Harrow Recreation Ground Users Association - HRUA

03/06/2026

ALL CHANGE PLEASE – COMINGS AND GOINGS AROUND THE PARK

As the HRUA committee and our volunteers go about our work in the park we are very fortunate to have the active support of Harrow Council officers, elected councillors, and the officers of the local Metropolitan Police Service, who work with us to keep the park looking great, ensure park users’ safety, help us to resolve issues when they arise, and provide us with funds for the various improvement projects that are always needed.

Following the completion of the local elections for Harrow Council in May, we are saying goodbye to three former Headstone Ward councillors who have been constant in their support of the park, and generous in funding our projects. We would like to thank ex-councillors Simon Brown, Sasikala Suresh, and Natasha Proctor for their contribution to the life of our park.

At the same time HRUA would like to congratulate our new Headstone councillors, Raymond Grant, Arunasalam Raj and Meera Vadher, on their election, and we look forward to getting to know them and to welcoming them in the park soon, once they have found their desks.

The outgoing Lady Mayor, Cllr Anjana Patel, deserves special recognition for her regular support during her year of service – we were pleased to welcome her again for our recent Kites & Bikes event – so on behalf of Harrow Recreation Ground Users Association (HRUA), thank you for the support you have given us during your year as Mayor. We hope you will continue to come to our events.

Finally, as he takes up training to become a Police Constable, our thanks are due to PCSO Zani Camaj, for his work in our park, and we welcome the arrival of sergeant Killian Kissane, to the Headstone Safer Neighbourhood Police Team (SNT).

The next meeting of our Safer Neighbourhood Panel and Crime Prevention Advisory Group is on Saturday 1 August between 10.30-12.00 in the park Green Pavilion. Message [email protected] for more information.

The Officers, Management Committee and volunteers of Harrow Recreation Ground Users Association

22/05/2026

Headstone Safer Neighbourhood Panel (SNP) and parks’ Crime Prevention Advisory Group

next meeting of our group is on Saturday 1 August between 10.30-12.00 at the green pavilion Harrow Recreation Ground.

For those unacquainted with the Headstone SNP, it is a partnership, between park users, residents, our neighbourhood police teams and the council, which aims to improve safety and security by identifying and reducing crime and Anti Social Behaviour (ASB), throughout the ward in which our 2 parks, Harrow Rec Ground and Headstone Manor, are located. Although the parks cover 10% of the ward, 70% of the reported crimes and ASBs emanate within or near them.

With the recent election of new councillors to the ward, and the arrival of our new sergeant Killian Kissane to the Headstone Safer Neighbourhood Police Team (SNT), the August meeting is an opportunity both to review our work and plan for the coming 12 months. We will establish new objectives for our parks and ward, discuss new initiatives, and highlight some of the key issues of crime and anti-social behaviour within our community.

Thankfully, crime incidents are relatively rare in our parks, but we need continued vigilance and monitoring. According to reported crime figures, Harrow is now the Safest Borough in London; however, crime and ASB may go unreported and it is therefore essential to report, ensure there is a reference number- useful both as an audit trail of outcome and as evidence for prioritising and targeting police and council resources.

Finally, along with welcoming our new councillors, we would like to thank our former councillors for their regular and constant support and thank Zani Camaj our Police Constable Support Officer for his work in our parks, as he takes up full training to become a Police Constable.

If you have any queries/would like to keep updated through our mailing list, and/or volunteer to support our team of gate locking volunteers in the evenings for Beresford, Cunningham Park, Roxborough Rd and Roxborough alley way gates, please contact email me at [email protected]

Gerry Mahaffey, co-chair Headstone SNP and parks’ CPAG

18/05/2026

Volunteering in your local park. An opportunity to learn new skills (dog warden) and find new friends (Luna). Luna had escaped from a neighbouring garden and was trying to raid the cake stall.

The young lady pictured was the hero of the hour, managing to read the name and phone number off the almost illegible dog tag.

All ended well when a friend of the owner came to collect the escapee.

14/05/2026

Some of you will have seen that we have rough sleepers in our park recently.

The best way to help rough sleepers access the services they need, wherever you see them, is via the Street link website: thestreetlink.org.uk/

In the mean time, if you should meet our guests, please remember we are all of us just a few shocks away from homelessness, so treat them with respect and kindness.

Welcome to StreetLink. Make an alert if you've seen someone sleeping rough, or if you're sleeping rough and want to find out about local support services.

12/05/2026

"Well I'm not sure... no, it's definitely a tree"

On a cold and windy Sunday a hardy group joined our park tree expert, John Wells, for the Spring Tree Walk.

As ever, John was his informative and amusing self. In these picture we are not peering at the tree itself, but at orange "Xanthoria" lichens, trying to see the "fairy cup" fruits. These lichens feed on atmospheric polution - nitrates from vehicle exhaust.

07/05/2026

Check out our 2026 events programme

04/05/2026

May has hardly started and our 2026 events programme is already underway, as Sunday just gone saw our ever-popular Spring Bug Hunt,

A big crowd of young bug-hunters foraged in the shrubberies, finding worms, beetles, earwigs, grubs, and much more, which our naturalist Simon Braidman, and our favourite botanist, John Wells, identified and described for us.

As well as having a lot of fun, and feeling worms squirming in our palms, we learned how important bugs are to our environment, and to birds, animals and plants that depend upon them.

Don't forget, next Sunday John Wells will be back for his Spring Tree Walk. Make sure you don't miss it!

24/04/2026

Congratulations to our Harrow Health Walk leader, Aruna, recognised at the Healthy Harrow Awards.

You can see her and her loyal band of walkers out and about in Harrow Rec on Friday mornings, and then in the park cafe for a social get together.

24/04/2026

A sunny Friday morning in the park - and there's a big group out for Tai Chi for Health, Aruna is leading her health walk, and mother duck is walking her chicks!

23/04/2026

It's springtime in the park, and you may have seen the Harrow Council Green Team out and about, getting the park ready for our annual Green Flag inspection. We have had our flag for many years now, and we are very proud of it, but there's a lot of work to be done to make sure we are looking our best, so your user association has been in the park too, supporting the Green Team.

The HRUA Management Committee has spent the quiet winter months planning our programme of summer events, and now May is around the corner, which means that it's time to stop planning and start the fun.

We kick the programme off with our ever popular Spring Bug Hunt (for the young ones) and the Spring Tree Walk (for all) to get you out of the house and into the lovely, fresh spring air.

Also in May, it's time to dig your kites out of the cupboard and dust off your bikes and bring them down to the park on Sunday afternoon, 17th of May, for our annual Kites & Bikes Festival.

If you've not tried these events before, now's the time to get out and have some fun.

Details of all three events can be found in the Events section of our website, and on this page. Keep an eye out here or our "Friends of Harrow Rec group for updates.

See you there!