Author: Andrew Taylor

XenZone has worked in partnership with YMCA since May 2014 to deliver mental health support services to children and young people in West Sussex.

As of 1st November 2018 and following a successful tender, YMCA will now deliver mental health services weighted more towards offering face-to-face support. Kooth will no longer be part of that offer.

XenZone will be working with relevant commissioners to instigate a transition period for children and young people who are using Kooth.

According to XenZone’s CEO Zoe Blake, “We have delivered an excellent service in West Sussex, where the Kooth digital offer proved to be hugely popular with young people. We are proud of the support we have given to thousands of children and young people and wish YMCA well in continuing to provide accessible mental health support in the area.”

On 17 October East Grinstead station welcomed a volunteer team from the DfT who had come to help clear the station’s extensive flower beds.  The long, very hot summer had caused a lot of growth but had also damaged a many of the plants and our Station Partner Andrew Morris had been left with an enormous task to battle the beds back to their former prize winning glory.

[AFG_gallery id=’69’]

Help was desperately needed so the DfT’s Rail Digital Services team stepped in and spent a day chopping, weeding, clearing, sweeping and bagging up great piles of garden waste.   The station staff as usual, couldn’t have been more helpful and welcoming even when we trampled mud through their immaculate station and the station coffee shop joined in by offering a huge discount on elevenses.

Social media ‘liked’ the activity, passers-by stopped to chat and congratulate the team on their hard work with one lady even handing a tub of chocolates to the workers as a thank you.
A great day and hopefully not too many sore backs the morning after!

 

Travelodge also announces it is looking for eight more hotel sites across West Sussex. This level of expansion would represent an investment of £65 million for third party investors and create 160 new jobs.

On Wednesday 24^th October, the Mayor of East Grinstead, Councillor Rex Whittaker, joined Tony O’ Brien, Travelodge UK Development Director to officially open East Grinstead’s first Travelodge hotel.

[AFG_gallery id=’68’]

East Grinstead Travelodge a multi-million investment for the landlord and as created 17 new jobs. It is located on 2 Little King Street, East Grinstead, RH19 3DJ,and is the company’s 568 hotel and 11^th in West Sussex.

The hotel has been styled in Travelodge’s latest brand design and offers family, double and accessible rooms. Rooms feature the company’s signature luxurious king size Travelodge Dreamer bed which sits within a mood lighting surround and has bedside charging points. Family rooms also include two individual beds for children.

Travelodge rooms also feature LED ceiling lighting, providing a warmer ambience, a  ‘comfort cooling’ system, a 32 inch Freeview TV, WiFi and free in-room tea & coffee making facilities. Rooms are available from £29 and can be booked at www.travelodge.co.uk

At the official event opening of East Grinstead Travelodge, the company also announced that West Sussex is a key growth area and that they are actively looking for a further eight hotel sites across the county. Target locations include: Brighton, Bognor, Burgess Hill, Chichester, Hastings, Haywards Heath, Hove and Shoreham-by-the-Sea.

This level of expansion would represent an estimated investment of approximately £65 million for third party investors and create around 160 new jobs – it would also boost Travelodge’s portfolio to 19 hotels in West Sussex – cementing its position as the county’s largest budget hotelier.

Tony O’Brien, Travelodge UK Development Director said: “We are delighted to be celebrating our 30^th anniversary in West Sussex by opening our first hotel in East Grinstead. Over the last three decades, Travelodge has become famous across the county for offering unbeatable value and making travel affordable for everyone, which has helped attract more business and leisure travellers to the area.”

“As we look to the future, West Sussex is a target growth area for Travelodge. The local economy is growing at pace and with increasing visitor numbers to the area, there is still a shortage of good quality accommodation at a great value price. Therefore to meet this growing consumer demand we are actively looking for eight hotel sites in the following locations: Brighton, Bognor, Burgess Hill, Chichester, Hastings, Haywards Heath, Hove and Shoreham-by-the-Sea. Collectively this expansion programme would represent an estimated investment of approximately £65 million for third party investors and create around 160 new jobs.”

East Grinstead Travelodge is being managed by Ewa Stecko, who joined the company ten years ago as a Housekeeping team member. Ewa is one of thousands of Travelodge employees who have joined the company in  an entry level position and successfully climbed the career ladder into management – via the in-house management development programme.

 Ewa Stecko, East Grinstead Travelodge Hotel Manager said: “I am very proud to have built a fantastic team who are as passionate as me about delivering great customer service. Our hotel has got off to a flying start and customers are loving our rooms, especially the luxurious Travelodge Dreamer bed.”

“Looking ahead, business on the books is very encouraging and we are set for a very busy festive season. This is great news for the local economy too; as research shows our customers will spend £2 million annually with local businesses during their stay.”

The Mayor of East Grinstead, Councillor Rex Whittaker said: “I am delighted to welcome Travelodge to East Grinstead. This investment and job creation is a great addition to our business community. Having a branded budget hotel in the town centre will certainly help attract new business and leisure travellers to our historic town, which will give a great boost our local economy.”

East Grinstead is one of 20 hotels Travelodge expects to open this year.

About Travelodge

Founded in 1985, Travelodge is one of the UK’s leading hotel brands.  The hotel chain currently operates 568 Travelodge hotels in the UK, Spain and Ireland as of October 2018.  Travelodge welcomes approximately 19 million customers every year and over 12,000 colleagues work across the business.

West Sussex County Council Cybercrime/Online Safety Surveys are now LIVE!

The Community Safety & Wellbeing Team at West Sussex County Council has launched two surveys in order to gather feedback about people’s perceptions and experiences of cybercrime/online safety over the last 12 months. Responses to this survey will influence how we at the County Council shape our cybercrime/online safety support work for residents and local businesses in the future.

Personal Use Survey

We are looking for any West Sussex resident, aged 18 or above, to complete our Personal Use Cybercrime/Online Safety Survey https://haveyoursay.westsussex.gov.uk/communities-public-protection/cybercrime/

Business Survey

We are seeking views and information from business owners/managers to help support them https://haveyoursay.westsussex.gov.uk/communities-public-protection/cybercrimebusiness/

The surveys will be open for 5 weeks, and will close at midnight on Monday 19 November, 2018.

The Gigabit Voucher scheme is aimed at small to medium businesses with less than 250 employees and a turnover of 50 million euros or less and a balance sheet of 43 million euros or less to improve their broadband speeds in their main business premises.  The scheme is administered by the Department for Culture Media and Sports (DCMS) and provides funding towards the cost of connection of fibre broadband to the premises greatly enhancing broadband speeds up to 1 Gigabit.

How it Works

The business, if interested just needs to contact the registered suppliers of the scheme and get them to quote for connection to fibre broadband.  The supplier will then connect the business and apply for the voucher to offset the cost of the connection.  The supplier can claim up to £3000 per business for the connection costs and then provide up to gigabit speeds to the premises.  A group of businesses can also claim under the scheme making the connection costs free or vastly reduced in most circumstances.

Residential properties can also benefit from the voucher scheme but any bids from residential properties must be business led.  Suppliers can claim up to £3000 for the business and up to 6 residential properties each at £500 pounds.  I enclose some further information about the scheme as follows:

What does Gigabit mean

One gigabit is the same as 1,000 megabits – so it’s a big leap forward in connection speeds that could benefit you and your business into the future. Full fibre also supports symmetrical connections – meaning your upload and download speeds can be the same.

Details

Further details of the scheme can be found at the DCMS gigabit website https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/

And through our own business website http://www.businesswestsussex.co.uk/369-gigabit-broadband-for-businesses-scheme-.html

Contained within that website is a link to suppliers that have responded to a West Sussex County Council questionnaire and some have taken the time to speak to us so that we can understand what they can offer businesses in West Sussex.

http://www.businesswestsussex.co.uk/storage/downloads/resource_gigabitregisteredsuppliers_1539957311.pdf

They are all more than happy to speak to businesses, community leaders and individuals about whether the scheme would work for you.  All of them have given us their named contacts for the scheme and would happily advise you on what they can offer.

Further to our recent Bus Strategy Consultation, West Sussex County Council would like to know more about how passengers use our supported bus routes across the county.

Most routes in West Sussex are operated by bus companies on a commercial basis, and these are not part of this survey. However, some routes receive a subsidy from the county council to help them run.

Below is a list of bus services which are currently either wholly or partly subsidised by the county council and are included in the survey:

Arriva – 63

Brighton & Hove – 59A

Compass Travel – 8/8A, 16, 19, 30, 31, 33, 36A/36C, 39, 42, 52, 62, 64, 66A/66C, 67, 69, 71, 74/74A/74B, 85/85A, 89, 93, 96, 99, 100, 150

Metrobus – 61, 65, 84, 98, 200, 270, 272, 291, 606, 610, 692, 693

Stagecoach – 46, 47, 50, 54, 56, 70, 91/92/93

Shared Taxi Service – Billilinks (Villages Transport Link)

We are keen to gather feedback from passengers and others to help us understand the impact of any potential changes to the routes above.

Further information and the online questionnaire is available at www.westsussex.gov.uk/buses – or by calling 01243 642105 for a paper copy.

We would appreciate your help in promoting the consultation as appropriate. A promo poster is attached; please let me know if you require any hard copies.

Feedback on behalf of your organisation can be made by completing the consultation questionnaire or by email to: buses@westsussex.gov.uk

The closing date for responses is 18 November 2018.