Father and daughter artists Gary and Bambi Goodman present a new exhibition at Worthing Museum & Art Gallery this February

After two successful exhibitions at WishLess Gallery in Tokyo and a show at Studio Gallery in London, father and daughter artists, Gary and Bambi Goodman, present a new exhibition at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery this winter.
 
Opening on 10 February, On a Night Like This is an exhibition which includes paintings, prints and poetry, which will be on display in the Studio Gallery until 30 June. There will be a reception on the opening afternoon where Gary will be reading some of his poetry. During the exhibition there will be further events and workshops.

Gary Goodman is a painter and poet. His imagery is resoundingly direct, unbothered by artistic self-consciousness and politeness; unrefined, unmannerly yet sensitive. Gary has exhibited his paintings and prints and has performed his poetry around the world: from the frozen wastes of Norway and Alaska down to the warmth of New Zealand and the Southern States of USA.

Bambi Goodman is a British artist living and working in Brighton. She has exhibited in galleries and Artists Open Houses in Brighton, and in Japan. She has also produced commercial work for The Japan Times as well as illustrations for albums and LP covers for bands under 1234 Records. Bambi is not precious about her work; although the themes are often personal and sentimental they are generally weighted with a sense of humour. Bambi is influenced by Bob Dylan, Van Gogh and melancholic cowboys.

Bambi Goodman says “I paint what I like – and what I like is women and animals. Japanese schoolgirls, cowgirls, girls reading books, girls falling in love with bears and ravens, Van Gogh’s little lark. They are sensitive paintings, while playful and gaudy at times. There is no use trying to make them any more than they are."

Emma Walder, Art Curator Worthing Museum & Art Gallery, says: “This father and daughter exhibition is an intriguing concept so it will be interesting to see if, or how Bambi may have been influenced by her father, Gary Goodman.  Will their work be juxtaposed, or complement each other? I know Gary's work well although I haven't seen this recent work, I'm drawn to his dark but somehow humorous style. I know many local artists who were taught by Gary and he has worked with the museum on previous projects and exhibitions so this will be a great opportunity to see the work he's selected for On a Night Like This. The mix of printmaking, poetry and painting will make a stimulating exhibition.”

For more information on visit worthingmuseum.co.uk or call Worthing Museum on 01903 221 448.

The Cruise Collection

22nd April 2018 - 9 nights from £899pp

Whats included in this package?

• 7 nights on-board on Carnival Horizon
• 2 nights in a 4* B&B Barcelona Hotel
• All transfers included
• Return Flights

Click here to visit the website

Social Enterprise Hot House Programme Dates for Delegates

Friday 12th January at 9:30am-12:30pm - Workshop: Fundraising Strategy - Taking a strategic approach to fundraising will help ensure that your Social Enterprise has a mix income approach which focuses energy and resources to those fundraising areas that will bring maximum return, both in the short-term and long-term.

Friday 26th January from 10:00am-11:00am - Action Learning Session

Friday 9th February at 9:30am-12:30pm - Workshop: Fundraising skills - Finding funding opportunities and understanding what funders are looking for are skills that will help you to be more successful in your fundraising activities. This workshop will help you identify the places where funding opportunities are advertised and help you understand the language and motivations of funders and what makes a good application. 

Friday 23rd March at 10:00am-12:00pm - Action Learning Session

Friday 13th April at 9:30am-12:300pm - Workshop: Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers - Volunteers are a fantastic resource for organisations whether it is on your management committee, or supporting your fundraising or day to day activities, however you need to find them and keep them happy! This workshop will give you the framework for identifying the skills you need in your organisation, the tools you need to keep volunteers happy and how and where to advertise.

Friday 27th April at 10:00am-12:00pm - Action Learning Session

Click here to book

MHA Carpenter Box Heads into 2018 following a record 2017

Sussex-based chartered accountants MHA Carpenter Box is welcoming in 2018 on the back of a record year, driven in part by the rapid expansion of its Gatwick office.

The firm, headquartered in Worthing, has seen its Gatwick headcount grow from four employees at start-up in June 2015 to 27 today, 15 of whom have been recruited in the last 12 months. Driving this growth has been an impressive increase in the client base being managed from Gatwick which, added to the strong performance of the Worthing office has made for an exceptional 12 months.

To aid its long-term growth, MHA Carpenter Box also recruited its highest-ever number of new trainees last year, nine of whom were taken on at Worthing and three in Gatwick.

Chris Coopey, Partner and Practice Director at the firm, commented: “The last 12 months have been exceptional, with the total number of employees now approaching 160.

Our focus on service innovation and sector-related specialist support along with the national and global reach we can achieve through MHA and Baker Tilly International has certainly paid dividends, to the point that we now count multi-national businesses among our clients, regularly winning new business at the expense of accountancy groups with global profiles.”

Worthing’s trial “street clutter” scheme hailed a big success

Traders are being thanked for playing their part in helping improve access to one of the major shopping streets in Worthing town centre.

Worthing Borough Council began a pilot scheme in September aimed at reducing ‘street clutter’ in Warwick Street. This was following complaints from shoppers and wheelchair users that they were unable to get from A to B due to the amount of street furniture in the road.

In order to maintain access for all, local businesses were asked to apply for a licence to place items like A-Boards and outdoor seating in the public highway.

After all but three businesses in Warwick Street signed up to the self-funding scheme, access to the pedestrianised street has been dramatically improved.

Enforcement action is now being considered against those firms without a licence, which will see the removal of items belonging to non-compliant firms and potential fines of up to £1,000.

Council leaders will also look to roll out the pilot to other areas in the town from March.

Councillor Diane Guest, Worthing Borough Council’s Executive Member for Environment, said: “I know as a local business owner how important items like A-Boards and outdoor eating areas play in boosting trade and improving the vibrancy of our town centre.

“However, this cannot be done without thought to the very people that use the shops.

“While this scheme has not been universally popular, the result has been overwhelmingly positive - not only improving the appearance to one of the town’s major shopping streets, but making it a lot easier for everyone to access it.

“It’s disappointing that a small number of firms still refuse to sign up to the scheme which gives us no option but to enforce the laws.

“However, we will be rolling the scheme out across the town from March onwards, and are already beginning to receive unprompted applications from new businesses to the area.”

The powers to license street furniture used to belong to West Sussex County Council. But the scheme was not widely promoted or enforced, meaning just two firms in the whole of Worthing paid for permission to place items on the highway.

Worthing Borough Council took on the powers earlier this year - and pledged to work with businesses to ensure that the scheme is priced and enforced fairly.

Costs for the first year for an advertising board will start from £106.50 - or just over £2 a week - with the fee dropping to just £80.50 in the second. Prices for tables and chairs are more expensive and calculated on the amount of highway used.

Teams from the council regularly contacted every business in the street to make sure they are aware of the changes and talk them through the changes.

The scheme is entirely self-funding with all of the monies raised covering the administration costs.

Enjoy a free drink at Indigo

Enjoy a free glass of wine, half a pint of lager, half a pint of bitter or soft drink when you dine with us in January. Just click this link and show a member of staff
http://mailchi.mp/ardingtonhotel/a-festive-treat-on-us-merry-christmas 

Coastal West Sussex Partnership urges government rethink on apprenticeship funding for businesses 

Influential business partnership Coastal West Sussex (CWS)  today hit out at a government decision which could see a drastic drop in the number of small firm apprenticeships on offer in the region.

Government has awarded no funding for the Universities of Chichester and Brighton to run apprenticeship schemes on behalf of small and medium sized businesses despite growing demand in the area.  The Further Education Colleges received only about 50% of their requirements.

The South East as a whole has fared badly in the funding announcement despite the universities and colleges working hard with local businesses to grow demand and offer apprenticeships particularly in the digital, construction and engineering industries.

Now CWS chairman Geoff Edwards has written to the government’s Apprenticeships Minister Anne Milton calling for an urgent rethink.

In the letter, which has also been sent to all MPs covering the Coastal West Sussex region Mr Edwards, Executive Vice President of UK Operations at the high-end audio company Bowers and Wilkins says he is “very disappointed” by the outcome.

“This curtailed funding will force education providers to work with just the Levy paying employers which, along the coast, are few and far between as only a small percentage of companies are  large enough to actually pay the Apprenticeship Levy in this area,” he writes.

Director of CWS, Caroline Wood added, “This is extremely disappointing particularly given the hard work that has already gone in to creating these courses and growing the demand,” said director Caroline Wood, “Some courses will have to be scrapped despite there being demand from local people and businesses.

“This is short-sighted thinking by the government and ignores the very real need smaller businesses have in the Coastal West Sussex region for young people with new skills to help local businesses  develop their markets.”

In particular the University of Chichester had been developing a broad range of  Degree Apprenticeships and is about to open a new, £38M Engineering and Digital Technology Centre in Bognor Regis which would also have offered apprenticeships including Digital Degree Apprenticeships for which there is a desperate shortage in the area.

Now with no allocation of funding those are in serious doubt.

Skills levels at apprenticeship level in the coastal area are 11% lower than the rest of the region and the CWS Partnership says the new Centre in Bognor Regis with strong links to local small and medium businesses offered career pathway opportunities to inspire local young people and support the wider education led regeneration of the area.

The nearest university to win funding is in Portsmouth making it very difficult and costly for new apprentices on day release to attend.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (Esfa) funding was announced just before Christmas with big differences in the regional winners and losers.

The figures are for non-levy apprenticeships which the government funds for businesses with an annual paybill of less than £3m. Levy employers, usually larger companies, will be unaffected by this move.

Coastal West Sussex Partnership has been very active in promoting apprenticeships and the importance of STEM educational subjects, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, so that young people in the area can gain the skills needed by local businesses.

CWS is running its third Coastal STEMfest this year; an interactive series of events aimed at inspiring young people, particularly girls, to take STEM subjects to meet the growing national and local demand.

Opportunities at Coast to Capital

Coast to Capital is at an exciting time in our development and seeking to recruit professionals to our small, highly motivated and engaged team. We have a vacancy for a Governance/Compliance Officer who will be responsible for delivering our governance arrangements and ensuring compliance with our Assurance Framework. We are also looking for a Strategy and Policy Manager who will support the Head of Strategy and Policy to develop, review and deliver on Coast to Capital’s overarching strategies for economic growth.  For more information and how to apply please visit our website. 

Support Growing for Brighton Mainline Alliance

The ‘Brighton Mainline Alliance’ is a group of businesses and organisations that support the aim for Government to fully commit to funding strategic investment in the Brighton Mainline.  We are delighted that over 30 organisations and the majority of our regional MPs have already demonstrated their support for the Alliance. If you haven’t already please show your support by sending your company logo to Jake Daniels. If you are an Alliance member please share the campaign messages and encourage others in your network to join.

Launch into 2018 with a challenge for St Barnabas House

Join St Barnabas for a breathtaking year of action-packed challenges in 2018 and together we can reach everyone who needs hospice care.

Snowdon Sunset Trek - Explore and summit the highest mountain in England and Wales and witness the beautiful sunset across snowdonia whilst raising vital funds for St Barnabas House.

Trail or Road Cycling - 20-4- miles off-road over the southdowns or 100 miles through London and Surrey.

Jump, Climb or Fly - Abseil down an iconic building or soar through skies at 120 miles per hour.

10k or Ultra Marathon - 10k coastal run, a marathon with a picturesque view or 53.5 miles finishing at Winchester Cathedral.

Walk, Trek or Hike - Overseas or in the UK, covering 200 miles in a team and seeing sights of Sussex or walking through the night for your local hospice.

Find out more here