Seaford Volunteer Emergency Team

Seafor d Vo lunt eer Em erg ency Team – New Phon e numb er alert Phone line hours: Mon to Fri: 9am – 5pm. Tel: 01323 364058

This month we are asking you to use our new phone number please as we move into a new stage of supporting those are still vulnerable.

collect any money. In July there was a marked downturn in the number of

done so. calls for support. We are delighted that so many of you are now able to reassert your independence. So, with that in mind we have reduced our hours for the time being. The phone line will not be manned on Saturday mornings either.

We are constantly monitoring the national and local Switchboard LGBT support 10am –10pm 0300 330

situation and will react speedily to any further decrease or potential increase, in requests for help and according to local public health advice. This means we may make sudden service changes but there will always be an answerphone message to let you know, a post on our Facebook page, website and via other local media.

We have also set up a Constitution with Management Committee so that we are able to ensure safe governance for our registered volunteers and the residents we are helping.

Just so you all know who the mysterious ‘we’ are, the officers are as follows: Chair Sarah McStravick Vice Chair Rev Arwen Folkes Secretary Becky Francomb Treasurer Stephen Gauntlett Helpline Coordinator Carole Henderson Volunteer Coordinator Richard Wright Despatcher Coordinator Heidi Kahlsdorf Safeguarding Officers Sarah McStravick, Rev Arwen Folkes Solutions Coordinator Jo Peppard Lewes District Council Liaison Christine Brett Seaford Town Council Liaison Jean Cash

So we and our myriad of unsung back of house and you. We are able to respond to anyone who suddenly has to go into isolation, but this means we need your help to enable us to pay for the phone line, PPE and other things we need to keep everyone safe. Many people have offered to donate to support us in the last few weeks but previously we did not have a means to

There is no obligation from those we are helping but we have set up a ‘GoFundMe’ which you can find on our Facebook page and website or ring our help line 01323 364058 if you are not online, and we will tell you what to do. A big thank you to everyone who has already

Remember you can also contact us on our website: https://svet.proffer.org.uk and fill in the request form for support.

Thank you to everyone who has pulled together to make this possible. If we cannot help you, we know some people who can, so here are some useful numbers. Please note the Lewes Community Hub (LDC) phone line (LDC) is paused for the time being. NHS responders (GoodSAM) 0808 196 3646 (8am-8pm) (includes patient transport volunteers) Sea friends/Listening Ear 01323 914689 Havens Community Cars (volunteer car drivers) 9.30–3pm 01273 918226 East Sussex Adult Care (including emergency duty service) 0345 60 80 191 East Sussex Children and Families 0345 6080192 out of hours 01273 335905/6 National Domestic Violence Helpline 0808 2000 247 Samaritans 116123 Shout (text service for those in Crisis) text 85258 Silverline (listening service for older people 24/7 24/7 0800 4708090 Sussex Mental Health Helpline for those in Crisis freephone 0300 5000 101 runs 24/7 practical support volunteers are still going to be here for

0630

Please stay safe and stay socially distanced. Sarah McStravick (Chair) and The SVET Team

Rich in history meets co untry – wh er e town at th e Pells of Lewes

of foot and mouth disease. Then the land was laid out as streets, with building plots sold for housing and a school, eventually becoming known as the Pells neighbourhood. Before World War I, the lake, fed by natural springs, attracted large crowds to ‘Venetian fêtes’ or regattas, held by Lewes Rowing Club. Sussex towns and villages are steeped in history and there is growing interest in researching the past by local history groups. This month (September) sees the publication of a fascinating book about a neighbourhood in Lewes called the Pells, near the River Ouse, where the famous outdoor swimming pool was built in 1860. The Pells of Lewes: pool, park, people, places, edited by Ruth Thomson and Sarah Bayliss, is a 160-page full-colour book published by Lewes History Group (LHG) in its

The book has been written by 15 enthusiasts who researched their houses, local streets and landmarks, including a pub, a church and a school, and interviewed residents with vivid memories of times past. Some authors traced long-gone features in the landscape – from ancient burial mounds, sacred springs and medieval swanneries, to a paper mill and an iron works. series of street stories.

In 1920, Wynne E. Baxter, the first mayor of Lewes, finally achieved a life-long ambition to buy the Pells Lake and a tree-lined walkway around it from the Marquess of Abergavenny’s estate. Baxter, from the Lewes printing family, who had become a lawyer and famous London coroner, donated the Pells land for public use just before he died, aged 76.

To mark the centenary of his gift, local residents had planned celebrations for June 2020, supported by Mayo, Wynne Baxter, the Sussex legal practice which still carries its founder’s name. The Covid-19 pandemic meant all the events were cancelled but, happily, Lewes History Group maintained its strong commitment to publish the book.

A bunting project, with flags portraying the history and natural life of the Pells, continued through the lockdown and now has 180 flags, stitched by 70 women, to decorate the pool and streets in future. The flags feature in the book alongside photographs, maps, drawings and house plans found at The Keep (East Sussex Record Office) and the Sussex Archaeological Society. The book describes how generous benefactors gave Editor Ruth Thomson said, ‘It is quite astonishing how land over the centuries to the townspeople, creating rich the history of the Pells area has proved to be. a ‘pleasure ground’ or park to improve public health Residents past and present, and Lewes collectors too, and welfare. The first was a local solicitor, John Rowe, have been most generous with their photographs, who donated a water meadow in 1603. Centuries later, illustrations, documents and postcards – many the Pells swimming pool was built there, paid for by previously unpublished.’ public subscription and replacing two much older baths which had been used for washing as well as swimming. The book will be available to order from 1st Today, the pool’s Grade II listed structure is the oldest, September from the LHG website, www.leweshistory. outdoor, freshwater public pool in continuous use in org.uk/pells-of-lewes/, price £12.50 plus postage. England. A talk about the history of the Pells will be hosted online on Monday 14th September at 7.30pm. Between 1879 and 1883, a cattle market, which had Attendance is free but anyone interested will need to moved from Lewes High Street, took place fortnightly register at www.leweshistory.org.uk/meetings. in the Pells but was closed down after an outbreak 14 Please mention Seaford Scene when contacting advertisers

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CRYPT GALLE RY SEA FORD RE-OPENS The Gallery is really excited to be opening its doors in September for Art Wave.

We are pleased to welcome back from Saturday 5th September until Sunday 20th September Sussex Arts Collective. Expect to see works by a wide variety of artists, crafts persons and makers.

There will be new measures in place to keep you and us safe, and numbers will be restricted but it will be worth the wait!

Crypt Gallery 23 Church Street Seaford BN25 1HD www.thecryptgallery.com

Cari atures By LES LEY HAR VEY Caricatures. Don’t know what to get as a present? How about a caricature? £47 per person in simple frame.

Contact Lesley on: 07722 236741 or email: lesleyharvey17@hotmail.com