Sussex Snippets

Charity & Community news from across the counties

Rewilding Britain's Rewilding Innovation Fund has granted funding to the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project, which aims to restore the depleted ocean kelp forests along the Sussex coastline. Kelp is a natural carbon store and encourages breeding grounds for fish and other marine animals. www.rewildingbritain.org.uk

Sussex Police Commissioner Katy Bourne has been meeting with partners, police and retailers to look at options for preventing anti-social behaviour as well as ways to carry out early interventions and enact immediate justice where offenders are seen in the community putting things right. Ms Bourne wants communities to suggest what reparative activities they’d like to see and will be releasing details of how to do this soon.

Sussex Police have hired an additional 429 police officers as part of the government's initiative to recruit 20,000 officers across England and Wales by the end of March 2023. In addition, 250 extra officers were recruited, funded by an increase in the police portion of local council tax, bringing the total number of additional officers to 679 to improve neighbourhood and response teams.

Ofsted Inspectors have praised West Sussex County Council’s Children’s Services for its ‘relentless approach to improving practice,’ giving the service an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’, with two ‘good’ judgements and two that ‘require improvement to be good’. This rating is up from the 2019 full inspection of Children’s when all areas were rated as inadequate.

The South Downs National Park is launching its 2023

Annual Photo Competition with the theme of “A New Perspective” and a top prize of £250. The competition challenges photographers of all levels and abilities to capture a unique view of the South Downs that shows off its magical beauty in a way people may not have seen before, with the judges being keen to see view- points that are out-of-the-ordinary. Entries close on 31st October. www.southdowns.gov.uk Staying with the SDNP, they have just compiled “Best walks with a cake stop” - search for “cake” on the Park’s website at www.southdowns.gov.uk

NHS Charities in Sussex are inviting people to register for Walk for Wards 2023. The event challenges participants to take on a 7.5km or 15km route to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHS and raise vital funds. It takes place on Saturday 10 June 2023 at Glynde Place near Lewes. www.headsoncharity.org/events

From 1-7 June it is national Volunteers Week at West Sussex Libraries, and they have fantastic volunteers who support our libraries in different ways. Find out how to become a library volunteer at www.arena.westsussex.gov.uk/libraryvolunteers Plus keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities for a new project to help people to read which is coming soon.

Businesses in West Sussex are being encouraged to invest in renewable energy

The scheme offers a group buying program for solar panels, battery storage, and EV charge points at competitive prices from pre-approved suppliers, helping businesses switch to clean energy. Solar Together Sussex is run by a partnership of Sussex local authorities led by West Sussex County Council. Businesses can now register to join the group for free and without obligation www.solartogether.co.uk/sussex

From 2-18 June, artists and makers will open up their studios, welcoming members of the public and showing their work. South East Open Studios celebrates creative talent across Kent, as well as parts of East Sussex and south London. www.seos-art.org