Charity shopping bag packers helped raise more than £2,000 for the Haiti Emergency earthquake appeal.

On Saturday, 20 young people from the YMCA based in St Mary's Road, helped shoppers at Tesco in Ealing Broadway by packing their shopping.

Thieves have stolen vital camera equipment from a celebrity photographer whose book, The Hero Inside, is raising funds for servicemen and women wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gill Shaw, from Ealing, is touring the countryside interviewing and recording the experiences of wounded troops to raise money for the charity, Help for Heroes. Last Thursday her car was broken into and her camera bag with Fuji S5 camera, lens and Metz flash unit were stolen. Gill is willing to offer a reward for her equipment so if anyone can help they should contact her on: 07973 252 017.

A course is being designed by carers for carers who are struggling to cope with loved ones.

Caring with Confidence is a new free training programme being run in Ealing in various centres across the borough.The seven-session course includes balancing caring and a life for yourself, resources, practical and emotional issues. You can go to as many sessions as you want.

Performers of all ages and abilities are invited to enter the annual competitive Ealing Festival of Music, Dance and speech which will take place in April and May 2010.

The Ealing Festival, which encourages the study and performance of dance, instrumental, pianoforte, vocal, speech, verse and drama, is inviting people to read their syllabus and apply for classes.

Police will be out in force this weekend combating night-time violence with patrols of crime hotspots and targeting uninsured cars and unlicensed drivers during the day.

The Ealing Specials, as part of 'Operation Spring Hope', will be out on the streets of Ealing, equipped with an automatic number plate reader and uninsured drivers could be handed a £200 fine, six points on their licence or have their car taken away.

People are urged to read a consultation document and submit their views on community events held in parks and open spaces before the deadline.

The council is currently seeking views from residents on how these events are run, how venues are maintained after the event, funding the maintenance and what changes are requited to improve event management and the park condition.

A piano festival commemorating the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth will take place at St Barnabas Church, Pitshanger Lane on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 February.

A total of 38 pianists will be performing mini-recitals of between 15 and 40 minutes, covering all of Chopin's solo piano music.

Thames Valley University has reported a record number of UCAS application forms for undergraduate programmes.

The University claims applications have increased by 67.1per cent over the last 12 months, which is the biggest increase across England.

A newly appointed specialist nurse is helping the terminally ill decide where to end their final days.

Rebecca Allkins, a Marie Curie Discharge Liaison Nurse, helps patients and families decide the best place to be, with vital practical and emotional back-up to support them in those last months or days.As part of the Gazette and Marie Curie Cancer Care appeal we focus on her role in the Gazette this week. For donations log on to: www.mariecurie.org.uk/ealing.

More than 100 people, including VIPs and community leaders celebrated a half a million pound facelift of 125-year-old Haven Green Baptist Church.

The church in Castlebar Road had become so dilapidated with a leaking roof, crumbling facade and broken windows that major work was needed to enable members, schools and the community to continue using it. A special service was held on Sunday to give thanks.