Neighbours’ Paper Issue 80

Neighbours Paper ’

Issue No 80

Putting the People of Ealing First

Spring 2017

Village Life

E a l i ng

Also in this issue: What’s Going On in Our Hospitals?

Free Legal Advice Crossrail/Cinema/Library Updates Berakah Arts Pottery and Exercise classes Community allotments/flowerbeds

FREE Please take one

in

Acton | Ealing | Greenford | Hanwell | Northolt | Perivale | Southall

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E ditoria l

By NP Editorial Team

This edition looks once again at the threat to our local hospitals. Our own Council is so concerned it organised a public meeting at our town hall on 15th February at which more than 500 people attended.

See the NHS article on pages 6 and 7. There is also concern about saving our local heritage. See page 4 for information on the 15 March Legal Hearing into encroachment issues on Haven Green and the Ealing Broadway Public Inquiry beginning on 9 May. On a more positive note, we spotlight Pitshanger Lane which not long ago was voted the Great British High Street of the Year. Village life thrives in busy Ealing! Our Borough also creates all kinds of music, art, sport and leisure opportunities as shown below and on other pages. Community allotments and gardening groups also feature.

Finally, if you have any worrying legal problems you may be interested in the free legal advice service offered by Ealing Law Centre on page 9.

Contents Contents Editorial................................................ 2 Events Around Ealing.......................... 2 Pitshanger Lane................................... 3 Ealing Notes......................................4-5 What's Going on with our Hospitals.6-7 Pottery on the Top Floor...................... 8

Legal advice for the Vulnerable........ 9 Get Up & Go...................................... 10 Berakah Arts...................................... 11 Local Flowerbeds & Allotments....... 11

EVENTS AROUND EALING Questors Choir Spring Concert Saturday 25 March 2017, St Martin's Church, Hale Gardens W3 9SQ, 7.30pm Questors Choir present two powerful pieces – Missa Choralis, composed

by Franz Liszt in 1864, and Charles Gounod’s 1874 composition Messe solennelle de Paques. Gounod wrote religious works throughout his life, including around 20 masses, and this one is regarded as his finest. Liszt on the other hand, had been seen

as worldly and a radical, so it was a surprise to many when he published his Missa Choralis, inspired by the traditions of late renaissance church music.

Tickets: £14 (door), £12 (advance booking & concessions), under 12s free.

Free glass of wine or soft drink. Online Box Office: www.questorschoir.org.uk.

Neighbours’ Paper Subscribe for a year: Just £4. Send a cheque to The Publisher, Neighbours’ Paper, 12 Waldemar Avenue W13 9PY Twitter.com/NeighboursPaper Facebook.com/NeighboursPaper Email: neighbourspaper@hotmail.co.uk Editor: Tom Whiting (020 8840 5740)

Hanwell Hootie Saturday 6 May 2017

Treasurer: Judy Breens

Across 14 VENUES with more than 85 BANDS and solo artists performing in what is now LONDON’S LARGEST FREE ONE DAY MUSIC FESTIVAL. THE HANWELL HOOTIE was started to commemorate JIM MARSHALL OBE who set up his company MARSHALL AMPLIFICATION in HANWELL in 1962 and went on to be a legend himself as ‘The Father of Loud’.

The Hootie is a free festival in local pubs and cafes as well as a church venue, a busking bus and 2 new big outdoor stages, all within walking distance of each other and showcasing live original music. From raucous bhangra and gypsy folk to ambient synth and soul, the Hootie has it all.

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Fencing in Ealing............................... 12

From Ealing Broadway or Brentford stations, hop on the free shuttle bus service to Hanwell between 3.00pm and 7.30pm. There is also a free shuttle between The Forester Pub in Northfields to Hanwell between 3.30pm and 10pm.

The Hootie aims to bring fantastic live music to small venues, continuing to develop Ealing’s music and cultural heritage and put Ealing back on the music map. It also brings much needed business to Hanwell town centre. Come on down, it’s going to be a great day!

More info at: www.hanwellhootie.co.uk, www.facebook.com/ TheHanwellHootie#hootie2017

Putting the People of Ealing First

Writers: Judy Breens, Mike Bunyan, Manjinder Chijarh, Will French, Michael Holmes, Mo Nazam, Oliver New, Sonia Nimley, Valerie Rudd, Tom Whiting Designer: Jamie Anson Cover: Jamie Anson Webmaster: Sonia Nimley Advert Designer: Sandy Anson Printer: Pollyprint Ltd, 263 Northfield Avenue, Ealing W5 4UA, 0208 579 1441, www.pollyprint.co.uk Advertisement rates: Single Box £25, Double Box £45, Triple Box £70 Next copy deadline: 30th April 2017

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What makes Pitshanger Lane special?

By Valerie Rudd Did you know that Pitshanger Lane in Ealing was crowned the Great British High Street of the Year in 2015 out of the whole of London?

Traders, shoppers and local residents worked so hard, as well as Pitshanger Village Traders Association and John Martin estate agents, to get their high street past the winners’ post.

The lane fought off competitors from Rayners Lane High Street and Roman Road in Tower Hamlet. There is a small standing plaque to commemorate this event in the high street.

Ealing is a multi-cultural community and this is reflected in the variety of shops and businesses all over the Borough.

More than 12 months after its award, Pitshanger Lane remains a traditional English type high street that has a character all of its own. The independent shops and businesses have serviced the area for many years. Most cover much of your day to day essential needs.

It’s a very sociable and family orientated area, surrounded by lovely parks for leisure activities and with good transport connections.

The

friendly

Pitshanger Bookshop

Typical of the high street is Pitshanger Bookshop, a local business which has been run by Fiona Kennedy since August 2011. It’s a very popular venue for well-known local authors to sell signed copies of their books. They also run Book Launch evenings where authors talk about their books in a very relaxed and sociable atmosphere.

Veronica Heley is a local author who has published over 70 crime novels.

Her Murder in Style, published last year, features three shops based in Pitshanger Lane woven into the storyline: The Bakers, Harrison Delicatessen and the Dentists Practice. She has further published novels in the Ellie Quicke and Abbot Agency series.

Another local writer Ian Richardson has had a very interesting media career. His main interest now is writing and developing fact-based and fictional screenplays and books. His recent works include The Mortal Maze and God’s Triangle.

on

Pitshanger Lane.

books of Poetry and Short Stories.

Recent published include Gol Gotham: Metamorphoses and a short stories book Clasped in Prayer.

Among other published writers who live in the area, Alex Gerlis is the author of The Swiss Spy and The Best of our Spies; Sue Elliot wrote I Heard my Country Calling, Love Child and The Children who Fought Hitler; Bevan Jones authored Surviving Aberfan; Oliver Comins had published Battling Against the Odds; Neil Elder wrote Codes of Conduct; and Jeff Pack had published This House, the history of the house Jeff lives in within the Pitshanger area, along with The Enigma of Sandown Road and Love is in the Air. Pitshanger Lane is the answer to village life in an urban environment.

It certainly works for its residents, and long may that continue.

For more information on local authors and events at Pitshanger Bookshop, email info@pitshangerbooks.co.uk or call 0208 991 1811.

Lewis Hill is a local author of four

Putting the People of Ealing First

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Ealing Notes:

By NP Editorial Team

9–42 The Broadway Public Inquiry The landmark public inquiry into plans to redevelop all the land between Ealing Broadway Station and Morrisons Supermarket begins on 9 May in Ealing Town Hall. The three-week inquiry will set two of the UK’s most expensive planning barristers against a coalition of local groups led by Save Ealing’s Centre.

This will be the second time plans for this site have come up for such scrutiny after being approved by Ealing Council.

Back in 2009, SEC saw off a scheme that would have included a tower of 27 storeys opposite Ealing Broadway Station. The latest plans are just a little less drastic with a tower of just 18 storeys. In other ways its effect on the town centre will be even more severe.

It will entail the demolition of the iconic Carphone Warehouse building on the

corner of Station Broadway which only just escaped the 2001 IRA bombing.

it seems very unlikely they would build the scheme as Ealing has approved it.

Joining SEC in opposing the scheme is Historic England, who are concerned about the widespread demolition regardless of the harm to the Town Centre Conservation Area.

Last year Historic England issued a warning that both the Town Centre and Haven Green Conservation Areas are on its national ‘at risk’ register of heritage assets.

SEC has set up a fund to meet legal costs to fight the case. Visit www.saveealingscentre.com to find out more.

An unusual twist at this inquiry is that the scheme’s proponent – developers Benson Elliot – is selling the site to British Land, one of the UK’s largest property companies. British Land, who already own the Ealing Broadway Centre next door, have not yet revealed its plans but

Haven Green Regular readers will know that since 2012 the Friends of Haven Green has been challenging LBE on encroachments on the Green which has been safeguarded since the middle

ages as undeveloped common land for the public to enjoy. Matters come to a head on 15 and 16 March at a two-day hearing when the Council will argue that the portion of the Green on which the Cycle Hub has been built should lose its common land status.

Several national and local groups, including the Open Spaces Society, Ealing Civic Society and the Central Ealing Residents Association support FoHG’s case.

See: www.friendsofhavengreen.com

The Town Hall In the last issue, we reported on Ealing Voice’s ideas for the Town Hall to become a community led arts and leisure centre as an alternative to the Council's decision to hand it over for a boutique hotel. Sad then to report this initiative has failed. Expect the hotel scheme to go ahead then, and the Town Hall to close this year, for a minimum of two years of refurbishment.

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HE RE TO GE T

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THERE

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Crossrail Delays Commuters passing through Ealing Broadway Station are wondering just what is going on behind the hoardings disfiguring the place for the past 18 months. The answer is very little. Back in 2012 Council leaders proclaimed work on the station would soon start on badly needed lifts so people struggling with luggage or disabilities could avoid the stairs. Nothing happened. In Autumn 2015, Crossrail then plonked a threestorey ‘temporary’ building in the middle of Haven Green announcing that work would be ‘substantially complete by summer 2017’. This deadline has now stretched without explanation to December 2019. So even

The ‘Cinema’ Site Just before Christmas, and to much fanfare, diggers appeared on the long derelict area of land behind the Ealing Cinema façade. Ealing’s leading politicians joined men in suits to don hard hats and fluorescent jackets and declare that after 10 years, Ealing’s long wait for a new cinema was nearly over.

What really is happening on the site looks less straightforward. The project has been taken over by housing developers St George who are responsible for the vast Dickens Yard scheme that now dominates most views of Ealing. Being residential developers, St George wants to reduce the amount of shops and restaurants

with its minimalist ‘improvements’, one of the most over-crowded stations on the rail network will be about the last place to benefit from Crossrail’s vast project.

Crossrail has given up informing the public about its progress, so reasons for the delay are unclear. Blame seems to be directed at Network Rail who run the rail network but have reportedly got bogged down with other projects. Just why this should mean work on the lifts at Ealing Broadway hasn’t started is unexplained.

Similar delays extend across the Borough’s other four stations – Acton Main Line, West Ealing, Hanwell and Southall. Just enough has been done

on the site and build more flats instead.

This will mean adding extra floors to the buildings Ealing has approved.

At the time of writing, St George had still not acquired much of the land – including that bit where the cinema will be built. However we understand they are optimistic they will complete the cinema as the first phase of their scheme by the end of 2019. The project still entails replacing the much loved YMCA building on Bond Street with a bland faceless facade.

The new cinema will be run by Picturehouse who are experienced in providing town centre cinemas, but it remains unclear how many screens will be provided. Look out for more details at an exhibition promised this spring.

Putting the People of Ealing First

however to impact on passengers on the Greenford line. This service now ends at West Ealing and passengers to Paddington must now change trains.

But the erratic service causes many to miss their connection and lengthen their journey times into London.

Ealing Central Library Uncertainty surrounds the Council’s plans announced last year to downsize the central library and move it from the site in the Broadway Centre it has occupied at a peppercorn rent for the past 45 years. The move which it hailed ‘a fantastic opportunity to create a brand new, modern library’ was widely condemned. The number of books will be cut from 124,000 to 37,000, study spaces from 155 to 45 and the Local History collection put in store in West Ealing. However, rumours now starting to circulate suggest there may at least be some pause to this plan. We shall report further.

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What’s Going On With Our Hospitals?

Words

and

Photos

by

O liver New, Chair of Ealing Save Our NHS

It’s a Frightening Crisis For some time, the media has highlighted the crisis in our hospitals, especially in A&Es. Ambulances needed elsewhere are stuck outside A&Es, sometimes for hours, because there are no beds to put patients into. North West London is one of the worst hit areas. All local A&Es were recently in the bottom 12 for urgent cases, with Hillingdon Hospital the worst in England. The closure of A&Es at Hammersmith and Central Middlesex Hospitals was obviously the main contributing factor. Well, obvious to everyone except apparently to the senior health managers in charge.

required to work together and with their local councils to produce a Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) for local services.) Recently uncovered by a Freedom of Information request, the NWL Plan includes:

Unbelievably, these managers are pressing ahead with plans to close Ealing A&E. They are seriously under-resourcing Ealing Hospital and unless this process stops, the Hospital will become unviable at some point. Without A&E backup, most other services can’t function, so almost 300 beds would go too.

• A reduction in A&E attendances by 64,175 in the next 5 years.

I’m not making this stuff up, it’s all part of the STP. (Following publication of the NHS Five Year Forward strategy, all NHS regions in England were

Who Is Ordering the Cuts and Privatisation of NHS Services?

In Ealing, the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) holds the purse strings.

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Putting the People of Ealing First

• The loss of 3,658 NHS jobs in NW London next year, 2017/18 – rising to 7,753 job losses by 2020/21 • A cut of almost 50,000 hospital admissions and 222,370 outpatient appointments by 2020/21. Already patient waiting times for planned operations are at record levels.

• The loss of 500-600 hospital beds with the closure of Charing Cross and Ealing as major acute hospitals.

Ealing Hospital would end up as a collection of clinics with the Urgent Care Centre which, like many other NHS services, has been tendered out and is now privately run – despite the Hospital location and use of the NHS logo.

CCGs replaced Primary Care Trusts in 2013 and are responsible for the planning and commissioning of health care services for their local area.

There are now 209 CCGs in England.

They claim to be acting on ‘clinical’ advice, but in truth they are following instructions from the ‘Shaping a Healthier Future’ team, which is now morphing into the ‘Sustainability and Transformation Plan’. Behind these bodies is NHS England, controlled by the Health Minister. Unfortunately, all these managers are expected to follow nationally laid down directives however disastrous the result.

Of course, the one multi-million pound growth area is private management consultancy and public relations teams. NHS budgets in North West London have allocated millions to these people to plan NHS restructuring and ‘savings’. You may have come across their PR people as they have toured community meetings with glossy leaflets explaining that our health will be much better after more cutbacks. According to these spin doctors, healthy living

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advice and community clinics will be a big improvement on what they claim is ‘unnecessary’ hospital treatment. Such claims are quite unsubstantiated and in truth, the UK already has far less beds per capita than comparable European countries.

STPs are coming to the NHS across England These STPs will massively cut health and adult social service spending, which is already at crisis level. England has been divided up into 44 great big areas, for each of which handpicked senior managers have been appointed to draw up a plan to ‘meet the budget’.

Hospital Trusts, CCGs and local authorities have been told they must buy in to the process. Each of the STP areas is huge, covering several local authorities, CCGs and hospital trusts – far too big for local communities or local accountability, even supposing there were any structures in place.

Staggeringly, most of them have been bullied and cajoled into signing up for the STP without even being given the full plans. None of this has gone through Parliament, by the way.

STPs are being sold as plans to integrate adult social care, health and hospitals. But integration of services is totally outweighed by the STPs having far smaller budgets.

Local authority budgets for social care, especially for the elderly, have been cut so much that even the private companies now running most care homes are starting to go out of business. As a result, people are stuck in hospital as there’s nowhere to go.

Ealing Council Says No So far in our area of North West London we have seen the closure of A&Es at Hammersmith and Central Middlesex, the award winning and much needed Ealing Maternity Ward, the Charlie Chaplin children’s ward, (which means children can’t go to Ealing A&E) plus huge cuts in funding and the tendering out and privatisation of many other local services.

To its credit, Ealing Council has defied Government pressure and refused to endorse the STP, along with Hammersmith and Fulham Council. They even organised a public meeting on

A packed Victoria Hall for the Ealing Public Meeting on the NHS, with speakers from Ealing Save O ur NHS, Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham councils , local GPs and healthcare reps .

15th February to highlight the problem.

It’s great to see a public body standing up for the public in this way!

Analysis shows that cuts and closures will hit the most deprived. Many people will be unable to access services and would be left to rely on already overstretched GPs who are unable to substitute for hospital services.

The Emperor has No Clothes Locally and nationally, opposition to STPs is growing. Retired senior health managers have gone public, saying the STPs won’t work. Dr Tracy Batten, the boss of five West London Hospitals, recently resigned. The Red Cross has said that Britain is facing a ‘humanitarian disaster’.

But the health bosses are still in denial. It seems unless they carry out policy and tell their superiors that all is well, they are out. Everyone can see the frightening truth except for the emperor’s courtiers – the ones destroying a great service.

Ealing Save Our NHS campaigns to save local hospitals and NHS services from cuts closures and privatisation. Please visit www.EalingSaveOurNHS.org.uk or find us on Facebook.

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P ot t e ry o n t h e T o p F l o o r

By Manjinder Chijarh On OPEN Ealing’s latest newsletter, my eyes glazed over ‘Pottery without a Wheel or a Kiln’. Lead by Corinne Scurr, this six-week beginner friendly course sounded quite appealing, with its clay work techniques and cross-generational sessions. And so, on that Saturday afternoon, it was my first day at the Orchard Café.

resistance and a brighter palette.

The ancient artistic handicraft of pottery dates back many thousands of years, producing millions of pots, bowls, vases, jugs, trays, statues, figurines and more.

Pottery is created with clay bodies such as Kaolin, Stoneware or Bentonite and coated with ceramic glaze before or after firing. For her workshops, Corinne uses white earthenware clay and decorates with lead-free underglaze resulting in better shock

With my apron and hand moisturiser ready, I was almost prepared for our first task. Clay on canvas and a rolling pin. Hitting left to right, turning over to repeat until my four inch clay was one inch thick. Nicely warmed up, a combination of newspaper, scissors and PVC pipe helped in marking and shaping the body and base for our clay vase.

Rolling pins at the ready Through the door and up the stairs.

Entering the classroom of sorts, roughly ten of us were greeted by Corinne’s warm smile. In the next two hours, we would create a cylindrical vase using slab building and texturing techniques.

A surprising result With our extra clay, it was time to experiment. Feathers, pencils, cloth rags, voile curtain, letter stamps, jute string – household items with detailed results. Satisfied, I pressed my spontaneous designs onto my chosen clay and eventually cut it to shape.

Wrapped around the pipe, added the base. Sealed the sides, newspaper removed. Cutting corners off the base, smoothing it out and with last-minute designs, the job was done. Corinne was pleasantly surprised with everyone’s results, offering encouragement and assistance whenever required.

A pottery vase on display at the ‘Pottery without a Wheel’ course.

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Putting the People of Ealing First

Over the weekend, our clayware was fired and brought back for the second lesson – painting our vases.

I wasn’t able to attend, but I’m told the remaining four lessons explored techniques such as coiling, press moulding and decorating with slips, stencils and textured stamps.

Inspiration from Christmas decorations Corinne has been practising ceramics since 2007, earning her ‘Contemporary Crafts’ degree in 2010 from Falmouth University, Cornwall.

A technician and part-time tutor at Richmond Adult Community College, she teaches arts and crafts along with pottery handbuilding skills for beginners. Inspiration first struck in 2011 when she wanted to create Christmas decorations for her family. She finds pottery a rewarding activity with countless moments of joy that can be actively passed on to future generations.

‘Pottery without a Wheel’ offered a delightfully creative afternoon and I’m looking forward to the Orchard Café’s future events.

You can see Corinne’s work at www.thekilnhouse.blogspot.co.uk and follow her on Twitter/Instagram at @Cozzieanne. To make your own decorations, order a personalised piece or hold a workshop, contact cascurr@gmail.com.

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Ealing Law Centre Free legal advice for the most vulnerable

By Tom Whiting I met up for a coffee with Vicky Fewkes, Supervising Solicitor, and Alison Plaku, Admin and Volunteer Manager, to chat about what goes on at Ealing Law Centre.

ELC is a charity run by volunteer trustees and is part of the Law Centres Network.

It was set up in 2013 by a group of local people living in the borough who saw there was a lack of free legal advice and representation after the demise of citizens advice bureaux and legal aid providers in the area.

Since then, more than a thousand Ealing residents have passed through its doors and been helped by ELC pro bono on matters relating to housing, immigration (including asylum, domestic violence and human rights issues) and welfare benefits that qualify for legal aid. The office itself now has three fulltime solicitors, two part-time welfare benefits advisors, an admin coordinator and a Big Lottery funded project worker.

Solicitor Vicky Fewkes says, ‘Our greatest obstacle is the lack of resources…

There is often a mismatch between what the law is and the reality…We are a non-profit organisation, with no council funding but reliant on a mixture of legal aid funding, charitable donations and fundraising events (such as staff running the London Marathon!) to carry out our work.’

Neighbours’ Paper commends the work of ELC – the only free law advice centre in Ealing – in supporting the legal rights of the most vulnerable people in the local community.

Vicky

and

Alison outside Ealing Law Centre in Northfields .

Contact Ealing Law Centre, 210 Northfields Avenue W13 9SJ, tel 020 8579 4598, info@ealinglaw.org.uk, www.ealinglawcentre.org.uk.

Open Mon-Fri 9.30-5.30, please call in advance if you need advice.

Case study: Teenager gets citizenship Eighteen year old ‘D’ had lived in the UK since the age of three. He was not entitled to citizenship as his father was not a British citizen and his mother had returned to her country of birth and was no longer involved in his life. ELC challenged the Secretary of State to invoke a discretionary ruling for youngsters seeking to go into further education, as a result of which Danny now has citizenship and can attend drama school.

Putting the People of Ealing First

Case study: Possession proceedings revoked ‘Ms Y’ was a secure tenant of the Local Authority who had issued possession proceedings against her on the basis of rent arrears. Ms Y had a dependent child living at the property and her benefits had been stopped as a result of a missed appointment at the Jobcentre. ELC was able to provide Ms Y, who had poor literacy and communication skills, with housing and welfare benefits advice and also assisted her application for a Discretionary Housing Payment.

Ms Y had her housing benefit and Jobseekers Allowances reinstated and ELC filed a defence in respect of the possession proceedings. The Local Authority made an offer to settle the case which would clear the outstanding arrears in full.

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Ready, steady, get up and go!

How Ealing’s older citizens up their strength, balance and freedom The strength and balance programme is available to all Ealing residents over 65.

By Sonia Nimley ‘Keep what you’ve got, don’t lose it.

Don’t wait ‘til you’ve lost it and then try.’

Wise words from a sprightly member of the strength and balance class at St Mary’s Church Hall, Hanwell.

With a struggling NHS and statistics revealing that every minute, six people over 65 suffer a fall, it is no wonder organisations like NICE are emphasising that prevention is better than cure.

Despite the wintery January morning, the class turnout is okay and after the session, the classmates are positive.

Pat, another student, says, ‘Well, it’s really and truly helping people not

to use the Health Service, isn’t it?’

‘All of us are suffering with our legs, we’ve all had knee and hip replacements. You can do it in a chair and still have benefits from it. If you can’t do everything, you do what you can,’ she adds.

Earlier, David, a student from the advanced class was more direct: ‘This is saving me from the surgeon. As you know, you’ve got to be nigh-on a cripple before they do anything for knees now.’

The strength and balance programme follows the Otago* framework, a set of leg muscle strengthening and balance retraining exercises and is available for Ealing residents over the age of 65 with concerns or a previous history of a fall or who simply want to improve their balance.

In class, there’s a rhythm and variety to the movements: twists, turns, marching, stretches and leg weights. Halfway through the hour, teacher Marilin asks, ‘How is everyone feeling?’

‘Terrible!’ a cheeky man jokes. ‘Tired!’ a woman chips in. The class laughs and smiles and hasn’t stopped working out.

Angela, who has a trapped nerve in her leg, says later, ‘It definitely gives you more confidence to walk carefully and be aware of where you might trip over and stuff like that…’

Aran Summers StayActive4Life Tel: 020 8574 7785 Mobile: 07715 170207 Admin@ StayActive4Life.co.uk 10

Elsa compliments the teaching and riffs on a song played during the cool down (‘S'Wonderful’): ‘It’s wonderful, it’s marvellous that you should care for us.’

Many continue beyond the initial 10 week programme (after that it’s £3.50 per class). The classmates say it’s sociable too; some are active elsewhere but believe more could benefit.

StayActive4Life aim to hit their targets, get over 1000 people in two years, and see more peer group leaders.

David, who was nagged into starting and has been going for over three years now, would like to see more men attend. ‘Give it a month, and if you’re no better walk away,’ he suggests. ‘It’s good for me.’

‘I want to keep active, independent if I can.’ He can’t stop, he’s off to Central library to do research for his heritage museum.

Get up, get into it, get involved, no referral is necessary and there are classes around Ealing borough.

StayActive4Life are looking for older adult volunteers who would like to be trained as peer motivators or teachers, contact Aran on Admin@StayActive4Life.co.uk *Otago University, New Zealand

Ealing Live at Home 020 8813 0519 ealing.liveathome@ mha.org.uk

Putting the People of Ealing First

Ealing Day Treatment Centre 020 8571 1143

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Berakah: Uniting through culture and the arts

By Mohammed Nazam I've been a professional musician for nearly 30 years, and I am the founder of a charity, based in Ealing, called Berakah Arts.

‘Berakah' is a Hebrew and Arabic word meaning blessing or grace. I started this originally back in 2005 as a band that featured professional musicians from Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith heritage, with a clear mission to bring people from these faiths together. We currently do this by running a community choir in Richmond and, since November 2016, a youth project called

Increase The Peace, based in Acton.

We believe that through culture and the arts people can be bought together. We held concerts in churches, synagogues and Muslim centres because I had seen that music could cut right through our differences and bring us closer as human beings. In 2013, I formalised into an organisation and now it's a small, committed and growing community of people from every faith (and no faith whatsoever) all using their musical talents to spread a message of positivity and Unity.

Against a background of rising tensions both here and internationally, we are asking young musicians to get involved with Increase The Peace, and to contribute their talents to something that can have a positive impact on our community. Currently the band features a fantastic set of music, including songs by Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers and Donny Hathaway. We'll be mentoring young composers and planning lots of concerts in spring and summer.

Contact mo@berakaharts.org.uk or visit www.berakaharts.org.uk.

Community group tends local flowerbeds

Fancy an allotment?

By Northfields Friends Flower Power

The Jubilee Road allotments were established as part of the expansion of London suburbs during the 1930s, surrounded by the triangle of housing built on Jubilee Road, George V Way and Bilton Road. They are managed by Ealing Council with a locally appointed, voluntary site manager providing local liaison and collection of rents.

Northfields Friends Flower Power is a community gardening group which was set up to help local gardeners share gardening tips, cuttings seeds and anything else that can be used to green up the local area and reduce waste.

By Mike B unyan, Site Manager

The site covers about 2.98 acres and the majority of the 90 plots are approximately 150 square yards.

As a group we have recently taken up responsibility to tend to the flower beds outside Northfields tube station.

So far members have contributed soil, plants, bulbs and of course time towards tending to the beds.

Any further donations of plants or time would be gratefully received. See us on our Facebook page.

Our collective effort to improve plots, remove rubbish and clean up unused plots was rewarded with a ‘Commended’ Award from Ealing in Bloom in 2016.

For further information and vacancies, contact the site manager at jubilee.allotments.perivale@gmail. com or Ealing Council at allotments@ealing.gov.uk.

[Ed note: Community spirit at its finest – when I do my commute through Northfields, walking past the colourful flowers will forever raise a smile from now on!]

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Fencing: Friendly combat in Ealing Who knew that Saxon Drive in Acton was the driving force behind SAXON Fencing Club based at Twyford Sports Centre? Michael Holmes, NP Reporter, had the pleasure of meeting Paul Lowen, Club Captain to discuss the club’s success since its launch.

and mask and chest protector. This is to prevent each opponent from serious injury and possibly worse during play. Not forgetting your weapon of choice: foil, epee or sabre!

May I ask why and how did the club come about? It all started in the 1940s when a fencing club here in Ealing was due for closure. Whilst driving home from evening class that day, a member who lived on Saxon Drive, Acton formed the current club to keep the sport alive in Ealing. Having moved to several locations in Ealing borough we’ve finally settled here at Twyford Sports Centre.

Fencing is now taught and played worldwide and first featured in the 1896 Summer Olympic Games. In later years, participants had electric cords attached to determine who wins the point, indicated by an audible sound on weapon contact.

What is fencing all about? It dates back to Swordsmanship for Self-Defence and Duels. What is meant by that is two people would enter into an arranged combat with matching weapons with agreed-upon rules. This was a form of military training that soon developed into a sport. This transition happened around the mid-18th century and was led by Domenico Angelo who started a fencing academy in London in 1763.

How is the club run? We are a committee-based club with a chairman and secretary along with several others including coaches who train people from beginners to advanced level. With such strong membership the club is able to fund itself and we enjoy being a social club encouraging all to take up fencing.

The rules now dictate the wearing of protective clothing including headgear

Successes to date? I must mention we have some of the world's best fencers training with us! One example: Chris Mollard who is world ranked 19th trains here along with William

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Putting the People of Ealing First

Saxon Fencing Club welcome participants of all abilities .

Price, just seven places below and ranked 26th in the world. Also William is part of a group representing Team GB. Myself and coach Ben Peggs are ranked 3rd and 5th in the world rankings respectively. Ben was even part of Team GB in Rio 2016.

So if you fancy a role in The Three Musketeers or a Bond movie (remember Madonna in Die Another Day!?) then why not try out the sport. Adult and Junior Sessions on Thursday 7-10pm, Twyford Sports Centre. See www.saxonfencing.co.uk, or call 07770 864 255.