Archive for July 17th, 2009

Community cash boost for top 10

Friday, July 17th, 2009

TEN community groups serving a wide variety of ages and needs have benefited from West Crawley County Local Committee’s latest round of cash grants.

The Committee agreed grants totalling £7345.  The cash comes its Community Initiative Fund, which is money it receives from West Sussex County Council to help the activities of local community groups.

The organisations receiving grants included:

Crawley Friends Housing Association – £1000 to buy equipment and materials for Camfield Gardening Club, which encourages vulnerable adults to work together.

Creasy Drive Venture Playground – £560 towards its Cook Club, which teaches children how to cook healthy meals.

Crawley Youth Movement – £550 towards events that encourage young people to come together and unite against crime and disorder, particularly gun and knife crime. 

St Andrews Friendship Club – £485 to cover the cost of rent for an alternative venue where this club for older people can meet in a friendly environment while the church is being redeveloped. 

Alan Quirk, Committee Chairman, said: “The aim of our Community Initiative Funding is to benefit the local community by ‘pump priming’ new initiatives or supporting one-off applications for specific projects.

“On this occasion we were able to bridge the generation gap. Young people cooking up healthy meals, vulnerable people getting dug into gardening and older residents able to enjoy a chat and a cuppa – they’ve all benefited from our current round of funding.”

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Family fun at Crawley Fire Station

Friday, July 17th, 2009

crawleyboroughcouncilsmallCrawley Fire Station will be opening its doors to the public this Saturday (July 18), giving West Sussex residents an insight into the activities of their local firefighters.

The event will be held at the Fire Station on Ifield Avenue from 11am to 4pm and will have lots for all the family to enjoy. Refreshments will be available, along with face painting and rides on vintage fire engines for the family. Admission is free.

It’s also an opportunity for members of the public to see first hand the range of activities involved with being a modern firefighter, with demonstrations of fire fighting and rescue skills throughout the day.

Crews will be on hand to talk about fire safety in the home, at work and out and about. They will also demonstrate how they would release a casualty from a road traffic collision. The chip pan demonstration vehicle will be used throughout the day to show the dangers of chip pan fires.

The Fire Investigation dog (Hattie) will also be there, along with Sussex Police’s investigation dog, representatives from South East Coast Ambulance Service and the Territorial Army.

The day will also provide the ideal occasion for the public to find out about West Sussex County Council Fire and Rescue Service’s free Home Fire Safety Check Service.

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Capture Sussex with revamped Image Library

Friday, July 17th, 2009

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More than 15,000 images of West Sussex and the surrounding area can now be viewed and downloaded from the improved Sussex Image Library website.

The high quality images, many of which are free to use, cover all the characteristics of West Sussex, from countryside scenes and sandy beaches to our historic towns and villages.

The library mixes iconic city and rural settings with tourist attractions, farming scenes, business and transport pictures.

The site, which has a number of new, easy to use features, is the result of a partnership between West Sussex County Council, Arun and Horsham District Councils and the South Downs Joint Committee. The day-to-day business is run by PPL Photo Agency in Walberton.

County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Economy, Deborah Urquhart, said: “There is a wide selection of free to use images, which we are sure will prove very useful, especially for organisations working to promote business and tourism in our area.

“Photographers will also find it a useful medium in which to publicise their work.”

For further information visit the site at www.susseximagelibrary.com, or email ppl@mistral.co.uk

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Compare care providers with West Sussex website

Friday, July 17th, 2009

An innovative website is up and running, enabling people to select and compare care providers across West Sussex.

It ties in with the launch of the 2009/10 West Sussex Care Guide, giving information and advice on support and care services for adults across West Sussex.

The Guide is published jointly by West Sussex County Council and the West Sussex Forum, which represents and works on behalf of independent care providers across the county.

A new feature for this year is the Caringinfo.com (www.caringinfo.com) website, believed to be the first of its kind in the UK. It displays the Care Quality Commission overall star rating for each care home, and enables people to select and compare care providers on the basis of their rating.

The Care Guide and website contain information on the different types of care available and who may be eligible for help from the County Council. There are also details of carers support services across the county and information on self-directed support and how the scheme works.

Readers of the Care Guide can also find out more about various community services, including the Meals on Wheels service and the differences between residential and nursing home care.

The Care Guide contains a list of useful contacts and has listings for care homes across the county, banded together into the relevant locality, including how many places each home has and what type of care they provide. Registered care at home organisations are also listed geographically.

West Sussex County Council Leader Henry Smith said: “West Sussex is unique in publishing a care guide as a collaboration between the council and the independent sector. It’s an informative and important guide outlining all types of care available in West Sussex and how to access those services.”

Paul Renshaw, Chief Executive Officer of The West Sussex Forum, said: “Information and advice are the glue of a 21st century care system that seeks to function well and deliver choice and control to older and disabled people, their families and carers.

“Until now, those people in West Sussex who fund their own care or who do not meet the criteria for local authority support have been left to navigate the system without any professional input – often at a time of major change and considerable personal upheaval. Caringinfo and The West Sussex Care Guide are leading the way in helping people get the support and advice they need.”

For a copy of the care guide contact your Locality Office. You can also view the guide on the County Council website at www.westsussex.gov.uk or the Forum website at www.caringinfo.com.

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Have a ‘scent’sational summer with Taste West Sussex

Friday, July 17th, 2009

The latest edition of Taste West Sussex is out now, with features on West Sussex businesses and making the most of summer with locally produced food and drink.

The Summer 2009 edition of the foodie magazine also has discounts and competitions including the chance to win an ice cream maker, a barbecue, or bags full of local produce.

Features include:

· New life for lavender: find out why lavender is making a comeback in West Sussex and what it was used for historically.
· Fish food: learn what fish is local to West Sussex and how buying fish caught locally helps the county’s fishmongers and fishermen.
· Use it or lose it: support your local pub though the economic downturn, read the history behind some of the more unusual West Sussex pubs and take a test to find out how much you know about your local.
· Have a walk and a pint: a feature on a five-mile circular walk in Shoreham, and where to stop for refreshment.
· Home on the (free) range: keeping chickens is growing ever-popular in the county. Find out how easy it is and learn from the experiences of others.

There are also dates for diaries, including farmers markets and food events from June to the end of September, and a variety of recipes using local produce.

Taste West Sussex promotes the wide range of food and drink produced and on offer in the county.

With the credit crunch hitting hard and some businesses struggling to survive, it’s important to support local business as much as possible.

And don’t forget to buy a Bag of Taste to put all your locally produced purchases in. The environmentally friendly jute bags cost £2.95, plus 50p postage and packaging. To find out more visit the West Sussex County Council e-shop at www.westsussex.gov.uk.

Taste West Sussex is available from a number of outlets including local food retailers, Sussex Stationers and via the County Council website at www.westsussex.gov.uk/taste.

The next edition of the magazine will be out in October 2009.

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Your chance to dance?

Friday, July 17th, 2009

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Auditions are taking place this September to join the prestigious West Sussex Youth Dance Company.

The Chichester-based Company is open to young people aged from 14 to 19, who live in West Sussex and want to improve their dance skills.

The auditions are taking place on:

· Saturday September 19, at the Pavilions in the Park, Horsham
· Tuesday September 22, at Olympos, Burgess Hill
· Sunday September 27, at the University of Chichester, Chichester.

When in the Company, dancers develop their choreographic and performance skills and get to work with top professionals.

They develop their contemporary dance technique, work with professional choreographers and take part in high profile performances, including performing at county and regional showcases in the South East.

West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Economy Deborah Urquhart said: “By joining the Company, dancers get an experience similar to that of a professional group. They also see what it’s like to be involved in the dance industry through high quality performances and regular training.”

The Company has been running since 2003 and has a weekly class at the University of Chichester during term time. The style of dance is primarily contemporary, although other styles are also used. It’s open to both girls and boys.

You can find out more by viewing a film at West Sussex Video. Go to the County Council website at http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/, click on ‘West Sussex Video’ and then ‘Your Chance to Dance’.

The auditions will be taken by the Company Artistic Director Justine Reeve and will consist of a basic contemporary technique class and short creative workshop.

The deadline for audition applications is Friday September 11.

For an application form contact Jason Bradberry on 01243 753839 or e-mail jason.bradberry@westsussex.gov.uk.

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