Category: News

Many East Grinstead youngsters spent the Easter holidays learning a little more about their town by completing the Town Promotions team’s challenge. The EG4KIDZ competition asked children to look in the windows of some of the local shops and attractions to spot leopards hidden there. Each leopard had a child friendly historical fact about East Grinstead. Did you know why the leopard was chosen as the mascot for EG4KIDZ for example? Come to ask Dawn or Roger at the Tourist information desk in the library if you want to know!

The three lucky winners, Ewan, Myah and Megan received their prizes from Town Mayor Cllr Sweatman at a special ceremony at East Court on Tuesday 26th April. The prizes were donated by Deers Leap Park, Scotts Cinema and the Easter Bunny and thanks go to them.

Look out for future EG4KIDZ challenges as the year goes by.

A leaflet listing the major events in the Town over the coming months is available from the Tourist Information in East Grinstead’s library and can be downloaded here.

Download / print this leaflet

Crowds gathered at East Court on Thursday 21st April, to celebrate the special birthday of Her Majesty the Queen. The Town Council hosted a beacon lighting ceremony in the evening . East Grinstead being one of the thousand communities which joined together to mark this commemoration. Hundreds of residents gathered at the beacon as it was lit at 7.30pm by the Town Mayor after he had read out a message from HRH The Prince of Wales.

Following the lighting ceremony the crowd was treated to a performance by Choirpower, who sang a number of songs from the nine decades of the Queen’s long life, followed by a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday. Everyone stood to sing two verses of the National Anthem. Cake (of a very special regal variety) and refreshments were then served in the mansion’s main hall.
A card, prepared by the Town Promotions Team, and signed by all the town’s primary school children was on show, and a continuous stream of people queued to add their names and special messages for the Queen. The card will be sent to the palace and should a reply be received it will be on show in the library and copies will be presented to each of the schools.

Town Promotions Manager Dawn Spalding commented that “ It was a fitting way to celebrate the Queen’s long life and we were delighted that so many people chose to celebrate her birthday together at this special, memorable event”.

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Jonathan Ansley our Outdoor Services Supervisor, will be stepping out from his regular role helping taking care of much of the Town Council’s outdoor facilities, to take part in the Royal Marsden’s South Downs Trekathon – on 21st May.

Jonathan is raising funds as a tribute to the work of the Royal Marsden after his grandson, Sebastian suffered from an extremely rare from of bladder cancer and has been receiving specialist treatment since October last year. Now the prognosis is excellent, and fingers crossed, he will soon be completely free of this dreadful disease.

In recognition of this, Jonathan and best mate, James Averell, will be taking part in this years South Downs Trekathon, to raise money for this most fantastic of causes. The Trek is on the 21st May 2016 (less than 5 weeks from now ), and starts in Lewes. Then, it’s simply a gentle stroll over 26 miles of some of the most arduous terrain in the South of England, finally finishing at Beachy Head. Training has already begun in earnest, and now all he needs is your kind support!

So, if you would like to give ( whatever you can, no amount is too small ), please do so by visiting our fund raising website at: www.justgiving.com/jonathan-ansley

Mid Sussex District Council’s dedicated website for Council Tax, Business Rates (NNDR), Benefits and Benefit Fraud information is moving to a new address.

From Monday 18 April, www.midsussex.gov.uk/revsandbens will be the place for Mid Sussex residents to find specialised information on Council Tax and Benefits payments. The site will be hosted by Mid Sussex District Council but it will serve everyone in Adur, Horsham and Mid Sussex.

Adur, Horsham and Mid Sussex District Councils work together in partnership to provide local people with a shared Council Tax and Benefits service. The website address is changing to ensure the partnership complies with all the latest Central Government policies on shared council services.

Some council email addresses will also change from the old ‘centralsussex.gov.uk’ format to new ‘midsussex.gov.uk’ addresses. For example, Council Tax, Business Rates (Revenues) and Benefits email addresses will now be revenue@midsussex.gov.uk and benefit@midsussex.gov.uk.

Customers that use a self-service account to access their specific Council Tax and Benefit information online will now need to log-in at:

• For Adur – https://selfservice.midsussex.gov.uk/publicaccesslivea/
• For Horsham – https://selfservice.midsussex.gov.uk/publicaccessliveh/
• For Mid Sussex – https://selfservice.midsussex.gov.uk/publicaccesslivem/

  Full details can be found on the new website at www.midsussex.gov.uk/revsandbens

A Neighbourhood Plan referendum will take place in Ashurst Wood alongside the Police and Crime Commissioner election on Thursday 5 May 2016.

Residents will decide if they would like the Neighbourhood Plan produced by Ashurst Wood Village Council to be used to determine planning applications in their area.

Neighbourhood Plans give people the opportunity to influence the future development of their local area. Town and Parish Councils work alongside local residents to develop plans that will influence the planning of the area where they live and work.

Ashurst Wood Village Council has now finalised a Neighbourhood Plan and, if over 50% of people who vote in the referendum support the plan, it will be used by Mid Sussex District Council to decide local planning applications.

Recent home movers should check that they have updated their details on the electoral register and will be eligible to vote. Only residents in Ashurst Wood are eligible to vote in the Neighbourhood Plan referendum.

The deadline for new registration applications is Midnight on Monday 18 April 2016 and the deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday 19 April 2016.

New applications to appoint someone to vote by proxy must be made by 5pm on Tuesday 26 April 2016 and applications for an emergency proxy vote must be received by 5pm on Thursday 5 May 2016.

If you have any questions regarding registration or the electoral process then please contact the Mid Sussex District Council Electoral Services team on 01444 477003 or email elections@midsussex.gov.uk.

Students from all years at Imberhorne School last month celebrated Fairtrade Fortnight and participated in helping raise awareness for Fairtrade in the school. The Mayor attended their ‘Big Fairtrade Day’ at the Windmill Lane site.

The Imberhorne Fairtrade Group sold Fairtrade chocolate bars and cookies which were bought in from fairly-trading organisation Traidcraft. Students sold the bars to their peers at lunchtimes.

The Group also gave assemblies to all seven year groups. In these, they spoke about this year’s theme – Big Fairtrade Breakfasts – and the concept of food security. All the people who wrote and delivered the assemblies were student members of the Group, who then visited local primary schools in Lingfield and Dormansland to run workshops.

In these, the students investigated a mystery, and had to figure out how Fairtrade had helped a Kenyan tea farmer with environmental changes. They were then served a Big Fairtrade Breakfast including jam sandwiches, juice, snack bars and muesli. Then then visited the 6^th EG Beavers, where they also served Fairtrade breakfasts!

During their ‘Big Fairtrade Day’, year 8s had been tasked to come up two or three ‘unfair’ game stalls per form, to set-up and play – form 8Y won the prize for most money raised (£50.50). The year 9s played an “Unfair Dodgeball Match” against the teachers. Town Mayor, Cllr Dick Sweatman, attended the event for the second year running, and commented on how well it was ran and how it was good to see students so enthusiastic.

The Fairtrade Group’s Chairman, year 13 student Henry Grub, said: “Fairtrade Fortnight 2016 was bigger and better than last year, and raised much more money! The students work so hard and really get stuck into the celebrations and we are so proud to be able to put on an event like this. Last year we won an award and £350 for our Fortnight activities and I definitely hope we can do it again!”

In total, the Fortnight raised £476.68, which will all be going to the school’s investment scheme with “Lend with Care”, an organisation providing microloans to producers and entrepreneurs in the developing world, who will be chosen by the students.

 

West Sussex Young Persons Substance Misuse Service – Vacancy

Three new walking trails have been launched by the Kingscote Valley Project, including one that starts off from the town’s historic High Street. This comes as the countryside springs into life, and many of us get the urge to put on our boots and explore. The new routes give you detailed instructions and background to the countryside you pass through. There are some outstanding views over the Kingscote Valley and many opportunities to break your journey if you need refreshments.

The walking route leaflets are available here.

Buddy up with friends or work colleagues and get a team together for the Reaching Rio Challenge. Funded by West Sussex Wellbeing and promoted by West Sussex County Council, it’s a fun way to exercise, burn off some calories at any sport from walking to football, dance to swimming, and  logging your team’s results  online and converting them into miles. Teams work together to race to Rio along the interactive map. Miles are gained by doing physical activity such as walking, cycling, team sports and dancing see the website for more details http://reachingrio.org/