TEA FOR (MANY MORE THAN) TWO
Copious cups of tea were drunk and many cakes eaten at a Tea Party held before Christmas to raise money for our local children's hospice, Shooting Star House.
The event was organised by the young people of Ickenham IGNITE, the youth community based at St Giles' Church. Members of IGNITE (Sunday groups) and NEON (Friday evening youth club) waited on tables, worked on the front desk and card stall, made teas and coffees, provided musical entertainment and washed up afterwards! Local ambassador for the hospice, Paula Eaton, gave a moving presentation about the work of the Shooting Star CHASE organisation, which runs two children's hospices, one of which is Shooting Star House (serving Hillingdon and West London). Almost £200 was raised, with a further £120 collected on the card stall! A big thank you to everyone who attended and to all those who helped make the occasion a huge success!
SIMON WHITE (Youth Worker)
RUKIGA HERE WE COME!
The eleven church members, who will be visiting Rukiga in South West Uganda early February, are getting excited about their trip. They will be squeezing a variety of useful gifts into their luggage allowances, including wind-up torches, solar powered lights, Ickenham tea towels, pashmina shawls and reading glasses, all purchased from £1,004 so generously contributed by the two churches’ congregations. Thank you!
The long journey involves a night flight to Nairobi and a connecting flight to Entebbe, Uganda before boarding small vehicles for the 200 miles road transfer to Rukiga via Kabale and Mbarara.
Visits are planned to schools, project sites, the local church as well as the children and adults who are benefiting from the many developments that have been financed by the CLICK Rukiga charity. We hope to meet the Bishop and also find time for a bit of sightseeing and shopping before undertaking the long journey home again. Look out for more reports when we get back!
AFN
GWEN WILLICOMBE
We were sorry to hear of the recent death of Gwen Willicombe, who lived in Campden Road before moving to Porlock in Somerset in 1980. Gwen had been a member of St Giles’ church and choir for many years, and continued to sing and play the organ in St Dubricius Church, in Porlock after she moved. She remained interested in the goings on in Ickenham and received a copy of ICN each month, which she very much enjoyed.
Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.
A NEW EDITOR FOR ICN
After almost seven years in the post, Heather Piper has stood down as ICN editor. Her replacement is Susan Owen-Thursfield, whose contact details are shown on the revised front page masthead.
Susan has lived in Ickenham for almost 20 years and is a member of St Giles' church. "It's my first foray into editing", she tells us, "but I've always been a fan of ICN. Heather assures me the whole ICN team works well together to bring the newsletter to everyone in the village. I’m looking forward to the challenge."
So let's welcome Susan to her new role, and wish Heather a well-earned rest!
HP
