December 2008 Archives

The Harrow Observer would like to wish all its readers a happy new year!

Wedding jewellery worth £6,000 and £2,000 cash was stolen from a bedroom during a burglary at Lawrence Crescent, Edgware.

Thieves removed a pane of glass from a rear door to break in between 3.30pm and 9.30pm on Sunday.

An Edgware members club has applied to extend its licensed hours by one hour each night.

Owner Haridas Murji Halai will go before Harrow Council's licensing panel on January 7 to apply for the extra time at Nineteen Executive at 10 North Parade, Mollison Way, Edgware.

If successful the venue will be licensed until 11.30pm on Sundays and midnight every other night.

A crook tried to con his way into a pensioners' home by posing as a gas man.
The man claiming to be from Siemens Gas knocked on the door of a house in Dean Drive, Stanmore, at 3.45pm on Friday (December 19).
The 70-year-old owner did not let him as he had no ID card. The con artist then drove off in a white van towards Holly Avenue.

A Stanmore church is opening its doors to residents.
A drop-in cafe will be open from 2pm until 4pm every Tuesday at St John's Church House, in Old Church Lane, Stanmore.

Theatre-goers aged 26 and under will be able to get free tickets to roughly 20 shows a year at Harrow Arts Centre.

The public performing arts venue in Uxbridge Road, Harrow Weald, is one of 31 across the capital taking part a pilot scheme to encourage younger audiences to take an interest in drama.

Harrow Council's arts and events service will receive £10,000 to subsidise an estimated 1,100 seats from February 2009 for two years.

Harrow Arts Centre hosts 75 events a year, of which roughly 20 would be eligible for the free ticket giveaway.

The grant from Arts Council England may encourage more bookings of theatre productions geared towards children, teenagers and adults that are otherwise ignored because they prove financially unviable to stage.

Moira Sinclair, executive director of Arts Council England, said: "This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the wealth of talent that we have here in the capital, in much loved local venues as well as our national theatres.

"Traditionally attendance at arts events drops between the ages of 18 and 26, so we hope that this scheme will introduce more young people to the thought-provoking, physically exciting and visually entertaining world of contemporary theatre and in doing so create a life long love for the art form."

Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, is part of a 12-strong consortium of West End venues that won a special £300,000 grant to provide theatre entry to the under-26s at no cost.

Stanmore College has honoured its high achieving students at annual awards ceremony.

The college in Elm Park hosted its annual awards ceremony on Tuesday (December 16).

Principal Jacqui Mace said, "I was just delighted for our students. The successes we have celebrated this evening are theirs.

"Educational achievement takes a lot of hard work and determination often in very difficult circumstances."

Ofsted's chief inspector Christine Gilbert and The Mayor of Harrow Councillor John Nickolay attended the event alongside 150 guests.

Awards were handed out to students including Olamide Bada, who gained three straight As in her A-levels and dreams of becoming a barrister.

The evening also featured entertainment from the college's performing arts students.

A former RAF base is opening its doors tomorrow night for one evening only for a winter tour of Bentley Priory, in Stanmore.
The historic site, in Stanmore, will play host to residents and RAF enthusiasts on December 18.
Seven tours will take place throughout the evening from 6.30pm until 9pm and on the night the Grimsdyke Brass Band and the Stanmore Air Cadet Band will be entertaining visitors.
All the funds raised will go towards the Trust, which needs £2 million in order to open a museum on the site in 2011.
Tickets must be bought in advance and cost £10 and are available through Erica Ferguson at the Battle of Britain Trust and will also be sold at Sainsbury's, in The Broadway, Stanmore, on Saturday (December 13).
For more information contact Erica Ferguson on bentleypriory@btinternet.com or 07813 856719, during office hours.

A STANMORE charity has won two awards at a fitness awards ceremony.
The Aspire National Training Centre, based in Wood Lane, Stanmore, won the Innovation in Inclusive Marketing and Engaging Volunteers awards at the Inclusive Fitness Initiative ceremony on December 10.
Aspire's Tasha Dyson says "We are thrilled to have won two awards from the IFI.
"The Aspire National Training Centre is the first fully integrated training centre in Europe for disabled and non-disabled people, pro-actively encouraging disabled people to join and take part in all activities by subsidising their membership and activity costs.
"It is great to have our efforts rewarded."
The ceremony, which took place at the ICC, in Birmingham, rewards members of the fitness industry who cater for the needs of disabled and non-disabled people and try and help people to exercise more.
Aspire provides support to people who have become disabled as a result of spinal injuries to enable them to have more opportunities and choice.

A 40-year-old man was punched to the floor then robbed as he walked along High Street, Edgware between 1am and 1.30am last Saturday.

His wallet, which he had been been holding in his hand, was taken by the attacker, who was described as white and in his mid-twenties.