A new film showing people from all corners of the world becoming British citizens in West Sussex has just been released.
Every year hundreds of new British citizens take part in special citizenship ceremonies organised by West Sussex County Council registration service.
The ceremonies are part of the Government’s efforts to help immigrants to this country feel at home and British.
The film gives a valuable insight into the ceremonies and features interviews with some of Britain’s newest citizens and their families.
Mike Coleman, Chairman of West Sussex County Council, said: “I hope this film will help people planning to attend a ceremony see what they can expect to find when they arrive.
“It should also help to give the wider community a better understanding of what it takes to become a British citizen.”
Under the National, Immigration and Asylum Act of 2002 everyone over 18 who’s successfully applied to become a British citizen must take an oath of allegiance and make a citizenship pledge.
The ceremonies are held every month in Crawley and Chichester with an average of 30 new citizens attending each time.
Up until the 8th April, two men can be seen walking around parts of Crawley and beyond. But not as you would expect.
Tom Vanhinsbergh and Ben Le Beau are in training for their Guiness World Record attempt, a three legged run/walk. The record so far is 40.02 miles within twelve hours, so Tom and Ben are going to walk 41.2 miles starting from the Plough Inn, Ifield to the pillars in Brighton, then back again.
Tom & Ben enjoying their first training session
The to men started their training regime at Tilgate Park under the watchful eye of their spouses. Joining them was Marilyn from the Olive Tree and Gary from Ifield Chestnut House.
We spoke to Ben who told us “our 3-leg record is raising money solely for the Olive Tree to start their ‘Move It!’ initiative as Marilyn mentions in the interview.
The money raised will go towards setting up a ‘Move It!’ initiative (Macmillan) at The Olive Tree that encourages people living with cancer or after cancer to get involved in physical activity. Doctors used to advise people to rest as much as possible during treatment, but this has changed. They now know that too much rest results in loss of muscle strength and leaves you with low energy levels. One report I read said something like “if exercise were a tablet it would be headline news” …. which I think sums it up brilliantly.
Your money will also help The Olive Tree continue their great everyday work: complementary therapies, counselling, information and support for cancer patients and their carers and families.
The Pillars to Plough event is splitting the money raised between the Olive Tree, to support the bits I’ve just mentioned and also the Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice. This is where the money will be spent by them:
The money raised for the Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice this year will go towards funding two specifically trained neonatal nurses to support families with new born babies that are unlikely to survive beyond a few days or weeks, or if they do then they will require constant care for the duration of their lives.
You can see your efforts and support do really make a difference, so please help your friends and family raise money for their Pillars to Plough attempts and feel free to enter, the more the merrier. Entry Forms on our website: www.ifieldchestnuthouse.co.uk“.
You can donate in many forms to this amazing record breaking attempt by clicking here. You can also keep up with the progress of the boys on their blog here.
We will be keeping a close eye on Tom and Ben’s training and will keep you all updated. We wish them both all the best.
Henry Smith praised the management of Gatwick and the thousands of Crawley residents who work at the airport in a speech in the House of Commons last night.
Henry said:
“Over the last two years Gatwick has made significant progress that has helped to improve its efficiency and the passenger experience as a whole. More than £1 billion has been spent on these works with upgrades to both the North and South Terminals, the introduction of state of the art security facilities and improvements to Gatwick Train Station.
“I wanted to fully commend in the Commons the fantastic work everyone at Gatwick has done to improve the airport over the last two years. Thousands of Crawley residents work at the airport and their hard work has brought about a real difference in the experience for every passenger visiting the airport.”
Crawley MP, Henry Smith, was speaking in the Second Reading debate of the Civil Aviation Bill. Despite huge changes, legislation has not been updated in this area for over a quarter of a century.
In an interview in today’s Daily Mail, local MP Henry Smith, expressed his shock at the apparent number of local jobs that are being advertised abroad in countries such as Romania.
Henry Smith, speaking to the Daily Mail earlier, commented:
“I was shocked to learn that local residents are apparently losing jobs to foreign workers as positions are being advertised in countries such as Romania.
“We are currently in the middle of a global economic crisis and with our national debt having reached a £1 trillion, we should be ensuring that, where possible, jobs are filled by British people.”
The Daily Mail reports that Crawley positions advertised in Romania include chef, sales, hotel receptionist, taxi driver and massage therapist.
Henry continued:
“I can’t believe that in the Crawley and Gatwick area there isn’t a suitably committed chef who is a resident of this country and cannot see why there is a requirement to advertise this job abroad, and that goes for the other positions as well.
“As a country we have become increasingly restricted by our membership of the EU to ensure local jobs are going to local people who are from this country.
“This is still part of the problem, despite the Government introducing controls on people from Bulgaria and Romania and the dedicated work of our border patrols.
