UPDATE:

Dear friends and supporters,

Now that we have submitted our official election return, we wanted to send one final update and, most importantly, thank you once again for your support throughout our campaign.

Whether you donated, displayed a poster, shared our posts, delivered leaflets, volunteered your time, spoke to neighbours, or encouraged others to get involved, we are incredibly grateful.

Your support - both at the ballot box and through the funds raised - means a great deal. It reflects a shared belief in what we set out to do: bringing forward voices from within the community and standing up for the issues that matter locally.

We are especially thankful for the trust you placed in us. Meeting so many residents, hearing your concerns and ideas, and having hundreds of conversations across Alexandra Park was one of the most rewarding parts of the campaign.

Together, we secured 704 votes and raised important local issues that might otherwise have gone unheard. While we were not elected this time, we remain proud of what we achieved together and grateful for the support, encouragement and friendships that came from this campaign.

As required, we have now submitted our official election return. In the interests of transparency, we are sharing a breakdown of campaign fundraising income and expenditure here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11kQS3MDXpVv5uOoCUYek4SPUTLSiLfSqOhL0EfiKXeM/edit?usp=sharing

If anyone would like to see copies of invoices, we would be happy to provide them on request.

Many residents have asked us where they can raise local concerns following the election. The only contact that has come to our attention is the details and surgery information published by the ward's elected councillor, Cllr Ajaegbo ("AJ") Egemony:

Email: [email redacted].uk

Advice surgeries:

•⁠ ⁠Every second and fourth Saturday of the month

•⁠ ⁠1:00pm - 2:00pm

•⁠ ⁠Alexandra Park Library

As you can imagine, the campaign was very involving, especially as we did not have a party machine behind us. So we are taking a much needed break to attend to the things we neglected in our private lives. However, we are considering how to remain involved and support residents. So watch this space!

Thank you once again for standing with us.

With gratitude,

Yulia Bakman and Helen Gerolaki

Alexandra Park Independents

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We are Yulia Bakman and Helen Gerolaki, local residents of Alexandra Park ward, who ran as independent candidates in the May 2025 Haringey council elections.

Our aim was to strengthen local voices and improve transparency and accountability in local decision-making.

This fundraiser was aimed at reimbursing our spending over the regulated and pre-regulated elections period: the essential costs of running a small, fair local campaign for both of us. This amount was sufficient to cover most of our expenses, including printing leaflets, stickers, other marketing materials, and the operational costs involved in running the campaign. As this was a joint campaign for Helen and Yulia, the funds raised were shared equally between both campaigns’ expenses.

As independent candidates, we were not backed by a party machine and were therefore at a disadvantage. Unlike political parties, we did not have access to the electoral register or postal vote data before we became officially registered, and we had to navigate all legal and compliance requirements ourselves. This involved some unavoidable additional costs.

Thank you for supporting an independent, community-funded campaign.

Read more about us: https://www.alexandraparkindependents.co.uk