Lavender Fields

Slawek Szczepanski was born in Poznań, Poland, and came to the UK in his early twenties. Like many new arrivals, Slawek had to rebuild everything from scratch: language, work, stability and he made Merton his home for his family. He built a career in sales and project management, rising to senior project director for a major automotive brand.

His passion for community work led him to become Chief Executive of the Polish Family Association (PFA). Since 2011 PFA has evolved into a multi-service hub supporting families, new arrivals and underserved groups with advice, skills, food resilience, health-inequality prevention and integration support, including for families fleeing Russia’s war against Ukraine.

In Lavender Fields, Slawek supported South Mitcham Community Centre’s expansion and refurbishment bids, led the ward’s bulb-planting initiative, and championed community growing with local allotments to strengthen neighbourhood pride and connection.

In 2024/25 Slawek had the honour of serving as Mayor of Merton. He has a clear belief: London democracy must remain open, welcoming and rooted in lived experience and introduced multi-faith, inclusive prayers at Council meetings, instead of a single chaplain, to reflect the real Merton of today

Lavender Fields

Edith Macauley has lived in Morden for over 30 years and has been a councillor for 27 years. Edith has also served as a Magistrate in Wimbledon for over twenty years.

As your councillor, Edith has made safety her number one priority, working closely with the police. Edith made sure that CCTV cameras were installed in Lavender Park to make it safer for people to use as a shortcut home.

Edith worked for the Communications Workers Union for 44 years, dealing with claims for damages and acting on legal matters on members’ behalf. Due to her background, Edith has supported residents seeking advice on legal issues and over the years has been successful in getting claims settled.

Edith was the first black woman to serve as the Mayor of the Borough in 2002-03 and raised a lot of money for her two Mayoral charities, Diabetes UK & Christian Care, and undertakes a sponsored swim each year to raise money for the charities of every Mayor of Merton. And she was very proud when, in 2013, her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II awarded Edith an MBE at Windsor Castle for her services to the Community.

Lavender Fields

Twenty-eight-year-old Harry Platts is originally from Dover in Kent and has lived in Merton for over four years, now. He and his partner have bought their first home in the local area and are excited to put down roots here.

During this time, Harry has played a leading role in re-establishing the borough’s dedicated LGBTQ+ community group. In August 2025, these efforts culminated in the first-ever Merton Pride – a landmark celebration for the borough’s LGBTQ+ community that saw over 500 people march the Wandle Trail from Morden Hall Park to Merton Abbey Mills. It was a fantastic day that brought together volunteer groups, performers, sports clubs, businesses, churches, and more from across the borough.

A lifelong history enthusiast, Harry has turned his passion into a career as an archaeologist. He volunteered on his first dig at 13 and has been getting his hands dirty ever since, come rain or shine. His claim to fame is discovering a Bronze Age treasure hoard. Now supervising his own sites, he continues to unearth London’s hidden stories in his day job – though he’s yet to find a dinosaur

Mitcham and Morden MP

Siobhain has lived in the constituency of Mitcham and Morden her whole life and was elected as the Member of Parliament for Mitcham and Morden in 1997.

Siobhain is renowned as one of the country’s hardest-working MPs, and regularly leads the list of MPs who have written the most letters, taking up thousands of new cases on behalf of constituents every year. She has led a variety of campaigns, including the opening of a new train station at Mitcham Eastfields, saving St Helier Hospital, introducing new community ‘Safer Neighbourhood’ police teams, and tackling graffiti, abandoned cars, vandalism and other anti-social behaviour.

Twitter: @Siobhain_Mc

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Instagram: @siobhainmcdonagh