Three Months Go West

Other than a post for the sake of a post towards the end of June it occurs to me that I've not updated this blog now for over three months.

One or two of those few who noticed have asked me why this is. The simple answer is that I have just been too busy - busy trying to earn a living, busy with the kids, busy being busy.

During this short period I have been away once again to my beloved Isle of Wight, staying at the Park Resorts site Thorness Bay with the family. It was the first time in a couple of years that we'd been based at Thorness Bay despite having visited the site once or twice since. More recent trips to the Island have involved stays at Landguard, Rookley Country Park and Gurnard Pines. Whilst I like all of these sites there was a certain "coming home" feeling about spending four nights at Thorness after such a long absence.

I have also undertaken to do a 95-mile sponsored walk between Isleworth and Abingdon along the Thames Path early next month to raise some funds for the sports department at Joe's school, St. James School for Senior Boys in Ashford. St. James has been really kind to Joe, and to us his parents, and I wanted to do something to repay that kindness. For more details of the proposed walk please see my new sponsor site at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/PhilipAndrews.

If you would like to sponsor me by making a donation, no matter how small, so much the better and many thanks. Please just follow the instructions on the site.

Oh, and on Friday the doctor confirmed to me that I have Type 2 Diabetes. Whether it was knocking 80% of the alcohol on the head, losing nearly two and a half stone, improving my exercise routine or adopting a low-fat vegetarian diet that brought it on I guess I will never know.

On the community front things are relatively quiet. The ICG has circulated a newsletter throughout Syon and Isleworth wards to leave our calling card but the libraries are still open and residents continue to organise over issues of concern such as a proposal to open a Sainsbury's store in South Street, which would be devastating for many local businesses.

More on this, and other things, anon.

While the cat's away...

My son Joe and I have recently returned from a brief weekend stay at Gurnard Pines, on the Isle of Wight. I am a little envious of Caroline and my daughter Rosie who will still be there until Friday afternoon.

I've mislaid the mobile phone cable again so I'll post up a few photos if and when I manage to locate it.

While I was away I received a message from one of our Worton members advising me of what would appear to be a spectacularly appalling Labour leaflet, even by the standard of its authors, which has evidently been distributed on part of the Worton estate (they appear to lack either the manpower or the stamina to be able to circulate all 500 doors on the estate in one day as we frequently do).

I don't have a hard copy to hand, but by all accounts it consists solely or at least mainly of a bilious attack on the ICG in spite of the fact that we no longer have any councillors and have stated publicly that we would prefer henceforth to pursue our community objectives in a non-political way and outside of the electoral process. For those inclined to wonder why this statement of intent would appear to have especially irked them, a clue lies in the word "community" - it can reasonably be deduced that the scum element remains in control of the party in Isleworth at the time of writing.

When I take physical possession of the item I'll scan it and post it up. Presumably its originators will snigger that we will have given them free publicity, whilst the grown-ups amongst my readership will have the opportunity to behold precisely what it is we are dealing with today in local Labour.

For now, for me, it is on to more pressing things, such as the need to earn a living. So with the promise of more soon, I will away.

A cold weekend away

Actually it is coldish, as befits the time of year, but there is no snow and indeed not a little sunshine on the north coast of the Isle of Wight. We're staying at Gurnard Pines, for the first time, and I'm taking advantage of a rare moment of connectivity for my mobile broadband in this remote backwater of the world to deliver a brief update on my Whickeresque travels.

I've sustained a bit of criticism for my holidays of late. One or two people who themselves think nothing about boarding a 747 for Australia or the Far East or spending an all-inclusive week at the Hilton in some fashionable resort seem not to think twice before drawing the conclusion that my family and I have a mysterious cache of hidden wealth which enables us to set sail so frequently for the Island on a £9.50-a-head Sun holiday, or to make our almost-annual, one-week-only, off-season easyJet pilgrimage to Portugal.

No matter, I reassure myself that a little bitterness on the part of political opponents and failed (and in one case positively barking) ex-councillors is a small price to pay for having overseen another four years of relentless progress towards empowering our local community and I invariably return from these short breaks reinvigorated and generally up for it.

The ICG had a very interesting meeting last week at the Isleworth Royal British Legion at which plans were made for the forthcoming local elections. I won't go into too much detail but it was extremely well attended and there is a real feeling of enthusiasm, with several new faces on the team committing themselves to mucking in. That is probably why, much as I enjoy my short breaks, I find myself impatient to get back and get on with it.