Staff at The Hairdressers in Botwell Lane are jumping for joy after triumphing

as 'West London Hair Salon of the Year' in the annual London Hair & Beauty Awards. There is always fierce competition for these awards and this is the fifth time that they have been shortlisted after being nominated by their clients. It is a great victory for a small independent salon and reflects the hard work of owners Yasmin and Damian Faria and the team. The picture shows a very proud Yasmin with the award at the presentation event on Sunday 19 June. Well done to all concerned. 

On Monday 20 June there was another celebration in Hayes and it was a very personal one for me. Mr A S Puar, Chairman of the Hayes Town Business Forum organised a special event to mark my more than 50 years of working for the community in Hayes. I started as an employee of Hillingdon Council on 1 December 1969 at the Town Hall of the former Hayes & Harlington District Council (now Barra Hall) and I went on to work for them for 38 years until my retirement in 2007. I became Chair of Hayes Town Partnership shortly after.

It was splendid evening with over 100 people present and I spent most of the time blushing at the lovely things people said. I received two trophies donated by the Business Forum. The picture shows the Mayor, Councillor Becky Haggar, presenting me with one on behalf of the Forum and John McDonnell MP presented me with another one on behalf of the community as a whole. Mr Puar had been hoping to hold the event in 2019 but it had to be delayed because of the pandemic.

Thank you to everybody who came. I was happy to announce that I currently have no intention of retiring from my current role. 

London Climate Action Week began on Saturday 25 June and will run until Friday 1 July. It aims to bring together a diverse range of organisations to focus on delivering the shared promises made at the international climate conference in Glasgow. Particular attention will be paid to the links between climate action and the Russia-Ukraine war, the cost of living crisis and rising inflation.

As part of the week's events London Councils will be holding an on-line showcase on Friday 1 July to show the work being done in individual Boroughs to try and help tackle the climate crisis. Click here to book a place.

Bookings open today Monday 27 June for the Council's annual FIESTA programme of activities for children and young people in the school summer holidays. It will run from Monday 25 July to Friday 26 August and the Harlington Young People's Centre will have arts, crafts, cookery, dance, ICT and sports on offer. There will also be cricket at the Hayes Cricket Club and tennis at the Tripletts Community Tennis Centre.

Advance booking is essential and places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. High demand is expected and you need to act fast so as not to miss out. This link gives you more details of the programme. 

Himalayan balsam is an invasive plant that is taking over vast areas of land up and down the country. It crowds out of ther plants and has really bad impact on the banks of water courses including the River Crane. On Tuesday 28 June from 10 30am Hillingdon Council will be holding a Balsam Bash in Cranford Park to try and reduce the spread. Pulling out the plants is easy to do and requires no tools. 

Please meet by the Lych Gate at St Dunstan's Church in the Park and stay as long as you like. Long trousers and long sleeves are suggested because of the stinging nettles and bring gardening gloves if you have them. There is no need to book, just turn up. Remember that the car park is currently closed because of the restoration works. There is pedestrian access from Roseville Road

Better, the company that runs the Botwell Green Sports and Leisure Centre has two recruitment days coming up on Tuesday 28 and Thursday 30 June. They will be held at the Hillingdon Sports & Leisure Complex in Gatting Way Uxbridge UB8 1ES and run from 12 noon to 7pm. They want to appoint fitness instructors, gymnastics coaches, lifeguards and swimming teachers. You can drop in at any time convenient to you but take your kit for a swimming test. Click here for information about the open days and here for details of the vacancies.

The Tashan Daniel Award was created by the Council in 2020 in memory of young resident Tashan Daniel, aged 20 from Hillingdon, who was tragically killed in an unprovoked attack at Hillingdon Underground station in September 2019.  Tashan was a keen photographer, footballer and athlete and had ambitions to compete in the Olympic Games as a world-class sprinter. 

The award is open to Hillingdon residents under the age of 21 years old and provides funding of up to £2,000 a year for young people engaged in sports, cultural or educational pursuits. Click here to find out more. The deadline for applications is Monday 11 July.

It was good to see that after a very long gap caused by the pandemic the Police have resumed their crime prevention advice sessions at the Hayes Muslim Centre in Pump Lane. The aim is to make sure that helpful information on how to protect property and stay safe is reaching all sections of the community. The picture shows Police Constable White and Police Community Support Officer Sehgal with their table of leaflets.

Recent media reports have suggested that polio could reappear in east London. There have also been confirmed cases of measles in a neighbouring Borough to Hillingdon. There was a lot of talk about the rights and wrongs of vaccinating against the coronavirus but it looks like the pandemic may have resulted in a drop in the number of routine vaccinations intended to protect babies and children from other diseases. The NHS is therefore urging parents to check that their children's vaccinations are up to date. Click here to find out what is needed when and contact your GP if in any doubt.

Local care service provider H4All is looking to recruit a Wellbeing Support Officer. The post is part of their Wellbeing Service which aims to help Hillingdon residents to better manage long term health conditions, frailty and social isolation and to bring people into greater contact with their local community. To find out more about the job use this link, The closing date for applications is Monday 4 July at 9am.