Growing Communities scheme benefits residents and our green spaces.

A scheme that helps residents with their wellbeing through work, rest and play in our green spaces is going from strength to strength.

Growing Communities, a sometimes literally groundbreaking project, has now worked with scores of residents in Northbrook in Worthing and Eastbrook in Fishersgate, helping them to thrive in open spaces and take control of their environment.

Woodland maintenance, Green Gyms, community orchard growing, wildlife walks, Tai Chi,  and gardening are just some of the projects a growing number of local residents are joining to improve their own wellbeing and also enhance the local environment.

The Growing Communities scheme is run by a national group The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) with support from Adur and Worthing Councils who have donated officer time, land and buildings. It has been primarily funded by the Big Lottery Fund to the tune of £660,000 for its three-year life span.

Now Growing Communities is reaching out to even more citizens of Northbrook and Eastbrook asking them to come and join their neighbours in really making things happen.

Growing Communities’ Engagement Officer Gwenn Parker-Tregoat said, “My main duty is to engage the community and work out what they would like to do and how they can make it happen. The best way for people to engage is to turn up to an event which has already been organised, see whether they like it and hopefully embrace the benefits of it.

“So I’m asking everyone in the communities to get in touch with me to find out what we can do for them or just come along and join in,” says Gwen who runs a drop-in sessions every Tuesday where people can come and share ideas for projects and activities.

For example at Whitebeam Woods in Northbrook a team is currently working on the ground, finding small pockets in the undergrowth, turning the soil, a process called scalloping, so that wildflowers can begin to grow.

At Longcroft Park, the Growing Communities project is helping with a scheme involving Hawthorns Primary School and The Pines adult day care centre to build a community orchard.

In Eastbrook, with the help of Growing Communities, local residents have set up the Eastbrook Explorers offering walks everyone can join from the very young to the elderly. On their seafront ‘walk on wheels’ some children came on roller skates and elderly residents joined on their mobility scooters.

Every Thursday at Eastbrook Manor Community Centre, Growing Communities also runs a Gardening Tots group for mothers and under fives, and also a Green gym.

Growing Communities Operations Leader John Haigh said, “Local communities identify what projects we are going to deliver, we then work with them to deliver that project. The aim is that once funding runs out, we have ensured that local people have got the skills and capabilities to carry this on, and see the value of carrying this on which is the most important thing.”

Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing at Adur District Council, Cllr David Simmons,  said, “The projects are examples of people coming together to put their local area on the map. With the help of TCV and the council, they become really impressive community assets which we hope will continue once funding ends. Self-sufficiency is the end goal and the community in Eastbrook should be proud of how it is doing.”

Worthing Borough Council’s Executive Member for Digital and Environmental Services, Cllr Edward Crouch said, “ I’m delighted we are supported this excellent project. It has been proved that people’s wellbeing is improved working or taking part in leisure activities out together in the environment.

“It also helps break down isolation which is a real issue. It’s just great to come out and see these people enjoying working in these woods and we get the benefit with the improvement on these green spaces.”

To find out how to get involved with Growing Communities or to share your ideas for projects and activities, for Northbrook, see Gwenn at the drop-in sessions every Tuesday between 9.30am - 12 noon at Durrington Community Centre, 2 Romany Road.

For Eastbrook, drop-in sessions run every Wednesday between 1pm - 3pm at the Meet In Place on Laylands Road, and Thursday at Eastbrook Manor Community Centre between 9.30am and 12 noon.

To find out more about Growing Communities go to a new Facebook page here, and also view their webpage here. Alternatively Gwenn can be contacted at gwenn.parker-tregoat@tcv.org.uk

WORTHING HIGH SCHOOL CELEBRATES SUCCESS AT SUSSEX TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARDS

The cream of the county’s educational talent gathered in Brighton on Wednesday 13 June for the Sussex Teacher of the Year Awards.

The inaugural event was organised by children’s charity School Inspirational Services and hosted by the charity’s chief executive Simon Dolby. Special guests included Brighton and Hove City councillor Jackie O’Quinn, leader of West Sussex County Council Louise Goldsmith, content editor of the Brighton and Hove Independent Bex Bastable, and former England women’s rugby team captain Catherine Spencer.

Parents, pupils, and staff from schools and further education colleges across Sussex submitted nominations at the beginning of the year trumpeting their standout individuals and teams. From these, a panel of judges selected winners for 42 awards, which comprised 28 district winners and 14 overall champions. 

To find out more CLICK HERE

Worthing High was delighted to be awarded the following:

Overall Sussex School Volunteer of the Year - Peter Webb from Worthing High School 

Peter is the managing director of a very successful electronics company and the Business Enterprise link at Worthing High School. He brings a wealth of knowledge and understanding that greatly benefits the students. Peter helped design a specific mentoring programme for hard to reach boys in Year 11. The programme includes spending time at his company, mentoring sessions with Peter, and reward activities. He helps his mentees with CV writing, applying for courses and apprenticeships, coping with interviews, and thinking positively about their studies and exams. He brings a taste of the real world into school and tackles questions a teacher might struggle to answer. 

Secondary Teacher of the Year Award Brighton, Hove, Worthing and Adur Region - Anna Strudwick - Subject Leader Dance

Anna is a dedicated P.E. and Dance teacher, and an amazing role model - providing extracurricular opportunities for students at Worthing High School and beyond. Despite a long daily commute she runs after-school clubs every night. Anna has also established dance groups across the school, which attract 175 participants each week. In her own time, Anna prepared the school’s entry for ‘Rock Challenge’, which is a performing arts competition, and organised ‘Simply Dance’ – a night of dance delivered by local schools at Worthing Pavilion Theatre. This year, she also ran the West Sussex County Council event ‘Time to Dance’, involving more than 960 students at 50 schools. 

Highly Commended - Christina Dodge - Learning Support Adviser

Contact details:

Karen Hayler, Business Development Manager, Worthing High School

01903 229275 email khayler@worthinghigh.net

Greater Brighton bids for cash to improve coast road congestion

Greater Brighton is bidding for a slice of an £840 million government fund to spend on tackling the area’s worsening transport congestion problem.

The City Region has made a first round bid to the Department for Transport to spend on improvements to traffic flow, particularly on the A259 coast road and also the A270 and the A23.

In its submission it says that although there are already large movements of employees within the coastal area, congestion is holding businesses back.  

The submission points to Department for Transport figures which show the average delay on the A roads is more than double the rest of south east England. Furthermore, during peak times, in the 60-minute drive-time band, used as a standard measure, commuters from Brighton city centre can only expect to reach as far as Worthing, a mere 12 miles away.

The report adds: “This significantly reduces the area’s attractiveness to businesses and future investors; impacts on productivity; reduces the retention of staff, and limits growth.”

At this stage the government is not looking for firm proposals for transport schemes, nor has it signalled how much each successful bidder will receive.

The initial submission is an outline of need. Greater Brighton says it wants to work on improving the infrastructure of, particularly, the A259. This is so that a fully-integrated and sustainable transport system can be developed that will increase the reliability of public transport services and create safer, more attractive, cycle lanes while building network capacity for Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs).

Greater Brighton chairman, Cllr Andy Smith, also leader of Lewes District Council, said: “This bid shows the strength of Greater Brighton in that working together we can make a more powerful regional case. We all recognise that the coast road is a drag on our economy and that is why we should explore every avenue we can to get funding to make improvements.”

Cllr Gill Mitchell, Lead Member for Transport at Brighton & Hove City Council, which co-ordinated and led the application for funding on behalf of the partners involved, said: “We know that we need to address people’s journeys to work and air quality issues across our local authority boundaries, so it was essential that we approached this bid jointly. I really hope that the application persuades the government that our communities’ and our economy’s deserve investment. The special, built-up and natural environments that we have here make us very different to any other city region.”

The bid criteria required a focus on improving 'urban corridors' for commuting and businesses and therefore Greater Brighton decided to call its submission ‘Connected Coastal City’ area and focus this time on Worthing, Adur, Brighton & Hove and the Newhaven area. 

Your Spare room: A window to the world

Centre of English Studies is a family run business that has been a significant contributor to the local economy for almost 30 years. Host families are an integral part of the CES experience and as well as the many benefits afforded to the hosts themselves, this gives students an all important overview of modern British culture.

As a child growing up in Worthing I was lucky enough to share our family home with international students from all over the world, who were studying at CES. Global travel, family life and British culture were all regular topics at the dinner table and this gave me a unique insight into other nationalities, languages and countries.

When my two older brothers moved away from home my Mum thought it a waste to have empty rooms, so decided to host students as a way to not only generate some extra income but also, and more importantly, to give us the chance to experience different cultures, languages and to broaden our horizons.

In 2017 CES welcomed over 4500 students to Worthing, and with an average spend of at least £250 per student this resulted in over £1.1 million injected into the Worthing economy!

The world is a constantly changing place but one thing that hasn’t changed that much is how we, as human beings, interact on a personal level.

Why not open your doors and show the world the warmth and hospitality that the British way of life has to offer?

Be an ambassador for your country and earn some useful income from your spare room!

Please call us on 01903 231330 today or email us: accom2@ces-schools.com

for more information on becoming a host family.

Come and discover all things apprenticeship

Date: Wednesday 4th July
Time: 4pm-7pm
Venue: GB MET Broadwater Campus

Apprenticeship Fair:

• Apprenticeship job opportunities
• Careers advice
• Apprentice training providers
• Degree apprenticeships
• Local colleges & universities 

What a weekend in Worthing

Worthing is set for a bumper weekend with three major events and a host of family-friendly fun to be had by thousands of visitors.

A community parade, watersports, charity events and an arts trail are among those activities which are sure to bring the crowds to the south coast this weekend (June 16/17).

The biggest event is the Worthing Children’s Parade, which will see hundreds of young people from 24 schools take part in a colourful parade throughout the town on Saturday.

With the theme of Harry Potter, witches, wizards and a host of fantastic beasts will leave Beach House Grounds on the seafront at 10am. The parade will make its way along the promenade to West Buildings, then head along Montague Street, South Street, Warwick Street and into Steyne Gardens where there is an afternoon of entertainment and stalls.

Road closures will be in place between 10am and 12pm on the seafront and between 10.30am and 12.30pm northbound in The Steyne.

Elsewhere in the town, Worthing Rowing Regatta takes place on the seafront east of Worthing Pier all weekend while Sunday morning will see more than 1,000 runners dress in pink to take part in the annual Cancer Research UK Race for Life (start 11am).

The weekend will also see the start of Worthing Artists Open Houses, with more than 60 venues opening their doors to the public to showcase a range of arts and crafts for three weeks.

With a host of seasonal concessions on the seafront also available, offering gourmet sandwiches, non-alcoholic mojitos and more of the watersports opportunities the town has become famous for, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

Councillor Kevin Jenkins, Worthing Borough Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, said: “Worthing really is a town on the up and this weekend is just a snapshot of the range of activities that our town offers to people of all ages.

“From arts trails showcasing local creative talents to watersports making the most of our beautiful coastal environment, this range of events really do capture everything that’s great about the town.

“With good transport links, fair-priced parking and a host of excellent eateries, there really is no better time for people to come and Discover Worthing.”

There’s no place like it - Worthing's creative hub is all art for Open Houses

Worthing's creative hub Colonnade House is playing its part in the 2018 Worthing Artists Open Houses by hosting two exhibitions for the event.

Art Trails are thriving these days, and Worthing is no exception with nearly 60 venues taking part over three weeks in the town's annual extravaganza.

At Colonnade, which is in Warwick Street in the heart of Worthing’s cafe quarter, the popular gallery space is hosting two exhibitions for the three weeks of the Open Houses.

‘There’s no place like it’ by Ruth Mulvie explores the “endless potential” of colour. Comparisons are often made with Hockney: glamorous women in 1950s bikinis lounge around swimming pools, palm trees speckle the horizon, while the sky holds the rich intensity of LA heat. As well as the themes and motifs, Mulvie also captures that same, compelling sense of flat perspective that Hockney is known for, yet she manages to create depth at the same time, building up foreground elements or adding in distant detail.

For this exhibition she jokingly plays with the idea of the holiday resort as a place of pleasure and escape. However all is not as it seems. Ruth carefully crafts her paintings from digital collages using found imagery creating scenes familiar yet strange - here you will find the Beach House in Worthing nestled amongst flying elephants and a candy floss machine.

Ruth said: "The imagery I pick varies depending on what I feel like painting, but it all fits into several broad themes of pleasure. It started when I was at art school and made trips to Blackpool to photograph rollercoasters. I remember driving down to Blackpool from Glasgow and sleeping in the car on the promenade so I could be out first thing to capture the feel of the place with my camera. I fell in love with the Tower Ballroom and and I just love all things seaside. Living in Lancing in a beautiful Victorian house across from the sea felt like coming home."

‘There’s no place like it’ opens Wednesday 13th June - Sunday 1st July 10-5 (closed Mondays)

Colonnade House is also delighted to host and exhibtion by one of its studio members, Peon Boyle whose print studio is on the third floor. Peon runs classes and hosts workshops as well as using her studio to create her own work.

Her new series ‘South Downs’ was inspired from her early morning walks at dawn, where she spent her unsleeping hours observing the colours of the sky at her favourite time of the day. She especially likes the moment before the sun rises when the sky changes from deep blue to pale grey. Then when the sun rises, bright burning orange pierces through the horizon.

Printmaking found her during the second year of her Fine Art degree. She loves process and steps; there is a set format to follow and she just loses herself when printing and wiping the plates. She loves the smell of ink and its creamy texture: the way it moves. Printmaking is very “hands on”, she builds a relationship with her work by touching it. Every wipe makes a mark, and marks fascinate her.

Peon said: “Everything leaves a mark in this world. Visible or not, it remains in existence and sometimes it is in people’s hearts.”

Peon Boyle: Printmaker opens Wednesday 13th June - Sunday 1st July 10pm to 5pm (closed Mondays)

Peon will be running some practical public demonstrations during her exhibition: Gelli Plate on 16th June between 10am & 2pm and creating a collagraph plate which is all day on 23rd June.

Colonnade House officially opened as a creative hub in September 2016 with funding from the Coastal Communities programme.

It has been leased to Adur & Worthing Trust, a local charity that supports arts and culture and is managed through a partnership between the Trust and Worthing Borough Council with a team of three members of staff.

Accountancy Firm Commemorates Great War Sacrifice

Worthing and Gatwick based accountancy firm, MHA Carpenter Box, recently presented the Borough of Worthing with a specially commissioned Royal Sussex Regiment flag to help to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War and the Battle of Boar’s Head.

The Battle of Boar’s Head was a 'diversionary' attack which took place on 30^th June 1916 where men of the Sussex Regiment went ‘over the top’ at Richebourg in the Pas-de-Calais. The casualty list at the end of this disastrous day was 365 men killed, including 22 from Worthing and over 1,000 wounded, missing or captured.

The flag was flown recently at Worthing Town Hall during a ceremony to bestow the Freedom of the Borough on the Mayor’s Office of the town of Richebourg.

MHA Carpenter Box Partner, Chris Coopey, pictured presenting the flag to former Mayor Alex Harman of Worthing Borough Council, commented:

“Harold Box, one of the firm’s founding Partners, served in the Royal Sussex Regiment and survived the First World War. In his memory and in the memory of those less fortunate souls from his regiment who were killed or maimed during the conflict, we were honoured to cause this very special flag to be made.

“It was particularly poignant for the flag to play a part in the ceremony to confirm our commitment to the very special relationship between Worthing and Richebourg. Such friendships are key to making sure we never forget our links to France with whom we share this important thread of Sussex history.”

www.carpenterbox.com

THE BIG MAKE This year the Tide of Light community group are working with the very best organisations in the Carnival world to bring our community closer together and create spectacular structures for the parade in 2019. Can you help us make this a reality?

SUPPORT OUR SPACEHIVE PROJECT HERE

Elkie Brooks presents ‘Pearls – The Very Best of’ live In Concert this July

On Saturday 14 July at the Pavilion Theatre Worthing, Elkie Brooks and her band will perform songs that feature on her latest hits collection ‘Pearls – The Very Best Of Elkie Brooks’, which features all of the hits that made Elkie into one of the UK’s most successful singers.

These include ‘Lilac Wine’, ‘Fool If You Think It’s Over’, ‘Sunshine After The Rain’, ‘No More The Fool’ and her signature hit ‘Pearl’s A Singer’.

Elkie Brooks began singing professionally in 1960. Born Elaine Bookbinder to a
Jewish baker in Manchester, at 15 she won a talent contest at the Palace Theatre,
Manchester judged by the infamous Don Arden (manager of Jerry Lee Lewis, Little
Richard and The Small Faces, and father of Sharon Osbourne). The next few years
were an education. She sang in cabaret clubs up and down the country, and found
herself supporting the Beatles at their 1964 Christmas shows at Hammersmith
Odeon. Her first hit, in 1964, was a version of Etta James’ ‘Something’s Got A Hold
On Me’, on which a pre-Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page played guitar; she toured with The
Small Faces, The Animals. By the end of the 60s, she was singing jazz with
Humphrey Lyttelton’s band and a few short years later had channelled her inner rock
chick, and was now co-fronting the band Vinegar Joe alongside Robert Palmer.

At Vinegar Joe’s dissolution, she found herself joining southern American boogie
band Wet Willie. But this was a temporary diversion, because shortly after she was
back on home turf, a newly minted, grownup solo singer. Her solo debut album ‘Rich
Man’s Woman’ was banned in some quarters because of its raunchy sleeve but it
was her 1977 album ‘Two Days Away’ that saw the blue touch paper truly ignite on
Elkie’s career. The album featured her monster hit and signature song ‘Pearl’s A
Singer’, which was co-written and produced by Elvis stalwarts Leiber & Stoller. The
song lit up the charts and gave her her first timeless classic. It wouldn’t be her last.
 
The hits kept coming: ‘Fool If You Think It’s Over’, ‘Lilac Wine’, ‘Sunshine After The
Rain’, ‘Warm And Tender Love’, ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud’ and her highest charting hit ‘No
More The Fool’. Her 1981 album ‘Pearls’ was in the charts for 79 continuous weeks
and went on to sell over a million, making Elkie Brooks the biggest selling female
album artist in the history of the British pop charts at the time. And the work rate
didn’t let up: over the course of the next 25 years, she has released some 20 albums.
By 2012, she had more chart albums under her belt than any other British female
artist. Not only has she been prolific in the studio she has also continued to tour,
performing live in almost every major UK theatre with sell out runs at such
prestigious venues as the Palladium, the Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Arena, Ronnie
Scotts and she even shared the bill with the Beach Boys and Santana at Knebworth
in 1980.

Tickets for Elkie Brooks: Live in Concert at the Pavilion Theatre are available from the Worthing Theatres box office on 01903 206 206 and online at worthingtheatres.co.uk.