Author: Andrew Taylor

TOWN Mayor Liz Bennett will be hosting a quiz night in the Meridian Hall on 19 February.

Requests for tickets can be made to l.williams@eastgrinstead.gov.uk or by ringing East Court on 01342 323636. For full details see below.

Are you passionate about sport and eager to get your friends, family and colleagues more active in 2013? This January, sports fans can sign up for a FREE Sport Makers workshop and help get East Grinstead active!  The workshop will be led by experts from Sussex’s County Sports Partnership, Active Sussex.  During the action-packed two hour session, participants will learn all the skills they need to start making sport happen.

Sport Makers is a National Lottery funded scheme designed to give people the skills, knowledge and opportunities they need to encourage people to play sport.  Whether it’s planning the route to a venue, finding the pitch or encouraging people to take part – sport doesn’t just happen, it needs people to make it happen. On completion of the free Sport Maker workshop, participants will have all the skills they need to start volunteering for sporting organisations or to organise their own sports events.

According to a recent survey by Sport England, over 50% of adults say they’d like to play more sport, but are put off because they don’t feel they have the time, money or confidence to get involved. Sport Makers provides free training, guidance and support to make it easy for newcomers to volunteer at a level that suits them.

The free Sport Makers workshop takes place on Monday 21 January, 18:30-20:00 at Freedom Leisure’s East Grinstead Sports Club. Register online at www.sportmakers.co.uk and take the first step to becoming one of 40,000 Sport Makers across the UK.

For more information contact cheryl@actionpr.co.uk / 07969 880132

About Sport Makers and Active Sussex

Active Sussex
Active Sussex is the brand name of the Sussex County Sports Partnership Trust, a not-for-profit organization and registered charity dedicated to the support, promotion and development of sport and active lifestyles throughout Sussex.

Sport Makers

Sport Makers is a nationwide National Lottery funded programme to develop a sporting legacy from London 2012 and aims to recruit 1,120 volunteers in Sussex to help make sport happen. They are the organisers, the ‘doers’, the ones you can rely on to get things started or keep them going. This scheme will increase the amount of people helping organise and run sport in Sussex leaving a positive legacy. After the Sport Maker’s training, Active Sussex will support them with advice, information, connections and resources.

Sport Makers is part of Sussex Legacy:

Active Sussex has created the Sussex Legacy initiative to bring the sporting magic of the Olympics to local communities.

Capturing the excitement of the London 2012 Games, Sussex Legacy is designed to increase the numbers of people taking part, coaching and running sport in Sussex, leaving a positive and lasting impact.

Six key elements make up the Sussex Legacy programme: Sportivate, Sport Makers, Sussex Sports Awards, Sussex School Games, Sussex Coaching Bursary and Active Sussex Workplace Health. For more information visit www.activesussex.org/legacy

TOWN Mayor Liz Bennett has unveiled a new plaque in the High Street marking the 50th anniversary of the Town Twinning Association’s links with communities across Europe.

Get Started with the Outdoors

Delivered in partnership with Plumpton College

A FREE 5 day course for unemployed 16 to 25 year olds in Sussex

Monday 18 to Friday 22 February

• Try out a variety of outdoor activities including: equine handling; tractor driving; machinery maintenance; animal care; countryside management; gardening; and farming.
• Work towards an NCFE accredited qualification in ‘Working Together’.
• Receive 1:1 progression support after the course to help move into employment, education or training.

No previous experience necessary.

Come and see if the course is for you on our Taster Day: Wednesday 13^th February

For more information and to book a place on the Taster Day please contact Jo Tolley or Shirley Eastwood by texting ‘outdoors’ to 07956 289881 or by email to joanna.tolley@princes-trust.org.uk or shirley.eastwood@princes-trust.org.uk

TOWN Mayor Liz Bennett and Council leader Norman Webster have presented the recipients of the Youth Sports Initiatives grants with their cheques as follows:

• Dunnings Squash and Racquetball Club (represented by Jeff Morris) £200
• Imberhorne School  (represented by Steve Hill) £400
• East Grinstead Bowling Club (represented by Mick Bushell) £300
• Saint Hill Blues FC (represented by Stephen Love) £250
• EG Cricket Club (represented by Andy Hayes) £250
• EG Meads FC (represented by Neil Watts) £250

The money will be used as follows:

Dunnings Squash and Racquetball Club:   The Club wishes to run an inspirational Junior Squash coaching event in 2013 engaging former world no 1 squash player Peter Nicol who will bring his one-day coaching school for up to 50 juniors wishing to take up the game, or improve.   The total cost will be between £600-£1000.

East Grinstead Bowling Club: The Club has made an application for the purchase of up to 6 sets of junior bowls.  They will be liaising with local schools to have taster sessions and introduce juniors to the sport. The bowls will cost approximately £600.

East Grinstead Cricket Club:  The Club (which received a £250 grant in 2011/12 for coaching sessions) has applied for the same again, to develop juniors to senior players at premier and county standard. The cost of  hiring premises and coaching is £800.

East Grinstead Meads FC:  The Club (which received a grant of £500 for new equipment in 2011/12) has applied for assistance with the cost of football coach training.  The coaches are trained to FA levels of competence and also receive St John Ambulance Emergency Aid training.  The cost of 3 FA level 1 coaching courses and 12 volunteers to receive the emergency aid training is £800.

Imberhorne School: The School Sport Organiser has suggested providing a FA level 1 coaching course for interested year 12 pupils who will then be able to support clubs and other youngsters in schools with these skills.  The skills passed on will support sports development and the year 12 coaches will gain a skill and experience in passing skills on to others. There are 16 places available on the course and the total cost is £1920.  A Grant from the Town Council will subsidise at £25 a head the cost that the year 12 youngsters will contribute to being involved in the coaching (each course is £120).

Saint Hill Blues Football Club: The Club has applied for assistance with the cost of football coaching training. The Coaches (Adult volunteers) will be trained to FA level 1 and encouraged to reach level 2 standard accreditation. The cost of the training is £1,000.

THE New Year is a time when many householders decide to declutter their homes and garages of unwanted furniture, books, DVDs, clothes and other household items.

Many of these items end up at the town’s charity shops, but an alternative is to advertise them free on “Freegle” the recycling site which allows people who want something, or have something to give away free, to get in touch and save useful and useable goods from landfill while doing someone else a good turn.

“I used Freegle for the first time last weekend,” said town PRO Geraldine Durrant. “I had two desks in good condition which I wanted to get out of my garage, and which I was perfectly happy to give away free to a good home. The Red Cross didn’t have room for them, and it would have been criminal to take them to the dump so I got in touch with Freegle and within 24 hours both had found new owners and a new lease of life.

“I was delighted – and so were the people I gave them to.”

To find out more, or to join the East Grinstead Freegle group contact http://ilovefreegle.org/

EASYJET has agreed to changes which will see its aircraft taking off from Gatwick in an easterly direction after town councillors lobbied on behalf of Imberhorne residents whose lives were being disrupted by aircraft noise.

Flights will also take off at a sharper incline than before and climb higher much faster.​

Complaints about aircraft noise had risen by 500 per cent over the past year, with 2,000 households in the north east of the town believed to be suffering from early morning and late evening disturbance.

But after meetings with the budget airline, Cllr Heidi Brunsdon said she hoped residents would notice a real reduction in noise levels over their homes.

“We had a discussion with easyJet’s operations manager at Gatwick about the increased noise levels over East Grinstead and suggested that easyJet could implement changes which would put planes at a higher altitude over East Grinstead.

“I had looked at Radar 24, which tracks live flights online, which showed easyJet was flying at a lower altitude over the town than other airlines. Altitude is a consideration when it comes to noise as the thrusters are still going and a more acute take-off would limit the noise, so easyJet agreed to go back to the simulator and work out a compromise.”

FATHER Christmas and his elves joined the Town Mayor and Dickensian characters from the High Street shops to celebrate the last shopping Sunday before December 25.

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TOWN Mayor Liz Bennett joined Father Christmas at the French market and family fair in December.

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