been at Epsom & Ewell Borough Council we’ve worked across a huge range of different issues: from the Homes for Ukraine scheme, which helped place more than 120 people across the borough, to helping people stave off homelessness during the cost of living crisis.

What I enjoy most about my role is working with partners to find long-lasting housing solutions for people in Epsom & Ewell.”

- Arjan, Strategic Housing Manager