neighbours' paper issue 75

Also in this issue:St Bernard’s HospitalEaling Talking NewspapersGreen RedeemActon Badminton

Free Please

Take One

Neighbours’ Paper

Issue No 75 Putting the People of Ealing First Winter 2015/16

Acton | Ealing | Greenford | Hanwell | Northolt | Perivale | Southall

Historic Cottages of Ealing

Historic Cottages of Ealing

2 Putting the People of Ealing First

Read NP Online at www.neighbourspaper.com

This edition we look at some issues old and new. We learn how Northfield School used to be and the plans for schools in the Borough now. We look at the history of some Ealing cottages and how changes then drove country people towards London. Now it is our London suburb that faces change with further densification as described in Ealing Notes, even though the signs are that we should get our cinema back! There is news of how our psychiatric services at St Bernard’s Hospital are changing and how a community garden project will encourage people with learning disabilities. With positive information on Ealing Talking Newspapers, Operation Wellfound, the Green Redeem scheme, a page on important services available to residents and a Sports page, there is plenty to read in this winter edition of Neighbours’ Paper.

We close with a big thank you to all our advertisers without whom there would be no Neighbours’ Paper. We want to remind everyone that we always welcome articles. Do please send in contributions (see contact details).

We wish all our readers and advertisers a very Happy Christmas and New Year!

Contents

Neighbours’ PaperSubscribe for a year: Just £4. Send a cheque to The Publisher, Neighbours’ Paper, 12 Waldemar Avenue W13 9PY

Twitter.com/NeighboursPaper

Facebook.com/NeighboursPaper

Email: [email protected]

Editor: Tom Whiting (020 8840 5740)

Treasurer: Judy Breens

Writers: Glen Barnham, Judy Breens, Manjinder Chijarh, Foluso Dawodu, Will French, Michael Holmes, Kathleen Isaac, Ron Nicholls, Valerie Rudd, Miranda Vickers, Rosemary Wallis, Tom Whiting

Designer: Jamie AnsonCover picture: Arthur Breens Webmaster: Sonia Nimley

Advert Designer: Sandy Anson

Printer: Pollyprint Ltd, 263 Northfield Avenue, Ealing W5 4UA,0208 579 1441, www.pollyprint.co.uk

Advertisement rates: Single Box £25, Double Box £45, Triple Box £70

Next copy deadline: 31st January 2016

Contents Editorial................................................ 2

Events Around Ealing ......................... 2

Warwick Road Cottages ................... 3

Ealing Notes .....................................4-5 Operation Wellfound ......................... 6

Mental Health Services ...................... 7

Talking Newspapers ........................... 8

Redeeming our Community ............. 9

Community Garden ......................... 10

Support Services in Ealing ............... 11

Acton Badminton ............................. 12

Editorial

Ealing Music and Film Festival 201610th – 14th February 2016This year we return to our roots celebrating Ealing’s cultural heart. We have again developed a programme bringing together a range of music and film, with the active support of our local University of West London. We hope to reach out to an ever wider audience in Ealing and across London.

The line-up includes our established partners - the world-famous English Chamber Orchestra, Ealing Youth Orchestra and Ealing Symphony Orchestra. The programme includes a concert bringing together Ealing Youth Orchestra, the London Oriana Choir and the University’s LCM chorus for a massive performance of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast and a concert of opera favourites from Puccini and others. The very popular Love2Sing will be performing a suitably romantically themed concert on the morning of Sunday 14th February, Valentine’s Day. There will be something for everyone.

Look out for full details and tickets at www.ealingmusicandfilmfestival.org from the New Year.

By NP Editorial tEam

EVENTS AROUND EALING

Walk In Free Health Check Every Monday Lido Centre, 63 Mattock Lane, West Ealing, W13 9LA 11-2pm. www.ace-london.org.uk Lido future Health Events www.lidocentre.org.uk/publichealth T: 020 8280 2222 101

Ealing Animal Welfare Bazaar Saturday 5th March 2016 10.30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Hanwell Methodist Church, Church Rd, Hanwell London W7 1DJMany participating societies. Information, gifts, lunch, refreshments.Admission FREE. Details 020 8567 6739. www.animalwelfarebazaar.info

3Putting the People of Ealing First


Towards the St. Mary’s Road end of Warwick Road W5, dwarfed by the ever encroaching mass of the University of West London, are eight small artisan cottages, which are amongst the oldest dwellings in Ealing. These little two-up two-down homes were built to house farm labourers and their families around two hundred years ago, when Warwick Road was then called Guy’s Lane.

Following the Enclosure Act of 1773 and subsequent acts, landowners were able to enclose their land, together with much common land, removing the right of commoners to access the land and depriving them of their livelihood. Enclosures were also created to enable landowners to charge higher rents to those working the land. This caused widespread poverty and drove peasants to leave the countryside and seek work in the towns and cities.

Migration to LondonBy the turn of the century hundreds of families from the home counties, driven off the land, drifted towards London in search of employment. At that time, in Guy’s Lane there was a farm which was expanding and needed more labourers. So four rural migrant families were employed and the first of the four cottages was built to house them in 1803. The following year another four cottages were built adjoining the first four to house more labourers and their families.

By miraNda VickErs

thE WarWick road cottagEs, from 1903 aNd 2002. Photos ProVidEd By miraNda VickErs.

The Warwick Road Cottages

Today, the farm no longer exists but the farm manager’s house does. It is called Grove Cottage which was built around 1798 and is situated just at the back of the Warwick Road cottages. During the Second World War, a bomb dropped on the opposite side of the road and the cottage’s original sash windows were blown out and replaced by the ones we see today. The older residents died out, the state of the cottages deteriorated until they were

eventually bought by Ealing Council, ostensibly to house homeless people.

Ealing Council sells cottagesBy the early 1980s the cottages were in a sorry state with only one original occupant left, who had been born there in 1905, and three of the cottages were occupied by squatters. In 1982 the then Ealing College of Higher Education offered to purchase the cottages with their sizable gardens in order to demolish them and build a car park. The Council refused the offer and put the cottages up for sale at £25,000 each. They were snapped up within days by young couples who had queued overnight (the author of this article was one of them), having been enticed by the Council’s offer of a full building grant to cover the cost of making them habitable.

In 1982 the cottages had earthen floors, no bathrooms, just a lean-to covered in corrugated plastic housing a septic tank for a toilet and an old metal bath. There was no heating other than open fires and three of the cottages still had the original cooking ranges around the hearth. By the mid-1980s the cottages were fully modernised and the gardens beautifully restored. And so things remained until the young couples had growing families and eventually moved to larger homes. Nowadays, many of the cottages are rented on short term lets, as they are far too expensive for any young couple to set up their first home together, which sadly is an all too familiar story in London today.


Read NP Online at www.neighbourspaper.com Read NP Online at www.neighbourspaper.com

Ealing Notes:A sharp population rise in Ealing Borough over recent years has caused a shortage in school places. The Council largely achieved the number of junior school places required by expanding current primary schools. A new Primary School under the Ark Academy School organisation has also been approved in the Acton area.

Now new High schools are needed to meet the demand for senior places. Government policy does not allow

Long time Ealing Resident Rosemary Wallis sends her memories of Northfield School:

‘Northfield School was actually three schools; a mixed infant, a mixed junior and a girls senior. They are now gone except for their perimeter wall surrounding a housing estate in Northcroft Road.

‘The infant school was bombed during a night-time blitz raid in WW2 and we spent our school time in the front rooms of a few willing affluent home owners and happily continued our education.

‘My father was educated at the junior school in the early 1920s and when I joined the very benevolent school in 1939 I shared the same headmaster, Mr Dunning.

Update on Current Schools in Ealing

Memories of Schools Past

By Judy BrEENs

thE origiNal Wall aNd ENtraNcE to NorthfiEld school iN mardEr road. Photo By tom WhitiNg

‘My memories of these times centre on one person – Miss Newman; a charismatic woman who introduced all 60 of us in her class, to art, classical music, trigonometry, the rest of the world and the people in it. Although we complain of today’s class numbers, Miss Newman controlled and educated those 60 children and 45 succeeded in the 11-plus exam. Her dynamism kept us interested, loyal and obedient. On the day we reluctantly left her she gave each one of us a present. Mine was a copy of Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner (she knew I was a bookworm) Another pupil, musically inclined, was given a zither. She was well aware of our interests.‘Her only fleeting distraction was

greeting a naval officer who came to our classroom one day having survived naval campaigns. He became her husband and also Headmaster of Ealing County School for boys.

‘Sadly Miss Newman, then Mrs Clarke, died a very early death. I can only quote “the good die young” about a very precious past schoolteacher.’

the Council to open Local Authority schools but three new schools are now agreed in addition to William Perkin Academy Greenford (completed two years ago as an open admission C of E High School linked to Twyford C of E School, Acton). One is another open admission Twyford linked C of E School on part of the old Barclays Sports Ground in Hanger Lane. Another will be near the planned Junior school in Acton also to be run by the Ark Academy organisation. Lastly is the

Ealing Fields Free School, now approved by the Secretary of State for Education. Negotiations are still underway acquiring the land for all these sites. Possibly the most problematic are those over the King Fahd Academy site in Little Ealing Lane. Readers may remember this is the historic Ealing Park building, later a girls’ Convent School, before the Saudi royal family bought the premises for a Moslem School (now closed). The site has been empty for over two years and is the hoped for location for Ealing Fields Free School.



By Will frENchEaling Notes:Campaign group Save Ealing Centre has announced a new approach. SEC formed in 2007 as an alliance for local groups to input into Ealing town centre redevelopments. SEC has enjoyed some big successes – especially in overturning the Council’s approval of the central Arcadia site and securing improvements to Ealing Broadway station.

Much has changed since 2007. The fate of many of the main town centre sites is now decided – with mixed results. Across the borough groups have similar concerns to SEC’s about unsympathetic developments near

them. Crossrail and London’s housing targets are attracting outside investors looking to profit by replacing Ealing’s historic town centres and established residential suburbs with charmless flats.

National policies are eroding participatory planning and local cuts are encouraging the Council to pursue narrow economic goals. Engaging with LBE is increasingly difficult. Public consultation events have ceased and ‘engagement’ is now cynical box ticking. Many councillors seem unwilling to take an independent view, fearing they’ll lose their place on Committees.

Campaigns are springing up across the Borough in response. A new group called Community TechUK wants to tap into SEC’s experiences and use social media to provide borough wide support to local groups. You can find more about them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CommunityTechUK .

SEC will now concentrate on disseminating information. For more information about SEC check out its web site at www.saveealingscentre.com.

By 2018 Ealing residents may once more watch films in Ealing – ten years after the much-missed old Empire Cinema was demolished. Work could start next year on an 8-screen cinema within a giant residential complex in what is termed Ealing’s ‘Cultural Quarter’ between Uxbridge Road and Mattock Lane. A planning inspector says the Council can use a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to take the land and pass it to developers Land Securities to build the development.

While strongly supporting efforts to bring a cinema back into Ealing, local groups opposed Land Securities’ plans at the CPO hearing. Their biggest concern was that the development is

Save Ealing’s Centre – New Directions

More flats for Ealing. Oh, and 8 Cinema Screens

Save Ealing’s Centrefrom the Deadly Developers!eir ‘plan’ for Ealing is so poor even the

Minister has called it in.We deserve better.e result will be a Public Inquiry on 23 June, for three

weeks, at which both the Council and the Speculators haveappointed pricy Planning QCs – the former at the expense ofwe ratepayers.

SEC (Save Ealing’s Centre) is an allianceof 26 local residents’ associations andcommunity groups.

We represent everyone who lives, works,visits or owns property here.

Like many people who have been appalledby the Speculator’s ideas we want somethingbetter for Ealing.

Something designed for local people and local children.

at recognises Ealing’s charm is being a Leafy Suburb, nota half-baked Manhattan.

So that a future poet won’t write ‘Come iendly bombs andfall on Ealing, It’s lost its charm to wheeler-dealing’.

Once before, an alliance like this saved Ealing from theDeadly Developers who wanted to turn Ealing into a concrete60s monstrosity.

More recently, remember the Trams? Stopped in theirtracks, a triumph for local people from Hammersmith toUxbridge.

In other words, something can be done.

Should the Council allow Glenkerrin to shape our towncentre? ey both think the Inquiry is a waste of time.So at the Inquiry we’ll need legal representation.

at’s why we’re appealing for £20,000 (you knew that wascoming, didn’t you?) because...

1 We need Legal Expertise (Planning) to advise us.

2 And a Junior Barrister (Planning) torepresent SEC and cross-examine the Speculator’sexperts thoroughly.

Time is critical. ey need time to tounderstand the problem. So please donategenerously today; cash and cheques welcome!

Cheques payable to Save Ealing’s Centre;please send to: SEC Treasurer, 20 Mattock Lane, Ealing W55BH.

For a receipt, send contact details with your donation,please.

is is the Public’s last chance. Ealing Council must workwith the Community on a Master Plan.

We deserve something better than letting Ealing’s centrebecome the playground of speculative developers.

e Inquiry starts 23 June. We welcome public support soplease come along.

SEC contact details: Tel: 020 8133 7846

www.savealingscentre.com

primarily for more flats – of which Ealing Town Centre is already over-provided – at the cost of other attractions. People thought a Cultural Quarter close to the old Ealing studios, should exploit Ealing’s great artistic heritage rather than stuff it with more flats with some standard cinema screens hidden amongst them.

Land Securities will demolish the historic YMCA building on Bond Street that features early inscriptional work by major 20th century artist Eric Gill. Though boasting community facilities including a 300-seat hall, the Council refused a public plea to the YMCA as ‘an asset of community value’.

Some objectors said Land Securities’ designs are out of character with

Ealing Town Centre. The old cinema entrance with its art deco Egyptian style columns was a well-known landmark and a popular meeting place. It will become just a meaningless wall for the new flats. Others said the obtrusive block of flats fronting Mattock Lane will detract from the Grade I listed Pitzhanger Manor opposite.

The Inspector acknowledged these criticisms were ‘well put’, but dismissed them as having no weight.


Read NP Online at www.neighbourspaper.comRead NP Online at www.neighbourspaper.com

Operation Wellfound recently celebrated a decade of existence as a Water and Sanitation Charity. The Organisation, based in Greenford, was conceived by a transport merchant, Howard Measham, who was deeply touched about a revelation from Romanian Business Partner, David Maguire in 2004, that most Romanian villagers drank water from dirty streams from which they were prone to water-borne diseases.

UN Millennium Development GoalsAnother focal point to the conception of Wellfound was the declaration in Geneva by the United Nations of The Millennium Development Goals in the year 2000. All 189 member nations at the time (there are 193 currently), and at least 23 international organizations, committed to help

sanitary needs in consonance with The Millennium Development Goals. In attendance were MP Steve Pound representing North Ealing Constituency, The Mayoress of Ealing, Councillor Harbhajan Kaur Dheer, Mr Matthew Odu, representing the Rotary Club of Hounslow, along with other notable dignitaries. Odu commended the Charity for the job done in the last decade and promised the support of the Rotary Club of Hounslow in the years ahead. The session also saw the launch of an up and coming Northolt based singer/artist, Dupe Akinwande, with her performance, titled ‘My Destiny’.

The Chief Executive Officer of Operation Wellfound, Dr Anthony Kingsely, solicited for more support for the Charity, financially and otherwise to bring succour to teeming suffering people globally. The Eseosa Catering Service provided lots of continental delicacies to the delight of the guests.

For more information on the Charity visit www.operationwellfound.org, or alternatively phone 020 7998 7376.

Neighbours’ Papers would like to congratulate the Charity on this historical landmark and for its global efforts in environmental sustainability.

Words & Photo By foluso daWodu EsQ

stakEholdErs aNd WorkErs achieve the following Millennium Development Goals by 2015: 1. To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2. To achieve universal primary education 3. To promote gender equality 4. To reduce child mortality 5. To improve maternal health 6. To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases 7. To ensure environmental sustainability 8. To develop a global partnership for development.

With the belief that everyone is entitled to good drinking water, along with his compassionate disposition, Howard put the Measham family property up for rent, the income from which helped start the charitable foundation. To date, Wellfound has worked in Romania and in 4 African Countries (Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso and Kenya) building 66 wells, 122 latrines and 4 market gardens. It has provided 80,611 people with clean water.

Variety Night CelebrationTo celebrate ten years of this success story, a Variety Night was held at Brentside High School Hall with all stakeholders, to reflect and to re-strategise for future charitable work in the sustenance of the environment by providing drinkable water and

Operation Wellfound Celebrates 10thAnniversary



Ealing General Hospital has been in the spotlight after the closure of the maternity wing, and the proposed downgrading of its A&E. But next door at St Bernard’s, our local psychiatric hospital run by West London Mental Health Trust, there are also problems affecting local community services.

Such services are vital to keep people well in the community and out of hospital. The Care Quality Commission has recently undertaken its inspection, and highlighted the low morale of staff along with staff shortages in Forensic and Community based services.

Land sell offThe Trust also includes Broadmoor, plus units at Charing Cross and West Middlesex Hospitals. Broadmoor

By glEN BarNham

Photo: tom WhitiNg

What is happening at St Bernard’s Hospital and with our local community mental health services?

has undergone a huge cut in numbers of patients along with selling off half the land including a newish swimming pool and gym to build a private hotel. The cutback in patients there will affect the other hospitals in the Trust.

At St Bernard’s all the land in front of the hospital along the Uxbridge Road, including the nurses’ accommodation and some of the current hospital buildings are being sold off to developers. The John Connolly Unit, purpose built some 20-plus years ago for the local community psychiatric places – and which a couple of years ago had an upgrade costing millions – has been demolished to make way for a Forensic Unit, but note, not local community places.

This Trust has cut back on the local teams undertaking important work in the community. Teams in Northolt, Southall Hospital (closed) and Hanwell have been moved. The team based at Mattock Lane went a while back, on the basis that the Lammas Centre(

next to Questors Theatre), used by the NHS since the 1940s, was going to be turned into a much needed modern recovery home for the community – plans had been drawn up, and planning permission given by Ealing Council. I was on a committee at the hospital where one minute we were being told of great plans for the community on the Mattock Lane site, and the next informed by a local estate agent that the building in Mattock Lane was being sold to private developers for £2.9m.

Cuts, and more cutsIn my opinion the local community based psychiatric services so badly needed are not a priority with this Trust. Psychiatric services are the Cinderella of the NHS, and cuts by Government have been very deep. I agree with the Care Quality Commission that frontline staff, the Nurses and Doctors, do an amazing job in the Trust hospitals but they need the tools for the job.

These cuts are short sighted, as the end result will be more people in hospital and then a bed crisis. Government seem unable to understand this, with their cuts to mental health even bigger than in other parts of the NHS. As you can see, it is not just Ealing General Hospital suffering cuts, but next door at St Bernard’s is another story which has yet to fully unfold.



Talking Newspapers?In Ealing?

souNdProofiNg studio aNd PostiNg thE usB sticks. Photos By roN Nicholls/maNJiNdEr chiJarh

By maNJiNdEr chiJarh

Thirty-nine Broughton Road. I rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, I was inside. Walked upstairs. An elderly man welcomed me. Brian Watkins, Chairman of Ealing Talking Newspapers, who showed me the written news through the spoken word.

A free service for the blindEaling Talking Newspapers is the free service for blind and partially sighted persons, offering a weekly digest of local news delivered straight to their doorstep every Saturday morning. While the Ealing Gazette provides the majority of coverage, a selection of articles, letters, and local events from other newspapers are also featured.

Over sixty volunteers manage ETN entirely on a rota basis, ranging from sound technicians, compilers and readers to those dealing with correspondence, the sorting and filling of address labels, checking and re-formatting sackfuls of returned memory sticks and inserting address labels for future editions.

Since July 1980, over 1,600 editions of ETN’s weekly recordings across 35 years exist alongside countless editions of their talking-book magazine. For reference, I attended #1646 and Brian stated that viewers should expect #1651 once this article is published.

How does it work?Every Friday, the duty compiler collects two copies of three Gazette editions (Ealing & Acton, Southall and Greenford) before spending three hours selecting, cutting and preparing suitable items. At 2pm, two male and female readers begin speaking until 3:15pm, the sound technician re-records troublesome segments and the remaining volunteers copy the finished recording onto hundreds of memory sticks, placing them into ready-addressed yellow postal wallets for the postman’s arrival at 4:30pm. Listeners receive their news conveniently on Saturday morning.

Over the years, ETN have created an additional number of services to further assist their readership. ‘Visions’ was a quarterly audio magazine featuring interviews with local personalities and articles on places of interest and local history. This segment has now been integrated into the magazine section of each week’s recording, although the monthly distribution in Punjabi language from Punjabi newspapers has been discontinued due to lack of demand. The recording studio is also used by volunteers to record and dispatch minutes from monthly meetings of the National Federation of the Blind and, if requested, local authority information letters.

ETN relies on charitable support.As no staff are paid, ETN’s main expenses include office and recording studio rent, recording and copying equipment and consumables. They are entirely dependent upon the generosity of donors and fundraising initiatives; an annual Summer raffle being one such event.

Fortunately, charitable support has arrived countless times. In 2013, ETN received a Big Lottery Fund award which enabled them to reach more visually impaired people, and in September 2015 the West Ealing branch of Waitrose awarded £315 through their ‘Community Matters’ scheme. Alternatively, listeners have bequested their wills for which ETN is incredibly thankful.

Ealing Talking Newspapers shows that dedication to assist the visually impaired is an entirely possible endeavour and although the volunteer limit has been reached, new listeners are always welcome. The application form is available on the website and should be posted to their address at W13 8QT. For more information, visit www.ealingtalkingnewspapers.org.uk or call 020 8840 2313.


Read NP Online at www.neighbourspaper.comRead NP Online at www.neighbourspaper.com

thE gardEN at mEadoW housE hosPicE, imProVEd thaNks to grEENrEdEEm PoiNts. Photo ProVidEd By roN Nicholls.

Redeeming Our Community with the Click of a MouseBy roN Nicholls

Responsible shoppers were once rewarded with ‘greencard’ points by some of the major foodstore chains for making use of their own carrier bags.

Suddenly all that has changed. Now the carrot-approach has been dropped and the stick-approach of the 5p charge per plastic bag has been imposed in its place. This has sparked a great deal of national debate on the ethical issues of providing incentives for recycling and whether or not such activities can make a real difference.

As may be expected, opinions can be sharply and deeply divided.

Yet for those who lament the loss of the greencard points all is not lost. Residents in the Borough of Ealing – who already make use of the excellent refuse collection services provided by the local council – can now take part in the wonderful rewards system provided by GreenRedeem organisation, the major sponsor of this year’s Hanwell Carnival.

GreenRedeem has partnered with local authorities to provide ‘green’

points for those who simply click an online link each week to confirm that they have recycled some of their household waste. For each weekly click of a mouse, 10 points are instantly awarded and these can be redeemed for vouchers that can be used in a number of high-street shops and restaurants and other retailers.

There are even more opportunities to substantially boost the points earned on the GreenRedeem website by making pledges to adopt a greener lifestyle, by watching short and highly informative video clips and by taking part in simple quizzes that can test your awareness of environmental issues and can help you to be better informed.

More importantly, these same points can also substantially benefit local community projects. Every 200 points earned by an individual can be converted into a £1 donation to a good cause. This might seem a drop in the bucket but it is amazing to see how much of a difference this simple process can make – as I have discovered from personal experience.

The Meadow House Hospice joined the GreenRedeem this summer in a bid to raise funds for making their beautifully landscaped garden – so admirably maintained by unpaid volunteers and Accession Social Enterprise – more comfortable and accessible to the hospice residents and their visitors. Unexpectedly, the Meadow House goal of £1,000 (from a donation of 200,000 GreenRedeem points) was reached on 22 October 2015, a magnificent achievement that has been deeply gratifying for everyone involved!

You can learn more about what worthy projects have been launched in Ealing by visiting the ‘Donate to the Community’ page at www.greenredeem.co.uk/donations-and-votes.php?campaign=16.

Another way to earn more points is to introduce GreenRedeem to a friend – 25 points are gained for each and every recommendation accepted.

It can take only a few minutes of your time each week and remarkably little effort and yet the contributions to our local community can be truly astonishing and reveal that the spirit of genuine altruism is alive and well in Ealing.

Merry Christmas to all



Over £500 was raised at the inaugural Perivale Eco Street Festival which took place along Stockdove Way over the August Bank Holiday. The event was coordinated by Certitude – an organisation which provides housing and support for people with learning disabilities in Ealing – along with the Scouts and Ealing Mencap.

Visitors were entertained with live music from local band, I Love Thunder

– whose members include people with learning disabilities – and enjoyed BBQ grills and campfire bread prepared by the local scout group. Ealing Mencap sold cards designed by people they support and seasonal vegetables grown by their gardening project, The Dig. Special guests included local Ealing MP, Steve Pound.

Money-raising through crowd fundingAll the money raised on the day will go towards Certitude’s community garden project. Certitude is hoping to raise

the additional £10,000 required through a crowd funding campaign which launches soon. Crowd funding has emerged in the last few years as a way of a group of people getting behind a project they’d like to see become a reality. Supporters pledge money against rewards offered by the fundraiser. If the target is reached by the project deadline, the fundraiser receives the pledged funds from all investors and gives the reward to the investor.

Kathleen Isaac, Certitude’s Head of Business Development commented:

‘We were delighted by the response of the local community to this event. We encourage people we support to make connections in their local community and this was a great way to build new relationships. The community garden will be an amazing community space, where relaxing keeping fit, healthy and happy. It will be maintained by volunteers from the community as well as a local gardening group led by adults with learning disabilities, supporting their development and access to work.

‘We’re looking for support in our project to turn this forgotten area into an amazing community space. This land has been unused for many years and is now a bit of a dumping ground that looks rather neglected.

By ValEriE rudd aNd kathlEEN isaac

Photo By ValEriE rudd

‘Where possible the garden will be built from locally sourced materials and include trees, perennial shrubs, walkways and benches where people can meet new friends, catch up and enjoy getting a little closer to nature. We’ll also include flowers selected especially for pollinating insects as this space is going to be for them too.

‘We’ll use the garden to showcase the impact recycling can have at a local level and use recycled items to decorate the space.’

Run by local people‘This project takes a beautiful outdoor space from behind a fence and puts it into the hands of local people; increasing community engagement, improving local health and well being, furthering sustainability at a local level and supporting adults with learning disabilities.’If you would like to support this project please contact Sam Mason on 020 3397 3033 or [email protected], via our website www.certitude.org.uk or send a cheque FAO Sam Mason ref Perivale Garden payable to Support for Living, to Westgate, Hanger Lane, London W5 1YY.

Community Garden Project Perivale



Acton Homeless Concern 1 Berrymead Gardens, Acton W3 8AA. Tel: 020 8992 5768 www.acton-olol.com Open Tues, Fri and Sun 12noon-2pmGeneral advice to the homeless.

Ealing Specialist Advice ServiceESAS, c/o Age UK Ealing, 135 Uxbridge Road, Ealing W13 9AU. Tel: 020 8567 8017 or 07837 [email protected]; www.ealingsas.org.ukOpen Mon-Fri 9.30-5.30pm (calls only)Free, confidential advice to carers or adults with additional needs. Includes physical/learning disabilities, mental health issues, assistance to deaf and hard of hearing, and substance misuse.

Mind in Ealing Priory Community Centre, Acton Lane, Acton W3 8NY. Tel: 020 8992 0303 [email protected]; www.mind-eh.orgOpen Mon-Fri 9am-5pm Advice and information on all matters relating to mental health and illness. Befriending scheme, housing support, advocacy scheme.

Ealing Youth Counselling and Information Service (EYCIS) Westside Young People’s Centre, Churchfield Road W13 9NF. Tel: 020 8825 9155 Open Tues 3-8pm, Wed 9am-8pm,Fri 9am-7pmFree and confidential counselling service to young people aged 12-18.

Cold Weather Support in Ealing (COSIE)Tel: 0800 083 2265Open for calls Mon-Fri, from 9.30am to 5.30pmCouncil-run support line for residents concerned about keeping their homes warm this winter. Also help for those who are struggling to pay their energy bills.

Contact A FamilyLido Centre, 63 Mattock Lane, Ealing W13 9LA. Tel: 020 8571 [email protected]; www.cafamily.org.ukOpen Mon-Fri 9am-3pmSupport for parents who have children with any disability or special needs. Advice and information on disability benefits, care issues, rare disorders, health, education and housing.

Catalyst GatewaySt James House, 105-113 The Broadway, West Ealing W13 9BY. Tel: 08454 [email protected]; www.catalystgateway.org.ukOpen Mon to Fri 9am to 5pmInformation & guidance on employment and training.

Ealing Advice ServiceLido Centre, Ealing W13 9LA. Tel: 03000 121 54 64 [email protected]; www.ealingadviceservice.orgOpen (for calls only) Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri 10am to 5pm. Tues 10am to 7pmHousing, welfare benefits, debt, immigration, employment, mental health and community care, consumer and family and education.

Ealing FoodbankSt James House, 105-113 The Broadway, West Ealing W13 9BE. Tel: 020 8840 [email protected]; www.ealing.foodbank.org.ukEmergency food for local people in a crisis, donated by local schools, churches, businesses and supermarkets. Those in need issued with voucher to exchange for food at local foodbank centre.

By tom WhitiNg

Vital Support Services for Ealing Residents this Winter

Ealing Women’s AidTel: 0845 702 3468. Emergency out of hours tel: 0808 2000 247 www.womensaid.org.ukDrop-in service for women and children in the community needing advice, support, information and advocacy due to domestic violence. Also offers emergency temporary housing.

Ealing Churches Winter Night ShelterSt Christopher’s Church, Bordars Road, Hanwell W7 1AG. Tel: 07930 [email protected]; www.ecwns.org.ukOpen during winter (from late November to end of March).Emergency dormitory style accommodation for up to 14 guests, for those who are sleeping on the streets, are at immediate risk of rough sleeping locally and the hidden homeless.

Samaritans 26 Junction Road, Ealing W5 4XL. Tel: 020 8560 2345 www.samaritans.org.ukOpen 24 hours a day Confidential emotional support for people experiencing feelings of distress, despair or suicidal.

Home Start EalingEaling Family Support Services, 21 Cowings Mead, Northolt UB5 5SA. Tel: 020 8842 [email protected]; www.homestartealing.orgOpen Tues –Thurs 9am to 5pmHelp for families with one child under five who are in difficulty from e.g. isolation, monetary problems, health, children with disability.

St Vincent’s Mediation and Family Service 118 Mayfield Gardens, Hanwell W7 3RD. Tel: 020 8578 6378www.cathchild.org.uk Open Mon-Fri 9am-5pmHelp for children and families going through separation and divorce, including mediation, counselling, therapy and parenting workshops.



Acton Badminton

Operating in Ealing, Acton Badminton Club (ABC) has something to offer those interested in the sport.

Meetings take place at Twyford Church of England School Sports Hall, Twyford Crescent, Acton, London W3 9PP. Club night is every Tuesday between 8PM & 10PM all year round and is more competitive during the winter when they practise for matches, and slightly less so in the summer season. The club always play with quality feather shuttles & 4 courts are available so you will usually play good level games almost non-stop during the session.

Currently ABC is looking for strong club standard men for their recently promoted men’s and mixed teams and for ladies, for both ladies and mixed teams. Unfortunately ABC does not take absolute or near beginners. However they can recommend a neighbouring club such as Ealing Falcons Badminton Club.

Club night’s main focus is on practising for league matches, so the playing standard is quite competitive. They do have a small number of social events during the year; these include a summer barbeque, Christmas dinner and a few local bowling/dinner out evenings.

In the winter it is expected most of the members be willing to play in matches

(at their correct level) in leagues, and so the club have teams (Men’s, Mixed, and Ladies) in both the Middlesex and Hammersmith Badminton Leagues. They play most of their home matches at weekends at Hounslow Badminton Centre (the Dome), which is a purpose built badminton facility near Norwood Green.

Now just a few facts about the benefits of playing Badminton:

Playing regular badminton conditions the body and protects from heart disease, especially heart attacks. Playing badminton conditions and strengthens the heart muscle besides reducing hypertension and keeping blood vessels from clogging. Even people with pre-existing heart disease can benefit by playing badminton within their endurance levels under medical supervision and advice.

Regular indulgence in badminton helps overweight people to reduce their weight and attain optimal weight for their height and age. This effect is due to the excess calories burnt during playing badminton.

Finally, playing badminton keeps you feeling well, strong, motivated, enthusiastic and young. It helps to ward off depression, anxiety, stress and increase self-esteem. It also helps in enjoying a better sleep in the night, thereby minimizing the incidence of pre-existing illnesses getting aggravated due to lack of sleep.

With that in mind visitors and new members are more than welcome at Acton Badminton Club. Ideally ABC are looking for players who can walk straight into one of their teams. There is roughly an equal number of men and women in the club.

For more information on the club please see www.actonbc.co.uk or contact [email protected].

Buying ... Selling ... Renting

C e l e b r a t i n g

1 9 8 9 2 0 1 5

Quality Property Services in Ealing

over25 years

By michaEl holmEs

neighbours' paper issue 75

Documents