Hundreds of residents gathered on Ivybridge last week for the local heats of Street Athletics, a community-focused youth engagement programme created by Olympic Gold medalists Linford Christie and Darren Campbell, both of whom came along to the event. The 2009 programme will incorporate 24 venues nationally followed by the London Final on Saturday 6th September and the National Final in Manchester on Saturday 20th September.Unlike some "celebs" who turn up to engagements with agents in tow and sign a few autographs and pose for a few photos before disappearing as quickly as they had arrived, Linford and Darren remained throughout the event - in which youngsters of all ages participated, cheered on by parents, friends and wellwishers - chatting to the locals and encouraging the youngsters. As well as kids from Ivybridge, there were delegations from other parts of the neighbourhood including a team going under the name of the "Worton Warriors". Community councillors Paul Fisher, Shirley Fisher and Dr. Genevieve Hibbs were there to support the event, as well as Councillor John Todd from Chiswick and, not least of course, the Mayor.
This hugely successful project was facilitated by Hounslow Positive Futures (ably managed by Jen Emeny from the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust) and Nuff Respect.
The very considerable support shown for this project, following on from the similarly successful Ivybridge Fun Day held a couple of days earlier, demonstrates the vast reservoir of enthusiasm and goodwill that exists on Ivybridge, as elsewhere in Isleworth, when our people are motivated. There was a clearly perceptible sense of community spirit and pride around these events which reassures those of us who desire to build a strong and engaged community that it is there for the taking once we have succeeded in getting the attitude right throughout the local authority.
The advantages of projects like this one for Community Cohesion cannot be overstated. There was nothing that divided the people who came out onto Summerwood Road last week to take part in this massively successful event and Darren and Linford by their presence and attitude empitomised everything that was great and positive about our society.
I believe it is imperative that we do as much as we can to garner this new positivity in the months remaining to us within the administration at the council and, if following next year's local elections fate gives us another crack of the whip, to cement it irrevocably into the heart of our local thinking.
Incredibly it's over two weeks since I last posted on this blog. I recall a time as a kid when Crossroads was off the air for several months, and when it returned the cast had to narrate the events which had passed before bringing the story up to date. I guess I'll need to do something similar here.
May 21st - I had the pleasure of accompanying the new Mayor Councillor Paul Lynch, along with the Leader of the Council Peter Thompson and colleagues Councillors John Todd, Gerald McGregor and Paul Fisher on a tour of Fuller's Brewery in Chiswick (below). Some of the complexities and specialist knowledge involved in brewing defies belief. Apparently London water has a consistency which makes it ideal for brewing dark beers such as porter and stout, and is the reason for Guinness locating itself into this part of the world when it opened up its operation in the UK. The best water for bitter production on the other hand hails from Burton-on-Trent, and Fuller's physically alter the consistency of our London water (a process known as "Burtonisation") before using it in its bitter production.
Then it was back to West Mid for a private meeting with the consultant who had looked after Caroline's stepfather Jim before he sadly passed away on December 29th. Nobody seems certain at this stage as to what was the cause of his death.
May 22nd - Councillor Paul Fisher and I joined representatives of The Isleworth Society (TIS), The Four Roads Residents' Association, Hounslow Homes and Isleworth Youth Action Partnership (IYAP) for a photo-shoot to celebrate the launch of the excellent Windows on Isleworth project, which has seen students from local schools producing some phenomenally good artwork to help brighten up Ivybridge, as well as the King's Arms site in South Street (see below).
Then it was across to the ROWE Centre on the Worton estate to discuss the residents' association's application for a grant from the Rainbow Project to develop the Community Centre into a more multi-purpose resource.
May 25th - The Bank Holiday marked the beginning of half-term week, during which I struggled determinedly to catch up with some work while the children (and others!) screamed relentlessly in the background like ones deranged.
June 2nd - The Worton surgery, some housing problems and ongoing issues relating to estate matters. The residents' association at the ROWE Centre always make us feel at home, sustaining us with tea and all the latest info from around the neighbourhood.
June 3rd - The day before the elections to the European Parliament, and five of us ventured out to the Syon estate to distribute an ad hoc ICG leaflet urging residents not to vote for the BNP at the following day's polls. As always we were received with enthusiasm by the locals. On our travels we managed to liberate a leaflet that had been sent out by Ann K££n, our alleged Member of Parliament, informing potential voters that the BNP could only be kept out by voting for her party. A blatant lie as the d'Hondt system places more or less equal value on a vote for any other candidate, but this is the kind that of thing that we have become accustomed to.
June 6th - Ivybridge surgery, more housing issues and more hospitality from the girls at the Bridgelink Centre café. This time I had to be away early for an important meeting at my son's school, and in the absence of Paul (away in Kazakhstan) his wife Councillor Shirley Fisher kindly deputised for the last 45 minutes of the session.
June 8th - A meeting of the Members' Constitutional Working Party and then on to next door for my first ever meeting as a member of the Sustainable Development Committee. I must have broken a record for brevity - having entered the meeting mid-way through a debate on a proposed Chiswick development I was unable to vote, and when the second and last item - Mogden - came up I was required to leave the room as an interested party. More on this shortly.
