News from Barking & Dagenham – May 2025
National recognition for Valence House
Just in time for International Museum Day (18 May), Valence House has received full recognition from the National Arts Council. This is a much-noticed recognition of the museum’s management and its impact throughout the city. The team has been working towards this recognition since 1988. Valence House is the 110th museum in the UK to receive this honour.
Lorry driver is now a millionaire
Lorry driver Gary MacDonald from Barking is quitting his job after winning £5.2 million in the National Lottery. The 60-year-old used to drive parcels to Lakeside Shopping Centre every day. Now he wants to take it easy and look for a new house with a big garden. And he wants to marry his partner Anita, with whom he has lived for 25 years. At first, Anita didn’t believe he would be so lucky and assumed it would be £5,000.
‘Dirty’ cars are expensive to park
Since 15 May, Barking and Dagenham have had new rates for residents’ parking, in line with the rates in neighbouring towns. For cars with low CO2 emissions there is little change, they now cost £15. Cars with high carbon dioxide emissions, over 141g per kilometre, will be really expensive. They will now have to pay £102, twice as much as before.
