Tobias Mead wows Harrow crowds

by Yixiang Zeng

One of the stars of this year’s Britain’s Got Talent competition wowed fans in Harrow on Sunday afternoon.



Tobias Mead performed some of his sleek dance moves at St Ann’s Shopping Centre yesterday, watched by around a hundred spectators and shoppers.

Among the fans queued up for his performance was 14-year-old Lisa from Harrow Weald, who said: “The performance is really good, amazing. I’m a big fan of his.”

15-year-old Debbie, from Wealdstone, had also headed into the town centre to watch Tobias in action. She said: “It’s really good. I just like his moves.”



22-year-old Tobias became a household name overnight after performing for Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan on Britain’s Got Talent.

He told The HA1 that he was now enjoying having the chance to perform for and meet some of his fans in person.

“I’m trying to interact with the audience here,” he said. “Because when you’re on TV, you cannot see the audience, and they are all at home, but here you can see the crowds and be as close as possible to them.”

Tobias became one of the stars of this year’s ITV competition despite losing out to the eventual winners Spellbound.

He has now taken his dance routines on the road with a number of performances penciled in across the country.



Tobias said: “I will do a lot of performances. From next week I will work with Disney Camp Rock 2 and do promotion (for them) all over the places.

“I will be dancing with other dancers and make the promotion more interesting.”

Fans in Harrow also got the chance to meet the talented dancer after watching him in action.

Tobias posed for photographs and signed autographs as well as performing two shows at the shopping centre.

TV star wows Harrow Crowds

By Yixiang Zeng

A Britain's Got Talent finalist wowed crowds at St Anns Shopping Centre when he showed off his creative dance yesterday noon.

Tobias Mead, 22, from Warminster, drove girls wild with his sleek moves attracting around a hundred shoppers.

Lisa, 14, from Harrow Weald, said: “The performance is really good and it's amazing. I'm a big fan of his.”

Another 15-year-old Debbie from Wealdstone, said: “It is really good. I just like his moves and very creative.”

The ITV show star told the HA1 he enjoyed his performance at the centre, he said: “I'm trying to interact with the audience here.

“Because when you're on TV, you cannot see the audience, and they are all at home, but here you can see the crowds and be as close as possible to them.”

When talking about his next move, Tobias added: “I will do a lot of performances. From next week I will work with Disney Camp Rock 2 and do promotion (for them) all over the places.

“I will be dancing with other dancers, and make the promotion more interesting.”

The audience showed its enthusiasm by queuing up patiently to ask him for photos and autographs during the meet-and-greet session.

Mrs Davinder Badhan, 43, from Heston, said she and her husband even brought the video camera to film the scenes when the star signing autograph for their son and daughter.

Bond says thank you with party

by Yixiang Zeng

Residents from North Harrow came together at the weekend to celebrate James Bond’s local election win in May.

The event on Saturday, held by the Headstone North Councillor at St Alban’s Church Hall, was to thank voters for their support and trust following his decision to stand as an Independent.

One of the guests at the party, Sheila O’Brien, of Church Drive, explained why she had decided to support Mr Bond, rather than one of the candidates from a particular party.

She said: “James is the man with people. Everybody around him says he is always with other people and the community.”

That was backed up by Deirdre Deely, who said: “He could represent us without any other party influence.”

Two previous independent councillors, Neville Hughes and Derek Tyler, also showed their support by attending the celebrations.

Mr Hughes, a former Roxeth councillor, said: “An independent is someone who challenges council’s decision making, someone who thinks about people in the Harrow, not the particular political party.”

Councillor Bond’s victory was one of the shocks during dramatic local elections in May, in which he was elected at the expense of former Mayor Eric Silver.

Mr Bond said his priority since then has been the people of Headstone North, with regular residents’ surgeries being held so people can meet him.

He said: “These surgeries take place on Saturday mornings twice a month at two locations within the Headstone North ward.

“I shall serve the community by making myself available to all the residents who live here.”

Edited by Simon Fyles

Cricket projects to include young women (second version)

by Yixiang Zeng

Young women in Harrow are to be encouraged to join cricket schemes to tackle anti-social behaviour and reduce crime.

Chief Inspector Nick Davies gave the Harrow Police and Community Consultative Group (HPCCG) a presentation on Monday night on how the sport is being used to bring different religious groups together.

The meeting at the Civic Centre also included updates on issues including police performance and ‘stop and search’ powers.

Speaking about the police’s coaching projects, Chief Inspector Davies said: “We want to involve different groups in the cricket scheme and it is hard to reach young people.

“Crimes target young people, so by involving them into the scheme, it can improve their self-esteem.”

The Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Dal Babu, also updated the HPCCG meeting on how his force was performing.

He said motor vehicle crime and the theft of motor vehicles had declined by 18 per cent compared the same period last year, which meets their target.

Other offences, such as residential burglary and robbery, had also steadily declined but were not currently meeting targets that had been set.

Mr Babu also said he wanted to make sure people were offered more support when involved in crimes. He also stressed the need for police and local authorities to work more efficiently when handling offenders.

He said: “What we need to be looking at is how we support victims, and make sure they get support while they go to prosecution.

“We also make sure the information on offenders is shared.”

Mr Babu also answered questions about cuts in police funding, but said he would have to wait for full details to be released by the Government to see what effect the changes would have on Harrow,

Concerns were raised about the police’s use of ‘stop and search’ powers, with one Queensbury councilor calling for better education on which extremist or radical groups had been banned.

Councillor Zarina Khalid said residents were sometimes handed leaflets from groups without knowing who they were.

She said they faced long delays when stopped by officers, but without knowing the material they had been given would get them into trouble.

Harrow Police and Community Consultative Group story (first version)

by Yixiang Zeng

Young women will be encouraged to take part in the borough's cricket scheme to tackle anti-social behaviour and reduce crime.

The event, held by Harrow Police and Community Consultative Group (HPCCG), discussed a string of issues such as Independent Custody Visitors, police performance on handling crimes, and “stop and search”.

Chief Inspector Nick Davies gave a talk about the force's cricket coaching, he said: “We want to involve different groups in cricket scheme, and it is hard to reach young people.

“Young men and young women, not only men, but also to involve young women in the cricket sport and most of them are very engaging.”

In relation to borough's crime issue, Mr Davies added: “Crimes target young people, so involving them into the scheme, it can improve their self-esteem.”

The meeting also kept the public informed of recent police performance on handling crimes, Borough Commander Chief Superintendent Dal Babu said: “What we need to be looking at is how we support victims, and make sure support while they go to prosecution.”

Regarding offenders, he said: “We also make sure the information of offenders [are shared].”

According to Mr Babu at yesterday evening's meeting at Harrow Civic Centre, Motor Vehicle Crime, theft of motor vehicle, has declined rapidly by 18 per cent compared the same period last year, which meets the target.

Other offences such as residential burglary and robbery have steadily declined but do not meet the targets.

When discussing “stop and search”, Councillor Zarina Khalid from Queensbury ward raised a concern by saying “people should be educated of which group's information being banned”.

She explained that sometimes people do not know the information they received is banned by the police, such as views on extremism.

If police find these materials during “stop and search”, it will be a big disturbance for their daily routine.