More than 65 low-emission vehicles – some not seen on UK roads before – completed the second annual Brighton to London RAC Future Car Challenge this weekend. The challenge put to the entrants was who could use the least amount of energy whilst travelling the sixty mile route.
The vehicles:
Those taking part ranged from enthusiasts driving their own vehicles to major car manufacturers including BMW, Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Renault, smart, Toyota, Vauxhall, Volkswagen and Land Rover. Many of the vehicles, such as the Land Rover Range_e, BMW Active-e and Volkswagen Golf Blue e-motion will not be on sale for two or more years and had rarely been seen on UK roads. As well as low-emission conventional (internal combustion) engined cars, the entry list included electric vehicles, hybrid models and cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
The entrants and the route:
The entrants started this morning from Madeira Drive, Brighton at 7.30am each were flagged off by the Mayor of Brighton Cllr Anne Meadows. Many of those who took part are wellknown motoring celebrities – including British Formula One legend and 1996 World Champion, Damon Hill OBE, Quentin Willson (TV presenter and magazine columnist), Gordon Murray (former F1 designer), Mark Goodier (Smooth Radio DJ) and Kevin McCloud (Grand Designs TV programme presenter).
Source: www.futurecarchallenge.com
Shelley popped down to see what all the noise was about and found there was no noise whatsoever! In fact, the cars were so quiet the risk of being run over by several of these amazing vehicles was a high risk Shelley got to meet some wonderful people at the event including our very own Mayor Carol Eade and Youth Mayor Pravin Sanasy. Along side the two Mayors, Shelley got to speak to the delightful Damon Hill, Robert Llewelyn and Mark Goodier.
Henry Smith MP has welcomed a newly launched Social Action Fund worth £20 million which aims to benefit voluntary and community groups whose work is invaluable to local society.
Henry commented:
“I am pleased that this Government recognises the invaluable work that voluntary and community organisations carry out and has pledged this fund to support such groups. There are numerous organisations in Crawley that would really benefit from the funding on offer and so I would urge them to make an application.
“Crawley and West Sussex councils give great support but I would like to see voluntary organisations locally getting the further help they deserve. The Big Society is about communities offering unique services that the state often can’t I am pleased that the Government recognises it must therefore create a supportive environment for the voluntary sector to grow.”
In 1986 Mr Peter Vallance bought his first historical aircraft, the Sea Hawk and that was just the beginning.
The Museum
The Gatwick Aviation Museum is now home to twenty eight aeroplanes. With around twenty of these being post war British aircraft all on display for the public to admire and learn from.
Shelley was invited to the museum by Peter who showed her and her son Logan around. Logan found it fascinating and didn’t want to leave.
The Gatwick Aviation Museum is an awe inspiring museum filled with history and memorabilia. Peter told us some of the memorabilia had been donated by the general public which he now keeps in great condition to show the history of aviation, especially at Gatwick.
Charity
The museum is a registered charity (charity number 1075858). It’s object is to provide an educational centre for the general public, students and school children. It means to raise awareness of national aviation awareness. Their aim to have a purpose built building which will preserve, maintain and display the classical aircrafts, engines and memorabilia.
Founders
Along with Mr Peter Vallance, Mr Graham Collins founded the charity. Peter was born in Crawley 66 years ago and attended school locally. Peter went on to experience a career in the Royal Forces. On leaving Peter started a successful business and became a respected member of various societies and committees.
Collin was originally born and raised in Somerset but ended up living in Surrey after a very respectful time in the Royal air Force then onto serving in the Metroplitan Police.
The passion for aviation bought these two young men together.
Aircraft
The variation of aircraft at the museum is amazing. You can see The Buccaneer, The Sea Hawk, The Sea Vixen, The Gloster Meteor, The Fairey Gannet, The Sea Prince, The Canberra, The Hawker Hunter, The Avro Shackleton, a Venom FB1, The Harrier, The Victor, The Whirlwind, The Percival Pembroke, The Piston Provest and so many more….
Open Days
The Gatwick Aviation Museum is opening its doors to the general public on the 11th & 25th (Peter accidentally says the 22nd in the interview) September and the 9th October, but you can visit by appointment. To book please visit their website here.
Henry Smith MP today welcomed new figures which show that disadvantaged children in Crawley are set to receive £683,000 this year under the Government’s new ‘pupil premium’.
The pupil premium is a new policy promised by the Conservatives before the General Election last year. It is an extra lump sum of cash which follows every disadvantaged child and is received by schools, allowing them to provide additional support such as one-to-one tuition and extra pastoral care.
Henry said:
“The Government has announced that in the year from April 2011, the pupil premium will be worth £430 for every pupil on Free School Meals, £430 for every looked-after child, and £200 for every child who has a parent in the armed services. This means that in Crawley this year 1,590 children overall will benefit from the £683,000 funding.
“There can be no doubting that this is fantastic news for young people in Crawley. The gap between the academic performance of children from deprived backgrounds and their peers is far too big and has been ignored for too long.
“The pupil premium will tackle this disparity head on, providing targeted funding for those who need it most. This could mean extra one-to-one tuition or more pastoral support.
“Despite the growing academic disparity under Labour, I am pleased that this Government, even in these tough economic time, is delivering a massive boost to the education of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children.”
For more information on how this could help you, please follow the link:
The name Gatwick Diamond Rotary Club derives from the Business Development Area we are in the middle of.
Last week Henry Smith MP for Crawley was made an honorary member of the Gatwick Diamond Rotary Club.
By an amazing quirk of fate the Gatwick Diamond Rotary are the 60th Club in District 1250 and when formed it was also the Diamond Jubilee of Crawley New Town being given the Green Light in November 1947, and the 60th Anniversary of the Queens Wedding
The Gatwick Diamond is an important economic area, centred on Gatwick Airport, situated between London and Brighton.
their Motto is “Service Above Self” and above all whilst helping the Local Community we have “Fun and Fellowship”
At Gatwick Diamond Rotary Club they are always looking for new members from all walks of life with a wide spectrum of talents that the Rotary can tap into so as to be able to respond quickly & efficiently to any situation that might occur. They want to concentrate on helping the Local Community wherever possible but at the same time respond immediately to any emergency anywhere in the world that might occur.
It is team effort that has got us this far and the Rotary will continue to work together to build our club for the future. They embrace technology wherever possible to get their name promoted using Social media platforms like Facebook, linkedIn and Twitter.
The Rotary need a multiplicity of new ideas and skills for the club to embrace the 21st century.
They aim to change the Public’s perception of Rotary as being an “Old Man’s Club” and introduce a new dynamism. Namely they want a vibrant club with members of all ages, sexes, creeds & job capabilities so that they can tap into their abilities to respond quickly & efficiently to any situation that might occur, whether locally or on the International front. The Rotary already have a multiplicity of ideas and skills in the club but you can never have too many.
They will continue to invite new member to join the team using technology and the media wherever possible to help us in this objective. Their objective is to achieve Diamond Membership in our Club and to become a real Gem of a Club.
Current list of Members
Dr Mansour Jumaa – President & Founder Member -Leadership Training
Ernest Izard – Immediate Past President, Founder Member, Treasurer & Charity Chair – Royal British Legion
Betty Izard – President Elect & Membership Chair
Graham Cridland – Vice President & Youth Chair – West Sussex Angling Academy
Winner of Heart FM Local Heroes The Outstanding Community Contribution award &
‘Heart’s Local Hero 2011′
Joanna Carter-Robinson – Past President 2009-2010 & Founder Member
On Sunday 7th August Three Bridges FC showed Essex United the way it is done by beating them 3-2.
With Mark Wright, star of The Only Way Is Essex and Jack Tweed, widower of Jade Goody playing for the Essex United team it was a game looked on by many.
The Only Way is Essex star Mark Wright
The first goal was an impressive sight by Tim River in the 37th minute. James Grant then moved in to give Three Bridges a 2-0 lead just before the end of the first half.
Essex United came back to score just after the whistle for the start of the second half with a great goal by Tom Williams making it 2-1. This was not to last long as shortly after Tim Rivers made another smooth shot to make the score 3-1.
Five minutes later Lee Roget put one in the back of the net for Essex United making the final score 3-2.
We sent Shelley along to film the game and take some photos for you. Shelley spoke to Mark Wright who said “I have enjoyed coming to Crawley and the people have been lovely”.
The full game can be seen here (please be advised there is some bad language in this footage).
Five men have come together to raise money for their chosen charity ‘Help Our Wounded Royal Marines’, formed by Chris Stubbings BEM in March 2010.
Quote from the facebook page:
HELP OUR WOUNDED is a fundraising arm for The Royal Marines Association, Charity Number 206003. HOW was formed on the 4th March 2010 because of the number of seriously injured Royal Marines returning from operational tours in Afghanistan Iraq and other areas of armed conflict. HELP OUR WOUNDED is a community based effort seeking to help the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund (Registered Charity No 1134205), meet it’s target of raising £6M by the 350th anniversary of the Corps in October 2014. A Campaign Board has been established to coordinate the Corps Family effort working towards this testing target and HELP OUR WOUNDED is represented on that board.
What, when and where
On December the 3rd and 4th Dave Lilburn MBE, Stuart Baldwin, Cai Ives, Stuart Bourne and Stuart Power will be pulling a sledge from London to Brighton to help raise awareness and funds for this great charity.
Quote from the facebook page:
Myself (Stuart Bourne, Regional Fund Raiser for the South Eat) along with David Lilburn,Cai Ives,Stuart Baldwin and Stuart Power will be pulling a sledge to rasie funds for HELP OUR WOUNDED ROYAL MARINES over the weekend stopping at Crawley where there will be a fundraisng event on the Saturday evening. We have also enlisted some Santa Helpers as traffic guides (Reserves) and these are : Gay Wise, Andy Hains, Dale Lilburn and Ashton Lilburn.
As well as raising funds we will be asking for donations of xmas presents so that we may pass these onto the children of those brave Royals who have given their lives and will not be around this xmas so please lets do all we can to try and raise a smile and show we do care and will never forget them.
We hope as many people will join in around the country and mirror what we are doing. We would like this to become an annual event, so take up the challenge and get pulling for HELP OUR WOUNDED ROYAL MARINES.
We wish them all the best
Shelley was invited down to the martial arts school Lumpini in Priestley Way, Crawley to speak to the men involved. We also spoke to John Jarvis who is a trainer at Lumpini who have offered to train the men to full fitness for the event. John told us they were more than honoured to help the men get fit for this feat and to support them in many more ways, including giving them a stall at their forthcoming Muaythai Boxing event happening this Saturday at Effingham Park Hotel. More details can be found here.
We would like to wish them all the best. We will be covering their arrival into Crawley on December 3rd. Please show your support in any way you can.
On the 21st July at 7:20pm the first guests at the Crawley NCT (National Childbirth Trust) event ‘The Do!’ began to queue outside Club 7878 in Horley. They had been told that the first 50 guests through the door at 8pm would receive a gorgeous goodie bag (some of the details of which had been posted on the events Facebook page over the last few weeks). The first people admitted were greeted by the branch co-chairs – Alexis Ozmen and Clare Hoggan who presented them with their much anticipated bags. The club was decked out in balloons in NCT colours, there were cupcakes and nibbles for all to enjoy as they dipped into their goodie bags to discover the treats within and sipped their first drink. They were also treated to some close up magic by magicians Rob Sharp and Simon Archer.
While the DJ played some excellent party tunes, the guests continued to arrive before they were welcomed by the Co-Chairs, followed by an address by Member of Parliament for Crawley Henry Smith who shared his experience with the NCT having attended Ante Natal Classes in the Branch. After the final speaker Jules Jones who spoke about being a parent and volunteering with the NCT Henry Smith pulled the first 3 prizes in the fabulous prize draw then the lights were dimmed and the music cranked up and everyone concentrated on enjoying themselves.
MP Henry Smith helps pick the lucky winners of the raffle
The NCT is the UK’s largest parenting charity providing support in pregnancy with our excellent antenatal classes, supporting post-natally with breastfeeding support and early years classes all held locally within branches. Crawley branch have a weekly drop in – Bumps, Babes and Tiddlypeeps (Held on a Tuesday morning at Furnace Green Community Centre, Ashburnham Drive 10– 11:30am – everyone is welcome for a suggested donation of £1 to assist with hire costs) and hold Nearly New Sales twice yearly (in March and November) where anyone can buy and sell good quality pregnancy, baby and child related items. As well as these regular events there are also ad hoc social events for parents and their children (for example a Teddy Bears picnic and Christmas party as well as coffee mornings and soft play gatherings) and evening events for the hard working parents such as pamper evenings and fashion shows.
The night was danced away
In order to put on all these great events the branch is in need of volunteers. Volunteering is great fun and does not need to be time consuming – there are roles to suit everyone, committee posts which are a regular role as well as the smaller one off things like hosting a social event (large or small) and helping out at our nearly new sales. Whatever role a person takes on they can rely on the fact that they will be part of a fantastic team, have great fun meeting new people and will receive full support in their role. To find out more about the branch visit the facebook page by clicking here, email the chairs chair@nctcrawley.org.uk or call our branch enquiries line 08442436098.
Shelley interview Clare Hoggan & Alexis Ozmen
‘The Do!’ is the first event of its kind and was an enormous success. Its purpose was to thank all the volunteers of the branch past, present and future and everyone enjoyed themselves, lots of guests won prizes in the draw which were all donated by local businesses and the goodie bags were very well received. Alexis and Clare would like to thank Ian Metcalfe of Club 7878 (and Bar 429) for the use of the venue which was perfect, Sabine Edwards of Pendleton Events who donated her time and ensured the event ran smoothly, all the donors to the prize draw and goodie bags, Rob and Simon for wowing people with card tricks and the sponsors of the cupcakes and nibbles.
A great night was had by all and everyone is now crying out for more!
Source: Clare Hoggan, Crawley NCT Branch Co-Chair
We would like to thank Sabina and Clare for the great hospitality and the invite to this fab event
Henry Smith MP has today highlighted an important initiative for local community charity and voluntary groups to nominate themselves for a total of £18,000 worth of awards.
Crawley’s Natwest Branch, as part of their Community Force project, are encouraging local voluntary groups to put themselves forward for three £6,000 awards.
“I am pleased that Natwest has recognised its stake in the Big Society and is offering £18,000 worth in award money for three successful projects chosen by local residents.
“I am always in awe of the fantastic work carried out by so many community groups in Crawley that really make a remarkable difference to so many peoples’ lives. It is, therefore, fantastic when companies like Natwest develop programmes that local charities can apply for funding from. I hope this will provide even more support for the good work they do.”
Charity and voluntary groups wishing to put themselves forward for the awards should register at www.natwest.com/communityforce from today.
This morning in the House of Commons the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, joined with Crawley MP, Henry Smith, in congratulating Crawley-based Virgin Atlantic Airlines and Central Sussex College for their work in creating new apprenticeships for local people.
Henry said:
“I’m delighted that the Business Secretary during Commons Questions paid tribute to Virgin Atlantic’s creation of 42 engineering apprenticeships along with Central Sussex College administering a further 900 apprenticeships, both in Crawley.
“The Business Secretary responded by honouring these two organisations as having helped in boosting the number of apprenticeships offered in Crawley by 62% over the past year.
“This significant increase in Apprenticeship opportunities goes some way in explaining why figures released from the Office for National Statistics yesterday show that the private sector has added 520,000 jobs in the last year. Only yesterday I was able to announce 170 new local jobs with Ceres Power and last month 600 new jobs with Siemens.
“Crawley jobs and Crawley skills are on the move again.”
RSPB Pulborough Brooks hosted a visit from Bewbush Community Primary school and Henry Smith MP for Crawley as part of a UK-wide initiative to get every child outdoors.
The event was in response to a call from teachers for more outside facilities to ensure all children and young people have the opportunity to learn outdoors and have contact with nature. Henry Smith came to see first-hand the benefits contact with nature brings and also heard from teachers how valuable these experiences are educationally.
Henry Smith said:
“My family have always enjoyed our visits to Pulborough Brooks as a fun and informative day out. Giving children a better understanding of the environment is essential for their education and I commend the actions taking by Pulborough Brooks to ensure that more children from across Sussex have access to such outdoor facilities.”
The Reception class (4 – 5 year olds) spent the day taking part in a variety of hands-on activities. Including pond dipping for creatures such as water-boatmen, pond skaters and dragonfly nymphs; mini-beast hunting for bugs and beetles in the woods, and then finishing off with a sensory exploration of nature in the wildflower meadow.
Henry Smith added:
“My thanks, as ever, to the RSPB for their work – it was great to accompany pupils from Crawley on their visit. The Government’s Pupil Premium which has seen an extra three-quarters-of-a-million funding given to Crawley schools was designed to allow such enhanced educational experiences.”
Today’s initiative comes in response to new research, commissioned by the RSPB, from Ipsos MORI, that asked teachers what would encourage them to do more of their teaching outdoors (note 1).
After additional funding, primary teachers said that the thing they need to do more of their teaching outdoors was greater access to outside classrooms and outdoors facilities.
Hayley Riley, Early Years Leader from Bewbush Community Primary School, said:
“I believe that it is vital for children to explore nature through firsthand experience. Our school firmly believes that children should have as many outdoor experiences as possible to enrich their learning.
“Children should be given the opportunity to explore different environments. Places like Pulborough Brooks enable children to be close to nature and observe creatures, such as mini-beasts in their natural habitat. This is fundamental to children’s learning.”
This initiative, a partnership between the RSPB, Field Studies Council and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, sees them open the doors to all their teaching sites and centres.
Between them each year they welcome nearly a quarter of a million children and young people to their centres providing outdoor learning facilities to schools and universities.
At RSPB Pulborough Brooks they provide opportunities for 3,500 children who take part in the field teaching programme each year.
The reserve also holds the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom’s Quality badge – a kite mark recently introduced to demonstrate the high quality of outdoor learning that takes place as well as their health and safety procedures (note 2).
Despite all the evidence about the positive impacts contact with nature brings to a child’s education, health and wellbeing, many children are still missing out on these crucial experiences.
The RSPB, Field Studies Council and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust believe that every child should have regular contact with nature, whether in their school grounds, local environment, further afield, or with family and friends.
Jackie Day, Education Officer, said: “Here at Pulborough Brooks we provide a safe environment for children to learn about the wonders of our wildlife and landscape. We are very proud to have been awarded the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge which recognises our high standard of provision for the many school children that visit us each year”
Vote now for pioneering Hastings Homeless Service!
Sussex residents are being urged to cast their vote for the ground breaking St John Ambulance Homeless Service which provides first aid and vital health care to some of the most vulnerable people in Hastings.
The service has reached the South East semi-finals of the National Lottery Awards and is now relying on local people to see it crowned with the coveted ‘Best Health Project’ title.
The three projects with the most votes in each category will go through to the final round of public voting later in the summer.
St John Ambulance set up its Hastings Homeless Service in 2003 with the help of a £152,701 Lottery grant. It received another £181,498 worth of Lottery funding in 2007.
The charity’s 14-strong team of dedicated volunteers provides a unique service to homeless and vulnerable people who, for a variety of complex reasons, find themselves excluded from GP and other mainstream health services.
The service ranges from emergency first aid in life or death situations to ongoing support designed to help desperate people turn their lives around.
The team includes five nurses, a mental health nurse and a podiatrist. Together they provide four daytime health clinics a week at the Seaview Project day-centre in St Leonards and a fortnightly Saturday evening clinic at Hope Kitchen in Hastings.
The free drop-in clinics enable homeless people to receive treatment for a range of serious illnesses and conditions common among those who live at the margins of society – they include bronchitis, trench foot, skeletal injuries and mental problems linked to alcohol and drug abuse. Last year the service had more than 1,400 contacts with clients.
Along with professional health care, the charity also provides a wide range of support services designed to help people tackle their problems and turn their lives around.
A pioneering partnership between the Homeless Service and the Conquest Hospital has been successful in reducing repeated readmission to hospital because St John Ambulance ensures patients are given the support they need when they are discharged after treatment.
The project has reduced the burden on the NHS while ensuring that discharged patients don’t simply return to their desperate lives on the streets with all the associated health risks.
Homeless Service Manager Markie Barratt said: ‘It’s easy to vote so I hope as many people as possible will support us.’
‘Gaining a national award would be a great boost for the project which relies on public donations and Lottery funding to provide vital health care to people who most need it. In many cases the service is quite literally the difference between a life lost and a life saved.’
What could be better on a warm summer’s day than sitting outside in beautiful woodland surroundings listening to great music and enjoying a pint! Crawley’s 20th annual Folk and Beer Festival offers all this and more from Friday 24th – Sunday 26th June at The Hawth.
All ages will find something to entertain them at this family friendly fest. There are free performances from Spare Parts who play fiddle and concertina, blues from Cajun Dawgs, alternative folk from 4Square, contemporary Irish music with Ciarog plus free workshops in music, song and dance all leading up to the Festival Bal (ticketed event) on Saturday evening. Everyone will enjoy the free colourful dance displays in traditional styles and Morris dancing and then how about enjoying food from around the world at one of the many refreshment stands.
For those who love to shop, the festival market offers the chance to pick up unique pieces of clothing, beautiful craftwork and jewellery, fresh herbs and flowers and much more.
The Copper Family
For older visitors there is also the Beer Festival offering ales, ciders and perries from the beer tent all weekend. There are 45 different drinks to choose from, all from small, local breweries. Sample a pint of Rip Tide from Littlehampton or Brighton Blonde. For those who find themselves over indulging at the weekend there’s also Guilt Complex from Surrey Hills Co and Shooting Star from the Hammerpot Brewery. There will even be a beer from Maidenbower Brewery, you can’t get much more local than that!
Don’t forget to book for the ticketed events too, which this year include the Polish Pogues Warsaw Village Band (Fri 24 June 7.30pm), blues from The Elevators (Fri 24 June, 8.15pm), local folk legends The Copper Family (Sat 25 June, 7.15pm) and The Demon Barbers – Time Gentlemen Please (Sun 26 June 5pm), fresh from winning Best Live Act at the 2011 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
The Demon Barbers Roadshow
If you really want to get into the festival spirit, we have great on-site camping facilities from just £10 and as always, under 12s go free. So why not bring the whole family along!
West Sussex County Council urgently needs to recruit more foster carers in Crawley and surrounding areas because of the rising number of children needing foster care.
As part of Foster Care Fortnight (May 16 to 29), West Sussex County Council is holding a fostering drop-in session at Crawley Library on Saturday 28th May from 10am to 4pm as part of a recruitment drive to sign up more carers.
These informal sessions give people a chance to chat to existing foster carers, like Babs Bower, and members of the highly experienced team, to allay fears and answer any questions people may have about fostering.
Local foster carer, Babs says: “I’ve been a foster carer for under-fives and sibling groups for over 30 years and I still enjoy it. Over the years I have cared for over 100 children; each one of them have been individuals with their own particular needs.
You don’t have to be a certain age or type of person to foster but you do need to be firm, fair and have patience. You have to treat these children as special because they are.”
Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Peter Evans, said: “To provide the highest standard of care, West Sussex County Council does its very best to match West Sussex children needing care to West Sussex foster carers.
“Children thrive on familiarity so our approach also means children and young people who need care stay close to their school, friends, people and places they know.”
West Sussex County Council makes sure a full package of training and support is provided to all its foster carers to meet the needs of the children and young people they care for.
Anyone who’s interested in fostering West Sussex children and young people but cannot make the event can call the Fostering Recruitment Team on 01403 229333 or visit www.westsussex.gov.uk/fostering
WANTED: Volunteers for library’s reading challenge
Read all about it – volunteers aged 13 to 25 years old are needed to help out at West Sussex County Council’s Library Service’s Summer Reading Challenge.
Volunteers will be asked to spare time during the challenge to help families register, choose and discuss books, and to award medals and certificates for children who complete the challenge.
The free annual Summer Reading Challenge, which runs from Saturday 16th July to Saturday 10th September, is aimed at 4 to 12 year olds who are asked to read up to six books from their local Library, winning awards at different stages. The theme this year is the circus.
All volunteers will get:
• full training and support for the work
• experience of working with children and families
• a chance to develop new skills such as organisation, communication and teamwork
• a certificate from Outset Youth Action showing the hours they have volunteered.
Deborah Urquhart, County Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for Libraries, said: “Whether you can spare a few hours a week or a day, this is a great chance for young people to get involved in a community event and gain some skills.
“People could recommend books to the children that they used to read, and get involved in creating medals and badges.
“The Summer Reading Challenge is always a success, and brings children together as well as expanding their reading skills.”
To get involved, visit http://tinyurl.com/6yvyxr4 and click on the application form. Alternatively, visit your local Library for more details.
Bus service subsidies to be reduced by County Council
An ‘impact assessment’ to find out how reductions in bus subsidies will affect passengers is being launched by West Sussex County Council.
The County Council announced in February that it would be reducing the subsidy it gives to bus companies in West Sussex by £2 million, leaving a budget of £2.7 million per year.
Of the 24 million bus journeys made every year in West Sussex, reduction could affect just two million trips.
The savings, which will be phased over a three-year period, are necessary as part of the County Council’s need to reduce its overall spending by £79 million.
The County Council is asking passengers on the selected services to explain how the changes are likely to affect them.
Details of the routes that might be affected from September 2011 will be available online at www.westsussex.gov.uk/buses as well as in local libraries and Help Points.
Sunday and evening services will be most affected but passengers may also see a reduction in the frequency of services on some routes during weekdays. A small number of routes used by school children who are not eligible for free transport are also included in the proposals.
Lionel Barnard, West Sussex County Council Deputy Leader with responsibility for Highways and Transport, said: “We very much regret having to reduce these subsidies but I must stress that although the County Council is withdrawing some subsidies it may not mean an end to the service.
“We are working with the bus companies to look at all possible alternatives. In some cases it might be possible for services to continue running with a fare increase, or a reduced number of buses if the bus operators find a way to absorb the cost themselves.
“We are also keen to work with local residents and community transport schemes to look at alternative ways for people to make their journeys.”
Recommendations on which subsidies to reduce have been made by a specially formed cross-party group of councillors.
The impact assessment closes on Friday June 10 with the first phase of reductions taking effect from September 1, 2011.
As well as information on the County Council website, people can call 01243 642105, email buses@westsussex.gov.uk or write to: Buses, Have Your Say, FREEPOST RSBK-CHTU-KGGG, West Sussex County Council, Chichester, PO19 1RQ.
Coffee Time for the curious at County Record Office
It was said, at one time, that a person could walk right across West Sussex going from one great estate to another.
Now anyone can find out more about the county’s great estates, from manorial accounts to servant’s photographs, at the County Record Office Coffee Time Session on Wednesday 1st June.
The Record Office, in Orchard Street, Chichester, holds the sessions on the first Wednesday of every month, from 10am – 12pm, for people wanting to learn more about family history from experts, in a relaxed atmosphere over a cup of tea or coffee.
Sessions so far have included learning how to read old handwriting and introducing computer sources for family historians. Future sessions include reading old school records and general advice for beginners.
West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for the Record Office, Deborah Urquhart, said: “Many West Sussex residents will have ancestors who lived or worked for one of the great estates in the county, such as Petworth, Goodwood or Cowdray.
“The estate records held at the Record Office may be a treasure trove of information on someone’s family history.”
There are records on servants who worked in the big houses, including wage books, which show how much they earned and how long they worked for.
There is also information on some of the major landlords, such as their accounts and bills from local and London shopkeepers, lists of charities they supported, and information on their tenants and workers.
Deborah said: “The records of the great estates are well kept and have a good survival rate, especially when the estate has been in the same family for centuries.
“The Record Office has a host of experts who will be on hand to help anyone with their research, giving advice and tips.”
Tickets are £7.50 and need to be booked in advance. Call the Record Office on 01243 753602 or email, records.office@westsussex.gov.uk
Shelley got to meet some wonderful people at the event including our very own Mayor Carol Eade and Youth Mayor Pravin Sanasy. Along side the two Mayors, Shelley got to speak to the delightful Damon Hill, Robert Llewelyn and Mark Goodier.
