GOLD FOR ALL
The Venerable Duncan Green, Archdeacon of Northolt, told the Men’s Breakfast about his experiences as leader of the Olympic Chaplains. As soon as London was voted to run the Olympics, it occurred to him that there was a job for the Church. He mentioned as much to the Bishop of Barking but never expected to end up doing the job himself! However, when persuaded, he realised, “that God wanted me to do it.” So he left his lovely post in Saffron Walden and came to London with the brief, “Enthuse and excite the Church of England!” Shortly afterwards, he was 
seconded onto the organising committee as the faith representative, tasked to bring the nine faith communities together.
To most people working on the Olympics, the church was completely irrelevant. However, when Duncan took 600 hot cross buns for the organisers, they asked what the buns represented, so he wrote and circulated a short piece about Easter. The response was astonishing and he quickly had a lot of people on his side.
The Games planning moved at a frightening pace with many working all hours for the two years preceding them. ‘Seb’ Coe even asked Duncan to conduct his wedding! Soon after, Duncan was asked to head the Chaplaincy for the Olympic Games itself which involved 26,000 athletes and officials. There was much to organise, including prayer rooms for every Games venue (not just the Olympic Stadium). The 162 multi-faith chaplains’ responsibilities extended far beyond the Games; there were funerals to arrange and conduct, people involved in accidents, illness and high stress levels – all requiring support and comfort.
“I wanted to tell this story”, concluded Duncan, “not for what I’ve done, but because of God, who knew what would happen and helped to make it happen. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to affect other people’s lives in so many positive ways. I’ll leave you with the thought that there are all aspects of sport in Ickenham but how does the church reach out to those communities?”
AFN
‘A BETTER PLACE’
Doug Neilson and Rose Bennett (pictured) were among the 22 who opened their gardens during the Ickenham Festival. As Festival Team members, they had expected other Team members to visit their garden and partake of their refreshments but nothing more. So they were completely taken aback when a small ceremony suddenly assembled and they found themselves the centre of attention as they were awarded the honour of the Swakeleys House Shield for 2014! This was the 25th time the much-coveted trophy had been presented to deserving couples, individuals and organisations.
“This year is remarkable for special anniversaries”, said the presenter, “including the 100th of the start of WW1, the 70th of D Day (and formation of the Swakeleys Home Guard Association), the 90th of both the Ickenham Residents Association and the Ickenham WI. Doug and Rose are deservedly among these esteemed groups, having served Ickenham ‘in the spirit of the Ickenham Festival’”.
The Shield citation states that “Ickenham is a better place for Doug and Rose” and comments on the exceptional contribution that Doug, as Committee Member and Deputy Chairman, has made to the Festival and its events. Rose is recognised for her support for the Festival and the Ickenham environment through Friends of the Earth and Fair Trade. The handsome Shield and the citation can be viewed in a special display cabinet inside the library entrance.
AFN
GET YOUR HOLIDAY READING AT THE URC!
The cream of our books, including quality paperbacks at only £1 each, will be on sale at the Coffee Morning on
Saturday 5th July from 10am to 12 noon. Please come and browse our wonderful array of books priced up to £5, and worth a lot more! Weather permitting the books will be outside at the front of the church, otherwise inside, and there will be some lovely cakes too!
The Late Summer Forecourt Sale will be on Saturday 6th September. Please bring donations to the church on Friday 5th 3pm-7pm, or phone Richard Piper on 01895 634348 for collection.
Helter Skelter, Flowers, Procession, Fireworks, Dressing Up, Getting Wet!
See you at the next ICKENHAM FESTIVAL in 2016!
BUTTERFLIES FLYING HIGH
Butterflies is a local group of retired and working ladies who run table top sales which benefit national and local children’s charities. Last year they raised
£4,207 for their various chosen charities!
Amongst those which benefitted were Sparks (Research into Safer Childbirth), Clappa (Cleft Lip and Palate Association) and The Clare Sadler Trust.
Chris Clarke and Vera Layton, who are the contacts for the group, told
ICN that their sales are very successful and are usually held in Ickenham Village Hall on Saturdays mornings. The dates are published in the
ICN Forthcoming Events.
Chris said "We are grateful to the public for their generosity in 2013 and look forward to their continued support this year. If any readers have ideas for a children’s charity that can benefit from our fund raising please email us at
ButterfliesIckenham@yahoo.com"
STRICTLY TWO LEFT FEET AT RUISLIP GOLF CLUB
On Tuesday 10th June, people of all ages and disabilities came together at Ruislip Golf club to try their hand at Flamenco dancing. TV choreographer, Isabel Baquero-White, introduced us to the world of Spanish dance passion! Isabel worked on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and also choreographed winner Ray Quinn’s routine in the 2009 final of Dancing on Ice. What a privilege to receive expert tuition from such a professional! Isabel lives locally, so we are hoping she will come back to Two Left Feet to teach again Afterwards, Sandra Michelson said, ‘What a fantastic class, we have learnt from one of the best in the business and all for just £3!’
Two Left Feet is fully accessible and inclusive and brings people, irrespective of ability or disability, together through dance. A different dance style is taught each week, so everyone is a beginner! For more information, please visit:
www.twoleftfeet.org
DONATIONS and DEADLINE
This month receipt is gratefully acknowledged with thanks, for a donation from Rosa Kaye.
There is no separate August issue of ICN as the team takes a summer break. Items for the September issue should be with the team by 12 noon on August 10th. Enjoy your summer!
THANK YOU ICKENHAM
It seems the people of Ickenham will always step up and give generously for charity.
A big “Thank You” to everyone who helped with the
Christian Aid Week in May. Because of your generosity, the total raised was
£6,100 plus an additional 20% in gift aided donations. This is remarkable considering the current economic climate in the country and the fact that the entire parish could not be covered this year as it was in previous years.
The
Ickenham Churches’ Women’s Groups would like to thank everyone who came to their Blooming Great Tea Party in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care last month. Bathed in glorious sunshine, the raffle, tea and cake sales raised
£350 for the charity. Thank you!
And the
Hillingdon Arts and Crafts Club thanks you for all your help during their recent Exhibition at the URC. Leader Sue Williams said, “Despite various other things going on in the Village that afternoon, we raised
£200 for the URC charities and for us to buy more fabric to make Project Linus quilts. We donated 19 quilts (pictured), for children in hospital which the Project Linus representative took away with her on the day.”
