Charity/voluntary

A BIG-HEARTED DJ who was jolted into action after seeing the Haiti devastation on TV has raised thousands of pounds for charities helping with the relief effort.

Steve Bastien, 47, of Kenmore Crescent, Hayes, raised over £4500 after staging a social evening at Club Libertaire, in Acton, on February 27, and getting the whole community on board for the fundraising effort.

The money was split between two charities, UNICEF and CATHOD helping with aid in the quake-hit region, and Mr Bastien and his wife Anne spent last Thursday (4) distributing the cheques, before finally stopping off at St Raphael's School, in Northolt, to speak with Bishop Alan Hope, from the Westminster Diocese.

Baddiel and Skinner captured the nations hearts in 1996 with Three Lions- could a Hayes swimming teacher be about to the the same with his 2010 World Cup song?

Neil Sullivan, 28, has written a world cup 'hit' he hopes will be replayed all-summer long.

His aspirations are no long shot at all, he has teamed up with the lead singer of novelty pop band Black Lace, Dene Michaels, who has helped turn his dream into a reality.

CHERRY Lane campaigners are rejoicing after a monument at the cemetery was awarded a Grade II Listing.

The EMI Memorial at the cemetery in Shepiston Lane, Hayes is deemed of historical interest as it signifies the 37 lives lost when a doodlebug dropped its deadly cargo on the EMI factory in Hayes during World War Two.

A Bazaar and tabletop will take place on Sunday 6th December from 12 noon - 4pm at Barnhill Community Centre in aid of Club funds.

CARING members of a motorbike club raised money for an animal sanctuary at their fourth anniversary bike show and party.

Doggs Bollocks MCC, who meet every Wednesday at The Breakspear Arms, in Breakspear Road South, Ruislip, have been raising money for charity for the past four years at their show.

This year Pets Corner, in Petworth Gardens, Hillingdon, was lucky enough to be the chosen charity and on October 25 the bikers presented a £500 cheque to the owner, Stan Atkin.

The club's president, Del Pratt, said the club's members had decided to raise money for the animal sanctuary and petting zoo after hearing it had been repeatedly vandalised.

Club member Peter Murrar, known as 'Fly', of Raynton Drive, Hayes, said: "This year it was my turn to chose the charity. I chose Pets Corner because it gets vandalised a lot and we are all animal lovers.

"I have just been diagnosed with a terminal illness but I will raise money for charity as long as I am still on my feet."

About 200 people attended the anniversary day, which was held at The Breakspear Arms.

The club's profit of £250 was then generously matched with a further £250 by Darren Morgan, landlord of the pub.

The club's chosen charity for next year is Help for Heroes.

For more information visit www.doggsbollocksmcc.com or contact Mr Pratt on 07889 852428.

A HALLOWEEN party was held to raise money to take a cheerleading squad on a trip of a lifetime.

Joanne Cordery, 20, works with special needs children at Hedgewood School, in Weymouth Road, Hayes, and has set up a cheerleading squad with students at the school called 'Special Stars'.

She now wants to take them to Orlando in April next year to compete in the World Championships.

Joanne, her family, and everyone at the school are working together with the community to raise the thousands of pounds needed to make the dream become a reality.

A charity has been registered to help the group with their fundraising efforts called Cheer4aChild.

On Saturday (24) they held a Halloween party at Ruislip Golf Club, in West End Road, Ruislip, and they managed to raise £1,100 towards the trip.

Ken Cordery, Joanne's father, said: "The party was the first of many fundraising events required to amass the huge amount of investment to help the children realise a once in a lifetime dream and it was a great success."

To help with fundraising contact Hedgewood School or email Mr Cordery at kenc44@hotmail.com

DEDICATED and enthusiastic students have returned home from a trip to South Africa where they spent 10 days building a much needed house.

In July three teachers and eight Post 16 students from Mellow Lane School, in Hewens Road, Hayes, travelled to South Africa with the charity Habitat for Humanity to build a house in a township called Mfuleni, which is about 30km from Cape Town.

Mfuleni is currently home to about 25,000 people and over 40 per cent of the community is unemployed with an average household income of less than £1,400 per year.

Whilst housing development is taking place in this township it is slow and the majority of families still live in shacks.

Mellow Lane School adopted the charity in 2008 and spent the entire year raising money to support the venture to South Africa.

Money was raised through raffles, tournaments and individual fundraising initiatives.

With help from the Youth Opportunities Fund and Hillingdon Education Business Partnership, £22,000 was raised.

The project involved working with the local community and building the external and internal walls of the house, construction of the roof and decoration.

The staff and students also worked with local families and children and they contributed writing and sports equipment to the local school.

The venture was the brain child of teacher Lisa Butler and the Post 16 psychology students, supported by teachers Rhian Taylor and Tom Crowe.

The eight students who went on the trip were Gary Miles, Steve Bell, Jack Moody, Oliver Lambert, Cherrell Hallet, Jacksha Chandarathas, James Taylor and Matt Jean-Pierre.

Hayes & Harlington Community Centre, in Albert Rd, Hayes are holding a family fun day on Saturday 25th July from 1pm to 6pm

There are various stalls. Bouncy Castle, Line Dance and Ju- jitsu display and a delicious barbecue

There will also be the unmissable opportunity to throw wet sponges at Labour Council Leader Mo Khursheed and Councillor John Oswell.

A RUNNING club took part a relay around an island coast to raise cash for leukaemia patients.

Hayes & Harlington Road Runners presented the £606 cheque to the leukaemia patients unit at Hillingdon Hospital on July 8.

The sponsorship money was raised last month when the club ran a relay around the coast of Anglesey, a total of 102 miles.

It is hoped the money will contribute towards buying a water fountain, an air conditioning unit and a television for the unit.

Hayes & Harlington Road Runners are based at Hayes & Harlington Community Centre, in Albert Road, Hayes, and welcome new members of all standards.

For more information go to www.hhroadrunner.com.

A DIETER is celebrating his success after losing more than eight stones in a year.
Christian Azolan, 26, of Weald Way, Hayes says his weight began spiralling out of control when he was eighteen after the death of his fahter.
At the time Christian was studying fashion at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication in Kent. He says when he started university he was 13 stones but by the time he finished he weighed more than 21 stones.
Christian said: "At the time it just seemed like an easy option for me, it was a way of distracting myself from actually dealing with the grief. I gained a lot of the weight during my placement year at San Fransico.
"But I never really realised how much weight I'd put on until I applied for a job over a year ago as a visual merchandiser. I had to get a photo pass made at the time and I was just shocked by the picture. I just couldn't believe it was me."
He said that's when he realised he had to do something about it and he joined an organisation called LighterLife after one of his friends lost three stones through their programme.
He said: "I decided to go with them because they offered counselling and because I knew food wasn't the real issue."
He said the counselling was done as a group and it allowed him to see that a lot of the time he was eating as a way of rewarding himself.
He said: "I've learnt to change that now by rewarding myself by buying something instead like a CD or clothes.
"I'm continuing to keep the weight off which is great and I go to Virgin Active in Stockley Park. I also go out more with my friends whereas before I was just a hermit."
Christian works as at 3 Mobile in The Chimes and also does freelance fashion designing for French Connection and Tesco.
For more information about LighterLife 0800 2988 988 or visit www.lighterlife.com