June 2010 Archives

Five new parish priests were ordained by the Bishop of Kensington on Sunday June 27 at St Mary Abbots Church.

The newly ordained priests have spent the past year serving members of the public in parishes across West London.

Each one will now continue to support the growth and development of those churches.

Four schools in Kensington and Chelsea could be turned into new academies by September.

Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School has recently been rated as outstanding by Ofsted, and has expressed an interest in becoming an academy.

Three other schools, Fox Primary, Servite RC Primary and Holland Park Schools, have also said they would like to become academies.

At this stage, the schools are simply expressing an interest in breaking free from local authority control, and may not end up as academies.

Hundreds of visitors flocked to see the final elephant parade in Chelsea over the weekend, but not everyone was happy.

Photographers, both amateurs and professional have been criticised by one visitor who said they spoiled the visit for a lot of people, by blocking aisles, and being rude to other visitors.

The elephants, decorated by celebrities and artists, were on display at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, before they are auctioned off next week to raise money for the Elephant Family charity, helping conserve Asian elephants.

The streets of Kensington and Chelsea look set to be transformed with contemporary and newly commissioned arts events later this month.

The InTRANSIT Festival, featuring outdoor arts and theatre, will be launched on Monday July 19 and will run until August 1, featuring BMX choreography, life-sized puppets performances and more.

To see the full programme of events, visit www.rbkc.gov.uk/intransit.

Two young musicians took part in a summer benefit concert at St Helen's Church Hall on Saturday (26).

Emma Penrose and Helena Carlin, both ex-students of Grey Coat Hospital School in Westminster, sang solo arias, and Helen, whose father Robert is organist at the church, also played the flute.

They sang alongside professional musicians, and all the money raised will go towards the pair's visit to Kenya this summer to volunteer on community projects.

A free talk by author and television director Rosie Alison is being held at Brompton Library on Tuesday (6).

She will be discussing her debut novel, The Very Thought of You, a coming-of-age tale with a love story at its heart, as well as the challenge of writing a love story.

The talk starts at 6.30pm, and all are welcome, although tickets should be obtained in advance from any library in the borough.

Households across Kensington and Chelsea have until July 15 to sign up to pay their council tax by direct debit, and stand the chance of winning £25,000.

As part of the London-wide prize draws, each household must register by 5pm either by returning a paper form to the council, visiting www.rbkc.gov.uk or calling 020 7361 3007.

Those who already pay by direct debit will automatically be entered into the prize draw, which takes place on July 20.

For more information, visit www.ddwinner.com.

Residents hoping to vote in the Holland ward by-election on July 22 are being urged to register to vote, if they have not already done so.

Those who have voted recently or already registered do not need to do anything, but other eligible residents in the ward should send a completed form to Kensington Town Hall by Wednesday July 7.

For information or a registration form, contact Electoral Services on 020 7361 3444, or visit www.rbkc.gov.uk/hollandwardbyelection.

Furious residents say they have not been given enough time to object to plans for a new Iranian Embassy building in Chelsea.

Architects representing the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran submitted plans to Kensington and Chelsea Council in January, for a modern building on the site of a car park in Harrington Road.

But residents in the area were not consulted until June 11, and were given just three weeks to submit any objections or comments with the public consultation due to close on Friday.

Neighbours of a Knightsbridge woman killed in a collision with a security van have paid tribute to her happy, friendly nature.

Mary Anne Hodges, 60, of Eaton Terrace was crossing Kings Road, Chelsea at about 11.10am on Wednesday June 23, when she was involved in the collision.

Despite the best efforts of paramedics, Ms Hodges was declared dead at the scene.
A post mortem took place at Westminster Coroners Court the following day, and gave the cause of death as multiple injuries.
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