Letter from the editor – May 2026

The Caterham Independent Newspaper has teamed up with Blue Turtle Business Services to offer support, coaching and mentoring help to both employees and employers alike during these difficult times as we slowly start getting back to life as we knew it.

With over 35 years experience in business and people support, BTBS offer a range of services to get your business back on track along with coaching and career advice for individuals.
This is your opportunity to send us your questions which we will try and answer via this new monthly column. Below is a selection of questions we received this month.

Dear Steve
I have recently been made redundant and feel like the world has dropped out of me. I loved my job and losing it has left me feeling overwhelmed, upset and totally useless. I am not a confident person and struggle through interviews. I feel like all is lost and I do not know what to do next.
Sez. Caterham

“I started my new business during lockdown.” When non-essential jobs were forced to close in March, the financial impact hit UK workers hard. Whether facing furlough, redundancy or simply a lack of clients, the uniquely strange times of 2020 forced many people to look for new ways to make money.
For three Tandridge entrepreneurs, lockdown gave them the motivation to get creative and launch a new business. We spoke to them and found out how they did it.
Starting from scratch

With schools shut, Lisa Yazdabadi found herself home schooling her older children, aged 7 and 4, while simultaneously entertaining an energetic 2 year old. Finding time for herself in the middle of the hubbub soon became a necessity.

Last month saw the opening of the latest Zabardast outlet on Godstone Road, Whyteleafe. The Caterham Independent went along on the opening evening and met the Zabardast team and had the opportunity of sampling one of their delicious wraps.

Zabardast is a local family business and has grown from a single store in Waterloo seven years ago to a full Quick Service Restaurant concept comprising a central kitchen hub in Kenley and eight stores including Centrale Shopping Centre, Bluewater Shopping Centre, Canary Wharf and now the latest addition in Whyteleafe.

I am Chantal Baker, Director and founder of Champ Consultants. We are accountants and tax consultants based in Caterham. We are looking forward to providing you with business and finance tips as well as answering your questions.

Question:
What tips can you give me in writing a pitch?

A pitch can be used by anyone at any time. The main time you may use your pitch is when you get asked the question “What do you do?” We are frequently asked this question and this is where our pitch comes into play.

Never has there been a time when parents have been more concerned about their child’s education. From the parents of the four year old starting school for the first time in the ‘new normal’, to the parents, whose son was unable to put pen to paper for his A ‘Levels and takes predicted grades to university with him. Having taught for over twenty years, I have come to learn that no matter where you are in the world, parents will put their child’s education first and foremost.

Private tuition is not a new concept but it has most certainly been thrown into the spotlight in recent months, with schools closed, parents struggling to ‘home teach’ and the government’s new tutoring initiative to help close the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers. However, what has changed is parents’ perceptions and a new understanding that tutoring is no longer an elitist concept and that extra tuition can come in many shapes and sizes.

Exhaustion, cravings, mid-afternoon slump, poor sleep and too much coffee – does this sound familiar to you?

I get it! Although you may be pushing through despite feeling tired every day, this is not OK. You would not let your phone run out of battery so why should you?
Some of you probably cannot wait (after 6 long months...) for your children to go back to school and ‘get a break’. You may even have decided this will mark the start of your health journey. So here are my top tips to start the academic year feeling energised:

Home of The Caterham Beacon is the The Westway Common. The Beacon is lit for commemorative occasions. Previous events have included royal births and weddings, the Queens Diamond Jubilee and more recently it was lit for VJ Day to signify the 75th anniversary of the end of WW2.

Welcome to the September edition of The Caterham & District Independent.

Well, we’ve made it through the summer, albeit the strangest one we have ever been through. We’ve encountered so many changes to our work and lifestyles over the last six months, and I think we’re going to have to get used to making more adjustments here and there for a while to come.

I often look at the skies and wonder when I’ll next get on a plane. I have family and friends across the world and it’s been hard to miss out on seeing them this year. However, I was lucky enough to visit relatives in Suffolk for a few days last month and it was amazing how refreshing a simple change of scenery can be.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has said that the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has approved the return of grassroots rugby in England. The RFU have introduced certain measures into place so that the sport can return safely and in accordance with government guidelines. Local club Old Caterhamians RFU are eagerly waiting their return to training at the beginning of this month. The squads will be returning to training weekly at The Pavillion, Hillfields (Caterham School Hill Playing Fields).

In accordance with the RFU certain measures and guidelines have been put into place. A full risk assessment has been carried out to ensure the safest possible return for the club.
The youngest of the ‘Mini Section’ usually play tag rugby where a tag is taken and then returned in lieu of physical tackles. The older minis would play full contact. For all minis this has been replaced by touch rugby with the older minis using tackle bags to practice technique without physical contact with each other.

To ensure lockdown didn’t lead to breakdown, Caterham resident Sam Lee-Tracy used his experiences with anxiety and OCD to set up mental health support group ‘Mentality’ at the beginning of lockdown.

After living with both conditions since the age of 18, Sam spent time researching causes and treatments before realising his knowledge could benefit others.
Sam says: “I wanted what I’d been through to have meaning, to create something that could help people reduce or stop their own suffering.”
He reached out to friends, asking if any were interested in starting a Facebook group that would encourage men to overcome the stigma of asking for help with their mental health. The five that came forward brought wide-ranging skills to Mentality, as well as insights gained from overcoming their own challenges.
Soon after this, somebody Sam already knew - who had been dealing with anxiety and addiction - suffered a drug-related psychotic episode.

As someone who used to work in education and social justice policy, I was delighted to see the Prime Minister focus on skills this week, announcing a package worth over £1.5 billion across further and higher education to help get people working again after Covid-19, as well as giving those in work the chance to train for higher-skilled, better-paid jobs.

The Local Economic Taskforce that I established in June is pushing to secure funding for East Surrey College’s bid for an Advance Technology Centre, which will be important in ensuring that educational provision locally meets the current demand. The Taskforce is also lobbying to increase our employment support, preferably with a new JobCentre+ in Gatwick to help aviation workers. I also met with the CEO of the airport recently to convey my deep concerns about the current situation and pressed him on the need to protect as many jobs as possible. I know that the livelihoods of so many local people depend on the airport or related industries, so this is a top priority for me.