Watford half marathon tomorrow: sponsor me for Jack Tizard School

So the day is almost nigh - tomorrow I shall be plugging away at a 13 mile/21 kilometre course that is apparently very hilly. Plus it's set to be windy. Plus I have only just arrrived back from a tropical climate. Plus I have been cramming what training I can get in to the last few days.

All very good reasons why you should consider donating what you can to Jack Tizard School's "Big Splash Trust" which aims to support some of the most vulnerable and severely disabled children in our community. You can find more info about the school and it's work in my write-up here. You can donate directly here.

But here's the school head Cathy Welsh herself:

"Many thanks for your interest in making a donation to the Big Splash Trust.

The Big Splash Trust has been established to extend the use of our hydrotherapy pool to children in the community and to provide improved learning facilities for the pupils at Jack Tizard School.

We have a very aspirational vision for the future and believe passionately that children like those attending Jack Tizard should have good quality life and learning experiences.

If you chose to donate to The Big Splash Trust your money would be used to support children in the community use our hydrotherapy pool or purchase a piece of sensory equipment to improve our sensory learning environment e.g. a sensory wall or bubble tube either for use in the school or hydrotherapy pool.

Your donation would make a big difference to the life and learning opportunities of children with multisensory learning difficulties".

Bushstock: One day music festival takes over Shepherd's Bush

4 venues, 30 bands and many well known names will turn Shepherd's Bush into a music-fest on Saturday, 7th May this year.

Tickets went on sale yesterday , Friday 4th February. There are a limited allocation of early bird tickets at £22.50. This will rise to £27.50 when these run out and artists will be announced over the coming few weeks.

It promises to be a festival of querkiness as well as music - on the promoters' website they have what to my mind is one of the most bizarre videos I've ever seen - Frank Bruno appearing to play on stage as a vocalist with a heavy rock band - if you don't believe me have a look at the vid here:



More info on their website here

Tuesday UPDATE - Local blogger "Bush Birdie" has caught up with this here, as has the Chronicle here

Shepherd's Bush Olympics: The Movie

This film is watching just for the fun of watching the poor presenter battle with the snow, revealing it was filmed on that day a week or so before Christmas last year, but in all seriousness it is actually quite good and underlines what is to me the best thing about the Bush - the hidden gems of history that are all around us.



A perfect Friday experience - happy week-end!

Egyptian centre in Shepherd's Bush centre of attention

Bloemfontein Road W12 was the centre of a media frenzy yesterday as media from across the UK and further afield came to hear what Bush resident and chair of the UK Egyptian Association Mostafa Ragab had to say about current events in the country.

The Egyptian community is an integral part of Shepherd's Bush and make a significant contribution to our part of London. My recent interview with the owner of King Solomon's restaurant is evidence enough of that. Mohammed has been here since the mid 1970s and can tell you in detail about how the Bush has developed since then.

According to the BBC Mr Ragab says Bush based Egyptians are:

.."so stressed. They want to know how they can help.
"People don't sleep. Don't work. One doctor rang me, told me he couldn't go to work, was just sitting in front of the TV, 24 hours a day."

So spare a thought for those in the Bush who are watching what appears to be an increasingly violent revolution take place in their homelands. Along with the other parts of the Arab community, particularly the Lebanese, here in W12 these are historic and deeply worrying times.

Safer Neighbourhood Police teams at risk

The Metropolitan Police Service last week admitted that in the next two years there will be severe cuts across London in the number of police sergeants working in Safer Neighbourhood Teams, which have done much to improve policing in and around Shepherd's Bush.

Following questions from Caroline Pidgeon, a Liberal Democrat member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, budget figures supplied by Tim Godwin, the Acting Commissioner of the Met, revealed that over the course of the next year 100 Sergeants posts are set to be lost from Safer Neighbourhood Teams across the capital. 

Assistant Commissioner Godwin also admitted to Caroline Pidgeon that by April 2013 a total of 300 sergeants will have been lost from London's Safer Neighbourhood Teams, cutting in half the number of sergeants across London currently allocated to the neighbourhood policing teams.

Commenting on the reductions in the number of sergeants Caroline Pidgeon said:

"If these cuts in the number of sergeants go ahead the whole idea of Safer Neighbourhood Teams could be put at risk. The Met claim to be consulting as to how Safer Neighbourhood Teams operate in the future, but in reality they are rushing ahead with their own proposals that could put many of the teams at risk.  

"We know that Safer Neighbourhood Teams work and that they provide reassurance to local communities.   We shouldn't jeopardise their success."

But Hammersmith & Fulham Cabinet Member Greg Smith, speaking to me, responded to these claims by accusing the Liberal Democrats of "irresponsible political manoeuvring", and claimed:

"This absolutely does not spell the end for SNTs in Hammersmith & Fulham - any talk of that is deeply irresponsible political manoeuvring.  In fact, this is likely to only mean one less Sergeant for the whole borough.  

With the financial situation the nation faces, we all have to look at how we can do things more efficiently and sometimes this does mean reductions in posts and I will not criticise the Mayor or the Commissioner for doing the best they can with the resources they have.  

That said, working closely with our borough Police, H&F Council is committed to ensuring we have the best possible response to crime and anti-social behaviour in the borough and are in talks with the Met and the MPA to ensure H&F is both well resourced, with Police officers and Council uniformed officers best deployed to prevent and detect crime."

I did ask Labour to respond but they haven't done so.

In any case it's what the ruling Conservatives choose to do locally to mitigate these cuts that matters for Shepherd's Bush and its crime problem, so dramatically revealed by the police crime statistics website yesterday. And as I've said before Cllr Smith has, in my humble opinion, a strong record on anti crime measures locally. But he can only play the hand he's dealt so there are real worries that in an area with what seems to be a growing and serious crime problem we are now facing the prospect of scaling back the limited police presence we have.

If you want to know more, the H&F Crime Summit is taking place at Chelsea Football Club on Saturday March 5th between 10am and 2pm. You need to register a place which you can do here. It's got to be one of the most important issues facing the Bush today.

Shepherd's Bush Village Hall campaign launched

Residents and voluntary groups fighting our Council's plan to flog off the village hall on Wood Lane have launched a website and petition to try to save the centre, which houses services for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

Readers will recall the particularly ill fated visit of the Deputy Prime Minister to the Hall in August last year, when Nick Clegg realised the people he thought were going to pose with him for a photo call were actually asking him to save their services. He beat a hasty retreat, filmed by the BBC, and pursued by a little girl.

I have to say this is all a bit too late really. The decisions have been taken and the developers will already be valuing the property but good luck to them anwyay. It's set to be a familiar theme across the Bush in the months to come.

1,095 crimes in December for Shepherd's Bush

1,095 Shepherd's Bush crimes in December included 165 violent assaults,75 burglaries and 32 robberies while hundreds more were also committed but categorised as "anti social behaviour" (English translation - gangs and drunks) or car break-ins.

Thousands of violent and other crimes have been plotted on a digital map which residents can zoom in on at will using the new Metropolitan Police Service website police.uk

It makes pretty scary viewing and is confirmation of the rising crime levels in the Bush, charecterised by some high profile incidents in the last 12 months culminating in the murder of Jaabe Roberts on the Askew Road. That incident, which took place in a well known crack house above the old furniture shop and carried out by a well known drug addict who was named by many of you on this blog before he was arrested, sums up the problem facing the Bush today - drugs.

I frequently walk past people on the Uxbridge Road openly smoking joints and not even trying to hide the smell of it, and the police seem completely overwhelmed by the scale of the problem. That's why the safer neighbourhood teams were such a good idea and in fairness to our Council were boosted by Cllr Greg Smith who has made it his business to get on top of criminals where he can. But he isn't helped by Mayor Boris Johnson who is now busily slashing police numbers which will undermine these efforts.

The forthcoming Crime Summit at Hammersmith Town Hall will no doubt hear fine words from Police Commanders and Councillors alike, but these stats speak far louder. You may wish to bear this in mind at the next Mayoral elections in 2012 as Boris attempts to bluster his way through.

Council wants views on Shepherd's Bush night economy

Give your views to the Council on night life in the Bush using their imaginatively named "cumulative impact" questionnaire here.

Explaining the survey the Council says this:

As a resident or business in or near Shepherd’s Bush, we need your opinion on the impact that licensed premises (e.g. pubs, bars, restaurants, takeaways, off-licences) have on your quality of life. Over the last few years due to the increase in the number of venues and longer trading hours, the Council has become concerned that local residents, businesses and visitors within the Shepherd’s Bush area may have been affected by crime, disorder and public nuisance.



The Council is of the opinion that, however tightly controlled and well-run individual premises are in Shepherd’s Bush, it is the number of premises in one location that leads to anti-social behaviour such as excessive late night noise, rowdiness, intimidation and criminal damage - all of which have a detrimental effect on the local area.

I think that's spot on  - but let them know what you think too here.

The study is being led by Cllr Greg Smith, responsible for law and order in the borough. He has done some really good stuff in recent years, including pioneering the safer neighbourhood teams of police officers that enforced things like the alcohol ban on the Green. So you have to hope that this leads to a clamp down on some of the excesses that we see in W12.

Shepherd's Bush Tweet up on Feb 24

The third installment of the Shepherd's Bush online community get together will take place on the last thursday of February .. but the location is being fiercely debated by online Bushers using the Twitter hashtag #bushw12 Current frontrunners are the Princess Victoria or Adelaide pubs, both on Uxbridge Road

The first tweeet up (i.e. meet up organised by tweet) took place in December as the snow began to come down at the Goldhawk Pub, and was dominated by much laughter, some tasteful swearing and a huge platter of bar food.

To be at the next one watch this space or monitor the Twitter debate. Either way I look forward to seeing you there. And credit to Twitter man @stewbirch for organising the whole damned thing. Again.