Become a Councillor 

West Sussex County Council is lifting-the-lid on life as a county councillor with an information event ahead of the local elections in May.

The event for potential councillors takes place on Monday 27 February from 5.30pm to 8.45pm at County Hall, Chichester.

Places for the event are limited so potential candidates are encouraged to register at (link to: http://beacouncillor.co.uk/west-sussex/).

The event will give people thinking of standing in the elections on 4 May the chance to learn more about the County Council, take part in workshops, understand the election timetable and ask questions.

A new website has also been launched in collaboration with the Local Government Association’s ‘Be a Councillor’ campaign. The website allows people to take an eligibility quiz and watch a new video created with current West Sussex county councillors discussing their roles.

Pat Arculus, Chairman of West Sussex County Council, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for people thinking of standing for election to find out more information about the county council, what the role involves and take part in workshops.

“You’ll also be able to watch the new video which includes ten of our current members, including myself, providing a great deal of insight into our responsibilities. I would urge anyone who is considering standing to take some time and watch it.”

All councils are led by democratically elected councillors who set the vision and direction of the council and represent their local community.

To be eligible for the role you must be:

• a British or a citizen of the Commonwealth or European Union
• at least 18 years old
• registered to vote in the area or have lived, worked or owned property there for at least 12 months before an election.

More information on eligibility is available on the Be a Councillor website.

Residents are also being encouraged to make sure they are on the electoral register to be able to vote on 4 May. To make sure you are on the electoral roll contact your local district or borough council by Thursday 13 April.

• Covering+letter+Pat+Arculus.pdf
• Final+Prog+27.02.17.pdf

Who can resist a jelly bean.... or three?!

When Empire Printworks of Lancing booked to exhibit at the Better Business Show, they decided on a sweet-treat show offer – guess the number of Jelly Beans in the jar.  So, after a painstaking night of counting out the Jelly Beans (one for the pot, one for them!) a stacked jar of colourful Jelly Beans took pride of place on their stand.

Guesses ranged from 241 right up to 15,356 but the well deserved winner was Sian Chapman of Will Power Worthing Limited, who was just 3 away from the total of 988.

Paul Green, of Empire Printworks said, “Print is a very competitive field so we wanted to have a little bit of fun alongside promoting our company at the exhibition.  We were delighted by everyone’s enthusiasm and really enjoyed the day.  It was great to chat to potential new customers and meet up with existing clients – we’ll definitely be back to exhibit again next year”.

Empire Printworks offer bespoke printing with a fast turnaround and a friendly service.

Will Power Worthing Ltd won £100 worth of printing for guessing the number of Jelly Beans correctly but as a post-show offer Empire Printworks are offering 500 FREE business cards for every customer who orders £50 of printing before 28 February 2017 – another sweet deal from Empire Printworks!

Call 0800 6510 008 or visit www.empireprintworks.co.uk

WCHP Upcoming Events in 2017

February

Alternative Rock Acoustic – Saturday 4^th 7pm Music event hosted by 69 Music at the Upper Lounge at Caroline of Brunswick, Ditchling Road, Brighton.

Littlehampton Sleepout – Saturday 25^th from 7pm
Littlehampton Sleepout, held at Riverbeach Primary School

March

A Street Cat Named Bob – Thursday 2^nd 8pm for 8.30pm.

A charity showing of A Street Cat Named Bob at Worthing Dome. 8pm for an 8.30pm start. Thank you to our sponsors Sussex Transport and Worthing Dome and Sony for being incredibly generous with their support of this showing. Tickets £6.50 and available by calling 01903 680742 or popping into one of our charity shops – Montague Street in Worthing or Littlehampton High Street.

Woolly Hat Day – Friday 3^rd All day

Get your friends, colleagues, school involved! Wear a woolly hat, take a photo and donate a £1 to WCHP! Share your photos on social media #wchpwoollyhatday .

Suspiciously Elvis – Thursday 23^rd from 7pm 
Suspiciously Elvis at Food Restaurant in Worthing. £29 for a three course meal and a fantastic evening’s entertainment. Call Food Restaurant on 01903 227780 to book your space.

Horsham Sleepout – Saturday 25^th from 7pm
Horsham Sleepout, held at St Roberts Southwell Catholic Primary School

May

Skydive – Saturday 20^th
Sponsored event held at Skydive Netheravon – email info@wchp.org.uk for more information!

June

Worthing Artist Open Houses – Weekends 17^th - 18^th and 24^th – 25^th
The theme of this year’s Worthing Artist Open Houses is “Safe Spaces”, held at Colonnade House in Worthing – email info@wchp.org.uk to get involved!

July

Worthing Artist Open Houses – Weekend of the 1^st – 2^nd 
The final weekend of this year’s event.

Worthing Summer Busk and Street Collection – Saturday 22^nd
Street collection in Worthing, with musicians

August

Shoreham Street Collection – Saturday 12^th

Street collection in Shoreham

October

Taylor Maid musical evening – Saturday 14^th from 7pm

Organised by the Goring Friends group, held at the Warren Ballroom. Tickets TBC

December

Christmas Tree Festival – Saturday 2^nd and Sunday 3^rd

Our annual Christmas Tree Festival will be held at St Mary de Haura Church in Shoreham

For further details of our events please contact the Fundraising Team on 01903 680740 or email info@wchp.org.uk 

If you would like help at any of our events please contact our Volunteer Co-ordinator on 01903 680740 or email helping@wchp.org.uk

Please visit our website www.wchp.org.uk or follow us on social media @WCHPnews 

Indigo Restaurant | Kate & Wills Wedding Party

You are cordially invited to Will & Kates Wedding Party

March 23 @ 7:00pm - 11:00pm

From the production company that has brought Fawlty Towers to the Ardington, over the last 4 years, we now have their new excellent show ….. The Wedding party.

If Will & Kate can survive this party, their marriage will be a piece of Cake!!

I went to see the show at the World renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year and I can confirm that it is as good if not better than Fawlty.. (don’t tell him though!)

Menu

Prawn and locally smoked salmon cocktail

Roast leg of British lamb,mint and redcurrant gravy,roast potatoes & a selection of vegetables

Belgian Chocolate tart, salted caramel sauce

Freshly ground coffee, tea infusions with Wedding cake!

£47:00 per person

Vegetarian options are available when booked in advance

Please pay in full when booking

Cancellations accepted up to the 11th of March with full refund

Seating will be social unless requested

Over £200k funding secured for Swiss Gardens School

Funds set aside for education from the Ropetackle North development in Shoreham have been confirmed to be heading the way of Swiss Gardens School.

The school sits within the catchment area of Hyde Housing's development, who have set aside £247,960 to contribute to education in the local community - as part of the section 106 legal agreement which is anticipated to be signed and completed very shortly.

This issue was brought to the attention of Adur District Council by the school and parents, at a recent meeting Leader of the Council, Cllr Neil Parkin. The Council then acted swiftly upon these ideas to push for an agreement to ringfence the funding for Swiss Gardens School.

After discussions took place with West Sussex County Council, it was finally agreed that the funding would be used to secure improvements for school.

Leader of Adur District Council, Cllr Neil Parkin, welcomed the news:

"I am delighted that the County Council has listened to the Headteacher and Parents at Swiss Gardens School and agreed to ringfence funds towards improvements to the school. I'm also pleased that thanks to Adur District Council's intervention and carrying forward these views, the funding can now benefit both the school and Ropetackle North development for years to come. This will deliver the positive ambitions of the developer and local community."

Shoreham Farmers Market is pick of the crop!

Shoreham has cause to celebrate as it’s iconic Farmers Market has been officially named as ‘Sussex Farmers Market of the Year 2017’.  

The accolade was announced at last night’s Sussex Food & Drink Awards 2017, where the hosts included patron and former Olympic gold medalist Sally Gunnell OBE DL, as the 11th annual awards ceremony was held at the Amex Stadium.

Shoreham Farmers market is held in East Street on the second Saturday of every month, and is rapidly growing into one of the largest Farmers Markets in Sussex.

With over 50 different stalls, you can expect to sample an extensive range of some the best local produce available including fresh fruit, vegetables, baked goods, meat, fish and cheese. You’ll also find local breweries and wine producers, chocolatiers and florists at this busy and bustling market.

Located in the centre of Shoreham and easily accessible via public transport, the Market has become popular with both visitors and residents. Cllr Brian Boggis, Executive Member for Regeneration at Adur District Council, commented:

“This is a fantastic achievement for the market, and one which the people of Shoreham can be very proud of. We’ve seen the Farmers Market go from strength to strength in recent times, with an abundance of stalls showcasing the very best local produce that Sussex has to offer. The markets are certainly occasions which show off Shoreham’s character and charm.

“I am also very pleased that Wendy Francis, from the Council’s Place & Investment team, was able to attend and collect this award as she has been instrumental in the market’s recent success.”

Worthing Street Veledrome

This year the event is kicked off on Friday 30th June with the Schools during the day followed by the Corporate Challenge that evening, then on Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd July the event opens up to the public access, kids series and race days, featuring market stalls, entertainment and a food court.

Last year there were 732 riders and a footfall of about 3,000, but this year the event falls on the opening weekend of the Tour De France, so Cycling will be at the forefront in the National media too which can only serve to increase interest.

All the fun of the promotional campaign kicks off at the London Bike Show 16th February, so it will be good to get in there early as the earlier you get involved the more you publicity you will receive!

Whats New

It's the 3rd year that Street Velodrome has visited Worthing and this year we are pleased to announce that it's bigger and better as well as being extremely great value for money:

* Corporate Challenge Night on Friday 30th June - bring your clients/staff and take your networking to another level! There's nothing like a bit of competition to get everyone talking.

* An extended Sports programme which includes activities for all the family, including the Childrens Beach Fun Run, which will see them run along the sand under the Pier.

You will find four Sponsorship Packages to suit all budget levels this year and these are all flexible, so if you are interested please contact Ask for the Moon on 01903 686858 or by email deborah@askforthemoon.co.uk and we can see how it can be made to fit perfectly for your needs. This year the event is great for B2B and B2C. 

http://worthingstreetvelodrome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Sponsorship-Pack-Velodrome-2017.pdf

Have a look at this video of last years event to see how big and bustling this event really is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eExhN_E7dxw

Encourage Improved Efficiency to Improve Productivity, says Ricardo

Gosport-based Lean business specialists, Fedden USP, has recently commissioned a report entitled Productive Nation? which looks at how leading organisations define productivity – a key area of focus for many businesses in 2017. 

Global engineering and strategic, technical and environmental consultancy, Ricardo plc, which has a Technical Centre in Shoreham, West Sussex, made a valuable contribution to the report. Chief Executive, Dave Shemmans, firmly believes that employees should be rewarded for what they do to improve efficiency as this is key to improving productivity.          

Shemmans says: “Encouraging ideas for improving productivity is as valuable as any customer service programmes and this is fundamental to any business to ensure sustainability. With today’s price pressures, productivity gains are the way to remain competitive. ”

Continually achieving cost reduction is a real challenge for an already efficient business, so a company needs to find new things to sell that it can charge more for and improve productivity, according to Shemmans. IT can deliver some efficiencies in terms of maximising time as work can be passed across departments or from one country to another to achieve 24 hour working when it is required. And with technology continually changing, processes can be improved indefinitely.

Shemmans is also quick to point out that when there’s a compelling need, such as an emergency or wartime, it’s amazing how quickly things can be done as bureaucracy takes a back seat. Deadlines can really drive productivity.

With 3,000 staff in the group worldwide, each division of Ricardo has its own productivity plan and improving productivity has to be everyone’s goal. The company’s awards scheme recognises back office and productivity-related functions and not just front-end activities, as Shemmans says: “Without the HR and finance functions, we would not have a business.”

For further information on LEAN training workshops, contact Neil Fedden on 07899 971183 / 01489 611603, email neil@fedden-usp.co.uk or visit www.fedden-usp.co.uk . A copy of the Productive Nation? report can be found at the following link:

http://fedden-usp.co.uk/news/productive-nation 

Read more at http://www.c2cbusiness.org.uk/