Author: Andrew Taylor

East Grinstead Town Council has been a supporter of the three Towns, three race, Mid Sussex Marathon weekend since its inception in 2012.

The weekend, offers competitors a chance to complete the classic marathon distance over three consecutive races in the three Mid Sussex  towns of East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill.

Traditionally held over the first Bank Holiday weekend of May, the 9th Anniversary races were moved to the end of May after the UK Government designated Friday 8 May a National Holiday for 75th Anniversary of VE Day. The proliferation of events planned, left little room to host the Marathon then.

Of course none of these events turned out quite the way they were planned due to the Covid-19 pandemic and many were cancelled. The organisers of the Mid Sussex Marathon, however, have worked to create an exciting alternative by hosting a series of virtual races suitable for all age groups and fitness levels.

Entrants can now choose how they cover the distances selected and can again tackle one distance or all three to complete a full marathon.

For further information and to sign up for the challenge visit

https://midsussexmarathon.co.uk/

Our Tourist Information may be closed to the public at the moment, but information about East Grinstead is still available.

Our East Grinstead guide books, maps and walking leaflets can be downloaded from our website https://www.eastgrinstead.gov.uk/tourism/leaflet-stand/

Our staff can be contacted by email tourism@eastgrinstead.gov.uk or why not connect via Facebook and Twitter.

We look forward to the time we can welcome you for a longer visit to our beautiful Medieval and Tudor town.

A Sussex rugby club have launched a special film to celebrate the efforts of key workers during the coronavirus lockdown.

Following the early end of the rugby season in England as a result of COVID-19, East Grinstead Rugby Club, West Sussex started work on the ‘ONE BALL – Pass it On’ challenge to keep rugby spirits lifted and to thank all the hero’s out there.

Tom Mitchell, England Rugby Sevens Captain said “There are so many heroic NHS and Key Workers who continue to put themselves at risk every day to try and keep us safe, to keep us healthy and to keep us happy during these incredibly challenging times. From every rugby family from around the world, we want to say a massive thank you.”

The idea was to see how far one ball could travel which not only included rugby clubs within the UK but rugby families, along with their animal friends, from across the waters including Jersey, Guernsey and Ireland.

Andy Poole, East Grinstead RFC President said “The club would like to thank everyone who got involved, we were delighted with the videos that were sent through, we just wish we could have used them all. A special thank you to our talented film maker, Mike Rumsey, Rumsey Films and the always so supportive Tom Mitchell, England Sevens Captain, RFU.’

Watch ‘One Ball – Pass It On’ – https://www.facebook.com/RumseyFilms/videos/812548315939695/

Rugby is one of the most popular participation sports in the world and East Grinstead RFC is committed to growing rugby at all levels. Why not take a moment to search out your local community rugby club. Rugby is a game for all.

#OneBall

Following government announcements this week, and the confirmation of timetable changes from Sunday 17 May, the following update has been issued :.

Informing travel decisions before the journey: only travel by public transport if there are no other options

At the station

We’re making plans to direct passenger flow in stations in a way that supports social distancing – especially at our larger stations where it may be necessary to have one way or queuing systems for example. We will be working with our colleagues at Network Rail on the approach at our London Terminals. We’ll use methods such as posters, monitor screens, stickers, floor markings and announcements to prompt passengers to maintain a two-metre distance where that’s feasible. These will gradually appear at stations over the next few days.

We’ll continually assess passenger flow through the day making amendments as required, for example changing entries and exits on a gateline to help manage people on concourses and platforms. We will monitor numbers very closely in real-time through our already established data gathering systems on trains, gateline information, and also from station teams who are linked into our control room at Three Bridges.

From this live data and staff feedback, our control room can make decisions to support the network depending on the situation, for example issuing website and social media announcements to encourage passengers to avoid a busier route or station, or to provide an additional stop at a station. We’ll also encourage passengers to check for latest advice before setting off, and to allow more time for any flow management or queuing in place.

Staff will continue to keep services running for those who must travel, as they have to date, providing good customer service to passengers. They will guide passengers in social distancing, although they are not expected to police this directly. We will have assistance from our colleagues in the British Transport Police should it be needed.

Communications

Supporting the national rail communications drive, we’ll be reminding passengers at stations to keep their distance, but also to wear face coverings, and to maintain the good hygiene that has been a key part of government advice since the start of the pandemic.

Cleaning and hygiene

We’ve already enhanced the regular cleaning regimes on stations and trains through extra staff, focusing particularly on high touch points such as handles and grab-rails. In addition, we’ve just completed treatment of our entire fleet of trains with a new viruscide which kills the Coronavirus for 30 days, and the same is in progress at our stations. The application of this product is undertaken after areas are thoroughly cleaned.
We have also ordered 1000 ‘no-touch’ hand sanitisers to be distributed to stations to bolster hygiene measures for those passing through.

Performance and punctuality

As we add to services from next week, we are continuing to work with Network Rail to ensure that our railway is as reliable and punctual as possible, and that issues that arise are dealt with quickly through the control room. We have also reviewed our standard operating plans to be more flexible in the event of any network disruption to ensure that we do what we can to manage passenger numbers on trains and at stations.

“if you have to travel to work because you cannot work from home, please avoid public transport – if possible walk, or cycle or go by car”.

Angie Doll
Managing Director, Southern and Gatwick Express and GTR Executive lead on COVID-19

For more information on the Government’s advice on safer travel go to: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-travel-guidance-for-passengers

What a beautiful day in East Grinstead on Friday 8th May, as we came together in our isolation and celebrated the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe day.
The spectacular flypast of the Queen Victoria Hospital saw hundreds of people flock to the main parks in town to view the iconic Spitfire, however most adhered to the social distancing advice outlined by the Government and we applaud you all for that.

We had asked that residents dressed their homes in red, white and blue and if they were able, to hold household ‘street parties’ again whilst adhering to the restrictions, and many did.

Walking around the town it was clear that a lot of time and effort had gone into the individual decorations and neighbours were able to spend time together, albeit at a two metre distance!

The Spitfire is due to return to East Grinstead on 13th September as part of The Battle of Britain anniversary celebrations. http://spitfiresociety.org/content-News-Events

In the meantime ‘Stay alert, control the virus, save lives’

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Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and Network Rail to support a step up in train services.

From Sunday 17 May 2020, the rail industry will introduce a new timetable.

The rail industry is committed to providing a train service that supports key workers to be able to get to work.

While the Government advice remains that anyone who can, should continue to work entirely from home, there are people who will need to go to their place of work.  The Government has published guidance for people who cannot work from home and must use public transport.

As a starting point, passengers are being encouraged to avoid public transport where they have alternatives, this is to protect as much space as possible for those who must use it. This is because even as public transport begins to return to a full service, the 2-metre social distancing rule will leave effective capacity for one in ten passengers on many parts of the UK network. For those travelling, the guidance recommends that passengers:

• keep 2 metres apart from others wherever possible
• wear a face covering if they can
• use contactless or smartcard payments where possible
• avoid rush hour travel wherever feasible
• wash or sanitise their hands before and after travel
• follow advice from staff

This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-travel-guidance-for-passengers

The new timetable is an adapted version of the plan for the Saturday timetable in the original Summer 2020 plan, now operating on a Monday-Saturday basis. These adaptions are focused on matching where possible early and late-night services and uplifts in train frequencies to cover peak travel periods.

It is different to the timetable that is currently operating, so it is important that passengers check before travelling because the times of trains and station calling patterns will change. This timetable is available from 12^th May on www.nationalrail.co.uk