Charity & Community News

Community news from across the counties

Two Velocity road patching machines are being deployed across West Sussex to proactively seek and fill potholes before the regular inspections by Highways teams. In the first four weeks of the 2022/23 financial year the machines completed just over 1,100 repairs. Over 60 disadvantaged children and families will receive help and support, thanks to a grant of £30,000 from Sussex Freemasons to the charity Family Support Work (FSW). FSW supports disadvantaged families and their children who live in isolated rural areas or deprived seaside towns in Sussex. www.sussexmasons.org.uk. Sussex homeless charity Turning Tides are hosting t h e i r b i g g e s t SleepOut yet on Saturday 18th June to raise vital funds to support the life-saving services they provide. Participants will receive a light evening meal, breakfast, and unlimited hot drinks before spending the night under the stars within the grounds of Worthing Football Club. Participants are encouraged to raise sponsorship and can receive lots of support with this from the fundraising team. You can book your place online - www.turningtides.org.uk. Do you have 30 – 45 minutes available each week to make, from your home, a Teleph one B efr ien ding Call? These telephone calls are to people who say they are socially isolated or feel alone and who would welcome the opportunity to chat with a lovely volunteer. Calls cover hobbies, interests, memories and are focused on the recipient so require empathetic listening skills. For more information about this rewarding volunteering role, please email Deborah Hollywood, via sc-tr.voluntaryservicesbefriending@nhs.net or call 07435 732957 The West Sussex children’s hospice Chestnut Tree House, has launched a new challenge event – Wild Wood Swim – and is looking for participants to take on a 1km, 3km or 5km open water swim to raise vital funds. Wild Wood Swim is taking place on bank holiday, Monday 29th August, at the picturesque Weir Wood Reservoir in the Ashdown Forest. www.chestnut.org.uk. On 29th April, the charity Carers Support West Sussex, West Sussex County Council, local NHS, and partners welcomed more than 150 West Sussex unpaid family and friend carers, and health professionals, to the One Big Day event at Fontwell Park. The event was developed by carers, for carers and focussed on them being seen, heard, included, and supported in a world where finances are a challenge and systems, and services are stretched to the limit. Activities which carers enjoyed included reiki, satin hand moisturising, reflexology and mini-gel manicure, and an introduction to mindfulness, mini terracotta plant pot painting. Young carers aged under 18 enjoyed a dance and a film-making workshop. www.carerssupport.org.uk. 30 Days Wild is The Wildlife Trusts' annual nature challenge to do one 'wild' thing a day every day throughout June. Your daily wild activities can be anything you like - you might be having breakfast with the birds on Monday, feeling the grass between your toes on Tuesday, and watching wildlife webcams on Wednesday. There’s no set structure, so you can take part in a way that suits you. Anyone can take part, and on signing up you will receive a free pack in the post, plus lots of inspiration for activities. For details visit sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/discover/30-days-wild Building Heroes Education Foundation, a charity based in West Sussex, has won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise accolade. Founded in 2014, the charity works with military service leavers, veterans, and families to support skills development, employment and new careers opportunities, specifically in the construction industry. Budding writers are being invited to submit their poetry and short stories for new books celebrating both East Sussex and West Sussex. The deadline is July 28, with publication scheduled for late 2022/early 2023. Email your entries to: tsaunderspubs@gmail.com

Charity & Community News

New Climate Centre, Montague Place & St Barnabas Hospice

Climate Emergency Centre for Worthing - CREW The local community has set up a new charity CREW (Climate Resilience cEntre for Worthing), one of many Climate Emergency Centre (CEC’s) set up across the UK. It is building an alliance of local groups working on climate, nature and social emergencies, to significantly raise awareness within the town of the urgent need for action. CREW is funded through grants and donations, and getting local businesses involved. They are currently in the process of looking for town centre property to use and have had over 70 responses regarding volunteering to run the centre. If anyone is interested in helping in any way please contact cecworthing@gmail.com. Sunrise to Remember for St Barnabas Hospice Hayden, 25, and his partner Tia, 20, from Worthing, have signed up to walk 20km in Sunrise to Remember. They are raising funds for St Barnabas House – the hospice that cared for Hayden’s Mum, Emma, who passed away 10 years ago, aged 42. Taking place on 25 June 2022, Sunrise to Remember is a new sponsored walk from St Barnabas House and is open to people of all ages. Participants will set off from Worthing Leisure Centre at 4.15am and walk from darkness into the sunrise on a 10 or 20km route through the tree-lined paths of Worthing, across fields, down rivers and along the coast. Hayden was just 15 years old when he lost his mum to cancer in 2012, and to mark the 10-year anniversary of her death, Hayden has signed up to the Sunrise to Remember challenge in her memory. You can sponsor Hayden and Tia at www.justgiving.com/ haydecurtis Brightening up Worthing’s Montague Place An array of colourful plants and shrubs, as well as decorative street lighting and new seating areas are set to brighten up Montague Place as the next stage of a planned regeneration project. The continental-style painted ‘squiggly lines’ on the tarmac are inspired by cities like Copenhagen and designed to brighten up the tarmac as part of the project that has been funded by central government. The east side of Montague Place will be used for events and pop -up markets while businesses on the west have an inviting open space to accommodate al fresco customers. Making the area permanently car-free will help reduce carbon emissions as the Council continues its pledge to go carbon neutral by 2030. Worthing Borough Council, working with West Sussex County Council, will be asking residents and traders what they would like to see in Montague Place in the long-term. St Barnabas House needs companion volunteers For two hours a week to help their most isolated patients. Full training will be given in June, and no previous experience is required. To find out more and to register as a volunteer, please visit www.stbh.org.uk/community-companions/

Hayden & his mum