Father Phil leaves St Mary's Harmondsworth

This evening I attended the evening service and after service party to say goodbye to Father Phil, the vicar of St Mary's Harmondsworth. The church was packed with parishioners and members of the local community coming to say a fond farewell to Father Phil.

He has been the parish priest for 6 years and in that time has gained a strong reputation as an excellent, caring and hard working servant of the local community. At the leaving party many local people and I paid tribute to his hard work and dedication to the local community.

I also paid tribute to his courage in standing up for his parish at a time when it has been under threat from the third runway proposal. Father Phil has played a key role in explaining the implications of the third runway for his parishioners and I recall his many impassioned pleas for the voice of local people to be heard by government.

He is now going to a new role within the church in Newcastle. He will be sorely missed but goes with the best wishes of us all and with the warmest memories of the high regard in which he is held within our community.