I was delighted to receive a letter today from the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir David Brewer. Sir David is The Queen’s representative in Greater London and responsible for the promotion of civic, commercial, voluntary and social activities, including the recent Diamond Jubilee visit to Krishna Avanti School.

He said: “Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee visit to north London on Thursday 29th March was a huge success and I am sure you will have seen the superb coverage in the media. This triumphant visit was due in no small measure to the dedication, professionalism, hard work, and positive “can-do” attitude of your staff in the London Borough of Harrow and you should feel extremely proud of all that has been achieved.

I would also like to thank you for being such gracious hosts and, looking back over a year ago, for submitting such an exciting original proposal. The residents of Harrow and North-West London were superb, attending in such large numbers, and the affection that they hold for The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh was particularly evident. This, coupled with the excellent performances and displays from so many different and diverse groups made for a wonderful experience.

Please convey my sincere thanks and congratulations, together with those of my staff, to all those involved.”

At the end of the typed letter he included a hand written comment ‘It could not have been better.’ I couldn’t agree more and assured Sir David that the visit was just the start and that Harrow Council is going full ahead to make the rest of the Diamond Jubilee a success.

We were very honoured to be selected for a visit by the Queen for her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.  We were particularly picked to represent not only Harrow’s diversity but the diversity of London as a whole. We managed to do precisely that in just one hour.

To see the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arriving in person to a specially composed trumpet fanfare was thrilling, combined with flag waving and overwhelming cheers. My own comment to the Queen was that I had not seen Harrow so happy for a long time.

It was very friendly, informal occasion with many different presentations representing so many different aspects of Harrow, always lively and vibrant.  The Queen’s quiet dignity and empathy with the people shone out.  The Duke was his usual self, interacting with everyone with a wonderful sense of humour. It is something I will remember over many years as I am sure will the rest of Harrow.

However, this is just the start of the Diamond Jubilee and we are looking forward to yet more celebrations later on in the summer.  Although I have to say that summer seemed to have already arrived.

Finally, just to say that this event required an immense amount of organisation.  I would like to thank all the Council  staff and the literally hundreds of volunteers who made this occasion such a success and so special.

I dropped in to see the North Harrow street market on Friday and yesterday afternoon. There was a real buzz along Pinner Road and Station Road and I gather it was even livelier on Saturday. Wandering around the 60 or so stalls, we bought our ‘I love North Harrow’ cup cakes, cheese from a seller offering a selection of 40 different varieties, some delicious brownies as well as Thai spring rolls.

One interesting feature was that two of the stalls I spoke to – brownies and spring rolls – were run by people living in Harrow intending to open businesses in the borough.  Both had been in touch with Harrow in Business, which is part funded by the Council, for advice.

Not only was the market helping regenerate North Harrow but also giving budding Harrow entrepreneurs the chance to try out their wares on the public. Unexpected consequences or careful choice by a wise Council?

Don’t forget this Saturday, March 17, is St Patrick’s Day where there will be another event organised by the Council in Harrow Town Centre. The Harrow Food and Dance Festival will provide continuous entertainment all day in the Town Centre – find out more at www.harrow.gov.uk/festival

I recently had a chance to see the new London Police Commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe in action.

Firstly he came to address a meeting of Leaders of London Councils.  I was impressed by his fresh approach; his desire to work with and listen to individual councils; his acknowledgement that one size does not fit all and that there is a lot of bureaucracy in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in the back office which needs to be swept away to catch up with the front line.  He also introduced his first initiative to directly confront and deal with gang crime in London.

This initiative led me to travel down from Harrow and Wealdstone Station to Trafalgar Square with our Borough Commander, Dal Babu, wearing his uniform, no less, and accompanied by his wonderful folding bike.

Standing shoulder to shoulder

The purpose of our journey was to support the launch of London Police Commissioner’s Trident Gang Command to deal with gang crime across London in a co-ordinated but flexible way.

In Trafalgar Square we joined council leaders across London as well as the Mayor of London and, of course, Bernard Hogan-Howe. Also present were many relatives of those killed in gang-related activity, who talked powerfully about the tragic loss of their loved ones. Their stories were a very personal reminder of how the whole community needs to get to grips with this issue, and prevent young people falling into the clutches of gangs

Also present were two special constables from Harrow.  It was great to meet them. We are very grateful to all our special constables in Harrow, including some Civic Centre staff, for all the help they give on a voluntary basis in combating crime.

At the end of the launch I went back by public transport and left Dal to cycle to a meeting at Scotland Yard.

In a show of intent last week, seven people with links to gang activity were arrested during raids in Harrow in the early hours of the morning.

Harrow Council will be standing shoulder to shoulder with Harrow Police on this issue. We are working together and getting on the front foot, speaking to community groups and individuals affected by gang violence as well as working with potential and actual gang members. An incredibly small minority of residents get drawn into gangs but their actions can have far reaching consequences.

We will continue working with the police and the community to keep Harrow one of London’s safest boroughs.

If you have any information regarding gangs please contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or your local Safer Neighbourhoods Team or call 101.  In an emergency always call 999.

Some colleagues and I were guests of Barnet Football Club last Friday (25th November). The club runs the Hive community football centren – Barnet’s nickname is the Bees, get it – on Prince Edward Playing Fields in Edgware, where their youth team trains. They are involved in a multitude of community activities and are also hoping to develop their academy to Premier League status. They are well on the way to doing this.

Barnet currently play in League 2 and only just escaped relegation last year. We obviously brought them luck on Friday evening as they won 2-1 against Macclesfield, having lost 6 -3 to Burton in their previous home match.

Their Underhill ground is situated in the middle of a residential area with the end of the ground adjoining the back gardens of a row of houses. The playing field is of the highest quality as are the floodlights. It has a famous slope – the biggest in the Football League. No smoking or drinking is allowed in the ground and I noticed an advert for Stanmore College, who work with Barnet FC Ladies, as well as signs for ‘Kick racism out of football’ .

Before the match we had the privilege of being introduced to John Motson, who was commentating on Chelsea’s match with Wolves the following day, and David Pleat was also there.

Harrow is lucky to have the support of two football clubs involved in local community ventures – Watford FC at the soon-to-be-opened Cedars Youth and Community Centre in Harrow Weald , and Barnet at the Hive. We are very grateful for their contributions to Harrow.

I attended a wonderful little function yesterday (21st November) to celebrate and congratulate eight members of Vaughan Neighbourhood Resource Centre who have successfully completed the Bronze Section of the ‘Discovery Award’ Scheme.

This scheme has been called not very precisely ‘the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for the over 50s.’ It has been running for 25 years. The overall aim is that participants will experience the discovery of new strengths, interests, talents and friends and that as a result of this discovery their commitment to the service of others will foster the idea that members of any community have a responsibility to each other.

Harrow Service users are the first Learning Disability group to achieve this award in the UK. The recipients had been involved in many different ways such as litter picking in West Harrow Park, helping in St Peter’s Church, knitting, and helping to look after a communal garden.

I was very clear that all those concerned had had to work hard for their award, had thoroughly enjoyed doing it and were very proud to receive their certificates from Cllr Margaret Davine.

Although this was a day for the award winners a lot of praise must go to the Community Care Team for all their hard work in making this a real success. Now for silver and for more bronzes!

It is events like this which make it worth being a councillor – really making a difference.

You may have seen the news this weekend that four Harrow police constables were injured during an incident in Kingsbury on Saturday. Thankfully two of them have now been discharged, although two remain in hospital with serious injuries.

It came as a shock to me to hear this news on Saturday. I was in contact with the Borough Commander, Chief Supt Dal Babu, to see whether there was any way the Council could help. Our Council officers went out of the way to provide all the assistance the police needed. Like many Harrow residents and people across the country, our thoughts have been with the officers, their families and friends this weekend. This blog provides me with an opportunity to pay tribute to these brave and courageous officers who week in, week out put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public.

I have only admiration for the job they do.

Yet, it is some relief that this type of incident is extremely rare in Harrow which has one of the lowest crime rates in London, and we as a Council work in very close partnership with the police to ensure this continues.

I hope all readers will join me in wishing the injured officers a speedy recovery. Dal Babu and his police team do a fantastic job for us in Harrow in so many different ways. Once again I want to thank them on behalf of the Council and all our residents.

Welcome to my first ever Leader’s Blog, a new way of keeping you up to date with what is happening at Harrow Council. Through this page I will share with you some of the highlights of my role as Leader, talk about the important issues in Harrow today, and also showcase the work of the Council, its partners and the wider community.

For the second year running I was privileged to present one of the Harrow’s Heroes awards on Tuesday. It was a heartwarming event held in the VIP Lounge in Edgware, with every seat on every table taken.

This is the fourth year of these events and we have celebrated over 450 Harrow’s Heroes so far.

I presented an award to Helen Watt for the Trustee/Committee member of the year. We celebrated her work as a governor of Salvatorian College and her fundraising efforts and other contributions as the Chair of Salvatorian’s Staff and Parent Association.

There were many, many other worthy nominees and winners. The volunteer of the year went to Eugene Callaghan for his unsparing efforts in improving Kenton Recreation Ground.

The Council was part of a successful campaign to get the money for this work.

Find out more about the Harrow’s Heroes awards and this year’s winners