Out & About, Chiswick, Brentford, Isleworth and Osterley, Feb-March 2022

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FEBRUARY - MARCH 2022

THE

THAMES RNLI

Winners at Hounslow Business Awards

Stations celebrate 20 years

Jazz Live music

& BLUES

at George IV

TO SILENT FILMS at the Musical Museum

Chiswick Culture • Move into Wellbeing • Jazz at George IV • Hen Corner What’s on at Watermans • Growing Together at Chiswick House Osterley Park gardening notes • Live organ accompaniment to silent movies Hounslow Business Awards • Thames RNLI stations celebrate 20 years

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FEBRUARY - MARCH 2022

Contents 26

INSIDE

Features

Regulars

6-7 Chiswick Culture has survived Covid 9 Move into Wellbeing gets Council funding 11 Watermans What’s on this Spring 14 Growing Together at Chiswick House 18 Musical Museum Brentford Silent films with live organ accompanist 20 Hounslow Business Awards celebrating the best in business 22 Russell Finex Lifetime achievement award 26-27 RNLI celebrates 20 years of Lifeboats on the Thames

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Letter from the Editor

10 Jazz at George IV What’s on this Spring 16 Gardening Notes From the head gardener at Osterley Park 24

Coffee Break Crossword

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Hen Corner The cycle of life

All information in this edition was correct at time of publication but may be subject to change.

11 14 DOOR TO DOOR DISTRIBUTORS NEEDED! We are looking for people to distribute our magazine in Chiswick.

If you are interested, please email: info@outaboutmagazine.co.uk

GET IN TOUCH

out&about Magazines www.outaboutmagazine.co.uk Tel: 07967 660772

DIRECTOR Amanda Rowley info@outaboutmagazine.co.uk Tel: 07967 660772

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Gerry Devine geraldineholden@icloud.com Tel: 07710 574479

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EDITOR Bridget Osborne bridget@thechiswickcalendar.co.uk

Published by: out&about Magazines.

While we endeavour to make sure that all published information is accurate, the publishers cannot be held responsible for mistakes or omissions or any loss resulting from non-publication of an advertisement. While all reasonable care is made to ensure accuracy of information, the publisher accepts no responsibility for the views or claims made by any of the contributors, advertising or editorial content included. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of ‘out&about’ or the editor. Terms and conditions apply. Please recycle your magazine.

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EDITOR'S LETTER

Welcome

Culture in Chiswick is alive and well despite Covid’s best attempts to shut it down, says Torin Douglas, Director of the Chiswick Book Festival. The 2022 calendar of events is looking very positive. Pages 6-7

While Watermans has all the latest film releases with their amazing special effects and film quality, a few hundred yards along the road Brentford’s Musical Museum is playing old silent movies – Buster Keaton’s The General on Sunday 13 February is accompanied by Donald MacKenzie, the renowned organist from London’s Odeon Luxe Leicester Square.

Page 18

Local charity Move into Wellbeing has received a grant from Hounslow Council which will enable it to run weekday classes in the east of the borough as well as the west. The charity provides dance and movement classes for people with mobility restrictions. Page 9 Jazz at George IV is back with a full programme of live jazz and blues for February and March. Page 10

Every year Hounslow Business Awards singles out those who have gone the extra mile in business – whether it’s in exports or technology, treatment of the staff or marketing strategies. See who this year’s winners are.

Page 20

Watermans is also back with live cabaret, children’s theatre and a programme of activities for February half term, as well as a full schedule of films. Page 11 Behind the walls of the Kitchen Garden at Chiswick House there’s a hive of community activity. From apple picking and veg planting to tai chi and tabla playing, a new community engagement programme has been developed to provide local people the opportunity to learn about nature, build confidence and aid wellbeing.

Page 14

Engineering company Russell Finex won both Employer of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement award. Why are they considered such a good firm? Page 22 The RNLI is celebrating 20 years of lifeboats on the Thames this year. They have saved a lot of lives and there have been some dramatic rescues. Pages 26-27 And at Hen Corner the year begins again with planting and egg laying and all sort of courses where you can learn how to make good food. Page 28

Things are beginning to get busy in the garden. Hear what the head gardener at Osterley Park has to think about at this time of year. Page 16

Bridget

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Editor: Bridget Osborne

COVER IMAGE Spring

Blooms S CALL U

ON

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F U N E R A L D I R E C TO R S & M E M O R I A L S TO N E M A S O N S

Andrew & Robert Lodge with their eco-friendly hybrid funeral fleet

O U R F A M I LY HELPING YO U R F A M I LY

“The staff at Lodge Brothers have been sympathetic, understanding and supportive.

They were with us every step of the way throughout a very difficult time and we are and will be forever grateful for their support.”

For over 240 years, seven generations of the Lodge Family have been proud to help local families in their time of need. We provide all funerals, whether modern, traditional, green or alternative, with care and compassion.

Mr Robinson

N O W O P E N I N I S L E WO RT H 1-2 The Pavement, South Street, Isleworth TW7 7AJ ASK ABOUT OUR PRE-PAYMENT FUNERAL PLANS

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W I L L S & P R O B AT E 23/03/2021 13:56

CULTURE IS THRIVING IN CHISWICK

Culture

IS THRIVING IN CHISWICK But it’s been a tough two years, says Torin Douglas

Culture is alive and well and thriving in Chiswick, despite COVID. We now have a beautiful Chiswick Cinema plus the Weston Studio at Hogarth’s House and three Sunday markets, all opened during lockdown. And Chiswick’s arts groups and venues have really risen to the COVID challenge over the past two years – though it’s not been easy for any of them.

The Arts Society Chiswick moved its monthly lectures online, and its speakers adapted brilliantly to the new medium but it’s great to have them back in person again. The Bedford Park Society held its annual lectures online, and is adding extra Zoom lectures this year. And Chiswick House and Hogarth’s House hosted Zoom lectures with other historic houses in the Thames Luminaries series.

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Chiswick Playhouse – with a full programme planned for 2020 – instead put on productions in the Tabard pub courtyard and, when allowed back indoors, cut capacity till restrictions were lifted. It launched a public appeal and fund-raising concerts and interviews to help it survive the crisis. In an exciting programme for 2022, it has just announced a concert celebrating Stephen Sondheim on 4th and 5th February.

In 2020, Chiswick House had to cancel its weddings, Giffords Circus, Pub In The Park and outdoor cinema, but it launched an outdoor market and an outdoor festival of concerts and comedy in the walled garden.

Supported by a public appeal and the Cultural Recovery Fund, it opened its doors again and started a new programme of f @outandaboutmagazines

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exhibitions and talks - and we look forward to more in 2022.

The Bedford Park Festival went online in June 2020 - including a virtual Green Days, Craft Fair and Bandstand, plus streamed concerts, talks and plays, an online photography competition and art exhibition and 14 ‘virtual’ Open Gardens. But it was back in person last summer with music events and talks - and a fete in the grounds of St Michael & All Angels instead of Green Days weekend. We hope Green Days, a Chiswick highlight for over 50 years, will be back in full this year in June.

The Chiswick Book Festival also went online in 2020 - streaming interviews with Lady Antonia Fraser, Lloyd Grossman and others. A panel discussion at Chiswick House on ‘Hogarth, Soane and A Rake’s Progress’ www.outaboutmagazine.co.uk

CULTURE IS THRIVING IN CHISWICK was inspired by the Hogarth paintings which returned to Pitzhanger Manor for the first time in 200 years – unfortunately, just as lockdown began. We committed to running a live inperson 2021 Book Festival, under COVID rules, when no one knew whether the Government would allow that - or whether people would want to come.

Audiences were delighted. We could have sold many more tickets for Gyles Brandreth, Ed Balls, Alan Johnson and others and we hope to be back to full capacity this year.

Elsewhere, the local open studios event, Artists at Home, went online successfully in June 2020 and then live again in September 2021, and the Bedford Park Summer Exhibition returned to St Michael & All Angels Church in June 2021, after going online in 2020.

In music, local choirs, singers and musicians produced wonderfully creative lockdown

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performances on Zoom, and Trio Manouche created The Lockdown Sessions with The Chiswick Calendar, which has now resumed its live weekly jazz concerts at the George IV. It was great to see local choirs and orchestras returning in 2021 to live performances in Chiswick’s churches, with more to come in 2022…

Chiswick composer Cecilia McDowall’s 70th birthday year was marked by special concerts and interviews all over the world, and a commission to write a new carol for the Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College Cambridge.

Chiswick’s great cultural heritage was highlighted in lockdown by the ‘Exploring Chiswick’ project, encouraging people to download the local arts trails to their mobile or computer. It was launched in January 2021, when the Government was urging people to ‘stay local’, by a group of cultural organisations and has

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been refreshed for 2022.

Exploring Chiswick ’22 is urging people who think they know Chiswick to “see it anew in ‘22”.

New names are being added to the Writers Trail of poets, playwrights and novelists who lived in Chiswick, including Dylan Thomas, John Donne, William Morris, Somerset Maugham and James Berry. The project to celebrate WB Yeats in Bedford Park, will come to fruition in June 2022. And the Chiswick Timeline of Writers and Books will include several new authors, including Richard Osman, Dame Eileen Atkins and Sophie Ellis-Bextor – whose Friday kitchen discos in Chiswick were one of the undoubted cultural highlights of lockdown.

Chiswick’s cultural organisations welcome you and would be delighted to see you at any of their events this year.

Torin Douglas is the Director of the Chiswick Book Festival.

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Contemporary

Textiles Fair 18-20 March 2022

FRI 1PM-8PM SAT & SUN 10AM-4PM www.landmarkartscentre.org Ferry Road, Teddington, TW11 9NN 020 8977 7558 contemporarytextilesfairlandmarkarts landmarkarts contemporarytextilesfair

Admission £5, Concessions £4, LAC members & U16s Free Images: Liliane Boutique & Monica Boxley

Registered Charity No: 1047080

MOVE INTO WELLBEING

Move INTO

Wellbeing Local charity receives funding to launch over 60s dance and movement classes in Chiswick Move into Wellbeing®, founded in 2005 by Donna Schoenherr, has been granted money by LB Hounslow to deliver a ‘Move into Wellbeing’ class for Over 60s at the Hogarth Youth Centre on Duke’s Road, W4, during 2022.

The charity provides dance and movement classes for people with mobility restrictions. Move into Wellbeing® works with those with Parkinson’s, ME, MS, Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Dyspraxia, Early-stage Dementia, and Long COVID as well as those with general stiffness, balance, and joint problems.

During the last two years, it has developed an online programme in order to keep people moving and healthy at home, which it runs in conjunction with in-person classes at several different locations – St. Peter’s Parish Hall in Southfield, the Musical Museum in Brentford for the Hounslow

Seniors Trust, St Mary’s Osterley, and at four different sheltered accommodation schemes in Hounslow as part of the London Borough of Hounslow Over 60s Activities Programme.

Donna is a former professional dancer, who started her professional career with the Festival Ballet of New York. Her philosophy is very much that dance is something that can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone.

She started Ballet4Life 18 years ago to offer a range of classes for adults and set up Move into Wellbeing® when her father developed Parkinson’s disease.

to musical accompaniment and can be adapted to individual needs. Depending on who turns up and what their needs are, Donna and her tutors will amend the classes so everyone is able to get something out of it.

Crucially the grant has enabled them to offer the classes for only £2 a session, payable on the day on the door or by bank transfer.

“Huge thanks to the London Borough of Hounslow for granting the charity the Thriving Communities Fund” she said.

The classes she has developed are an amalgam of balletic, creative and contemporary styles which make them more interesting and fun than just a work-out. Move into Wellbeing® classes are taught by specially trained dance industry professionals and are done seated

The classes start on Tuesday 18 January, 2022, from 1.45pm – 2.45pm.

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MUJAZZ AT GEORGE IV

Jazz AT GEORGE IV Larry Pryce on Live Blues & Jazz in the Boston Room

The Boston Room at Chiswick’s George IV is perfect for live music: a big airy room with well-spaced tables and table service so you can enjoy a meal before or during a performance, and the luxurious feel of a jazz club, with moody lighting, comfy velvet banquettes and chandeliers.

Caroline Cooper & Geoff Varrell Thursday 3rd February the acclaimed tenor saxophonist Greg Davis brings his top-flight trio to the Boston Room along with London based jazz vocalist Vanessa Rose whose soulful and captivating vocals and eclectic influences ranging from Nancy Wilson to Stevie Wonder bring a fresh edge to the jazz genre.

Thursday 10th February sees

some swinging jazz and blues from The Blue Town Trio featuring the legendary awardwinning guitarist Jim Mullen (Morrissey Mullen Band), the fast-emerging vocal talent of Zoe Francis and the wizard of the Hammond organ Ross Stanley.

Thursday 17th February Ritchie Milton’s five-piece Lowdown

Tim Penn

Zoe Francis

band featuring vocalist Linda Hall provides some rocking R&B and blues.

Thursday 24th February we

end the month with the Andy Roberts Experience, featuring ex-Atlantic Soul Machine vocalist Andy and his highly atmospheric contemporary blues and soul edged four-piece.

Thursday 3rd March sees ace

vocalist and keyboard player Tom Seals playing his soul drenched jazz and blues in a duo.

Thursday 10th March we welcome the return of one of Boston Room favourites, the UK’s leading Gypsy Jazz & Swing outfit Trio Manouche along with special guest the Italian swing vocalist Francesca Confortini.

Thursday 24th March top trumpeter Geoff Varrall presents The Best of Chet showcasing jazz legend Chet Baker’s finest studio and live recordings together with the much-feted pianist Caroline Cooper and top bassist Paul Michael with special guest Katrina Likhtman on vocals.

Thursday 31st March one of the UK’s most exciting vocalist and keyboard players Tim Penn brings his Roots & Blues trio for a magical evening of jazz tinged R&B. With Tim will be the much in demand guitarist Chris Proctor and the highly accomplished saxophonist Ayo Odia (Fela Kuti, Osibisa) who will be injecting his own unique brand of Afro-Beat and HighLife to the musical gumbo.

GOOGLE THE CHISWICK CALENDAR + JAZZ AT GEORGE IV FOR HOW TO GET TICKETS

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WATERMANS

Smeds AND THE Smoos THE

Photo credit: © Tall Stories

The perfect half-term treat at Watermans, Brentford!

Tall Stories presents The Smeds and The Smoos at Watermans this February half-term.

Soar into space with this exciting adaptation of the award-winning book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

On a far-off planet, Smeds and Smoos can’t be friends. So, when a young Smed and Smoo fall in love and zoom off into space together, how will their families get them back?

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Music, laughs and interplanetary adventures for everyone aged 3 and up, from Tall Stories – the company that brought you ‘The Gruffalo’ and ‘Room on the Broom’ live on stage.

15 – 18 February 1.30pm & 4.00pm performances Tickets from £9 Book now at watermans.org.uk or call the box office on 020 8232 1010

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CHISWICK HOUSE

Growing together AT CHISWICK HOUSE

Behind the walls of the Kitchen Garden at Chiswick House there’s a hive of community activity. From apple picking and veg planting to tai chi and tabla playing, a new community engagement programme has been developed to provide local people the opportunity to learn about nature, build confidence and aid wellbeing.

Through a variety of gardening and creative activities ‘Growing Together at Chiswick House’ is a fantastic collaboration with several underserved and underrepresented local groups to serve families with limited access to green spaces, young people with special educational needs, isolated older people, LGBTQ+ groups and many more.

Community Participation Manager, Harvinder Bahra said “Using horticultural therapy and creativity we’re

enhancing the lives of a wide range of people across the Borough.”

Thanks to vital funds from the Linbury Trust and our supporters and Members, Harvinder and the team at Chiswick House are continuing to develop collaborative ways of working with local groups in 2022 to make full use of the gardens and improve people’s connections to nature and history of the House.

Harvinder Bahra added “This programme has highlighted what an incredible community we are part of and how much we all care about improving local people’s lives using the special green spaces around us and the heritage that belongs to us all.”

Funded by

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE GROWING TOGETHER AT CHISWICK HOUSE COMMUNITY PROGRAMME AT CHISWICKHOUSEANDGARDENS.ORG.UK/COMMUNITY

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“This resource is so valuable to people from Chiswick and beyond and we are delighted to help maintain its future for all.”

Clare Balding and Alice Arnold, Chiswick House & Gardens Members

Join our local community of supporters For just £1 a week, our Members help us to: • keep our beautiful Gardens open for everyone to enjoy 365 days a year • preserve our precious Grade-I listed 18th century House

Our Members also receive a range of benefits such as unlimited entry to the House and Kitchen Garden, 10% discount in our Café and Shop and access to exclusive Member events.

• run our valuable community programme for local people to learn about nature, build confidence and improve wellbeing

Visit chiswickhouseandgardens.org.uk/membership or scan to join CHGT Out&About Magazine 148mmx210mm V2.indd 1

11/01/2022 15:12

HEAD

Gardener’s NOTES

Andy Eddy, Head Gardener at Osterley Park & House, writes “Now is the time of year to be ordering and starting to plant seeds for this summer’s display in your garden.

We grow many hundreds of types of annuals (plants that grow and flower the same year) here at Osterley in our Cutting Garden which provides cut flowers for display in the mansion. These are all grown, picked and arranged by our lovely volunteer team and help bring the House alive for our visitors. As you can see in the photo we grow ours in orderly rows for ease of picking but annuals can be sown in small patches anywhere where you have a gap that needs an injection of colour.

A good tip is to sow the seeds in shallow drills (small trenches) rather than scattering so that when the seeds start to show they will be obvious to the eye and easy to weed around without disturbing your chosen variety. All of the instruction that you need can be

followed from the information on the back of the packet.

We also grow a huge range of perennials (plants that last for many years) and it is an inexpensive – and fun – way to try some new varieties that you may have seen in other gardens. From one packet of seed you can gain many plants that you can then plant or swap with friends or family.

Here at Osterley I order from Chiltern’s Seeds a very reliable company with an interesting and eclectic list of plants. Of course a huge range of seeds is available in you local garden centre year round so there should be no problem in finding something lovely to brighten up your garden or allotment this summer.”

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© National Trust 2021. Registered charity no. 205846. Photography ©National Trust Images/Arnhel de Serra

Great memories, great legacies made at Osterley Visit the winter exhibition 'My Treasure of Osterley' until 27 February 2022 or explore the house from 9 March 2022. nationaltrust.org.uk/osterley

MUSICAL MUSEUM BRENTFORD

Musical

MUSEUM BRENTFORD Silent Film ‘The General’ accompanied by Donald MacKenzie On Sunday 13th February Donald MacKenzie, the renowned organist from London’s Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, returns to the Musical Museum in Brentford to entertain the audience accompanying the silent film The General.

Buster Keaton’s cinematic masterpiece centres on his two loves… his gal, Annabelle Lee and his locomotive, the General. This spectacle of the silver screen premiered 95 years ago in February 1927. The train wrecking scene cost $42,000 - the most expensive single shot in the history of the silents.

I find it quite amazing that in these days of digitally remastered sound, surround sound and suchlike you can still go and see a bloke at an organ recreating the atmosphere of the film’s thrills and spills live, just as an audience would have experienced it almost a century ago.

How does someone choose that as a career? Donald MacKenzie started playing music to films at the age of 14, finding it quirky and interesting. A musically gifted child who got his first professional job at 14 playing the organ at church, he has now been playing the organ to audiences at the Odeon in Leicester Square for 28 years, entertaining people before the films start.

He travels widely accompanying silent films, often in cathedrals, and has a repertoire which includes Phantom of the Opera, Nosferatu, Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last! and Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid. “I love the freedom of expression in improvisation” he told me. “The film is the manuscript. You haven’t got a musical text to follow.”

He watches a film several times to get it into his head and takes his cues from the screen.

He was very lucky, he told me, growing up in Paisley, to have been able to borrow films from the Scottish film archive, which the local music society played on a 16mm projector.

The Musical Museum in a former church houses the private collection of the late Frank Holland, enhanced and added to over the years by enthusiasts and opened to the public in its current form in 2008 with the help of a National Lottery grant.

Its collection of working instruments, displays and interactive exhibits tell the story of how music has been recorded and reproduced, from mechanical inventions to the present day. Its prized possession is the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ in the concert hall.

Donald is a regular performer at the Musical Museum. Tickets for The General, at 2.30 on Sunday 13th February, are £17.50 and include a glass of Prosecco.

BOOK ONLINE: WWW.MUSICALMUSEUM.CO.UK/WHATS-ON OR CALL THEM ON 0208 560 8108.

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HOUNSLOW BUSINESS AWARDS

HOUNSLOW BUSINESS

Awards Celebrating best business practice

Businesses have had a tough 18 months and as the Chancellor’s package of aid to help companies through the pandemic tails off, with staff and supply chain shortages, this year is looking no less problematic.

The Hounslow Business Awards, organised by Hounslow Chamber, celebrate best practices across

the board from sustainability and health and wellbeing to tech and marketing.

“The Business Awards 2021 mark how many have risen to the challenge and gone from strength to strength. So, on this year the awards are much more poignant, there is a lot to reflect on but much more celebrate” said Leader of Hounslow Council Steve Curran.

Winner of the 2020 2021 Business of the Year award

Congratulations from Hounslow Chamber

The winner of Business of the Year was Chiswick optometrist The Eye Studio.

Managing Director of Hounslow Chamber Alan Rides, Chief Operating Officer Sally Smith and Administrator Lisa Rides had this to say:

“They stayed open throughout the pandemic” says COO Sally Smith.

“They wore scrubs and did lots of deliveries for people”.

They also used the lockdown periods to invest in some very expensive equipment that enables them to catch early signs of eye disease in their premises on Chiswick High Rd and linked up with consultant opthalmic surgeon Ali Mearza so customers could get fast consultation with a specialist without having to go into central London.

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“We want to say a massive thank you … to congratulate all our winners and indeed all those who entered the 2020/21 Business Awards. We would not the be the Chamber we are today without your support. With live events being back up and running this year, it was good to celebrate successes across Hounslow and West London face-to-face.”

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HOUNSLOW BUSINESS AWARDS

WINNERS IN ALL CATEGORIES Here are the winners in the all the categories of the Hounslow Business Awards:

Best Business for Health & Wellbeing

Chiswick Park Enjoy Work Best Business for Hospitality & Leisure

Holiday Inn, Brentford Lock Best Business for Marketing and Social media

Danhouse Security Ltd Best Business Support & Advice / Service Company

Thamesbank Credit Union Best Charity / Social Enterprise

The Mulberry Centre

Best Exporter of the Year

Best Tech Business

SKS Group

Ajar Technology

Best Green Business

Employer of the Year

Magenta Security

Russell Finex

Best Micro Company

Lifetime Achiever

Stylus Networks

Russell Finex

Best Small Company

Community Support Award

Venture X UK & Ireland

Safer Business Hounslow

Best New Business

Chamber of Commerce Recognition Award

Health Shak Best Retailer

Simon Inc Ltd

The Eye Studio

Business of the Year

Best Security Business – Cyber & Physical

Best Entrepreneur

The Eye Studio

Ajar Technology

Sarah Gardner

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RUSSELL FINEX

RUSSELL FINEX

Recruiting local talent from the community

Russell Finex has won Employer of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement award in the 2021 Hounslow Business awards. Russell Finex was established in 1934 – their longevity and reputation over 85 years has seen the company become one of the top three global manufacturers of sieving and filtration equipment.

With headquarters based in Feltham, London and 4 other subsidiaries in Belgium, China, India, and USA, they have a wide spread of markets and the Company has a saying “if you name it, we’re involved in it” which gives them greater stability and reduces their exposure risk to sudden changes.

Supplying over 140 countries, they have become a market leader in the industry, with a network of experienced agents and distributors across the world.

Russell Finex are continuing to expand their business and recruit from the local community.

WHY WORK FOR RUSSELL FINEX • They now employ over 350 direct employees.

• Career development for staff and training opportunities to further develop employees’ knowledge and skills.

• They offer a range of roles from skilled trades to Engineers, accounting and sales/marketing including apprenticeship schemes and hire graduates from the local universities.

• Russell Finex hire locally, when possible, to support the local community and promote from within whenever possible.

• A unique business where employees are stakeholders in the business and receive a profit share bonus each year (average over 60% per annum of salary in last 3 years). In last 3 years employees have earned almost 5 years salary.

• As well as a non-contributory final salary pension scheme (after 3 years), travel to work loans and technology loan schemes.

• Unique ownership structure which gives stability to the Company and all employees that work for the Company.

• Subsidized canteen facilities and many other fringe benefits.

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• Located in the Hounslow borough for decades, supplying machinery to customers who rely on their equipment for quality assurance of their products and keep their production lines running in a diverse range of industries.

• Over the Coronavirus Pandemic, they have continued to support and supply critical industries including food and beverage as well as the pharmaceutical industry.

• Their growth is achieved organically, and as a result a very stable company with subsidiaries across the globe has been established and continues to grow, working alongside prestigious organizations like Astra Zeneca, Pfizer and NASA.

Quote from Managing Director Ray Singh “These two awards reinforce the efforts of our hard-working team that contribute to the growth and success of the company. To be recognized by the Hounslow Chamber and be awarded not only the Employer of the Year but also the Lifetime Achievement Award was a huge honor.”

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We are currently hiring for various positions including permanent, contract, apprenticeship and graduate placements Join us and experience:

Contact us to find out more 02088182000 careers@russellfinex.com

COFFEE BREAK

COFFEE BREAK

Quiz 1. Which two cities provide the setting for Charles Dickens’s ‘A Tale of Two Cities’?

2. What are the names of the three ‘Darling’ children in J.M. Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’?

3. Which book of the New Testament comes after the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?

4. In which century was the Florentine painter known as Sandro Botticelli born?

5. Which cartoon animal is owned

by Jon Arbuckle?

Across

1 Quicker (6) 4 Second sign of the zodiac (6) 8 Young eel (5) 9 Large tent (7) 10 Nuts from a horse chestnut tree (7) 11 Helped (5) 12 Polar region (9) 17 Fire-raising (5) 19 Long pillow (7) 21 Long-necked animal (7) 22 Satirical imitation (5) 23 Small wave (6) 24 Dried plums (6)

Down

1 European language (6) 2 African grassland (7) 3 Eagle’s nest (5) 5 Side by side (7) 6 Circular (5) 7 Not tottering or wobbling (6) 9 Wretched (9) 13 Melodious (7) 14 Felled (3,4) 15 Animal at home in a sett (6) 16 Moves aimlessly (6) 18 Thick sweet sticky liquid (5) 20 Defeated contestant (5)

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7. Who wrote the 1936 novel ‘Gone with the Wind’, on which the 1939 film of the same name was based?

8. Which Shakespearean play features the characters of Goneril, Regan and Cordelia?

9. What is the first name of Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter books?

10. A Banksy painting of ‘Girl with Balloon’ self-shredded after selling at action in October.

Where did this take place?

See page 29 for answers!

24

6. In ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams, which character chose his name because “when he first arrived fifteen years ago, the minimal research he had done had suggested to him…” that it would be “… nicely inconspicuous”?

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THE CHISWICK

Calendar

The Chiswick Calendar is a local website which tells you what’s going on in our area on a day to day basis. Beautiful photographs by local photographers - Page per day listings of what’s on, constantly updated - Interesting videos - Our own events.

Subscribe to the weekly newsletter and get a free club card, giving you access to deals and discounts from quality local businesses.

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25

RIVER THAMES LIFEBOAT STATIONS

RIVER THAMES LIFEBOAT STATIONS

Celebrates 20 years

By David Clarke, former lifeboat crew member at Chiswick station

This year Chiswick RNLI and the other three Thames lifeboat stations celebrate 20 years of search and rescue on the tidal river.

The stations at Chiswick and Tower Bridge are now the busiest lifeboat stations in the whole of the UK and Ireland, but it took a major disaster for the need for an emergency service on the river to be realised.

The judge in the inquiry into the tragic sinking of the Marchioness where 51 people drowned, recommended that the tidal Thames needed a dedicated search and rescue service. The RNLI stepped in and established four lifeboat stations which became operational on 2 January 2002.

Three of these, including Chiswick, have crew on standby 24/7.

Alongside the operational side Chiswick RNLI reaches out to the community with education and fund-raising volunteers. Thousands of children have learnt about the RNLI from school visits and visits to the station where the duty crew demonstrate the capabilities of their craft.

A fund-raising comedy night at the George IV is now an annual event (with Covid exception in 2021). This year it is on Tuesday 15th March at Headliners Comedy Club in the Boston Room of George IV, 185 Chiswick High Rd. (Tickets on Eventbrite). We also have a stall at the Chiswick House Dog Show each September. Many local businesses have supported the comedy nights and regular talks.

No one anticipated how busy the Thames stations would be. Altogether 4,308 people have been rescued and 622 lives saved.

26

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RIVER THAMES LIFEBOAT STATIONS

DRAMATIC RESCUES ON THE THAMES There are many memorable and many tragic incidents from the last 20 years.

Some that stand out: The rescue of 60 Boat Race spectators cut off by the tide during the 2015 race, broadcast on BBC news.

A protestor who stopped the 2012 boat race just by the lifeboat station and twenty minutes later advanced first aid of a collapsed bowman on the Oxford boat.

The recovery of mother and baby from the water in Isleworth in 2008.

Revival of collapsed veteran rower with no pulse in 2009.

The rescue of 50 racing rowers whose boats sank during one stormy weekend in 2007.

The recovery of broken-down passenger vessel with 122 passengers in 2013.

Chiswick RNLI station manager Wayne Bellamy was involved in setting up the RNLI search and rescue service on the Thames in 2001 and has been running the station ever since.

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“Chiswick lifeboat station is one of three which has a duty crew of four on standby 24/7 with a launch time of 90 seconds and arrival on scene within 15 minutes, though the typical time is usually much less than this. This is only possible with the dedication of full-time crew and a panel of over 60 volunteers working 12-hour shifts.

“When people see the scale of life saving activity of the Thames lifeboats people are often surprised to hear the RNLI is entirely funded by public donations; we are very grateful for the local and national support that makes it all possible.”

Whale incidents in 2006 and 2021.

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He commented: “Our contribution at Chiswick with 179 lives saved and 1,828 people rescued shows that the upper tideway is not the quieter stretch some thought it would be; though not really surprising if you see our stretch of river as equivalent to 25 miles of busy coastline with several million people living close by.

Since The RNLI search and rescue service on the Thames started in 2002, Chiswick Lifeboat has attended more than 4,000 incidents and rescued more than 1,800 people.

David Clarke is a volunteer and former crew member at Chiswick Lifeboat Station.

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27

HEN CORNER

HEN Corner Sara Ward sees promises of spring

As the days get longer, nature responds with an unfurling to feel the warmth of the sun and hope is inhaled by all that breathe.

The arrival of Valentine’s Day, often associated with fertility, traditionally heralds the hens coming back into lay and we should soon be collecting eggs by the basketful each morning (order them from our Bakery via our website).

Real Bread Week comes around towards the end of February, this was when we started baking loaves for Hounslow FoodBox last year, and this year we are teaching others how to make sourdough bread both online and in person.

If you’ve been reading this column over the years and have thought about taking your baking to another level, we are also running a Bread Angel training course that can help you start a new business.

March arrives with an entourage of triumphant flowers and we get busy sowing veg seeds for the allotment. I love growing winter squash, they need little attention and are easy to store once harvested. We’ve built a large cage on the allotment to prevent pigeons from pecking at our brassicas (cabbages, cauliflowers, brussel sprouts, etc.), so I’ve high hopes for these veg as well this year.

One of the first courses of March is Introduction to Making Cheese where we make Feta, Camembert and Mozzarella - along with a loaf of bread, of course. This has always been popular and we use organic cow’s milk for each of the cheeses so that it is easy to make them again at home in the future.

As the Spring Equinox approaches, giving us more daylight than starlight we can keep an eye out for bumble bees feasting on the nectar of rosemary flowers and bold honeybees that leave the warmth of the hive scouting for food to bring back to their growing family of siblings.

Our Full Day Bee Keeping courses start 20th April.

All courses, virtual & face to face, can be found at HenCorner.com

28

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