Author: Andrew Taylor

TOWN MP Nicholas Soames was appointed to the Privy Council in last month’s Birthday Honours list.

Mr Soames, a grandson of the wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, has been a Conservative MP for 28 years and has represented Mid Sussex since 1997, having previously been MP for Crawley.

He is a former Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and served as Minister of State for the Armed Forces between 1994 and 1997.

His appointment to the Privy Council makes him the fourth of his family over four generations to receive the same honour.

He said: “I have been a member of parliament for 28 years and I am very grateful to my constituents who made me an MP.

“This is a very great honour for myself and my family.”

There was also an MBE for East Grinstead’s Eric Mackie for his services to the community through his voluntary work as president of the town’s Access Group for the disabled.

The group was established in the mid-nineties to look at ways life in East Grinstead could be made easier for people with disabilities.

The issues Eric has tackled since then include the group’s Pavements for People campaign, to keep car drivers from parking on pavements, and a recently revised booklet which lists facilities for disabled people across the town, including a list of local shops which ‘Care with a Chair’.

But the success of the Access Group is all down to team work, says Eric.

"We can’t afford to pay anybody, so we need to run on volunteers and the team here is smashing.

"I don’t feel like a conquering hero, I just feel there’s a job that needs to be done."

Mark Cutler who works at the Queen Victoria hospital was also awarded an MBE for his work on maxillofacial prosthetics.

Mark studied at Brooklands College in Surrey before graduating with a diploma in dental technology in 1983. After completing both the Prosthedontic and Maxillofacial Prosthetic advanced national certificates, Mark then worked at St Thomas’ Hospital, London and at Queen Marys’ Hospital, Roehampton.

With a particular interest in post-burn tissue hypertrophy, Mark was able to attain the European Association for Burn Injury Scientific Fellows Award and is a member of the British Burns Association and The International Society for Burn Injury.

A Royal Navy (Reserve) officer, he was commissioned in 1989, and took on an operational role with the Navy’s medical branch.

From 1993-97 he was a part-time lecturer in maxillofacial prosthetics at Lambeth College in London, and an external examiner at Manchester Metropolitan University from 2002-06.

In addition to his work at the QVH, Mark has lectured and presented workshops in Europe, North Africa, Scandinavia and South America.

TOWN Mayor John Saull attended a charity concert given by the ConChord Big Band at Chequer Mead in aid of the Royal British Legion.

"The event made £1066.96 in addition to around £400 given in donations on the night", said band member Cllr Frank Osborne, pictured centre, with the mayor and Legion representative Martin Forde.

TOWN Mayor John Saull joined West Sussex Deputy Lord Lieutenant Margaret Collins and other dignitaries at a wreath-laying ceremony at East Court to mark Armed Forces Day on 25 June. After a short prayer service, consultant plastic surgeon and burns expert Lt Col Tania Cubison presented veterans badges. The occasion was the fifth held to honour the nation’s service people, past and present.

East Grinstead Mayor John Saull (centre) was among the dignitaries who saw
Haywards Heath Mayor John Sabin raise a flag in support of Armed Forces Day over the Mid Sussex District Council.
(Photo courtesy of Mid Sussex District Council)

TOWN Mayor John Saull was among the audiences who enjoyed a series of performances by the East Grinstead Group of Schools (EGGS) at Chequer Mead last month.

It was the second year that primary and secondary pupils from 16 schools in and around the town had combined their talents as part of a joint Creative Learning project to make education exciting, and to encourage cooperation between schools.

Pupils worked on projects related to this year’s theme Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow within their own schools, before coming together for two days of workshops and performance at the town theatre.

Among the young musicians showcasing their talents were the Sackville rock band TwentyOne.Ninety and The Imberhorne Jazz Band who provided the foyer entertainment.

Nine-year-old Lilli Lacey from Felbridge school said she had enjoyed the chance to take part in the music-based show and hoped the audience would join in the "big finale" which saw the stage filled with youngsters singing their hearts out.

While Hayley Covel, ten, from St Peter’s, said the EGGS project had given her the chance to meet children from other local schools.

* The Garden Gallery Art Exhibition run in conjunction with the school shows was sponsored by East Grinstead Town Council.

TWINS Christine Dafter and Hazel Green stopped off in East Grinstead to meet former Mayor Stephen Barnett at the Millenium Stone in East Court last month.

The pair were walking the Greenwich Meridian line, which passes through the East Court estate, to raise funds for the King’s College Hospital Department for Twin Research, and to raise awareness of the problems which twins can face before and after birth.

KNOLE Grove residents celebrated the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton with a street party recreating the one held there for the Queens Coronation in 1953.

The guests included octogenarian June, who has lived in Knole Grove since she was 7, and Joe, who at only 18 months old was the youngest resident to take part.

Party organisers Jacky and Claire say they hope to make a commemorative book for everyone who took part as a souvenir of the event – and are looking forward to the day when Prince Harry provides the excuse for another party.

BORN to Perform Productions presents three performances of Adored The Musical on 3/4 June.
A lighthearted new rock musical set in 1960s America, Adored tells the story of Ivan Glorious, a vain, narcissistic fool who is worshipped by all who meet him.
Tickets £12.50. 

GUITAR Anthems comes to Chequer Mead on 11 June, with a celebration of some of the greatest guitar-based songs ever written, from Clapton to Queen, Pink Floyd to Dire Straits and many more.
Tickets £16/concessions £14.

CHEQUER Mead Friends present An Evening With Gerard Kenny in support of the community arts centre on 18 June.
The international songwriter (New York, New York – So Good They Named it Twice), singer and pianist has worked with artists including Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Shirley Bassey and Jack Jones.
His previous sell-out concerts have helped Chequer Mead Friends to buy a piano, the curtains in the restaurant and a cyclorama.
Tickets £17/pensioners £15/Chequer Mead Friends £14.

ACOUSTIC Sussex presents Wine, Women and Song on 19 June.
Find out what happens when you put three award-winning singer-songwriting friends on stage together. The three women in question are Suzy Bogguss, Gretchen Peters and Matraca Berg – the wine is a good cabernet.
Table reservations for a meal at Cuisine Studio can be made on 01342 324860.
Tickets £20/concessions £18.50.

A delegation from East Grinstead will be visiting Bourg de Peage on 2 June to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the links between our town and its “twins” in France, Mindelheim in Germany and Verbania in Italy.

The first known “twinning” in the UK took place after World War II when a soldier returning from Poix-du-Nord to his home town in Keighley suggested maintaining a link between the two towns.

The idea spread rapidly and today there are more than 1,700 special relationships between towns in Britain and abroad. To join the East Grinstead Town Twinning Association contact Ken Averill on 01342 315375.

* Town twinners had a successful day at the May Fair when they raised almost £350 pounds with a tombola, and through the sale of cakes and plants.

THE East Grinstead Society will be celebrating the town’s Victorian heritage with a walk around Town Trail 3 on 12 June.

The trail will start at 2.30pm outside Chequer Mead Arts Centre and will finish at 4.30pm. Christopher Wheatley will be leading the expedition and pointing out places of historic interest en route.

For more details ring 01342 321525.

THE director of the Ashdown Forest centre, Hew Prendergast, has condemned the “stupidity” of visitors who set a 13 acre area of the forest alight after their barbecue blazed out of control.

It took 50 firefighters all night to tackle the fire which was whipped up by strong winds and threatened to set light to nearby houses.

Weeks of sunshine had left the area tinder-dry and the fire crews who found a barbecue, food and alcohol at the scene said the culprits “who had left the scene pretty quickly” had been lucky to escape unhurt.

However the blackened heath land they left in their wake will take a long time to recover.

“Fires like this are incredibly destructive of wildlife and their habitat. This was a random fire which was completely out of control and anything could have happened, which is very worrying,” said Mr Prendergast.

* Fire crews also attended a fire at Mount Noddy which started after someone threw a disposable barbecue into a bin which subsequently caught alight. Firefighters said disposable barbecues needed to be out and fully cold before they were thrown away.