Arrest made for bus incident

On Tuesday 10 June traffic in Hayes Town was plunged into chaos as a result of a vicious fight between two teenagers on a U4 bus. A window was broken and a 14 year old boy was taken to hospital for the treatment of what turned out to be minor injuries. A fifteen year old boy was arrested and charged with grievous bodily harm.

It all sounds very nasty and unfortunately not too unusual in the violent world in which we live. You might have formed a different view if you had heard the stories that started going around. Several people told me that there had been "multiple stabbings" and the next day two community contacts told me they had heard that one of those involved in the fight had died.

Neither of these stories was true. I was in the fortunate position of knowing what really happened because Sergeant Paul Whitcomb, head of the Hayes Town Safer Neighbourhood Team had taken the trouble to brief the Ward Councillors and myself in anticipation of community concern. We were therefore able to counter some of the wild rumours. Personally I cannot begin to understand why individuals make up things like this but equally worrying is the fact that so many people pass on the details without asking any questions.

It was a truly horrible incident but there were not multiple stabbings and nobody died. Perhaps this is a lesson about being on the alert for exaggerated stories put about by rumour-mongers,

Is your place cool?

In the summer of 2022 the temperature at Heathrow Airport reached 40.2 degrees Celsius, the highest ever recorded in London. The public sweltered with some basking in the sunshine and others wilting, collapsing or even dying. The Met Office reckons that there is a high chance of a hot summer in 2025. Are you prepared?

An online briefing for the London Communities Emergencies Partnership on Tuesday 10 June heard about the network of cool places that the Mayor London is hoping to have in place should excessive heat arrive again. The idea is to find indoor spaces that are cooler than outside, provide somewhere for people to cool down and recover and supply water free of charge. There are two categories depending on how many days a week the space is available.

A map has been produced to show which places have registered so far and a faint copy of it is shown here. There is only one location in the whole of Hillingdon Borough - St Margaret's Church in Uxbridge. Could your place of worship or community centre be used in this way for the benefit of local people? Use this link to find out the criteria and to register your premises.

H4All here to help the community

On Friday 13 June I had the pleasure of leading a guided tour of Hayes Town for four newly-appointed members of the Community Development Team of care providers H4All. The tour covered some of the historic factory sites and most of the many places of worship. The picture shows Team members in front of the statue of the famous dog that adorned the labels of millions of vinyl records produced by EMI.

Click here to find out more about the work of the Community Development Team and how they could help your group.

This is Refugee Week - 16 to 22 June

There is currently much controversy in the media and elsewhere about refugees and asylum-seekers and there is a danger of forgetting that we are talking about human beings. Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking asylum.

It runs from Monday 16 June to Saturday 22 June and this year's theme is "Community - A Superpower". You can read more about it here.and here

In covering the subject of refugees and asylum-seekers it is worth saying a word about their different legal status since this often seems to cause confusion. A refugee is someone whose claim for protection has been formally recognised after going through an assessment of his or her case, while an asylum seeker is someone who has applied for refugee status but is awaiting a decision on the claim. The Council does not house asylum-seekers - the Home Office makes provision for them, mostly in hotels. People who gain refugee status can apply for housing but only families or vulnerable individual get any help and that is usually advice about how to find somewhere in the private sector or sometimes temporary accommodation which may be at a distance from Hillingdon. Single people do not get housed.

Cervical Screening Week

There are lots of different days, weeks and months to promote awareness of services and rights but the one for cervical screening could literally be a matter of life or death. The screening used to be called a smear test and it is a free NHS service offered to women between the ages of 25 and 64. Screening helps prevent cervical cancer by checking for the virus that causes it and can be followed by early treatment and cure

Women in the relevant age group get an invitation to attend for a test and they simply have to turn up. Very low take-up in London means that too many women are getting cervical cancer when this could be avoided. Further details of the campaign can be found here.

June is Pride Month

I just mentioned that there are special days, weeks and months. Pride Month was initiated in the United States some years ago as a month long celebration of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) life and culture.

In Hillingdon the Council has set up a Pride Hub which offers help and support on anything and everything related to LGBTQ life. The next session will be take place on Saturday 28 June at Yeading Library and you can read all about it here.

Botwell House School fete coming soon

The Botwell House Catholic Primary School in Botwell Lane.will be holding its annual fete on Saturday 28 June between 12 noon and 4pm.

Attractions will include games, stalls, face-painting, food and drink, live music and a raffle.

This year's poster has been designed by one of the children at the school. A budding artist at work.

Funding to promote good heath

Imperial Health Charity is pleased announce that its Compassionate Communities grants programme for 2025-26 is now open for applications. Grants of between £5000 and £50,000 are available to community and voluntary sector groups which provide activities that improve the health and wellbeing of residents. The aim is to prevent and/or reduce specific health conditions

• Heart diseases and strokes,
• Chronic kidney disease,
• Chronic respiratory disease including chronic
• Depression/anxiety,
• Diabetes,
• Hypertension (high blood pressure), and
• Obesity.

Use this link to find out more about the grant conditions and if your group is eligible. The closing date for the receipt of completed applications is Thursday 4 September at midday.

Keep up to date on local policing

The Met Police want to improve communication with Londoners and so in July they will be introducing Met Engage.

The benefits of Met Engage include:

• Direct updates from your local policing team on relevant crime and safety information
• Improved opportunities for community engagement and feedback
• Flexible settings so you can choose to receive information relevant to you and your area.

If you are already signed up to Neighbourhood Watch you do not need to do anything. You will get transferred automatically into the new system. Those not with Neighbourhood Watch can sign up to Met Engage by clicking here.

Bye bye to Barclays

When the Barclays Bank branch in Station Road closed they said that they would provide a special information and advice service for customers in Botwell Green Library. I spotted the other day that this too will be closing on Monday 14 July.

Use this link to find out the reasons for the decision and the ways that customers will be able get in touch with them in the future. If you want to object or to raise any particular issues of concern call 03457 345345 or send an email.

Poundland sold for a pound

According to a report in The Guardian on Thursday 12 June Poundlland has been sold for £1. The company has been bought by Gordon Brothers, a US investment company, who have undertaken to invest up to £80 million. The deal includes a restructuring plan which is likely to involve the closure of an unspecified number of its 800 stores.

Discount stores have been having a hard time because of competition from supermarkets such as Tesco, Aldi and Lidl plus the expansion of rival groups and increases in National Insurance contributions.

Two years gone but still no railings

It was in June 2023 that a stupid driver who was going too fact hit the railings opposite Hayes & Harlington Station and plunged down the embankment. The railings were beyond repair but two years later they have still not been replaced.

The Council is responsible but it points out that since the works are in close proximity to Network Rail(NR) rail tracks there are very stringent rules and regulations that need to be followed. NR approval must be obtained for the method statements for each part of the work which have a long turn around periods.

In addition, the secure area behind the retaining wall required for scaffold access to the works is owned by Network Rail and can only be accessed with their permission and site presence. The vegetation in this area has been removed and this has revealed health and safety hazards. A contractor is being arranged to remove the hazardous waste. All this takes an extended period of time.

It is clearly a very tricky project. Watch this space for future updates.