Author: Andrew Taylor

This year Mr X Stitch, AKA Jamie Chalmers the Kingpin of contemporary embroidery is going to create a fantastic 20 foot tall decorated Christmas tree in the house courtyard at Standen House and Garden. Being the champion of contemporary cross stitch, Jamie will be festooning the tree and the courtyard with hundreds (if not thousands) of handmade brightly coloured cross stitched Christmas baubles and he wants your help to do this.

His plan is for people (that’s you wonderful people) to cross stitch baubles which he will then mount, label and use as part of the installation. Wouldn’t it be great to fill the house courtyard with works of art reflecting the style and talent of the local area and make this a truly local festive affair? Jamie has asked that due to the size of the workshops that there is a lower age limit of 10 for the workshops. I hope that this will be ok?

Jamie wants to invite groups to free workshops which will be based in East Grinstead in Sept and Oct this autumn to get the project going. Don’t worry if you are a newcomer to needle work… Jamie has created simple patterns to follow and will be providing you with all the materials, skills, encourage and inspiration needed to get you started… along with a great deal of fun and laughter. If you are already a dab hand with a needle and thread come along and learn something new, embellish the patterns and really put your stamp on the baubles and perhaps inspire other with your creativity.

There are going to be workshops on the 13^th and 14^th Sept (afternoon and evening) and two follow up Workshops (to finish off the pieces) on the 11^th and 12^th October. Everyone will be asked to commit to one in Sept and one in Oct so that Jamie can make sure all the works are completed in time.

The dates and times of the workshops are as follows:

PART ONE (Getting started)

Thursday 13 Sept

1.30pm – 3.30pm

5.30pm – 7.30pm

Friday 14 Sept

10.30am – 12.30pm

1.30pm – 3.30pm

PART TWO (Finishing off)

Thursday 11 Oct

1.30pm – 3.30pm

5.30pm – 7.30pm

Friday 12 Oct

10.30am – 12.30pm

1.30pm – 3.30pm

All the workshops will be in East Grinstead.

It is with great regret that we are cancelling this year’s FEast Grinstead event on October 7th. Our apologies to everyone involved.

Tanya Hayman on behalf of the The Royal British Legion Women’s Section for East Grinstead, laid a wreath for Great Pilgrimage 90 at Menin gates Wednesday 8th August.

Tanya stated that she was one of 1100 wreath bearers and 1100 standard bearers and it was “Quite a sight”.

The East Grinstead Women’s section of the Royal British Legion is the oldest in Sussex and the 4th oldest in the Country and is older than the men’s section by a year.

The Flower Beds in the High Street have been a focal point for floral attraction and over the past 5 years the marking of historical events and anniversaries.  The beds have been remarked on, won awards and been pleasing to so many residents and visitors.

This year the beds included a tableau of Good King Wenceslas to mark the 200th birth of John Mason Neale, former warden of Sackville College and writer of that christmas carol. While there has been some low level interference with the bed since it went in, sadly overnight on 9th / 10th August  the figurine of the king has had the head stolen and the page has been removed altogether.   This completely ruins the tableau and the Council will now have to decide whether to dismantle this bed, or how to replace these items. The staff who bring the beds together are upset that any resident would find sport in destroying civic displays.

This is criminal damage and as such has been reported to the police, who have been asked to look at the CCTV footage in the High St.   If anyone has any information as to the culprits please report it to the Police on 101.

We are sad to announce that Outset Youth Action will be closing operations at the end of August 2018. This has not been an easy decision, nor one that has been made lightly.

This is the outcome that the trustees have worked hard to try to avoid. Unfortunately the climate for funding organisations like Outset Youth Action is extremely difficult at present, and does not show any signs of improvement.

This has been made worse by West Sussex County Council’s decision to no longer fund any work carried out by Outset Youth Action.

We would like to take a moment to say a tremendous thank you to all of our volunteers, and our advisors who have worked incredibly hard alongside the rest of our staff team across all of our communities over the past 41 years. We would also like to thank all of our supporting organisations, and we wish them all the best in future in continuing to support the young people of West Sussex.

Former Town Mayor for 2017/18 Cllr Julie Mockford has presented her charities from her term in office with cheques for the funds raised.

The three charities, Chequer Mead Arts and Community trust, Melanoma Trust, and Queen Victoria Hospital were each awarded £5,132.

Pictured below are Cllr Mrs Mockford with Chairman of the Chequer Mead Trustees Rex Whittaker.

From Thursday 2 August the Mid Sussex recycling and rubbish collections will start from 6am.

The hot temperatures we’re experiencing this summer mean working conditions are tough for our bin collection crews and this change will give them more time to work in the cooler part of the day.

Please ensure your bins and boxes are placed out ready for collection the evening before, in plenty of time for the early start.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.