December 2010 Archives

Several residents of the Royal Borough have been named in the Queen's New Year's Honours List.

Among them are a few famous names, including singer and Notting Hill resident Annie Lennox, for services to Oxfam, and fashion designer Alice Temperley.

The full list of those honoured is below.

A skier who sparked a massive search and rescue operation when he became lost on the slopes has been found safe and well in Notting Hill.

Almohdzar Farouq, of Notting Hill Gate, called French police on Christmas Day to say he had lost his bearings while skiing in fog at the Megeve resort in the Alps, close to Mont Blanc.

All patients admitted to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital will now be screened for superbug MRSA.

The government released guidelines in December to make sure all hospitals adopt a robust screening programme for the bug, and the Chelsea and Westminster screening has already begun.

Each patient admitted will be swabbed for MRSA, and those who test positive will be isolated, if possible, and treatment and deep cleaning will be carried out.

Young readers have been working with library staff to help create a new collection of children's books.

Youngsters from the borough's Children's Forum have been helping staff audit the stock at Kensington Central Library and choosing new books.

And over the course of the autumn term, eight children aged nine to 11 had the chance to create a new collection of books with a budget of £1,000 after being trained by library staff on how to select new stock.

The council is offering free Christmas tree recycling for residents who are unable to compost their trees themselves.

Between January 4 and 17, residents who are already registered for garden waste collection can recycle their trees by putting them out for collection alongside their garden waste bag.

Alternatively, Christmas trees can be taken to a number of places across the borough for recycling.

The team at the Kensington and Chelsea Chronicle would like to wish all of our readers a very happy Christmas.

Keep an eye on our website for the latest news over the festive period.

An antiques fair is being held at Kensington Town Hall in Hornton Street over the weekend of January 7.

Penman Fairs will be hosting the event from Friday January 7 to Sunday January 9 from 11am to 8pm each day.

Entry costs £5, but is free for children.

For more information, visit www.penman-fairs.co.uk.

Fundraisers have smashed their £100,000 target to improve the Burns Service at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

On July 7, five years on from the London terror attacks, survivor Davinia Turrell kickstarted a fundraising appeal to pay for a specialist psychologist to be attached to the Burns Unit.

And less than six months on, the target has been exceeded by generous donors.

The Metropolitan Police are currently reviewing Safer Neighbourhoods Teams across London.

The purpose of the review is to find better ways of using neighbourhood policing resources to effectively police and meet the needs of communities.

It will be carried out by gathering the thoughts and feedback from local partners, including the council, and members of the community.

To take part in the shaping of policing in the future, complete the online questionnaire at www.keysurvey.co.uk/survey/339166/19e4/

There were some special awards handed out to volunteer police officers at a Kensington ceremony.

Chief officer of the Met Special Constabulary, Lorraine Woolley MBE, was the guest of honour at the first ever MSC Officer of the Year awards, held at Kensington Police Station on December 9.

More than 30 special officers joined regular officers and staff to recognise the contribution made by MSC officers in protecting the Royal Borough.

Kensington and Chelsea has more than 180 specials, all of whom were invited to vote for the officer whose hard work, dedication and professionalism they felt were deserving of an award.