Archive for March 30th, 2010

Comet staff are climbing dizzy heights to make dreams come true

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

On the 21st September Comet staff members Saira O’Sullivan and Dan Kennedy are off to climb a mountain in Morocco.

Why are they?

Saira and Dan are one of 25 employees who volunteered to raise money for the chosen charity nominated by Comet. Each year, Comet present this excellent opportunity to it’s staff members nationwide but only 25 can participate.

Who are Comet?

Comet has more than 250 stores throughout the UK, offering a wide range of electrical products. Comet launched their two-year partnership with Make a Wish Foundation UK in January 2007 with a target of raising £250,000 by the end of 2008. This was achieved in under a year and Comet is now three years into the partnership having raised £450k by June 2009. For more information on how Comet have raised tremendous funds for ’Make-A-Wish Foundation’ please go here.

Source: News Comet

Dan Kennedy & Saira O'Sullivan

What is the Make A Wish Foundation?

“Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses. Since being established in the UK in 1986, we have granted over 5,700 wishes.”

We took that quote from their own site, as it puts it so well. You can read more about this amazing charity and the wonderful people who work with the foundation and those who support it, here.

Saira and Dan…

Saira and Dan, along with the rest of the Comet staff, are having a fun charity day this Friday 2nd April (bank holiday). Donned in fancy dress, the staff at Comet will be holding a raffle with a wide range of prizes including a months family membership to the Nufield Health & Wellbeing Centre. There will also be informative demonstrations on new products from LG and Dyson. Along with brilliant deals on products in store for the bank holiday, the day is set to be a hit.

Staff at Comets in Crawley

After the fun has subsided from the fun…d raising day it will be time for Saira and Dan to put their training into action. On the 21st September Saira and Dan will be flying to Morocco to go on a trek up the Jebel Toubkal, the tallest Mountain in North Africa. Both have never done anything like this before, but were very excited and spurred on by the end result. They both agreed there main goal is to hit the target  for Make A Wish Foundation. Saira and Dan return on the 26th September. We wish them both well and look forward to seeing the pictures and reporting on their journey.

The Comet Store in Crawley

Have you been thinking of purchasing a new electrical item lately? Why not pop in to Comet on Friday 2nd April to see what they have on offer and to support Saira, Dan and the rest of the staff who work for Comet.

Would you like to donate to their raffle? You would! Great, give them a call on 0844 800 9595 or pop in to see them here.

Would you like to donate to Saira & Dan’s cause?

Please visit here to support Dan. Please visit here to support Saira, or both if you can! The littlest amount is more than enough!

Video

Are you having a fund raising event? Let us know on 01293 572182 :-)

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West Sussex invests £15m in permanent road repairs

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

West Sussex invests £15m in permanent road repairs

West Sussex County Council is to spend £15 million on permanent repairs for its roads.

Following the worst winter weather for some 30 years the condition of the county’s roads has deteriorated dramatically.

By the end of March the County Council will have repaired over 20,000 potholes since the beginning of the year, with 30 teams repairing up to 500 potholes per day.

Most of the repairs have been temporary as this is the best way to quickly make the road safe and keep up with the number of holes that are still appearing on a daily basis. However, a programme of permanent repairs is now underway.

County Council Leader, Henry Smith, said: “The last two winters have had a devastating impact on our roads. The independent Audit Commission has previously rated our roads among the best in the country. However, after the recent severe weather we have been left with roads that need serious and sustained work.

“We want to return the roads to the best condition residents rightly expect but to do this we need to find a substantial amount of money to fund permanent and lasting repairs.

“The Cabinet has therefore decided to defer some schemes from the planned programme of Highways and Transport works for 2010/11 and use the money to pay for permanent repairs on our roads.”

The decision means many non-urgent schemes will be delayed while money is diverted towards permanent road repairs such as resurfacing, deep patching and surface dressing.

West Sussex Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport, Derek Whittington, said: “The volume of correspondence I have received has convinced me that we need to make road repairs the over-riding priority for next year’s capital programme.

“Giving priority to the damage repair will ensure our roads are safe, provide overall value for money and ensure County Council funds are used in the most efficient way. Without this we could face a larger repair bill through progressive deterioration.

“It is important to understand that schemes have been deferred and not cancelled. However, due to the unprecedented deterioration of the roads over the last two years I feel we must take this action.”

Details of the £15m funding package are as follows:

• £5m from existing road maintenance budgets.

• £8.7m from delaying some schemes and by using capital grants and funding more flexibly.

• £1.3m in government grant.

Henry added: “The surprise announcement from government last week that we are to receive some funding towards road repairs is welcome, although it should be remembered that for the past few years they have cut around £2m per annum from our highways grant.

“The funding package means that we are able to go ahead with all of the School Safety Zones planned for many areas of the county.”

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