Clubs/societies

Harrow based charities, The Alan Senitt Memorial Trust and Radio Northwick Park, are pleased to announce a special fundrasing event in May.

The night, hosted by 'Little Britain' and 'Alice in Wonderland' star Matt Lucas, will be held at the Holiday Inn, in Elstree, on Sunday 23rd May 2010.
All proceeds are being split 50/50 by the two charities. All money raised will be put towards the £150,000 'Alan Senitt Hillel Student Centre' and the new £25,000 refurbishment of Radio Northwick Park's Main Studio.

Ticket prices are £25 and will gain entry to this special event as well as dinner, a complimentary drink and access to the exclusive prizes that can only be won via the auction and raffle.

To find out more, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.charityquiz.org.

Contact
Matt Blank (Chairman of Radio Northwick Park) - 07017 321500
Emma Senitt (Chairperson of The Alan Senitt Memorial Trust) - 07947 841553

FAMILIES living in Hatch End will benefit from a new community centre and all-weather sports pitch after councillors approved the necessary plans.
Yesterday evening Harrow Council's planning committee granted permission for the proposal from Watford FC Community Sports and Education Trust in which the existing Cedars Youth Centre in Chicheley Gardens will be demolished and replaced with a two-storey multi-use building and a multi-purpose football field.

A CAST of teenagers will bring to life a contemporary version of Shakespeare play 'Julius Caesar' on Sunday, February 13.
Actors from the Bearfoot School of Performing Arts, all aged between 13 and 19, aim to make the production more accessible to young people with a modern setting, language and themes.

ARMY cadets helped the capital's disadvantaged and disabled children enjoy a Mad Hatter's tea party at the weekend.
Thirty five youngsters and staff from 201 (Royal Army Medical Corps) Detachment, based at Cadet Centre in Elmgrove Road, Harrow, assisted at the annual bash thrown by the London Taxidrivers' Fund for Underprivileged Children.

FILM enthusiasts have lobbied Harrow's multiplex cinema to show a wider range of films after the Observer highlighted that a locally-shot movie could not be seen here.
Members of Harrow Film Society wrote to the Vue Entertainment to complain about the limited range of flicks that appear at its nine-screen picturehouse in St George's Shopping Centre, St Ann's Road, Harrow.
They often have to go out of their way to travel to the Swiss Cottage Odeon in Swiss Cottage, north-west London, if they want to see anything other than blockbuster releases and not only are the transport costs higher but the tickets are more expensive too.
As if to typify the friends' frustration, a film called 'Nowhere Boy' about musician John Lennon's formulative years in Liverpool was partially shot in Pinner yet was disappointing not being shown at Harrow Vue.
Following the Observer's story, the company did eventually organise showings but only for one week and only during the daytime.
Society co-founder Gina Lane said: "It was a good response, but not if you are working all week.
"They also showed 'La Traviata' and 'The Road'. We were amazed to have three really good films in the same week."
Harrow Film Society, which during the 1980s organised screenings of independent films at Harrow Arts Centre in Hatch End, told Vue it welcomed the response to 'Nowhere Boy' and asked for the cinema to continue this policy.
Society co-founder Claudia Mernick explained: "It's been so frustrating over the years.
"Films like 'Che', 'Frost/Nixon' and 'An Education' just never come here.
"We always have to go elsewhere to see it. Harrow really loses out."
n The society is urging other Harrow residents to make representations to the Vue Corporation by visiting www.myvue.com/corporate and clicking on 'Comment'.

The international friendly society is establishing a new social branch in Harrow and surrounding area.

The Brent Jazz Orchestra are appearing for the first time at Freddy's (190 Station Road, Harrow, Middx, HA12RH) on Wednesday 4th November from 7.30pm.

AN EVENT called 'In Search Of Achievers Closer To Home' that aims to bust the perception that the only notable successful black people of distinction come from abroad is being held next week.
The family celebration, part of African History Month, has been arranged by Brent-based, pan-London not-for-profit voluntary organisation BTWSC.

Thespians from Harrow used an audience with the Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey to get tips for their third ever production.

About 20 members of The Hill Players, a year-old amateur dramatic group, chatted to the superstar after a performance at The Old Vic theatre in central London, where Spacey is artistic director.

Along with two other theatrical companies, they quizzed the actor - who directed the play Complicit they had just watched - in the hope of picking up hints and ideas.

But Spacey turned the tables to gather feedback about the work-in-progress show during the informal hour-long meeting.

The Hill Players' Alisun Brennan said: "The group found him inspiring, honest and very charming, and he ended the evening with an amusing impression of Katherine Hepburn.

"The group left with extra enthusiasm for their next production on May 29 and 30. It may not be a world premiere but as Kevin said - make it authentic and enjoy."

Those performances comprise back-to-back one-act plays 'The Reading Group' by Fay Weldon and 'Departure' by Stephen Smith, and will be staged at The Ryan Theatre at Harrow School in High Street, Harrow on the Hill.

A charity representing the borough's 5,000-strong Russian community is inviting residents to take part in two new cultural projects.

The Russian Immigrants' Association, based at the Community Premises in Northolt Road, South Harrow, will run activities to preserve members' memories and to explore Russian literature in the hope of breaking down the barriers between English and Russian neighbours.

In the first project Natalia Kharina, a student at Swiss Cottage's Central School of Speech and Drama, whose mother Natalia Nikolaeva runs the association, is to host a programme of drama workshops.

The 19-year-old, from Kenton, said: "It will be a series of workshops based on the themes of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, one of my favourite books.

"It's based in Communist Russia and explores whether human flaws exist, and what was banned back in Russia."

Weekly one-hour workshops will be held to develop ideas into a script, not necessarily a direct adaptation of the novel, and a performance staged in May.

The second project will be a heritage club set up for 10 to 15 Russian pensioners to socialise and record their memories of Russia and Britain, and take photographs of their communities.

Exhibitions will be held twice a year to teach other residents about the culture and history of life of people from the former Soviet state.

Natalia said: "Elderly Russian people do not have a lot of things to focus their minds on and feel their heritage is being threatened.

"We want to bring older people together and share stories, and interest English people as well."