Charity & Community

20 Charity & Community

Sussex Snippets Thirty-two children’s artworks created doing The Bowdleflodes Wildlife Project from local schools will be exhibited at Arundel Museum during half term from 26 Oct –3 Nov 2019. ‘Meet the Bowdleflodes’ Children’s Art Exhibition is part of The Bowdleflodes Wildlife Project, a free educational activity which teaches children about the care of endangered species and conservation using the visual arts. Free entry for all visitors. More good causes and community projects will be helped in the future as a new ‘forever fund’ has been created for the South Downs National Park (SDNP). To kick start the endowment, Southern CoOp has donated £10,000, together with £100,000 from the Trust and £100,000 of match-funding from the SDNP Authority. Any organisation interested in making a grant application should email mark.rose@southdownstrust.org.uk or call 01730 819219 for an initial conversation about the project. Please note the next deadline for all grant applications is 2nd March 2020. 130 local trekkers braved windy and muddy conditions to walk the marathon distance of 26.2 miles across the South Downs, raising money for local hospice St Barnabus House. The marathon trekkers raised over £40,000 for the hospice. The highest

fundraising group were a team of six men from Project Spartan - who are on track to raise an incredible £3,500 for St Barnabus House. Sir David Attenborough is backing a pioneering campaign to restore a vast underwater kelp forest off the Sussex coast. Historically, kelp was abundant along the West Sussex coastline, but this important habitat has since diminished over time. Restoring the kelp would bring back marine wildlife and replenish the local fisheries. It would also help fight Climate Change as kelp forests can lock up carbon just as effectively as woodland. Through the Help Our Kelp partnership, Sussex Wildlife Trust want to bring back the kelp forest, but they need community support. To find out how you can help, watch the Trust’s ‘Help Our Kelp’ video at sussexwildlifetrust.org/helpourkelp Brighton and Hove Triathlon entries for the 2020 race are now open and are expected to book up quickly. This year had the largest participation to date, with over 1600 competitors Organisers hope to exceed this next year. www.brightonandhovetriathlon.com A new tech recycling charity Business2Schools has now received formal charitable status from the charity commission. Business2Schools puts business and schools in touch so that they can exchange valuable tech equipment and save thousands of pounds worth of tech equipment from being unnecessarily sent to landfills. www.business2schools.com At the most recent National Policing Board, Ministers confirmed that funding to recruit the first tranche of 6000 police officers is now allocated to forces and Sussex will be able to recruit 129 over the next 18 months. This is on top of the 250 extra police officers that Sussex Police have already started recruiting over the next four years. It is great news and means that Sussex Police numbers will rise by 379. More than £18,000 has been raised after the community has rallied round to help reverse the decline of bees in the South East. A flurry of donations and fundraisers over the past few months have boosted the Bee Lines campaign, which was launched on World Bee Day on May 20th by the South Downs National Park Trust. Now the charity is calling on community groups across the region to get behind the fundraising drive, which aims to restore flowerrich habitats and create a haven for pollinators in the South Downs. www.southdownstrust.org/beelines The future of Shoreham’s multi-award winning Ropetackle Arts Centre is set to be secured after Adur District Council agreed to step in to provide thousands of pounds of funding. Urgent action is needed to stem carbon emissions, reduce pollution and protect wildlife. The South Downs Youth Action Days are for anyone aged between 16 and 25 who is passionate about environmental action and is looking to learn practical skills to conserve and enhance the South Downs National Park. Action days are free for young people wanting to get involved across half term. southdowns.gov.uk Please email notices to: info@sussexlocal.net

through the door

21

22 Charity & Community

Writers’ network book launch Writers from the Chindi authors’ network will be in Littlehampton on Saturday 16th November 2019 to sign copies of Chindi’s new anthology, ‘A Feast of Christmas Stories.’ The signing will take place at Pier Road Coffee and Art from 12:30 pm. ‘A Feast of Christmas Stories,’ is a collection of 16 seasonal tales with a Sussex theme. Among them are ‘The First Christmas of the War’, a new story from best-selling author Beryl Kingston, and ‘Stranger on the Shore’, a heart-warming ghost story by Angela Petch, recently nominated by The People’s Friend as their Author of the Week. Chindi is a network of authors based largely, but not exclusively, in West Sussex. Beryl Kingston, who recently agreed to become Chindi’s patron, will be speaking at a launch party for the Christmas book on the evening of November 6th at the Swan in Arundel. Arundel Cathedral videos Earlier this year Bryden Isbister, a software consultant who has been involved with the Cathedral’s website for many years, came up with the idea of taking a series of videos of Arundel Cathedral with a drone. With a keen interest in photography, Bryden often took photos of the Cathedral’s exterior, day and night time, and more so the latter as the Gothic architecture took on a new beauty after dark when illuminated.

So with his son James (a PhD student at Oxford University) they made the first video (1.9 minutes long) of the Cathedral at night time, which was then uploaded to the website. As a result Bryden was then given the ‘thumbs up’ by Bishop Richard Moth and Canon Tim Madeley to produce a new video to show the finery of the Cathedral’s interior. The filming took place on Easter Monday and has since been placed on the website, giving everyone who watches it the chance to see the 3.85-minute film and have a closer look at all the grace and beauty of all the stained glass windows, the Organ, the Altar and the Shrine of St. Philip Howard. Bryden carefully chose the music and royalties were purchased from various companies. Enjoy watching these two videos on Arundel Cathedral’s website www.arundelcathedral.uk Care home raises vital funds Littlehampton-based care home, Oakland Grange, has spent the summer raising money for Care for Veterans, and their efforts have raised a fantastic £676.74 for the charity. Staff and residents at at the home held several fundraising events, including a Summer Party and a fourmile walk around Littlehampton. Naomi Roberts, Registered Care Manager at Oakland Grange, explained: “We are very proud as a care home to have raised this money and helped towards a great charity. Both the residents and staff have been involved and it has been great fun. As a care home in the heart of the community, we love reaching out to charities and local organisations to help and get involved with various events and activities.”

Senior Fundraiser at Care for Veterans, Christine Gillott, said: “On behalf of everyone here at Care for Veterans, we would like to thank Naomi, all the staff and residents at Oakland Grange for their support. The money they have raised will go towards the vital care and rehabilitation of our veterans. What a fabulous example of one community helping another.” Stories to info@sussexlocal.net

through the door

23

24 Charity & Community / Finance

Magenta only shifts the problem Dear Sussex Local I was disheartened to read Paul Dendle’s column in your last edition when he suggests that residents of Walberton Parish are ‘malcontents’ to not want a bypass negatively impacting their villages. Magenta has been championed as the answer to Arundel and Storrington’s congestion and pollution problems, at the expense of those of us to the south and west! The Magenta junction will provide a North/South/ East/West option which will encourage traffic to congest and pollute Slindon, Walberton, Binsted, Fontwell, Yapton and Eastergate as the roads will be used for rat running and will congest at the new traffic lights at Fontwell. The Magenta route only moves the problems to the western and southern villages (at an extortionate cost), it does not solve them. Cllr Grant Roberts has been busy trying to get some clarity on the only route that would gain the most local support, Crimson, and Cllrs Tony Dixon and Hugh Coster have put forward a motion to support Crimson at the Arun DC meeting. Therefore, I ask Paul Dendle and others to listen to the latest information from Highways England that Crimson is a viable option. If Magenta is chosen as the preferred route it will likely be plagued with the same legal issues that the last consultation witnessed and that will be because Arundel By-Pass Options (c)Highways England

the negative and widespread effects of Magenta have not been fully considered or understood by its backers. It will not be the fault of the ‘malcontents’ who have understood these consequences and who will fight to avoid them. Claire Lewis, Walberton resident

We welcome your charity & community notices and reader letters which we publish free of charge. Please email info@sussexlocal.net. Events to our website www.sussexlocal.net

Using equity release to upsize

By Richard Cohen FPFS ACII MCSI Chartered Financial Planner

Many people expect to downsize to help fund their retirement. This is often a reason they give for not needing to put money into a pension. However, in twenty years, I’ve only known two pensioners to downsize and release enough money to substantially improve their retirement. Of course, I’ve known dozens of pensioners move but they never actually release money doing it, in fact it often ends up costing them money. I’ve known people move to “nicer” areas, luxury apartments, bungalows or relocate to an expensive city to be closer to grandchildren. All of this means they end up moving to a property of similar value or often one that costs more.

A lifetime mortgage as part of a purchase is becoming an increasingly common way of facilitating this upsizing in retirement. Unlike a traditional mortgage the amount you can borrow is not dependent on your income, instead it is based on your age, the value of the property and interest rate you are willing to pay. The reason why income is not considered is that in

terest can be “rolled up” i.e. it is added to the loan. You can choose a lifetime mortgage that allows you to make interest or capital payments but if you miss payments they are added to the loan. Interest is then charged on interest which means the value of debt increases exponentially. With current rates, if you’re not making payments you can expect the balance to double every 15-20 years. With a lifetime mortgage, the outstanding debt must be repaid on death; however any remaining equity can be passed on to your chosen beneficiaries. This compares to a lifetime lease, another popular way of upsizing, where the entire value of the property is forfeited on death. Providing you choose a mortgage with a “no negative equity guarantee” your estate will never have to pay back more than the value of the property. Some providers even offer “inheritance guarantees” where a certain amount is guaranteed to be available to pass on as inheritance, regardless of what has happened with house prices or the loan. All of this means that upsizing is now a viable option for home owning pensioners. For more details visit www.nsurefinancial.co.uk or to arrange a free review please call 01903 821010

through the door

25