Carshalton College hosted a hairdressing competition on Monday 22 April 2013. The show titled Zoo Project Ibiza saw students creating looks using the media, magazines, videos, movies and music for ideas.

Held in the Pulse Sports Hall, the venue was transformed into a setting for a fashion show. Over 100 hairdressing students aged 14 upwards styled models throughout the day creating an entire look. Family and friends were asked to model the looks including make-up, hair and outfit, combining elements of the course they have learnt so far. Students took part from all levels with competition groups; Full/Part Time Entry Level + Level 1, 2 & 3 and Apprentices from Level 3.

The competition is put on annually to allow the students to complete a module of their course in organising and taking part in a live event, to celebrate the talents of the hairdressing students and raise money for charity. This year the show raised £193 for charity, Queen Mary's Children's Hospital.

The show was judged by industry professionals who own salons local to the College. All four of the judges expressed how amazed they were at the high standard of the work produced. Marcus Martinez, salon owner and works with Nikki Clarke said "I was so impressed and surprised at the level the students are working at. The students and the staff are really committed and it's great to see such enthusiasm, professionalism and ability being displayed."

Winners were picked from each group with winning styles being unique looks where students had stepped outside the box to be creative, and in the use of resources available. Mood boards were also displayed with an outline of the theme with pictures, drawings, text and materials explained.

Janice Child, Curriculum Manager at Carshalton College said "This was in my opinion the best show we have done to date. The standard of the work produced by the students was exceptional. The staff work hard to ensure our students are developing their hairdressing skills to a high level and it's really encouraging to know employers are impressed."

Carshalton College has a great reputation for their Hairdressing courses. The courses have been running for over 50 years since the College opened, making it one of the few original vocational courses on offer. There is a front of house Renaissance salon that is open to the public, which is a realistic working environment and a training salon where learning takes place in a creative atmosphere. The staffs are all dedicated practitioners who continue to work in industry alongside their teaching role, keeping updated of new trends, innovative ideas and practices.

TENNIS: A hard-fought route to the Sanderstead Lawn Tennis Club Winter Finals, with delays of rain, snow, frost and all manner of bad weather, saw the sun shone in Penwortham Road when the final matches were played out.

The 12 players who made it through were cheered on by an enthusiastic audience. They lived up to their finalist status with some great tennis and entertaining play throughout.

The day began with powerhouse performances in the women's and men's doubles, followed by a brief lunch break before the ladies singles Superset (one set) saw first time finalist Dee Easter put up a great fight, but was overpowered by the club's captain, Carrie Askew 6-0.

The men's superset saw some of the best, and hardest hitting tennis of the day in a close match which eventually saw Andy Easter narrowly beaten 6-4 by Matt Duncan.

The last game of the day, the mixed doubles was unfortunately affected by a sudden downpour.

But Debbie Butler and Ian Stinton, against Carrie Askew and Chris Hicks battled on completing the day's tournament, with a 6-2, 6-2 win for Debbie and Ian.

CROYDON HARRIERS Neil Aikman and Mohsin Harhara conquered the Virgin London Marathon with lifetime best performances.

Aikman bettered his previous best by more than nine minutes after crossing the line in 3hr 37secs. Harhara knocked a staggering 32 minutes from his best set on the same course 12 months ago.

In the Virgin Money Giving London Mini Marathon, Croydon had 25 borough youngsters participating in an event which takes place over the last three miles of the course.

Michael Eagling notched the club's highest position of the day in seventh overall in the boys U13s race in 17mins 28secs. Stevie Lawrence also shone in 16th in the women's U17s race.

The club's leading runners in the other age groups were Omar Harhara (39th, boys U15s), Laurence Johnston (46th, men U17s), Abbie Burrett (70th, girls U13s) and Naomi Carty (49th, girls U15s).

Croydon's men's and women's team kicked off their Southern Athletics League second division campaign in the best possible fashion, with a victory at Kingston.

A rejuvenated Croydon ended as comfortable winners ultimately finishing on 196.5pts, with hosts Epsom & Ewell (172pts), St Mary's Richmond (169pts) and Swindon (136.5pts).

Croydon picked up 18 A event wins and 11 B wins, and eight event maximums.

English schools finalist Emma Fossett won the athlete of the match award thanks to her 30.32m effort in the javelin.

Her elder sister Zoe, made it maximum points when she took the honours in the B event with a throw of 27.64m. The multi-talented sisters went onto notch further wins in the B hammer and A triple jump.

A further event maximum came from Tamara Reid (30.29m) and Saskia Navratnum (28.93m) in the discus, with more joy in the pole vault where Stevie Lawrence (2.40m) and Rochelle Roye (2.10m) took the spoils.

Lawrence then teamed with Mandy Rowley-Jones in the high jump and the pair recorded heights of 1.47m (a personal-best) and 1.25m to ensure they topped the standings.

MITCHAM beat Streatham 36-29 in one of rugby's oldest traditions, the 'club' match, giving extra players a chance to start.

Streatham took the field with the first team captain and centre Garvin Toussaint, fly-half Dan Markevics and lock Ben Reeve, who was making a return following a knee injury.

In contrast the pack contained two 58-year-olds including captain Abdul Chowdry, and a 54-year-old, while the wingers were only 17.

After winning 14-10 at Sutton & Epsom two weeks ago on a bitterly cold and wet afternoon, it was a relief to finally play in dry conditions and both sides took full advantage, moving the ball through the hands and scoring some great tries.

Mitcham were first off the mark after barely a minute with Streatham making a hash of the kick-off, conceding a scrum, allowing Mitcham to score the first try, converted to make it 7-0.

Toussaint got Streatham back into it and they scored their first try through John Nielson.

Both sides traded tries, with a neat out-of-the-back door pass from Toussaint to Markevics.

Although it finished five tries apiece, Mitcham slotted a couple more conversions and even kicked a penalty to hold Streatham at bay despite a last attempt to draw level.

Streatham have one last 15-a-side game tomorrow before the sevens season begins.

IT'S no secret that the Palace ethos is now 'score more than they do' and the weight given to the importance of a clean sheet lay by the wayside.

But when one of the most free-scoring Eagles sides in recent history is failing to find the net, and the confidence we were thriving on earlier in the season has all but dried up, the flippancy we had about out ability to shut-out opponents is coming into view.

It's easy to forget a little confidence goes a long way in defenders having the cajones to knock the ball between each other at the back, but it's not just a lack of confidence that has seen ourselves into this predicament.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, our line is far too high for the players we have at our disposal. They get caught out due to their lack of speed – ie they're too slow to get back and cover once they've been beaten by a nippier opposition forward.

This is far more of a worry than it was at the start of the season. When we were masters at controlling the game, we often found ourselves with an abundance of possession. We were playing freely, without worry, and this made an occurrence such as losing the ball quite a rarity; and in turn put far less pressure on the men at the back.

Now there's nothing but pressure. Glenn Murray and the lads' lack of goals up top is piling the pressure on the men at the back.

Perhaps scoring goals at the weekend against Leicester – though conceding two – will allow Delaney, Ramage et al to play with a little more confidence again.

ON MARCH 17 each year, you can pretty much guarantee that the pubs of Croydon and beyond will be packed full of revellers in big hats; singing, dancing and enjoying a pint of the black stuff.

But April 23? It's just another day to most. While we get energised and liquidised for St Patrick's Day, the national day of Ireland, our own celebration often passes without any pomp or ceremony.

The trend was bucked by a few Croydon pub landlords who organised St George's Day activities for their punters.

John O'Leary, who owns the Smugglers Inn in Coulsdon, said: "I am Irish and I find it so strange that English people celebrate St Patrick's Day but not St George's; it's a real shame.

"I put something on every year for St George's Day and it's always popular, which proves Croydon's residents want to recognise the day a bit more.

"I came here in 2001 and have been putting on St George's Day events since and it is exceptionally well attended.

"But for some reason we are one of very few pubs that recognise it. We have good fish being served and some Chas and Dave-style singing and the customers enjoy it.

"It should be a bank holiday so everyone can enjoy it."

The bank holiday call has been backed by politicians on both sides of the Croydon political divide.

Steve O'Connell, Tory Kenley councillor and GLA member for Croydon and Sutton, told the Advertiser: "I have thought for some time that St George's Day should be recognised as a bank holiday, I think it's a great idea.

"As a country we tend to downplay our national identity, and I do get irritated with the way we celebrate St Patrick's Day but fail to really do anything on St George's.

"We could do a little more and I think we should consider it as a public holiday. My gym has St George's flags up right now but that is an exception, whereas on St Patrick's Day every pub has a shamrock or something in it.

"We should be celebrating our day too."

Labour's Croydon North MP Steve Reed agrees.

He said: "It's true that the day is not recognised and it would be great if it was, but I have heard a rumour that the May Day bank holiday could be scrapped and replaced with St George's Day.

"I think this is an awful idea as May Day is a grand tradition going back hundreds of years.

"If anything, St George's Day should be added as we have a below average number of bank holidays than most of Europe anyway."

However, not everyone agrees with the idea of turning St George's Day into a national celebration.

Andrew Fisher, 33, from Woodside, said: "I think we already have a lot of days off around this time of year, with the Easter bank holidays and May Day, whereas around the autumn time there is a long slog up to Christmas with no bank holidays at all."

"I also feel a lot of people are embarrassed by the people who usually end up waving the flag, like the EDL and the National Front which is ironic as all the evidence points to St George being a Palestinian."

A CONWOMAN who defrauded her friends and colleagues of £20,000 by claiming she had terminal cancer has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Ursula Rose, a teaching assistant at Oasis Academy Shirley Park, was imprisoned last Friday after previously being found guilty of conning friends, who jumped to her aid by lending the money for what they believed to be emergency treatment.

A jury at Croydon Crown Court, which also heard Rose went on holiday after collecting her fraudulent cash, convicted the 42-year-old in February after it was revealed she exploited friends' goodwill and told lies about having six brain tumours to swindle the money.

While a teaching assistant in 2008-09 at St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School, in South Norwood, Rose said she needed up to £40,000 for special drugs from the USA, as well as secialist operations in private hospitals.

Rose, of Westgate Road, South Norwood, even bought a wig in preparation for "hair loss" to deceive her peers, while forged letters were handed to Thomas Becket's head teacher detailing her "illness".

Rose's former colleague Iona Horwood was just one of the many friends she lied to, though Mrs Horwood told the Advertiser she could not revel in the sentencing.

She said: "I'm pleased justice was done, as what she did was an awful, terrible thing, but I also found it very sad. She didn't have any family there supporting her and it's sad for her own children.

"It never needed to get this far, if she had just been honest. But she couldn't possibly expect to walk after all that happened.

"It is definitely a relief that the whole thing is over and now we can all move on.

"But it was such an awful thing to do. So many of us actually do know people that have cancer, and we gave her money out of the kindness of or hearts.

"I hope that her time inside will help her to reflect on what she has done, because this is not the sort of message anyone should be giving out to their children."

Lesley Milner, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said Rose was guilty of an "abuse of trust".

She added: "This was an appalling case in which Rose preyed on the kindness of her friends and took advantage of their sympathy. Her victims trusted her and even borrowed money from their own families to help her.

"We hope that the sentence she received today gives some sense of justice to those who were victims of her deception."

The fraud came to light when Thomas Becket head teacher Noel Campbell contacted Rose's doctor, who told him she did not have cancer but suffered from migraine-like headaches.

WHAT Luis Suarez did last Sunday against Chelsea was completely unacceptable and unnecessary in any walk of life in any way shape or form.

If any Palace player were to do that to an opponent, I doubt he would be playing for us again. I don't think Steve Parish would tolerate a human being doing that in a Palace shirt.

You have got to look at Liverpool. They defended Suarez over the other incidents and now I think this is indefensible.

Let's be honest, if he drew blood there, which thankfully he didn't, it would be even worse.

It's bad enough spitting at someone, but to bite someone, I just can't believe it.

Normally, anyone who has had children will know that at two or three years old, they'll lose their temper and they might try to bite you – obviously his mum and dad need a word with him, don't they? It's absolutely ridiculous.

It beggars belief, and for him to say he only deserves a three-match ban, I think he should shut up and take responsibility for what he's doing – it isn't good enough or acceptable.

He's supposed to be a role model to millions and millions of children, and it's not the first time he's done it either. He did it at Ajax a few years ago, so what is he doing?

You have got to learn from your mistakes in life. Everyone is allowed to make a mistake, but he's made that same mistake twice now, so what was he doing?

Controversy seems to follow him, but I don't think just having top talent is acceptable. You have to be accountable and professional, and I don't think he's been like that.

He's been unprofessional – he's let his team down, he's let his club down, he's let himself down and also his mum and dad, to be honest.

It makes you think how was he brought up?

His ten-match ban is one of the biggest I've seen in football but you just have to ask yourself if he is learning. I don't mind anyone who makes one mistake on a certain subject, but when they do it twice then they haven't learnt from the first time, that's the whole point.

Who knows what happens in South America and what is acceptable in their game. I can remember years ago seeing Uruguay kick Pele all over the place and he had to come off.

They basically kicked him out of the game quite literally and he had to miss the rest of the World Cup that year.

I have never witnessed anything similar to what he did last weekend, only in the boxing ring with Mike Tyson on Evander Holyfield, and that was outrageous.

EAST Croydon Station isn't necessarily where you'd expect to find a tiny orphaned fox cub.

But, among the rush of tipsy Friday night revellers and briefcase-wielding suits returning from a long day at work, this little doe-eyed creature was crying for help.

The cub, discovered at around 9pm, was saved from a lonely, motherless death by the Riverside Animal Centre, which came to pick it up within 15 minutes of being called.

Our reporter came across the tiny fox in the arms of a ticket warden, who was concerned for the animal's welfare and suspected its mother had been run over or lost its cub.

He said at the time: "I have rung the RSPCA but they won't help because they don't look after wild animals."

After developing a bit of an attachment to the pointy-faced fluffball – which we christened Felix – we called an animal centre which looks after lost or hurt wild animals.

The week before, the Riverside Animal Centre in Wallington had featured in the pages of the Advertiser after rescuing a fox which had got stuck, dangling upside down from a fence by its tail.

In February, they also rescued one of London's most famous foxes, which had made a home at 954ft in the Shard near London Bridge – Europe's tallest skyscraper.

Two reporters called the animal centre in the hope someone might be able to give some advice on what to do with Felix.

To their amazement, the wife of an animal rescuer from Riverside drove out to Croydon immediately and came to pick up the fox cub.

Jess Bickerstaff, who works at the centre, said: "We look after the wild animals until they are better and then release them back into the wild.

"If they came in as adults, we take them back to where they came from and if they are youngsters, we release them into the wild in suitable places."

However, the tale of Felix may be set for a sad ending.

On Tuesday Ted Burden, the founder and director of the centre, told us: "The little cub you found wasn't well and had a couple of fits on Saturday followed by another on Sunday.

"It is still having short fits maybe once or twice a day and is on various medication.

"Unfortunately, we cannot tell at this stage whether it is a congenital thing like epilepsy, or as a result of an infection.

"The only thing we know is that, when it's not fitting, it is lively and appears in good health, which sadly isn't necessarily a great sign as that may rule out something treatable."

THE comedy duo behind a new song about travelling on a tram believe their tune could be Croydon's answer to global hits Gangnam Style and the Harlem Shake.

Korean singer Psy's single has been viewed more than 1.5 billion times on YouTube and the Harlem Shake dance craze is also an internet phenomenon.

More than 1,000 people have watched Croydon Tram, by electro comedy act Eccentronic, since it was posted on the Advertiser's website last Friday.

Susi O'Neill, who performs under the name Ms Hypnotique, believes it could be the start of something big.

"Recently there have been amazing examples of how videos can spread across the world if they hit the right note," she said.

"Everyone's copying the Harlem Shake and Psy created this incredible video which went viral.

"You never know; maybe taking some pride in our local area will put Croydon on the global map."

On face of it, the videos have little in common, although Gangnam Style was shot on a bus, hinting at a shared love of public transport.

Eccentronic's song is less punchy, featuring a synthesised beat influenced by German electro band Kraftwerk.

The video, recorded on a tram and at various stops in and around Croydon, features Susi and partner-in-rhyme John Callaghan sporting luminous green ties while extolling the virtues of Croydon's transport service.

"From London suburbs its off to work, gridlocked traffic drives you berserk. Trains and autobahns old and slow, but there's an alternative way to go," sings John before the chorus kicks in.

"Let's take a journey on the Croydon Tramlink, the future's plastic and the future's electric. It's like riding in a giant Scalextric. It's the only way to go. It's fun, fun, fun, on the Croydon tram, tram, tram."

Susi, 35, said: "People think of doing techno as very serious but we've always had a lot of fun.

"Tramlink is such an amazing transport system I think we should be talking about and celebrating it a lot more."

The video shows off local landmarks like the Croydon Clocktower and "the Brit school which gave us Dane Bowers".

"It's tongue in cheek," said John, 43. "It would have been easy for us to make a song which said 'isn't Croydon rubbish' but that isn't what we're about."

Croydon Tram, which will be released as a download in the summer, is part of a show Eccentronic plan to perform at the Brighton and Edinburgh festivals.