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West Hampstead Christmas survival guide

Christmas day is nearly upon us, so just in the (St) Nick of time, here are a few helpful tips to make everything go smoothly.

St. Lukes Church’s stained glass

When are the local church services?

At Emmanuel Church things kick off with carols on West End Green at 4pm on Saturday 23rd, followed by mulled wine in the Church. Christmas Eve has regular services in the morning, with a 6pm children’s crib service and at 11pm a midnight mass. On Christmas day there is an ‘all-age’ eucharist at 10am, where children are invited to bring an unopened present to open during the service.

At St.Lukes in Kidderpore Avenue, technically not in West Hampstead although the parish covers the top part, they are offering carols round the tree at 3pm on Sunday, a midnight mass at 11pm and a morning eucharist on Christmas day at 11am.

unfortunately, St. James (on Sheriff Road) and St. Mary’s All Souls haven’t got their details available at the moment.

What time are the pubs open?

The Black Lion is open on Christmas Eve from 10am to 11pm, on Christmas Day from 12pm to 5pm (drinks only, unless you have booked lunch (£55 and needs to be pre-booked)), on Boxing Day from 12pm to 11pm.

The Railway is open Christmas Eve from 11am to 11pm, on Christmas Day from 12pm to 5pm (drinks only, unless you have booked lunch (£49.99 and needs to be pre-booked)), on Boxing Day from 11pm to 11pm .

The Alice House is open too and has slightly longer hours as it is open Christmas Eve from 9:30am to 12:30am, on Christmas Day from 12pm to 6pm (drinks only, unless you have booked lunch which needs to be pre-booked)), on Boxing day from 10am to 1am.

When will my rubbish be collected?

For Christmas week, rubbish collections will be two days later than normal, and for New Year’s week one day later. You can check for yourself, here.

How can I recycle my Christmas tree?

The Council iw providing a free recycling service for Christmas trees from 2nd January to the 12th. There will be the usual collection points at the bottom of Fortune Green and the Messina Avenue end of Kilburn Grange Park.

Can I expect any disruption to travel?

In an nutshell, yes quite a lot. All services at closed on Christmas Day with a reduced service on Boxing Day. But to complicate matters further there are quite a few disruptions to service beyond that.

Thameslink has engineering works over the Christmas break. Services will be shutting down from 8pm on the 24th, there will be no service on Monday 25th AND Tuesday 26th (nor any Gatwick Express for those of you trying to get to Gatwick) but there will be a limited bus service to Gatwick.

Aside from Christmas and Boxing Day disruption there will be no cross London services on Thameslink either, as trains will be terminating at St. Pancras from the 23rd December to the 1st January. However, from St. Pancras you can get the tube to London Bridge and connect to Thameslink services south from there.

London Overground is also undergoing engineering works and there will be no service from Highbury and Islington to Dalston Junction (until Sat 30th), nor any service between Camden Road and Stratford (also until the 30th) There will be a bus replacement service but you might want to consider other routes.

What will be open…?

Apart from the churches and the pubs, the ice rink at JW3 will be open, even on Christmas Day… a different way to work off the Christmas dinner, some tickets are still available for Christmas Day but please book in advance.

Refurbished Emmanuel Church gives homeless a warm welcome

Just in time for the cold weather, the refurbished Emmanuel Church is helping some of Camden’s homeless. It has joined a project offering overnight accommodation and a warm meal, once a week.

From the outside it doesn’t look like much has changed at Emmanuel, but inside the refurbishment is pretty much finished. It now has four new rooms available for the community and larger space for events and projects.

One of the new projects offered by the church is overnight accommodation, a hot meal and a shower to up to 16 homeless people from Camden on Tuesday nights from now until Christmas. It is being run by Camden Churches winter night shelter , which offers it over the coldest winter months from November to March. Each night, one of fourteen churches across the borough offer the service. The project also offers support and advice to help get its users off the streets and into permanent accommodation.

Church offers shelter for the night. Bedding is stored away between sessions.

Church offers shelter for the night. Bedding is stored away between sessions.

The project started in winter 2005 and, thanks to its refurbishment (which includes a kitchen and shower), this year Emmanuel has been able to join. The first session was on Tuesday and the meal was cooked by West Hampstead’s very own generous chef, Jennie Vincent from the Kitchen Table. She cooked a vegetarian curry, which was very nice according to Father Jonathan! Jennie even managed to persuade her suppliers to donate ingredients.

New kitchen at Emmanuel Church

New kitchen at Emmanuel Church

Father Jonathan said that “it went really well. We’ve spent all this money doing up the church, and really want to make sure we give back to the community”. The project is organised by full time caseworkers, together with the support of local volunteers. It you would like to help just contact Emmanuel Church.

To officially open the new rooms, Emmanuel is holding a ceremony on Thursday 17th November at 2pm. The Bishop of London will be there, along with the Mayor of Camden and our local MP, Tulip Siddiq. You are welcome to attend (but it would be helpful if you could let Emmanuel Church know).

Hallelujah! West Hampstead is getting new community space

What do with church buildings in 2016? The buildings, many Victorian, are too big for today’s congregations and an increasingly diverse and secular London. A couple of years ago St. James Church, just south of the tube station, was converted into the Sherriff Centre.

Fr Jonathan and our Local MP Tulip Siddiq

Fr Jonathan, Tulip Siddiq and Emmanuel Church

But what you might not know is that redevelopment is underway at Emmanuel Church off West End Green at the heart of West Hampstead. This will add five different rooms/spaces available for community use. Father Jonathan Kester explains, “A number of local community organisations including the Community Association of West Hampstead have indicated that they will use the new space in the church for some of their activities and this will greatly increase what they can do. We will also be able to do more of the outreach work that is such a vital part of the life of the church. The rooms will make it possible for us to participate more fully in the Camden Churches Winter Night Shelter, for example, and to continue our partnership with Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous, the Fortune Green Choir and a number of other artistic, musical and cultural activities”.

The first suggestions to add community space to Emmanuel Church were raised in 1921, so it’s only taken 95 years for it to happen (and we thought Camden Council was slow). Redevelopment was triggered by the fact that the floor needed stablising and replacing, which created the opportunity to rethink the space.

New two story rooms, with same on the other side and community space in between.

New two-storey rooms, with the same on the other side and community space in between.

The project is making better use of the space in the side-aisles. Before the redevelopment there was one plasterboard community room on the right hand side of the nave (the bottom part of what you see in the picture). This has been replaced by a brick structure (as required by the Victorian Society in keeping with listed status) with another community room in the space on top. The same is duplicated (out of picture) on the other side. And between the two sides will be a space suitable for larger community meetings. All this is situated in roughly the back third of the church, the front part will remain as a church.

The total cost is around £650,000 (plus VAT) paid for by largely by Emmanuel Church with contributions from the local community and a £50,000 section 106 contribution. Although there is still some money to raise to finish off the project. If you would like to contribute to the funding or find out about using the rooms, please contact frjonathan@mac.com. It is expected to open for business in mid-October. Hallelujah!