Hi, my name is Debbie Noad. I am on the Heston West Big Local Board and also take part in voluntary and community activities in Heston West. This week I was walking past Cranford Community College and I noticed the tulips were up in the front of the school, the Memorial Garden was glistening in the sun. We had pledged to open up the front area of the school and have the bushes cut back, so the lovely gardens could be seen by all. For those residents who don’t know the Memorial Gardens at the front of the school, it’s a wonderful place to sit and watch the world go by.

​As summer approaches it’s a great time to think about your health and getting fit, so I wanted to talk about some of my favourite Big Local activities open to residents of Heston West to help you have a healthier and happier life. Our Boxing class is something that becomes very infectious, taking place at Cranford on Thursdays 6.30 pm. It’s an hour that flies by and extremely popular. Running for the past year, our coach (Ahmet Canbakis) has taught us the value of warming up and warming down, we also have the opportunity to lead warm-ups. The class is mixed with the youngest being around 7 and all the family can join in. It’s certainly lots of fun. We’ve been taught to box on the punch bags, skip, and defend punches. It’s a fantastic way to spend an hour. In a year I have seen so many people improve their co-ordination, fitness, and confidence. I just love the buzz you get at the end of the session.

On Fridays our Family Fun Fitness kicks off at 6.30 pm at Cranford. It’s run by fitness instructor Toby Guyett, once again open to all the family. These sessions are also open to all whatever your fitness level. A full hour of getting your heart rate up, sometimes to music, circuits and ending with our favourite game of Dodgeball! This is certainly a great way to meet new people in the community and get fit. Best of all, both of these activities is free for residents, if you don’t want your kids, or yourself, sitting in front of the telly then come and do something you have never done before, that’s how I got started.

​As the summer approaches get moving/get volunteering and challenge yourself. Don’t forget to change your clocks this weekend, giving you brighter, longer evenings, there’s no excuse to hide, so come and join us, trust me you won’t regret it and you may even enjoy it!

On Friday, 15th March 2019, I was supporting and volunteering at the Big Local and Bounce Theatre Creative Club Pyjama Party to celebrate World Sleep Day and Comic Relief. All participants including staff had to wear their pyjamas, in my opinion this was brilliant, we all had a great time.
   
We had various exciting and engaging activities, including creating amazing and colourful cupcake! The children really enjoyed making the bath bombs and slime. The children were expressive and creative during the event. We also had a few talented children deliver spontaneous songs.
​I was so happy to see the children sing.

My role was to help lead the drama activity with Juhi, in addition to helping I was also able to have a fun time playing the games, some were so relaxing I nearly fell asleep myself! The decoration for the two rooms (drama and art rooms) was beautifully designed which tied in perfectly with the cosy atmosphere.

​It was such an amazing evening; I hope to see more events like this in the future.  
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Layba Nisar, 15 yrs old.
HWBL Board Youth Representative

Massive thanks to Rachel at Bounce, Davinia, Juhi, Harpreet, Layba, Callum and Samhita for leading this event.