It’s litter-picking time (27 April)

Rubbish makes our green spaces dangerous for us and animals

Help transform Ickenham Green’s green space by freeing it of rubbish.

A litter-pick will take place this Saturday (27 April 2019) at 10.30am lasting 60 minutes (the event will end at 11.30am sharp). Meet next to Ickenham Green allotments (on path from Soldiers Return pub on High Road, Ickenham).

If sufficient volunteers turn out on the day we will clear High Road, Ickenham (West Ruislip station to Austin’s Lane) as well.

Contact, David Porter, davidreporter@onetel.com or call 07751 282700 up to and including the event.

Help beautify the library garden?

We have received the following from the Library Team

As you may be aware, last October, a team of volunteers which included local school children, redesigned and is now in the process of planting up the Library Garden . We met again this week for a Natter and Potter tidying session. These sessions are open to all residents to come along and make their contribution mix in, chat and enjoy a cup of tea with the other gardening workers.  The Library garden is accessible to library users.

We would like to take this opportunity to see if you or any  group you are associated with would like to join forces to take this slightly further and make-over the front beds outside the library in Ickenham and to see if any of your members could assist in the transformation, would like to create a bedding design, offer plants and could offer time for maintenance.

The Library manager – Barbara Ezra – has been given the provisional go-ahead from the council on condition that residents can offer this information and back up going forward.

There are various schemes that this could head towards including Britain in Bloom but Barbara and I have our eyes set on opening the main Library Garden for the Festival week in 2020 and with a view to having transformed the front bed outside the car park by that time too.

If you think you could help or would like to join a Natter and Potter session please contact the Library directly on (01895) 558271

Thanks in advance

Burns Night fun

Our friends, the Ickenham Festival Team, will be holding their ever-popular “Burns Night” at Douay Martyrs School, Long Lane, Ickenham on Saturday 26th January 2019.

Expect a live Ceilidh Band with a caller for dancing, a Piper, a haggis supper (other options available) , dancing, and Burns poetry reading.  A great night out is promised for all.

You may book online at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/ickenhamfestival https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/ickenhamfestival

Full details of tickets and booking are on the Ickenham Festival website at
http://www.ickenhamfestival.org.uk/Feature.Burns.htm or contact Doug Neilson on 07516 984514.

Can you help Ickenham Church News?

Last month, we heard that Ickenham Church News (ICN) needs various kinds of help. We emailed our members at the time but help is still needed. So, here’s the original plea from Felicity Davies, Rector of St Giles:

ALL GOOD THINGS… (AND WE NEED YOU TO MAKE THEM HAPPEN)

I believe it was Chaucer who wrote, “All good things come to an end” – a saying that my dad would regularly quote when he wanted us to stop playing some amazing game we’d invented, and get ourselves ready for bed.  Well, life has moved on in different ways for each one of the wonderful team who volunteers at the Ickenham Church News and all of the production team will be standing down at the end of this year with the publication of the Dec/Jan edition.  The ICN is definitely a good thing, named recently as one of the “50 Best Things about Ickenham”, and if you’re anything like me, you won’t want it to end.

We now need volunteers to keep the ICN going into 2019 and beyond.  In Sussex I was once told that I was ‘not like the last vicar’, and, quick as a flash, another parishioner turned to me and said, ‘no, but you bring us yourself, and that’s all we ask of you.’  And that’s all we ask of you.  So here’s what we need to keep the ICN going:

An Editor (could be an Editorial Team share) – editing copy (emails, Word files, pdfs) and images into an online document, and sending the print ready version to the printers. During 2018 this was set up to use Lucidpress, an online software, to make the role a lot simpler.The ability to use Word, email and be able to copy and paste is essential. Knowledge of a graphics package (SnagIt, Photoshop etc.) is useful.

An Advertising Assistant – a discrete part of the Advertising role – responsible for finding replacement advertisers as required (usually only a few and usually only annually – most recently done via Facebook) and for invoicing and collecting the money from all the advertisers (done annually).

A Forthcoming Events section editor – now that the Forthcoming Events are entered directly online, this is a discrete section of the editorial requiring a mail merge Word document to be edited into the online format for the printed ICN.

A ‘proof-reader’ – a close detail person who can work within ‘House Style’, check phone numbers and ensure that days/dates make sense as well as spelling and punctuation – this could be done in hard copy or directly online.

‘Copy’ i.e. your articles of local interest from both church and the wider community. If you have a club or team event, or are doing or know something of interest that would make a good story, do send in a few words (around 200-350 words or contact the editor for guidance if longer) and a picture for inclusion in the next ICN. Copy can be sent in anytime but needs to be sent to .

The ICN comes out six times a year: Dec/Jan, Feb/Mar, Apr/May, Jun/Jul, Aug/Sept, Oct/Nov.  It is a great place to showcase and share all that goes on in our community, so let’s continue to ‘big up’ Ickenham and celebrate the amazing achievements and activities that happen here.   If you would like to be part of a new ICN team, please contact John Miller (01895 904556) or Felicity Davies (01895 622970) to find out more.