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IRENE (RENEE) COTTON
Long standing residents will be sad to hear of the death in September, at age 93, of Renée Cotton, who attended St Giles’ while she lived in Ruislip. In her time here Renée was very involved with the Churches’ Women’s Groups and in the early 80s, her husband played the organ during some St Giles’ Christmas Day services, to allow the regular organist more time with his family that day.
Renée moved to a retirement flat in Pinner in 1998, and subsequently in 2004 to a Care Home, then four years later a Nursing Home in Northwood. Four hip replacement operations over the years kept her walking until she was 91. She was the sort who just never gave up!
Our thoughts and best wishes are with her daughter Wendy at this time.
NOADS’ GOLDEN DAY
 Alan and Janet Noad are usually writing, photographing and type checking the news for ICN, but this month they have been making it as well!
They wish to thank everyone for the many cards and good wishes on the occasion of their Golden Wedding Anniversary. They were especially touched by the warm welcome and the beautiful golden flowers in St Giles’ Church, the place where they were married in 1960.
CHRISTMAS IS COMING...
...And so too is the URC Christmas Fayre, on Saturday 20th November, from 10am to 2pm.
Last year we managed record takings of over £2,800. This year, our gift stall is again boosted by an impressive range of toys kindly donated by Uxbridge based company Hasbro, and our Grand Draw is bigger and better than ever: there is a top prize of £100 cash sponsored by Austin Residential, and there are many other wonderful prizes donated by Ickenham’s local traders and others from further afield. See the advert on page 5 for details of our stalls and features.
Contact Richard Piper on 01895 634348 if you have items to donate that need collecting, or if you have any questions. Otherwise goods can be brought to the church on Friday 19th November from 3pm to 7pm.
Most of all, we look forward to seeing you on the day!
SUPPER WITH THE WEA
The Annual WEA Lecture Supper Evening is on Saturday 27th November in Ickenham Village Hall, starting at 6.30pm. This year’s after supper lecture will be given by Ann Savage of the National Trust, speaking about the Neptune Coastline Campaign, which has been working to secure and protect precious coastlines in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 45 years.
Ann is a highly respected, experienced speaker, so an enjoyable evening is expected. For more details of this popular event, or to purchase tickets (£10 each) contact Caroline Field on 01923 824922.
CHRISTIANS AGAINST POVERTY
 In an interesting Men’s Breakfast presentation recently, speaker John Price talked about the work of the charity ‘Christians Against Poverty’ (CAP). John, who used to live in Ickenham, now, on a voluntary basis, runs the Harrow branch of CAP. This is a charity staffed by Christians, and dedicated to helping anyone who is in poverty or struggling with debt, regardless of their beliefs.
The work of CAP is based on the Bible. Jesus cared for the poor in spirit and poor in pocket, and Christians should strive to do the same. John explained how CAP’s founder, John Kirkby, came to realise this after a painful start to his own career. He was a highly successful businessman, amassing a considerable fortune during the 1980s. Then during the recession in the 1990s, he fell into debt and progressively lost almost everything. In despair he turned to God and eventually, after a huge struggle, managed to sort out his financial affairs. He did this largely by better budgeting and persuading his creditors that it was in their interests to delay or reduce their demands for settlement, rather than receive nothing at all. Kirkby’s story is movingly told in his book ‘Nevertheless’.
Debt and poverty can put huge strains on people’s lives, and believing that Christians have a duty to help others in need, Kirkby decided to help others become debt-free: in 1992, on a shoestring, he founded CAP. While teething troubles were legion, it has since turned into a large and growing organisation.
Here’s how it works. On receiving a call for help, two local CAP representatives will visit the client in their own home. The client provides details of all their financial affairs. From this, CAP’s team of experts work out realistic budgets, prioritising essential bills to enable the client to live a reasonable life. CAP negotiates affordable payments with creditors and works to prevent unreasonable charges. In the worst cases, CAP will walk their clients through the insolvency route. They also offer a free debt counselling service.
CAP is currently supporting 4,500 people on their journey out of debt, and in doing so they are handling over £53 million worth of debt on behalf of their clients. The organisation receives no government funding, relying on the generosity of individuals, churches and charities for donations.
If you’d like to know more about CAP, you can contact them on 0800 328 0006 or by visiting www.capuk.org.
AFN
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