Iver January 2019 by In and Around Publishing

Dear Readers Welcome to the January issue of In and Around Iver We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all the very best for 2019! As I’ve no doubt said before, I’m not particularly big on making New Year resolutions, mostly because I’ve never had much success in keeping them, which in turn, leads to a sense of failure. Instead, I tend to use January as a time to look back on the things I did or achieved last year that I hadn’t been doing the previous year. It’s surprising how you can merrily go along thinking nothing much has changed, until you really give it some thought. Looking back, 2018 for me was a complete change in spending habits. Mostly brought on by a sudden realisation that my wardrobe wasn't big enough for the clothes I kept buying and that wasn’t going to help me much with my future retirement plans. In one year I’ve literally gone from a shopaholic to an investorholic (if there is such a thing). Buying crypto currencies is my new weakness, together with gold and forex trading. Yes, I’m actually learning to trade! If someone had even mentioned any of those words a couple of years ago, I would have been clueless. So this month I’m celebrating all the things I have learned in 12 months, rather than the things I didn’t stick to. Try it! It feels so much more positive. Until next month .Angela & Sammy

You can advertise in this magazine from as little as £22.00 per month “Ask us about our affordable advertising rates or visit our website for more information” Tel: 0800 038 5001 Mob: 07759 536494 In and Around Magazines cover: Iver: Thorney, Richings Park, Village, Iver Heath Denham: New Denham, Village, Denham Green, Tatling End, Bakers Wood, South Harefield

Publisher: Angela Fisher Phone: 0800 038 5001 / 07759 536494 Email: info@inandaroundpublishing.co.uk Information and Details of Rates at

www.inandaroundpublishing.co.uk

Inside this month’s Bumper issue Travel: Corsica 6 Encyclopaedia Britannica Turns 250 10 Short Story: Holy Wellington Boots 12 Make the Most of the January Sales 14 Coffee Break Puzzles 16 Health: The most effective drug ever 18 The History of Coco 20 Beauty: The Best of the Best 22 Time to Smile 24 Mark My Words 26 RSPCA Rehoming Appeal 28 Pets Corner 30 Tech for the New You 32 Karen Munro: Careers 34 Recipe: Tandoori Lamb with Naan 36 Baking: Lemon Pudding Pots 38 The Ivers Parish Council Updates 42 Books: Beat the Winter Blues 44 Richings Park Residents Association 46 Interiors: Small Space? No Problem! 50 Home Products: Go on trend with a home bar 52 Finance: Sport the Pension Scammers 54 Life Begins: Are aging lines a good thing 56 Children’s Puzzle Page 58 Long Close School receives Literacy Award 60 Parenting: Ditching the 9-5 62 Do you need a social detox? 64 Learn a Language 66 News from your Local Policing Team 68 Motoring: Get the best deal on motor insurance 70 Driving: Be prepared for Winter 72 Buying a Used Car 74 Gardening: Winter Colour 76 Gardening: A Shady Space 78 The Wildlife Zone 80 Beat the January Blues 81 Puzzle Solutions 81 Citizens Advice Bureau 82 How to keep your pets warm 82 Nutrition Matters 84 Tech Tip 85 Quirky Britain 86 Clubs, Groups & Classes 88, 90 & 92 Wordsearch 94

FEB COPY DEADLINE 21ST JAN We are grateful for the support of local businesses whose adverts appear in this publication and whilst every care is taken to ensure accuracy, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors, omissions, claims made by advertisers or endorse companies, products or services. This publication, its contents and advert designs are © of In and Around Publishing. Any copying or reproduction in part or fully, is strictly forbidden without our prior consent.

THE RSPCA Hillingdon, Slough, Windsor, Kingston and District Branch Registered Charity No: 263515

Looking for loving homes recovery from illness and of course all our supporters who donate, volunteer and fundraise so this local self-funding RSPCA Branch can continue to provide care and treatment for animals like Kitwan. After all he has had to contend with in his short life, this beautiful boy deserves a future of love, care and ongoing kindness – could that be with you?

Strawberry

Kitwan Kitwan was just over 3 weeks old when he was found tied inside a plastic carrier bag and dumped in a garden like a piece of rubbish. His finder kindly brought him to our Hillingdon Clinic for veterinary attention and ongoing care. Far too young to be separated from his Mum, he was unable to eat or toilet without help and was placed with an experienced fosterer to be hand reared. He made good progress with his foster Mum, and two months later was lucky enough to be adopted by a lovely family. However his poor start in life had left him vulnerable while still so young and shortly after going to his new home he fell gravely ill and had to come back into our care. We really weren’t sure if he was going to make it, and had him admitted to a private veterinary hospital for extensive tests and treatment. Following two weeks of hospitalisation with round the clock treatment and care, Kitwan was out of danger and able to return to his original foster home to fully recuperate. Plucky Kitwan is now 6 months old, has made a complete recovery and longs for his own forever home. He’s a tough little character, full of mischief and with bags of energy. He gets on well with small / medium dogs and other cats, and would be fine with children beyond toddler age. Plenty of space to run about and a safe area to be introduced to the outdoor world will be needed for this budding explorer.

Beautiful 4 year old Strawberry was brought into our homing facility as her owners could no longer care for her and is looking for a new family to call her own. All rabbits require a spacious hutch and a generous sized run with plenty of room to play, stretch and exercise as well as a healthy and nutritious diet to help them thrive. Not forgetting of course, the all-important love and attention of their human family. Strawberry is such a sweet girl. Could you offer her the perfect bunny home she so deserves?

Follow Us For all our latest news, information on animals available for adoption and updates on those who have found loving homes through our Branch, p l e as e j oi n our F a c eb o o k f ol l o we r s at www.facebook.com/RSPCAHillingdon.

If you can offer a loving home to any of our animals, please call us on 01895 833417 or Kitwan owes his life to the kindness of many – the visit www.rspcahillingdonclinic.org.uk to apply person who found him and brought him to us for online. help, the veterinary teams who treated him, the fosterer who hand reared him and nursed him to Thank you as always for your support. 28

Dear Residents, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you all a very Happy New Year!

WW1 Beacon Lighting Centenary Event November 11th The Ivers Parish Council and The Royal British Legion were honoured that 104 year old Veteran George Sibley MBE lit the Commemorative WW1 Centenary Beacon November 11th 2018 at Iver Heath. Thank you to all our residents who made the effort to mark this occasion by attending the event.

Light Up The Ivers 2018! The Ivers Parish Council would like to thank all of those local businesses who contributed so warmly and generously of their time and hospitality in making this year’s Christmas Lights Switch On Event at The Clock Tower Square so successful! Special thanks to: SMB AUTOPARTS, THE SWAN, PREMIER NURSERIES, GL SKINNER & SON, HILTON, KING & LOCKE, OAKWOOD ESTATES, COSTA COFFEE, A&H GROCERS & WINE, MACE, DELAFORD COLTS, YOUTH CAFÉ, FUN4KIDZ, W7, STEP PROPERTY GROUP, CAPPAGH & QUATTRO FOR SPONSORSHIP OF THE COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS TREE and LAMPS & TUBES for lighting up The Ivers, Light Up The Ivers Dream Team 2018 take a well deserved bow. Our heartfelt thanks to all of our residents and especially the little ones who attended and lit up the square with their cheerful smiles and laughter December 1st bringing genuinely positive community spiritedness to the occasion. Last but not least our thanks also to the officers and groundsmen of The Ivers Parish Council who worked so tirelessly over the day and indeed the past year to deliver a bigger, better, event for all to enjoy.

Forthcoming Committee Meetings

Full Council – Monday 7th January St Leonards Hall, Richings Park at 7.30pm Planning Committee – Tuesday 8th of January, Parish Council Offices, Iver at 6.00pm Amenities Committee - Wednesday 23rd of January, Parish Council Offices, Iver at 7.30pm Planning Committee – Tuesday 5th February, Parish Council Offices, Iver at 6.00pm Policy & Finance – Wednesday 6th of February, Parish Council Offices, Iver at 7.30pm Highways – Wednesday 13th February, Parish Council Offices, Iver at 7.30pm 42

Tel: 01753 654010 Sally Munn

A ‘Richings Christmas’

Subscriptions

On Saturday 8th December, we held a ‘Richings Christmas’ at the Richings Park Sports Club. This was organised by RPRA, Iver Parish Council and a team of 7 residents. Flyers & notice boards to promote the event were kindly printed and distributed by Oakwood Estate Agents.

These are now well overdue. Please use envelopes provided or go to richingspark.com and follow the link to pay.

We entertained over 80 children with Christmas fun including a magic show, party games, a craft table, computer games & face painting. Entertainment was from the amazing Iver Singers & followed by a duo from local band Syked Out. At the end of the event Santa arrived to pick up the 100 + presents that had been kindly donated by residents. These were then delivered to Bucks Councillor Mark Shaw who will be distributing them to local Chidren in Care. The event was funded through Iver Parish Council, Richings Park Residents along with a raffle with prizes from generous residents and local businesses.

Smartville

The Richings Park Neighbourhood Watch CCTV and ANPR project What is it for? Creating a security net around Richings Park through strategically placed CCTV on the 4 main entry and exit points across Richings Park To help create a deterrent making Richings park less attractive to criminals Why do we need it? Incidents of reported crime have increased by 34% in 2 years Investment in policing has dropped and will not increase

The event was a huge success showcasing how the Richings Park community continues to come together – we look forward to more of this in 2019!

Improved security is proven to reduce crime

Dominic Grieve

This is being funded by the Richings Park community for the benefit of all. For details to pay please visit richingspark.com or paypal.me/pools/c/899ZTsSqHo

Q&A session with our MP Dominic Grieve on Friday January 25, St Leonard’s Hall 6:00pm to 7:00pm.

How do I help?

Long Close School receives Literacy Award Long Close School has been appointed as a Ruth Miskin Read Write Inc. Model School as a result of their outstanding literacy teaching. Model schools are selected as regional centres of excellence where teaching children to read is at the heart of what they do. The award was presented by Councillor Bains (Labour, Upton ward) and Jean Spurgeon, Educational Consultant for Oxford Education. The phonics- based programme is for 4-8 yearolds and is taught for 1 hour every day at Long Close. Children experience success from the very beginning. Lively reading books are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and ‘tricky’ words and, as children re-read the stories, their fluency increases. Along with a thought-provoking introduction, prompts for thinking out loud and discussion, children are helped to read with a storyteller’s voice. The children write every day, rehearsing out loud what they want to say – drawing upon their own experiences and talking about the stories they read to build their ideas, vocabulary and grammar.

sons, see the impact on children’s results, behaviour and engagement, and ask questions about implementation. “Our Model Schools demonstrate an inspirational passion and excitement for teaching. Their attention to detail and focus on continuous professional development marks them out and is the key to their success in getting every child to read by 6. No child should get left behind and with the right teaching and assessments we can ensure every child is understood and the gaps in their knowledge identified and addressed.”- Ruth Miskin, Creator of Read Write Inc. The Head of Long Close, Miss Nijjar was thrilled to receive the award: “It is wonderful to see the hard work of our staff and excellent progress of our pupils acknowledged and it will be fantastic to be able to inspire other schools.”

As further evidence of the academic performance of its pupils, Long Close Preparatory School rose from 86th to 44th place in the country as reported in the prestigious Sunday Times Parent Power ranking. Long Close emphasises its family values, happy atmosphere and broad curriculum which All Model Schools host half-termly open mornings ensure that its pupils enjoy school and develop a for local teachers to observe Read Write Inc. les- love of learning. 60

News from your local Neighbourhood Policing Team Your neighbourhood team consists of Sgt. James Ellis; PC Will Ranford; PCSO Kam Benawra, and PCSO Roy Fisher. Neighbourhood Priorities: The priorities for your Neighbourhood Policing Team (NHPT) are decided by the Community Forum for the whole of South Bucks. This steering group is made up of members of the community and representatives from organisations across the area. The forum is not run by the Police although we do play a part. This allows us to speak to a good cross section of society and find out what you want us to do and how you want us to police your area. The top three priorities are chosen by the forum every three months and are actioned by your NHPT.

Priority One: Burglary This quarter has seen a greater focus on anti-burglary patrols in the southeast of the LPA, especially focusing on Denham and the Ivers, with apparent results: we have had twelve residential burglaries in the Iver, Wexham and Stoke Poges parishes. This represents a significant decrease on the same quarter last year (where sixteen such burglaries were recorded – a decrease of 25%). These parishes also buck the usual trend where burglaries increase in the winter months: last quarter, covering summer 2018, we had twenty residential burglaries.

Unfortunately we have also seen a worrying rise in “distraction burglaries”. This is where a person claims to be from a respectable body, like a water or electricity company, and says that they need to gain access to your house to deal with some emergency. Once inside, they may have their run of the place; alternatively, they may distract you while a friend enters behind them and steals goods. This kind of crime especially targets the elderly or vulnerable. Always double-check the identity of unexpected visitors, by asking to see their ID – a genuine visitor will have it with them, and they won’t hesitate to provide it. Anyone without ID should be refused entry. The local neighbourhood teams have been conducting patrols in areas identified as highrisk. We have also been analysing the issues at commercial burglary hot-spots and working with the owners of large rural plots, looking at what makes their property vulnerable and helping them to reduce their

risk of burglary. Although burglary figures are down, don’t be complacent. It is doubly important now to ensure that your home is secure when you leave, and that movable valuables are hidden, as much as possible, from view. Remember to ‘leave a light on’ when you go out – a house in darkness advertises to a burglar that a house is empty and unguarded. A small purchase of a timer switch, which plugs into the wall and activates a standing lamp at a set time, or a ‘Fake TV’, can really assist in deterring burglaries: these criminals are most often nonconfrontational, and want to avoid the risk of someone being home.

Priority Two: Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)

Residents complained about anti-social behaviour around Thorney Lane North, Iver, which was linked to a particular property. They described a persistent problem with litter and drug paraphernalia, and issues with threatening behaviour; caused by guests to the property. We have worked to make the area less attractive for these unsavoury characters by conducting regular “touch-down” patrols, where officers park their vehicles in an easilyvisible place and go out on foot to provide a visible deterrence. We also put up signs to remind visitors that police are aware of the issues; making them consider the increased likelihood of being caught. We’re now working with the local housing association to further reduce the draw of this property, and with Iver Parish Council to replace deliberatelydamaged lighting. Reports of crime and anti-social behaviour linked to this address have now fallen significantly as a result. Residents also told us about persistent littering in a lay-by in Richings Park. The area was often visited by small groups, who would drink or use nitrous oxide canisters and leave the remains on the ground. Again, we utilised focused patrols of the lay-by and erected signage letting visitors know that frequent police patrols passed through. Reports have once again subsided. However, this may be a result of the colder weather, which has inclined them to engage in these activities indoors! Regardless, we will continue to monitor what activities occur in this location.

Priority Three: Speeding Officers continue to sentence from the first breach which was activated, conduct patrols and speed enforcement activities around the parishes. During general roads policing patrols, an astounding six drink-drivers and one drug-driver have been caught; all have been taken off the road for at least 12 months. Two drivers have also been dealt with for driving without insurance, and one business owner dealt with for permitting another person to drive without insurance, after allowing a friend to drive cars fifteen metres across a road to an adjacent car park (we have to wonder – was it really worth it?) Your local Neighbourhood team holds some capacity to conduct speed enforcement activity. However, with numerous other demands on our time, we look for support from the community, to determine where our efforts are best placed. This can occur through the Community Speedwatch Scheme, in which in which a minimum of six volunteers group together, and monitor traffic speeds at local locations. The data they acquire can be processed by our backoffice volunteer and warning letters can be delivered to transgressors, where warranted. This same data also allows us to identify the times and locations where our officers are best deployed, with evidential devices.

Offenders Brought to Justice

for a grand total of 32 weeks’ imprisonment. A man from Gerrards Cross has been ordered to pay costs and fines of £245, after being caught driving a vehicle which he had fitted with a blue flashing light. Unfortunately for him, he was seen using the blue light by a real police car on Bangors Road South; soon he was given a demonstration of what real blue lights look like. A woman from Iver was cautioned by police after admitting to stealing her own grandfather’s phone. She asked to borrow it and, when he asked for it back, claimed that she had already given it back. It was found that she had in fact sold it. Two men from Slough were charged with aggravated taking of a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, after stealing a bike from an address in Iver. It is alleged that, after riding the stolen bike, the two men were involved in a collision in Slough. They are awaiting trial. A male was issued with a street warning for possession of cannabis, after being found with the drug in the grounds of Iver Heath Cricket Club. Officers on patrol located the male who admitted to having the banned substance with him. A man from Iver had a very bad evening after being arrested for drug driving. The man was stopped by police and tested positive for cannabis. It was found that he was also driving alone, with a provisional licence and no insurance. A search of his vehicle also uncovered a small quantity of cannabis. The man pleaded guilty at court to all four charges and was ordered to pay £248 in fines and costs; he was also disqualified from driving for fourteen months.

Iver and Iver Heath A 34-year-old man from Manchester was arrested after being disturbed by officers at the scene of a burglary in Iver Heath. He jumped in his car and made off; resulting in a long pursuit, and involving officers from both Thames Valley Police and the Metropolitan Police. Vincent Breslin’s panicked flee was no match for the officers’ professionalism, skill, and training: he was caught after trying to dump the vehicle, pleaded We understand frustrations when a vehicle is guilty to burglary and dangerous driving, and reparked in one spot for a long time – but it is not an manded into the custody of HM Prison Service excuse for criminality. A man from Slough unfortuwhile he awaits sentencing. nately got himself into trouble when he took matters into his own hands and broke into a car in A man from Iver has been charged with a burglary order to move it. He had no lawful authority to do which occurred in 2013, when the case was reso and received a caution. Report abandoned vehiopened after new evidence was found. He has cles to the council – do not damage them yourself! pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. When new evidence comes to light, we can always review our investigation, no matter how much time has Contact Us: You can e-mail us at IverStokePogesWexhamNHPT@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk Or passed. you can visit www.thamesvalley.police.uk to report A woman from Iver received increased police safe- non-urgent incidents online. Sign up to Thames Valley Alerts to receive crime and policing updates guarding, after a man broke his restraining order twice! Having failed to learn his lesson from a sus- directly from your local Neighbourhood Team as pended prison sentence of 18 weeks, the man well as more crime and policing issues. Sign up to went on to try to contact the woman again. He the service online at: www.thamesvalleyalert.co.uk received a twelve-week prison sentence for the or speak with one of your Neighbourhood Team. second breach, plus the eighteen week suspended And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @TVP_ChiltSBucks to see what we do day-to-day!

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