skppra newsletter july 2011

N e w s l e t t e r J u l y 2 0 1 1SKPPRASo

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SKPPRA Special MeetingTuesday 6th September 2011

at 7pmat The Church of the Annunciation

We had our Annual General Meeting on the 24th May and Iwas very pleased to see that we had a good turn out. Inattendance was Cllr Harshabhai Patel and Councillors JeanHossein and Pat Harrison, our SNT team represented byPCSOs Tom and Mike and also Richard Hay of Brent Council.They each gave an update on Preston library, extra schoolplaces within the borough, the possible pay and display atPreston Road and crime issues in Preston Ward.

These presentations are typical of the activities andpurpose of the Committee. We consider comments andconcerns of residents and raise these issues with the Councilor other appropriate bodies. As an example, when there was alot of disturbance coming from the old GEC estate some yearsago due to skips being stored, loaded and unloaded at veryunsociable hours and waking residents in the early hours ofthe morning who live in First, Second and Third Avenue, wetook this matter up with the council and the owner of theindustrial estate and achieved a limit of a 50 metre zonebetween the residents and the dividing wall on the estate thatheavy duty vehicles were forbidden to pass. The skip companywas also got rid of as it was found to be trading unlawfully!

(cont. page 3)

Save yourResidentsAssociation!

S K P P R A N e w s l e t t e r J u l y 2 0 1 1

Let me outline the duties involved for each:You may recall that in the past two magazine issues, we had been appealing toyou, our local residents, to consider joining the committee as the presentcommittee members including myself wish to stand down. To this effect, when itcame to nominating people for the vacancies of chair, minute secretary, honorarysecretary, treasurer, chief road steward, accounts scrutineer and web sitemanager, only one person had come forward to fill the post of web site managerand another as a committee member.

Chair – presides over the meetings (currently held monthly in her home, but thesearrangments can be changed) which are quite informal. The chair generallyparticipates in discussion of any points raised and makes suggestions on how tosort matters.Honorary Secretary – will write any necessary letters at the committee’s request;- keep copies on file and report back on any replies received. The Hon. Secreminds the treasurer of any issues requiring special funding, payments of annualcheques for third party liability insurance purposes; posting covering letters andcheques.Treasurer – banks subscriptions and cheques received from advertisers, paysexpenses incurred by individuals i.e. stamps, stationery etc., keeps records of anymonies in or out and produces the year end accounts for the AGM.Minutes Secretary – you don’t need shorthand, but make notes of any pointsdiscussed at the meetings, type and e-mail or deliver hard copy of the minutes tocommittee members. (cont. page 4)

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A Special Meeting of theSouth Kenton and Preston Park Residents’ Association

will be held on Tuesday 6th September 20117pm at The Church of the Annunciation

Be part of a team and let your voice be heard for thebenefit of the community to secure the future of SKPPRA!

Important date for your diary!


Every committee must have three officers, i.e. Chairman, Treasurer and Hon.Secretary. When elected, the committee members choose who should bechairman, treasurer, chief road steward, etc. Our current officers have been inthe job for quite a few years and decided that it is time to let other residents taketheir place. However, Jeanine (Chair), Jim (Treasurer) and Frank (Hon. Secretary)have agreed to be our guides until the new committee has settled in.Chief Road Steward – responsible for recruiting new road stewards, bundling,labelling and distributing quarterly newsletter, organising annual subscriptioncollections, liaising with treasurer..Social Secretary – organises refreshments at AGM, arranges the Christmas raffle,applies for raffle licence from Brent Council, distributes raffle tickets to the roadstewards. Arrangements for the draw are discussed by committee.Accounts Scrutineer – checks the annual accounts to ensure that everythingbalances and that the annual accounts are in order.

I have outlined these jobs to give you an idea of what is involved. We are lookingfor residents who are paid up members and willing to take on a job. Job-sharing isalso an option. Please, join us, to fight for the residents. It is very rewarding tomake things happen!

If we do not manage to elect a committee at the Special Meeting on the6th September it will be the end of SKPPRA! Jeanine Leon Soon, Chair

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It is now my painful duty to announce that there will be aSPECIAL MEETING on Tuesday 6th September 2011 at 7p.m.

at the church hall of The Annunciation Church, Windermere Avenue.

This meeting is in accordance with paragraph 2c of the Constitution of theExecutive Committee.

The purpose of the meeting will be to EITHER:Appoint an Executive Committee for 2011-2012. This must consist of the followingOfficers: Chairman, Honorary Treasurer, General Secretary, Newsletter Editor,Chief Road Steward, Minutes Secretary, Social Secretary, Website Manager,Accounts Scrutineer and Honorary Solicitor and two members of the 2010-2011Committee. The latter to act as co-signatories regarding the signing of anycheques issued by the new Executive Committee or any of its Officers, until newsignatories have been agreed and accepted by the Bank. Guidance to the newExecutive Committee Members will also be given by said two members.

OR:

1. To put before the meeting proposals to:(a) Amend paragraph 5b of the Constitution to allow up to £4,000 to be

allocated to worthy causes in any one year.(b) To allow the Treasurer to retain £100 until December 2011 to settle any

invoices that may come to light.(c) To distribute the remaining funds to St Luke’s Hospice.(d) To close down the South Kenton & Preston Park Residents’ Association

following the distribution of its funds.

NOTE: A quorum is not required at a Special Meeting. It is hoped members whopaid a subscription for 2010 will attend. 2010 subscriptions will be extended toallow members to attend this meeting.

Once again, I can only appeal to you all to give this consideration. There is anomination form included on the next page. You can call me any time todiscuss any of the vacancies and I would be only too pleased to talk to you.

Jeanine Leon Soon, Chair


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Special Meeting, 6th September 2011 at 7pmPlease try to be there about 10 minutes before 7pm so that you can be seated

ready for the Special Meeting to start on time.

Notice is hereby given that a Special Meeting of the South Kenton andPreston Park Residents Association will take place at

the church hall ofThe Church of the Annunciation, Windermere Avenue

on Tuesday, 6th September 2011 at 7pm

Nominations are requested for the posts of Chairman, Treasurer,Secretary, Minutes Secretary, Website Manager, Newsletter Editor, ChiefRoad Steward, Social Secretary and Honorary Auditors. Please use the

form below to send your nomination(s) toFrank Treviss, SKPPRA Hon. Secretary, 31 Logan Road, Wembley HA9 8PY

on or before the 6th September 2011.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

South Kenton and Preston Park Residents AssociationNominations for Officers/Committee 2011/2012

I hereby nominate (name/address of the person you are nominating)

..........................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

for the position of ..........................................................................................

Proposed by (your name/address) .......................................................................

..........................................................................................................................

Seconded by (name/address of the person who supports your nomination)

..........................................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................

Signature of nominee (denoting consent) ....................................................


The SKPPRA WebsiteDavid Merrigan, who originally designed our website, has agreed to keep itupdated. Our thanks to David Belinfante who looked after the site for many years,but had to resign for health reasons. Thank you David B for your work.

Check out the website, especially the very newsy news page and the fabulouspicture gallery. David M is a very accomplished photographer and I am sure we willsee many more photos from him.

The latest news is that Preston Park Primary School has won the TOTAL GreenSchool Award which proves how green they are. Congratulations!

As I am writing this, their current project is to build a greenhouse out of 2 litreplastic bottles. Frantic collections are going on at the moment! A photo of what itwill look like is on the Recycle page of the SKPPRA website.

David tells me that you can follow us on Twitter. Other pages are still work-in-progress, and I am peddling furiously to keep up with him.

Please click on the site regularly as you will be able to access the latest newson the area instantly. The more visits to the site, the more desirable it will be forour potential advertisers. As for the SKPPRA newsletter, advertising would reducethe running cost to SKPPRA. Trixi

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Unsolicited phone calls

First we must decide whether the call is from a machine, or whether there isan actual person at the other end of the line. In either case you have no way ofknowing whether it is genuine or a scam. If it comes from a machine, you might aswell ring off straight away. I only wish those responsible had some way of knowingthat calls to my number are a waste of time, I always ring off within 5 or 10 seconds.

If there is person at the other end of the line, you might as well be polite, butnever answer any questions, not even a friendly ‘How are you today?’. If they don’timmediately state who they are, demand to know what firm they are from, and whatis their line of business. If they say they just want to ask a few questions, you mustremember not to answer over the phone, instead ask them to send a questionnairethrough the post (in my experience, that is the last you hear from them). On theother hand, if they are trying to sell you something, tell them you would rather theysent a brochure (again that is the last you hear from them).

The call might seem to come from your bank, or water board, etc... Again youdon’t know whether it is genuine or a scam. The procedure this time is to ask themyour account number – if they don’t have it in front of them, tell them to ring later.Finally what if you initiate the call yourself to make an enquiry or a complaint?First rule is never to use the word ‘complain’, only say it is an enquiry. When youdo eventually get to speak to a person, often after ploughing through a wholemenu of pressing one button after another, the second rule is to make sure youget the person’s name - call centre staff often gabble their names, so you shouldpolitely say ‘Sorry, I didn’t quite catch your name’. Immediately after the call, thethird rule is to write down the date, the name of the person you spoke to, and howthey said your enquiry would be followed up. Remember, it was an enquiry, not acomplaint; and the fact that the person answering is identifiable can sometimes bea spur to action.

Similar ideas apply to letters and emails. I have concentrated on telephone callshere because that is when you don’t have time to pause to think, so it is good tohave a set procedure instead. DCB


New St Luke’s Hospice Shop in Preston Road!SKPPRA has a long connection with St Luke’s. We can now support them byvisiting their new shop at 196 Preston Road. They are also still looking forvolunteers who can spare 4 hrs a week.Interested? Phone the Hospice on 020 8382 8000 for an application form or

look at their website www.stlukes-ce.org

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Top Tips for beating the cold callersadvice from Brent & Harrow Trading Standards

Cold callers can knock on the door of unsuspecting local residents at any time.These callers will try to sell you products such as mobility aids, or services like rooftiling or gardening. To ensure that you don’t sign up to work or goods that you don’tneed, Trading Standards have provided some top tips to beat these cold callers.

DO check the ID of anyone knocking at your door uninvited so you can verify theircredentials and make sure they represent a reputable companyDO feel confident saying ‘no’ to someone offering you goods or services at the doorDO ask the trader to come back later when you have a friend or relative with youso you are not alone in the house with a trader you don’t knowDO ask for all offers of work to be put in writing - a respectable company willnever refuse your requestDO check that you are being given cancellation rights in writing. You have 7 daysto cancel any contract for goods or services over the value of £35 that you havesigned for at your homeDO remember that it is now a criminal offence for someone to stay in your homewhen you have asked them to leave. Call the police if a salesperson hasoverstayed their welcome.Remember a reputable company will generally provide you with a full nameand address and a land line as well as a mobile number. (cont. next page)

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Save Your Residents Association! Put your name forward. Otherwise the specialmeeting on Tuesday 6th September will be the

end of SKPPRA!

Would you like to come on board?To find out more, please email or phone us.

Jeanine 020 8904 8056 ([email protected])Jim 020 8904 1748 ([email protected])

Trixi 020 8904 4795 ([email protected])

Happy News... A new resident, baby Alice arrived on 15th April. Congratulations to the proudparents Noel and Roisin. You can always go to the Windermere Pub, have a drinkand deliver your congratulations in person!!


Sad News...Mrs Dorothy Adassa Simmonds - sadly Dorothy passed away at her homesurrounded by members of her family on 17th June 2011. She would havebeen 75 years old in July.Dorothy arrived in London in 1961 from Jamaica. As a committed Christian sheattended Harlesden Methodist Church since her arrival. She was a choirmember, steward, committee member and lay preacher. Through her ChristianAid work she was invited and attended the Queen’s Garden Party. Dorothyspent her years working for London Transport from the old Route Master BusNo 52 to working in the payrolls department.One of her great passions was flowers; she was also a member of theWembley Horticultural Society. She lived in Grasmere since 1970. Dorothy willby sadly missed by her children, family, friends and neighbours. She was astrong and independent woman who was always keeping that garden “apicture”. She accepted the poor prognosis with dignity, courage and strength,saying “I would not ask God why me.”It was Dorothy’s wish for any donations to go to St Luke’s Hospice, KentonGrange or Macmillan Cancer Support, Melksham SN12 6YY. Lynne O’Connor

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How good is your memory??Richard, Treasurer of Preston Park Bowls Club is compilinga history of the club. We lent him our SKPPRA newsletterarchives and found that no newsletters were published

between 1941 - 1946. What could be the reasons? The war,shortage of paper?? Can anybody remember and throw

some light on it? Trixi

S K P P R A R o a d S t e w a r d s J u l y 2 0 1 1

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1. Allonby Gdns 1 - 162. Ambleside Gdns 1 - 473. Ambleside Gdns 2 - 484. Arnside Gdns 1 - 285. Carlton Ave East 131 - 173, 160 - 2006. Carlton Ave East 175 - 213, 202 - 2527. Carlton Ave East 215 - 233, 254 - 3148. College Rd 1 - 229. College Rd 23 - 6410. Coniston Gdns 1 - 25, 2 - 2611. Coniston Gdns 27 - 51, 28 - 5612. Conway Gdns 1 - 3513. Derwent Gdns 1 - 3914. Ennerdale Gdns 1 - 2715. Fernleigh Court 1 - 1016. First Avenue 1 - 3217. Glendale Gdns 36 - 69, 44 - 5618. Glendale Gdns 1 - 37, 2 - 4219. Grasmere Ave 1 - 37, 2 - 5020. Grasmere Ave 39 - 67, 52 - 10021. Grasmere Ave 69 - 111, 102 - 14022. Grasmere Ave 129 -137, 212 - 28423. Grasmere Ave 113 -127, 142 - 21024. Logan Rd 1 - 6725. Logan Rd 2 - 5626. Longfield Ave 1 - 1827. Lulworth Ave 1 - 2428. Montpelier Rise 1 - 21, 2 - 2229. Montpelier Rise 23 - 47, 24 - 3630. Montpelier Rise 38 - 92, 49 - 8531. Rydal Gdns 1 - 37, 2 - 4232. Rydal Gdns 39 - 69, 50 - 7433. Second Avenue 1 - 2334. Third Avenue 1 - 31, 2 - 4035. Thirlmere Gdns 1 - 41, 2 - 4036. Thirlmere Gdns 41 - 63, 42 -100A37. Thirlmere Gdns 65 - 101, 102 - 13638. Warren Close 1 - 439. Windermere Ave 1 - 27, 2 - 5240. Windermere Ave 54 - 10241. Windermere Ave 29 - 67, 146 - 19442. Windermere Ave Flats & Shops43. Windermere Ct 1 - 24, 25 - 4844. Woodford Place 1 - 30CHIEF ROAD STEWARD

Mrs M Perrin, Windermere AveDave Owen, Ambleside GdnsDave Owen, Ambleside GdnsMrs F Rogers, Arnside GdnsVACANTMrs Roopal Patel, Carlton Ave EastS. Warrington, Carlton Ave EastMr V Patel, College RdMr & Mrs Verma, College RdPat Baker, Coniston GdnsMrs P Bhudia, Coniston GdnsLinda Barr, Conway GdnsDavid Glyn-Williams, Derwent GdnsAnna Ray, Ennerdale GdnsMr Peter Cain, Fernleigh CourtKen Wilkins, First AvenueBarbara Pokorny, Glendale GdnsBarbara Pokorny, Glendale GdnsLynn O’Connor, Grasmere AveLynn O’Connor, Grasmere AveVACANTJackie O’Donoghue, Ennerdale GdnsSadia Tanvir-Navaab, Grasmere AveMr Alvin Wright, Logan RoadUsha Tanda, Logan RoadMr Peter Cain, Fernleigh CourtVACANTMrs J Leon-Soon, Montpelier RiseMrs V Roig, Montpelier RiseMrs D Bhanji, Montpelier RiseMs Maeve Cronin, Rydal GdnsMr C Lock, Rydal GdnsHema Thakur, Second AvenueVinita Luthra, Carlton Ave EastMrs D Bhanji, Montpelier RiseMrs D Bhanji, Montpelier RiseMrs D Bhanji, Montpelier RiseMr Alvin Wright, Logan RoadMrs Mendez, Ennerdale GdnsMr Selveratnam, Windermere AveDonald Leon-Soon, Montpelier RiseMrs M Perrin, Windermere AveMr Selveratnam, Windermere AveMr Weigan Wilson, Woodford PlaceBrenda Manbauhar, Allonby Gdns

skppra newsletter july 2011

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