Hillingdon Council has launched a public consultation on setting up a network of Family Hubs across the Borough for children and young people aged between 0 and 19 years. The aim is to build on the work of Children's Centres which currently cater for 0 to 5 year olds. The new plan will bring together a wide range of services including family support, health visitors, midwives and others. There will also be links with youth services, mental health services.and the voluntary sector.

There will be six locality hubs and the intention is that they will be within 30 minutes walking distance or 1.5 miles of the homes of local residents.The Borough has 14 Children Centres in operation at the moment and the creation of Family Hubs will have major implications for their future. In the case of Hayes Town and the surrounding area it is proposed to locate the Family Hub at Botwell Green Library and to close the Barra Hall Children's Centre (pictured) as well as McMillan and Nestles Avenue. There will be a Hub at the Asha Centre in place of the Belmore and Charville Centres. The Pinkwell and Yeading Centres will remain as "additional delivery points"..

To read the consultation paper use this link. The deadline for responses is Sunday 30 July

The Council is also consulting on the future of the Early Years Centres including the one at Nestles Avenue. It withdrew an earlier proposal to close all three Centres after a challenge in the High Court.

NHS bosses for North West London are drawing up a strategic plan and they want to hear your views. They are already aware that

To read the first draft of the strategy or a summary click here and to submit your comments use this link. They want to get as many responses as possible and they are offering the prize of a £100 voucher for the lucky winner. The closing date is Friday 30 June.

As reported previously in Hayes Town News, Himalayan Balsam has very colourful flowers but it spreads like wildfire and overruns other plants. Cranford Park Friends have begun the annual battle to keep it under control and the next session

will be on Wednesday 7 June from 11am until 1pm. The meeting point is outside

St Dunstan's Church.There will be a further session on Tuesday 20 June at the same time. Just turn up and tools will be provided.

Groundwork Trust are organising a litter pick at the Park on Monday 5 June starting at 10am at the Crane Community Centre in Fuller Way, UB3 4LW. They will also be doing some balsam removal on Tuesday 27 June. To register for either or both events send an email.

This is a reminder that this year's Botwell Summer Fete will be taking place on Saturday 10 June between 12 noon and 4pm.

Held on the grassed area between Botwell House School and the Catholic Church it is open to all and always gets a good attendance. There will be a funfair for the children, music and a barbecue plus lots of stalls including the popular one for home-made cakes and jams. Its famous raffle will be offering prizes of £1000, £500 and £250.

Judging by the number of e-scooters you see on roads, pavements and cycle lanes you might not believe that their use is illegal in Hillingdon. It is a criminal offence to use them at such places and the rider can be prosecuted and the e-scooter seized. 

To help stop the illegal use of e-scooters occurring in the first place the Council has produced a 'Parents’ Guide to Electric Scooters Fact Sheet', this explains what an e-scooter is, where they can and cannot be used, the consequence to the rider if caught riding on a public highway and why they present a road safety risk to the rider and others. A copy of this Fact Sheet can be seen here.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced on Thursday 1 June that he is extending eligibility for the scrappage scheme that will provide funding support for those who need to replace vehicles that do not meet the new Ultra Low Level pollution standards that will be coming into force from Tuesday 29 August. The changes are:

If you have a vehicle you can check if it meets the standards by using this link.

On Friday 2 June I had the pleasure of attending the annual presentation to the students at Brunel University who have volunteered for the benefit of the local community over the last year. They have clocked up an amazing number of volunteer hours and given tremendous support to many charities and other agencies around the Borough. The picture shows me with some of the volunteers who attended the Hayes Canal Festival on Sunday 28 May.

To find out how more about Brunel volunteers and how to get some for your organisation use this link.

It will be no surprise for readers to learn that the proposed closure of the Hayes Town branch of Barclays Bank will definitely be going ahead on Thursday 13 July.

Barclays invited local Member of Parliament John McDonnell and Hayes Town Ward Councillors Janet Gardner, Peter Curling and Raju Sansarpuri to highlight any issues arising from the proposal. Replies were duly submitted and an eagle-eyed reader has spotted the Barclays response on the internet. You can see it by clicking here.

Many residents became familiar with the Navnat Centre in Printing House Lane (pictured) when it was operating as a Covid vaccination centre but most will not know about the many activities that they organise for the community. On Saturday 1 July they will be holding a Universities and Careers Fair and you can find out more details by using this link.

There are also plans for Summer Day Camps - more information next week

Hillingdon Council takes a serious view of people who misuse blue badges which are intended for those with disabilities.During the 2022/23 financial year the Counter Fraud Team seized a total of 6 blue badges due to misuse. During the 2023/24 they have so far seized a total of 8 badges due to misuse.

If you suspect fraudulent use of a blue badge or any other kind of fraud you can report it to the Council by using this link.

Monday 5 June is the start of Bike Week and this year it is rather special as it is 100 years since the first one. It will run until Sunday 11 June and with fine weather still forecast it is a chance to get out on your bike if you have one.

In Hayes we have the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit at Minet Country Park, the Hayes Hawks BMX Club at Lake Farm and the brilliant Legacy Women's Cycling Group. The latter do not have a web site but you can find out more about them by sending an email.