Local NHS managers are working frantically to get plans in place to meet the Government's target to increase the daily number of booster jabs from 350,000 to 500,000. This is in response to the emergence of the new Omicron variant but

health professionals are highlighting that there are still too many people who have not been fully vaccinated or vaccinated at all.

• More than half under 50s who die from coronavirus are unvaccinated.
• Beds in Intensive Care Units are filled with unvaccinated patients.
• Deaths of unvaccinated black and south Asian people continue to be higher than for white people

The push for more vaccination sites in Hayes continues and many people are asking why the one at the Navnat Centre cannot be reopened. To find out where to get a jab in Hillingdon currently please click on this link. Those eligible for boosters will be contacted by the NHS to make appointments.

The Government has reintroduced face covering rules for shops and public transport in light of the potential dangers caused by a new coronavirus variant. No vaccine is 100% effective and the wearing of a face covering has been shown to protect individuals from infection and to reduce the chances of infected people passing the disease on to others. A recent global study has shown that covering the face was linked to a 53% reduction in the number of infections around the world.

 The new rules apply to the following premises:

• shops and supermarkets
• shopping centres (malls and indoor markets)
• premises providing personal care and beauty treatments (barbers, hair salons, tattoo and piercing studios, nail salons and massage centres)
• post offices, banks, building societies, credit unions, short-term loan providers, savings clubs and money service businesses
• estate and letting agents
• pharmacies
• premises providing veterinary services
• retail travel agents
• takeaways without space for consumption of food or drink on premises

Cafés, restaurants and pubs are not affected.

I have asked the Council to provide a fresh supply of posters and I will be getting these put up in shops in Hayes Town as soon as they arrive.

Last week Mr A S Puar, Chairman of the Hayes Town Business Forum and I presented the top £100 prize for this year's Hayes Town Treasure Hunt. It went to Naran Thiras, a Year 2 pupil at Minet Infant School (pictured on the left) and was donated by Hayes Town Pharmacy in Coldharbour Lane. It was in the form of 100 one pound coins in a miniature treasure chest. A £50 prize donated by Hayes Food Centre went to Jahnavi, a Year 1 pupil with £25 from Immigration & Visa Services for Thiemo Barry in Year 2 and a wrist watch from Ace Line Communications for Ayaan Rose who is in Year 2. This was Minet Infants' best ever haul of prizes and a record year for the Treasure Hunt with a total of 310 entries.

You may recall the 'Hayes Together Stays Together' community engagement event that took place back in the summer. The planning group are now looking for new members to help them shape the Participatory Budgeting (PB) process in the area. The Metropolitan Police have made £15,000 available for community groups and projects in Hayes that support young people and families, improve the community, and support mental health and wellbeing.

PB is a democratic process, that relies on the community coming together to decide how an amount of public budget is spent. The planning group say that they need YOU, the community of Hayes to shape the process and make the key decisions on the criteria for this funding before they open up the pot for applications from the community. They will be holding an online meeting on Wednesday 8 December at 5 30pm. To find out more click here or send an email You can also visit the Facebook page:

HCUC Harrow College & Uxbridge College currently have 8 Traineeship vacancies with Brunel University for which they are now recruiting. The positions are unpaid with full-time hours and due to run for 12 weeks, starting on Monday 17 January 2022. Reasonable travel expenses will be paid.

The goal of the programme is to help prepare those who would like to progress on to a Business Administration or related apprenticeship at the College.The jobs covered are Events Assistant, Psychologist Assistant Administrator and Research Publications Assistant. Click on the links for more information.

Applicants must have been resident in the UK for at least the past 3 years and aged 16-24.There will be an assessment day at Hayes Campus on Thursday 9 December at 1.00pm. If you are aware of any eligible candidates who may benefit from a Traineeship, please send an email to Carly Freeman giving their details.

GROW, the Get Ready for Work Team in The Winning Box office suite in Station Road have won the Team of the Year Innovation Award in the annual awards given by the Employment Related Services Association. Now in their ninth year the awards celebrate best practice in the employment support sector. GROW won because of their revolutionary App which gave clients 24 hour access to their specialist support services and helped many women to get work during the pandemic. Well done to all concerned.

To find out more about the services offered by GROW click here.

The women of the Hayes Women's Institute (pictured) are top quality knitters and on Friday 17 December there will be an opportunity to purchase some of their excellent output which is sold at very reasonable prices. They will be in the entrance hall to Hayes Methodist Church in Station Road between 11am and 1pm and judging by past experience they will give you a very cheery welcome.

The staff at Botwell Green Library have got some great things planned for their Christmas Family Fun Day on Saturday 18 December between 11am and 3pm. There will be a Christmas cartoon workshop, a chance to make your own light-up Christmas cards plus a craft workshop for 4 to 8 year olds with the author of well known picture book Leah's Start. Santa will be there with his elves and his Goodometer which tests how good you have been this year. Click here for full details.

You need to book in advance for the workshops by calling 01895 558633 but you can just turn up and see Santa and the elves.

Since 2018 Brunel University have been investigating what helps people from Black and South Asian communities and their carers to live well with memory problems and dementia. Local groups have been involved in this research and to read the findings please click on the following link.

If you would like to help in the fight against dementia sign up to Join Dementia Research. They are really keen to recruit more volunteers. Anyone over 18 can join, there’s no need for any experience of memory loss or caring as many different types of people are needed for these studies: You can join online;

For the first time the Government's Prevent programme has had more referrals about far right extremism than Islamic terrorism - and many of these involve children. The figures for the year ended 30 June 2021 record that there were 24 children arrested and 19 of these were for far right extremism. To read more of the details see this Sky News report.

Parents are being warned to look out for signs of extremism developing. The picture shows Harry Vaughan a high-achieving grammar school boy who was sentenced to two year detention in a young offenders' institution for promoting neo-Nazi propaganda online. His father works at the House of Lords and so it can happen to anyone.

Suspicions about somebody who might be engaged in terrorism of any kind can be reported direct to the Police or anonymously to Crimestoppers. Click on this link for more information. Always call 999 in an emergency.

StreetLink London aims to help end rough sleeping by connecting people to services which can help them and as reported in a previous edition of Hayes Town News they have had some local successes. An important part of Christmas is to think about those who are less fortunate than oneself and it is a good time to make a donation if you have some spare cash. It has a much greater impact than giving to people who are begging in the street.