Charity & Community

18 Charity & Community

Sussex Snippets Turning Tides, in partnership with Brighton Women’s Centre and Safe in Sussex, have successfully secured a Tampon Tax funding grant. This will help support women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in areas across West Sussex. www.turning-tides.org.uk Aldingbourne Trust WorkAid team won the Employee/ Team of the Year award at Arun Business Partnership Awards on 15th November at the Hilton Avisford Park Hotel, The WorkAid team work across West Sussex helping people with learning disabilities and/or autism spectrum conditions into work. For more details see: www.aldingbournetrust.org/workaid The Bright Horizons Foundation for Children opened two new Bright Spaces for Sussex Police on 21 November. The Bright Spaces are located in two Victim Suites in Sussex police stations. Victims and witnesses across Sussex are now able to give evidence in a safe and secure environment without having to travel a long way or have to face their perpetrators in court. The Home of Rolls-Royce was recently honoured to become the stage for a fundraising evening for The Sussex Snowdrop Trust. Over 100 guests gathered at the Goodwood site in aid of this Walberton based charity, which provides nursing care at home for children who have a life-threatening or terminal illness, and offers emotional and financial support for their families. www.thesussexsnowdroptrust.com CLIC Sargent supports children and young people with cancer. Volunteers are needed to help with events in 2020; they are looking for help with bucket collections taking place across Sussex for World Cancer Day, 1 –4 February. Also for longer term volunteers to help with collection tins, events and raising awareness in the local community. Please email Rose at rose.bailey@clicsargent.org.uk. Volunteers are joining Sussex Police to support victims of fraud. 23 volunteers will work with officers to contact local individuals and businesses who have recently reported scams to Action Fraud. They will be offering tailored prevention advice on areas such as telephone/mobile phone scams, identity theft and online hacking. They will also signpost victims to Safe Space Sussex for free access to local support services. A major new initiative has launched to plant 5,000 trees across the South Downs National Park. Coinciding with National Tree Week in November. “Trees for the Downs” will aim to restore trees that have been lost due to pests and diseases, including Ash Dieback and Dutch Elm Disease. The South Downs National Park Trust, the official charity for the National Park, is now aiming to raise £61,500 to plant the trees. www.southdowns.gov.uk Ditchling Museum, King Edward VII Sanatorium in Easebourne, The Riverside House in Lewes, Nithurst

Farm in Upperton and Easebourne Community Space, near Midhurst all won awards at the South Downs National Park's first Design Awards. These awards recognise outstanding design projects in the first decade of the National Park. www.southdowns.gov.uk Bee Lines campaign which aims to restore flower-rich habitats for pollinators in the South Downs has now raised more than £27,000. The latest fundraising boost has come from Forest Holidays, which gave just over £9,400. Midhurst Rother College pupils also raised funds recently. The campaign is aiming to raise £75,000 to help farmers and other landowners create new wildflower corridors –essentially a “road system” for insects –that will link habitats and encourage pollination. Mark.Rose@southdowns.gov.uk Arrests of children in Sussex have been reduced by 69% in eight years, research published by the Howard League for Penal Reform revealed. Research has shown that each contact a child has with the criminal justice system drags them deeper into it, leading to more crime. 100 solar panels from a Sussex school are looking for a new home. If you know of a good use for them email: hello@ovesco.co.uk and write up to 200 words on how you would use them. The panels will be gifted to a not-for-profit project or if you want to buy the panels for commercial reasons, a donation to the OVESCO Sunny Solar Schools project will be requested. Applications by 31st January. Charity/community notices to: info@sussexlocal.net

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20 Charity & Community

Lodge Hill concert a triumph Lodge Hill held its Christmas Pudding Concert on Friday 6th December attracting a sell-out audience. The concert was the last event in Lodge Hill’s 20th Anniversary year and was marked by a moving tribute to its founder, the late Penny Hardwick OBE, by the Trust’s President Sir Brian Barttelot. The packed audience was treated to a selection of Christmas Carols, with music by Andrew Bernardi, the Stradivarius Piano Trio and the String Academy. Great Ballard School Choir, led by Chris Larley, also sang a selection of the "Dragons" songs from their Horsham Year of Culture Concert performance. Dame Julie Walters and Julia Donaldson CBE captivated the audience with a series of humorous Christmas themed readings and hilarious anecdotes. Nyetimber Vineyard supported the event by providing English Sparkling Wine for guests to enjoy along with the Christmas themed canapés from Lodge Hill’s chefs. Father Christmas made a surprise guest appearance during the interval, handing out treats, but only to those who had been very good!

Notices: info@sussexlocal.net. Steyning Book Shop brought a selection of Julia Donaldson's famous children's books to be purchased which Julia signed personally. The combined proceeds from ticket sales, the raffle and a contribution from book sales has raised over £3,000 to date which will go towards furnishing the new Disability Suite, scheduled to be built next year. The Trust extends its grateful thanks to all who supported the event; helping to make the evening a great success. For more information about all that Lodge Hill Activity Centre has to offer visit www.lodgehill.org.uk. Great Wall charity trip Storrington resident Steve Whyley is helping blind and visually impaired people and supporting two charities in his 5-day trek of the famous Great Wall of China next year. The trip is organised by the company “Traveleyes” www.traveleyesinternational.com which is an award winning company providing independent group travel for people who are blind or partially sighted. As a sighted traveller, Steve will walk with a different visually impaired person each day, helping them with the challenges the walk brings, and sharing his sight by describing the world around him. For this charity challenge trip, Steve is also raising money for two charities that he is involved with in West Sussex. The first of these is Remap, which helps disabled people achieve independence and a better quality of life by designing and making bespoke equipment for their individual needs. .The second is Cardiomyopathy UK for people affected by cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle. There are several different types of cardiomyopathy, which affects people of all ages. www.cardiomyopathy.org www.remap.org.uk www.justgiving.com/teams/Steve-Whyley

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Charity & Community 21

Share your views on crime In order to plan and implement key priorities, Horsham District Council is asking residents for their views on crime and disorder in the district. A short survey has been created including topics such as how safe you feel;· whether you have been a victim of a crime; what you feel are the main causes of crime. The deadline is Sunday 16th February and all completed surveys will be entered into a prize draw for a £100 gift card that can be spent in local shops. www.horsham.gov.uk/crime-surveyor or a paper version is available by calling 01403 215173 or email communitysafety@horsham.gov.uk Nicky reaches out for Age UK Hello residents of Horsham District and Happy New Year to you all. I thought that I would write, not only to send you my new year good wishes, but, to touch base and remind you that I am the Rural Outreach Development Worker for Age UK Horsham District (AUKHD) and I am here to support the older members of our community. I have been in this role now for 20 months and I have met lots of wonderful people in clubs, groups, coffee shops, organisations, etc. across the district. Once I have met a group, I stay in touch and send regular information that I think might be useful to them and their members. • I might pop in, say hello to a group and pass on our generic leaflet with some information to remind people about the various ways that AUKHD supports the over 50s. • I might give a detailed talk about our services or I might bring our Dental Health video and ask the Horsham District Council Community Links Team to join me for a joint presentation on how we can both help. • I might roll my sleeves up and help a group or club with a special lunch, afternoon tea or other larger celebration. I have a special pair of marigolds and an apron ready and waiting! • I might be asked to help organise a special activity such as a community art project or gardening afternoon. • I might set up a link between older people and their local school for reading or gardening or link with a pub to encourage regular local get togethers in a warm and comfortable space. Really, it’s about getting involved in the community as well as thinking of and supporting initiatives to support older people. If I haven’t met you yet then, please do get in touch. I am making my way round the district but it’s quite big so please send me directions and I will come your way. To get in touch you can email me, my email address is NickyF@ageukhorshamdistrict.org.uk, or my mobile number is 07399 205899 or you can leave a message for me at AUKHD’s Lavinia House Office in Horsham on 01403 260560