Put on your running shoes for a new half marathon, chalk up your hands for a trapeze, try out or sharpen your appetites for a food and drink festival - 2016 will be the year that cements Adur and Worthing’s vibrant - and continually growing - events schedule as the one to watch.

Brand new events for 2016 include the Worthing Half Marathon, an alternative way to start your Valentine’s Day (14th February) and Gorilla Circus (27th August to 4th September) who will be bringing high trapeze experiences to Lancing Green, giving residents and visitors unique opportunities to test their bodies (and their nerves) to the limit as well as see illuminated evening shows for free.  This debut Summer of Circus will bring together some of the most exciting contemporary circus performances featuring some of the best circus acts in Europe, celebrating the best dazzling, unique and nearly impossible feats of circus performance ever seen!

Alongside the brand new events, Street Velodrome returns to Worthing for its second year (1st to 3rd July), and the “UK’s Best New Festival” - Wild Life - will be bringing some of the country’s best new music to Shoreham for the weekend of 11th and 12th June.

One of the many reasons that people want to move into Adur and Worthing is the strong sense of community and range of family-friendly events.  From the popular Adur Festival (4th to 19th June) to the Tide of Light lantern parade and firework display in Worthing (5th September), the area genuinely offers something for fun-seekers of all ages.

Councillor Pat Beresford, Executive Member for Regeneration at Adur District Council, says:

“There is an appetite locally for a packed events programme which gives the area its own unique, activity based, identity - and this is exactly what we’ve got for the next twelve months.  

“It’s really important to bring new, fresh, events into the District, as well as provide support for firm family favourites.  The 2016 events calendar provides just that and I’m delighted to be supporting the growth of our District in this way.”

Councillor Bryan Turner, Executive Member for Regeneration at Worthing Borough Council, comments:

“Last year’s introduction of the StreetVelodrome event into the town proved that there’s an appetite for new events in the area, and we’re seeing real growth in community based events such as Tide of Light.

“I’m convinced that our increasingly packed events diary will make 2016 a year to remember in Worthing, and provide the strongest evidence yet that we’re a destination of choice on the South Coast.”

More information about the packed events diary can be seen on our Visit Worthing website.  The next edition of the 'What, Where, When events guide' is available online and can be collected from the Visitor Information Points in Worthing as well as from a range of libraries, shops and businesses throughout Adur and Worthing.

·         Visit Worthing website - the official tourism website for Adur, Worthing and the surrounding areas
- http://www.visitworthing.co.uk/

·         What, where, when events guide - on the Visit Worthing website
- http://www.visitworthing.co.uk/brochure-request

The Adur & Worthing Wellbeing team invited a host of public health services to put on a free ‘New Year, New You’ drop in event at the new Shoreham Centre last Wednesday (13th Jan).

‘New Year, New You’ showcased the raft of support and services readily available in the district, to help and advise people on changes they can easily adopt, to take control of their own health and that of their families.

On hand were experts who were able to offer advice on healthy weight targets, increasing activity levels, stopping smoking, reducing alcohol consumption and improving emotional well being. 

Also, Health MOT’s were carried out, with the aid of clever scales; that don’t just measure weight but  bone mass, muscle mass and hydration levels too.  They also spent a busy afternoon offering advice to the public about their individual lifestyles and the impact it may be having on their health.

Albion in the Community were also on site, with help and information about preventing Type 2 Diabetes; Solutions4Health were very busy, offering impactful advice on smoking cessation, also popular, the CRI stand advising on reducing alcohol consumption, MIND and Time-to-Talk Worthing offered information on their services tackling Mental Health issues and Guildcare offered advice for older members of the community.

Councillor Valerie Turner, Worthing Borough Council Executive Member for Health & Wellbeing (pictured) adds "It is great to see so many groups and agencies here offering their services to our residents and highlighting what is available to help them to in efforts to maintain their fitness and health.  It is also encouraging to see it so well attended.  I hope to do more ‘New You’ events like this and host a similar one in Worthing very soon.  I am in full support of this kind of effort, I think it is great that we are getting out there to advise, guide and support our resident, face to face."

Councillor David Simmons Adur District Council Executive Member for Health & Wellbeing said; "The Adur & Worthing Wellbeing team do a great job all year round with educating and encouraging all of our residents, young and old, on adopting a healthier lifestyle.   This event today has brought together other leading health organisations in West Sussex, who were on hand to offer advice on weight loss, smoking, blood pressure and mental health awareness for example.

Any New Year sees us all re-evaluate our lifestyles and this free event offered the many members of the public who attended a host of educational and practical healthier lifestyle tools to consider."

Such was the success of the event, the Adur & Worthing Wellbeing team will be hosting other live events in the district.  Further details of all of their events near you, can be found on their website http://adur-worthing.westsussexwellbeing.org.uk/.

Pictured: Councillor Valerie Turner, Worthing Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing

Take a look at these Employment and HR updates below from Acas South East...

Employment case law decisions 2016: view a round up of significant employment law decisions expected in 2016, with cases pending on holiday pay, redundancy consultation and whistleblowing...read more.  

Get up to date for 2016 with an employment law update.  

Law firm lets staff take holidays whenever they want - and get paid for it: the scheme allows all salaried employees to take holiday reflecting their own needs and those of the business, rather than being constrained by a set number of days per year...read more.

Advice and guidance on holidays.

If your business/commercial area is within West Sussex you could apply for a gap-funding grant of between £10,000 and £25,000 to enable a superfast connection.

£225,000 is being made available as part of a pilot grant project to improve connectivity for groups of businesses in West Sussex that are without access to super-fast broadband and not included in any commercial or publicly-funded rollout.

ABOUT THE GRANT

Business estates or clusters in West Sussex have until 5pm on 15 January 2016 to apply to the new Digital Connectivity Grant Programme.  The programme provides up to 40% of the cost of getting connected with grant funding of between £10k and £25k.

The funding comes from the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership Local Growth Deal under their ‘Growth is Digital’ key project. The programme has been developed by Rural West Sussex, Gatwick Diamond, Coastal West Sussex, West Sussex County Council and the South Downs National Park Authority. 

Grant applications will be assessed by the programme panel, who will assess value-for-money, economic impact and deliverability. 

ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?

Eligible groups of business include business parks, trading or industrial estates, farm diversification schemes, clusters of businesses in a common location and single business locations with high economic impact. The programme is not open to residential applicants but clusters of home-based businesses in a common location potentially could apply.

To be eligible, businesses must not be included in the planned delivery of the publicly funded roll out by Better Connected, a partnership of West Sussex County Council, BT and BDUK (the government department responsible for broadband delivery).

WHO CAN SUBMIT AN APPLICATION?

The application can be made by a lead business representing a group of businesses in a common location, or by landowners, land agents, estate managers and facility managers, for example.

WHAT WILL THE GRANT COVER?

The maximum grant intervention is 40% of the total project cost to be used for capital purchases only.  The applicant provides a minimum of 60% of the total cost, which can include revenue costs and must incur the full project costs by 31 December 2016.

Generally the applicant will select the best technology for their location, fibre, wireless and hybrid solutions will be considered, but it must provide certified speeds of a minimum 30Mbps.

WHERE TO FIND OUT MORE

Coast to Capital website http://www.coast2capital.org.uk/helping-business-growth/grant-funding

If you have any questions, please email broadband@southdowns.gov.uk

CSN Homes are delighted to have donated 10 Portable DVD players through Westley’s Elves, to the Bluefin children’s ward at Worthing Hospital. 

The DVD players will support those children who spend time on the wards and can be used by the bedside which is vital during recovery from illness.

Westley’s Elves (www.facebook.com/westleyselves/) was set up by Louise and James after their son, Westley, was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis and spent a considerable amount of time in hospital during the festive season. They found that the ward was lacking in equipment and good quality toys, and so set up their non-profit organisation to support the wards at Worthing.

James and Louise organise collection boxes around Worthing for public donations of new toys and also organise a raffle to help to pay for larger equipment purchases.

CSN Homes are delighted to be involved and look forward to the DVDs being delivered to the children on Christmas Eve.

Date: 

Thursday, January 21, 2016 -10:00 to 16:00

Location: 

Worthing and Adur Training Room 

Worthing Town Hall

Chapel Road

Worthing

West Sussex

YOUR VISION FOR 2016

This day is a practical hands on day where you will look at your business for the year ahead and at the end of the day you will leave with motivation, focus and a plan to get your business out there and achieve the success you want.

The morning is run by Alison Brown 

Do you need more focus and clarity for 2016?

Do you know your goals and dreams for 2016?

Do you have the mindset and motivation to achieve?

The morning will be spent first by reviewing your 2015. What you were pleased with and what you think needs looking at  We will then look at and work on mindset, money blocks and mindmonkeys.

 We will discuss planning and setting goals for 2016:

• looking at your work/life balance
• what you want to achieve - dream big
• knowing your numbers

We will then finish off the morning by creating your own vision board.

The afternoon session is run by Sheryl Tipton www.salesandmarketinguk.com

Do you have great ideas but struggle to implement them?

Do you want to reach out more to your target audience and win more business?

Would you like to learn how to improve your sales in a non-aggressive manner ?

The afternoon will be spent crafting a robust marketing plan to help you guide your business forwards and see a return on your efforts.

We will discuss your target audience, and how to reach them; your business strengths and weaknesses, and how you can use both to your advantage; your competitors, and what to do about them and we will learn how to successfully use the 7 p’s of marketing to oversee all of your plans and make everything you do easier.

The second part of the afternoon will then be dedicated to how you can implement your plans and which marketing tools will bring you the most success ... should you use Facebook or would Twitter be better? Should you write press releases and if so, how do you get them published? What information do you need on your website, and how should this be presented?  Finishing with an overview of marketing ideas for you to take away and consider.

Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/your-vision-for-2016-tickets-19579736519

WORKSHOP 1 - SOCIAL START-UPS
Either Wednesday 3 February 2016 in Bognor Regis Or Thursday 4 February in Crawley
10.00am - 12.00pm

WORKSHOP 2 - IDEA DEVELOPMENT AND STRUCTURE TO FIT
Either Tuesday 23 February 2016 in Crawley Or Friday 26 February in Worthing
10.00am - 12.30pm

WORKSHOP 3 - INVESTMENT READINESS, WRITING YOUR BUSINESS PLAN
Either Monday 7 March 2016 in Worthing Or Monday 21 March in Crawley
10.00am - 12.30pm

CONFERENCE - GETTING YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS
Thursday 25 February 2016 in Horsham
9.30am - 4.00pm

TICKETS ARE FREE - FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BOOK YOUR PLACE - VISIT https://wssen.eventbrite.com

Groups of businesses in West Sussex that are without access to superfast broadband and not included in any commercial or publicly-funded rollout can now apply for a Digital Connectivity Grant.  The first £225k tranche of the fund is now open to applications, the second £225k will be launched in Spring 2016.

This pilot grant project offers grants of between £10k and £20k to enable superfast connection to a maximum of 40% of the total project cost.

The deadline for applications is 15 January 2016 at 17:00.