Civic reception for Shoreham resident

Shoreham resident Gareth Ledbetter is the toast of Adur District after being awarded an MBE.

Gareth, who is employed by the Home Office, received the commendation in The Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to border security.

To mark the award and recognise his contribution to the community, Gareth and his family were invited for afternoon tea in the Shoreham Centre by the Chairman of Adur, Councillor Joss Loader.

Cllr Loader said: “It’s really important that as a council and a community that we recognise the fantastic work that residents like Gareth do on our behalf.

“It was lovely to meet his his family and see how proud they are of their dad’s achievement.”

Gareth said: “I’m hugely appreciative to be recognised by the chairman. I was surprised to see my name in the honours in the first place, so meeting the chairman just reinforces this award.

“My wife and I moved to Shoreham when my first child was one year old and it’s been a fantastic place to live. Today is not something I’ll forget.

Curtain soon to be lifted on Worthing Summer Cinema

The countdown is on to the start of Worthing Summer Cinema.

This weekend Denton Gardens will be spectacularly transformed into the town’s first-ever alfresco cinema with a giant LED high-definition screen showing three movies a day.

The events team at Worthing Borough Council are putting the finishing touches to preparations and crews will move in on Thursday to begin installing the screen.

Up to 5,000 people are expected to flock to the cinema between Friday and Sunday as a host of family-friendly films are screened for all.

Among them will be Mayor of Worthing Councillor Paul Baker who is looking forward to doing the time warp again when he watches The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Saturday.

Day-time screenings from 2pm are free and include family favourites such as Jungle Book (1967), Grease, Top Gun and Titanic. Film fans and visitors are welcome to come and go as they please but the capacity is limited to 499 people at anyone time.

As the sun sets movie lovers will be able to settle in and enjoy classics such as Jaws (Sunday 12th) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Saturday 11th).

Tickets for evening screenings, priced at £7.50, are still available to purchase in advance from Worthing Theatres Box Office or online at www.worthingtheatres.co.uk.

Friday night features The Greatest Showman and tickets for this are already sold out.

As well as the films, a series of concessions offering food and drinks will also be on offer from local traders, such as The Fish Factory, Ren’s Kitchen, Jasmine Thai Cuisine, Guiseppe’s Lite and Shoreham-based Brew Box.

Councillor Kevin Jenkins, Worthing Borough Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, said: “Everyone is clearly very excited about the first ever Worthing Summer Cinema.

“It promises to be an extremely memorable weekend bringing thousands of people together to enjoy some free family fun in the summer holidays.

“Please be aware though that capacity is limited at all times so for the free afternoon shows, we do advise arriving early and being patient to guarantee a spot.”

The full programme is:

Friday

2pm        Dr Suess Horton Hears a Who

5pm        Grease

8pm        The Greatest Showman – Singalong  ****SOLD OUT****

Saturday

2pm         The Jungle Book (1967)

5pm         Top Gun

8pm         The Rocky Horror Picture Show  

Sunday

2pm          Diary of A Wimpy Kid

4pm          Titanic

8pm          Jaws

For more details, visit: www.discoverworthing.uk/whats-on/worthing-summer-cinema

Worthing College and Chichester College Group Announce Intention to Merge

The Corporation of Worthing College has selected Chichester College Group (CCG) as its preferred

merger partner. This decision was reached after a robust selection and procurement process with input

and support from the Further Education (FE) Commissioner and his team. Worthing College will join CCG’s existing colleges – Chichester, Brinsbury, Crawley and the Horsham Training Centre - with a timeline to complete the merger by the end of March 2019.

Paul Amoo, Chairman of Governors at Worthing College said: “This new partnership is excellent news for our college and will enable us to deliver our vision and mission to provide Worthing with an academic college that inspires, builds confidence and prepares students for the life they want to live.”

Roy Bowden, Vice Chair of Governors at Worthing added: “As a Corporation and College we are excited about this merger and believe there is a strong cultural fit between Worthing College and CCG. This will enable us to share best practice and support growth and progression opportunities for the local community.”

CCG are committed to supporting Worthing College deliver their vision as a college. These include:

• Maintenance of a strong academic ethos and integrity
• Retention of a broad and flexible offer of qualifications to enable students to undertake study centred on A level/Vocational and GCSE retake provision
• Strong progression pathways from Level 2 to Level 3 and beyond
• Maintenance of specialist provision including Academies and Foundation Degrees 
• Enhancement of resources for all students including an expansion of our sports facilities
• Financial viability and sustainability
• Continued development of employer links and visibility in the community.

Shelagh Legrave OBE, CEO of CCG said: “The merger with Worthing College offers a compelling opportunity to create a dynamic organisation to serve the education and training needs of West Sussex and the wider region. There are many synergies between Worthing College and CCG, including high quality A-level provision and a strong sports curriculum. We believe joining together will only add positive value to our students. We also recognise opportunities to harness growth, through commercial prospects, apprenticeships, higher education and international provision. We are committed to maintaining stability in the leadership of Worthing College, led by the Principal Paul Riley, who will join the Strategic Leadership Team of CCG.”

Margaret Eva OBE, Chairman of Governors at CCG commented: “We are thrilled by the opportunity to welcome Worthing College into our group. Working together, we can ensure excellence for our learners, staff, businesses and communities. We are committed to expanding the college’s engagement with the local business community to respond to and anticipate local labour market needs. Together, we will support and enable the group’s mission to ‘change lives through learning’.”

A statutory consultation will take place later in the year with a plan to achieve merger before the end of March 2019. The priority for CCG and Worthing College will be to minimise disruption to staff and students and to ensure a seamless transition period. Paul Riley, Principal of Worthing College said: “I believe this merger is in the very best interests of staff, students and the wider community we serve. It will enable us to enhance our existing student support services to provide wrap around pastoral care for all of our students. We recognise and welcome CCG’s strengths in ‘Student Voice’ to enrich experiences and maintain an unrelenting focus on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Our staff have welcomed this announcement and look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead and they will be kept abreast of all developments in the coming year.”

The merger will ensure the continuation of high quality teaching and learning at Worthing College with a wealth of progression opportunities. As part of CCG, Worthing College will be better positioned for growth through winning new contracts and having more influence in shaping the skills agenda both regionally and nationally.

Have your say on green spaces with a simple click on your computer.

An exciting and innovative way to allow people to have their say on the use of green spaces in two areas of Adur and Worthing has been launched.

Growing Communities a project to promote health and wellbeing through environment has launched an online easy-to-use map which allows residents to pinpoint green spaces in Northbrook and Eastbrook and make suggestions for improvements or new uses. Users can also use it to praise a particular place.

It can be used for either suggestions for landmark sites like Whitebeam Woods in Northbrook or something as small as ideas for new use for a grass verge in Eastbrook. And Growing Communities, which is run by The Conservation Volunteers (TCV), and backed by Adur & Worthing Councils, has promised to read and respond to every suggestion.

And it’s not just residents of the two areas who can comment. Anyone who cares about green spaces in the districts can have their say on the consultation website.

The website called Commonplace allows residents to go into a map and click blue for Eastbrook and pink for Northbrook. Once there by pinning your cursor on a particular area you will then be invited to name the green space and be taken through a series of questions about what you think is right or wrong with it and what changes you would like to see.

Residents can then submit this to the Growing Communities team who will respond to all submissions. You can also “like” comments made by other people to show support for an idea.

John Haigh, Operations Leader for TCV Adur and Worthing, said, “This is a really simple to use but powerful consultation tool. If many respond it will help us build up a picture of what we have to do in those spaces to help people enjoy them even more.

“Working with Adur & Worthing Councils we can work to prioritise improvements which might be small things that make a big difference to the local environment. It could be something as simple as planting a few flowers. We will wait to see what the survey brings.”

The map does allow people to pin other areas of Adur and Worthing but only the pink and blue areas will be studied because Growing Communities is currently focussed on those areas.

Growing Communities is encouraging local residents in what are comparatively disadvantaged areas to involve themselves in projects such as planting trees and digging ponds in “Green Gyms”, community orchards, sporting activities or food growing programmes utilising disused or redundant patches of land.

The scheme is backed and part-funded by Adur and Worthing Councils who also give park ranger time to the scheme. TCV is heavily funded by The National Lottery.

Studies have shown that exposure to green spaces, particularly in urban environments, can play a significant part in promoting good physical health and mental wellbeing.

To have your say on the green spaces of Eastbrook and Northbrook click on the following link https://eastbrookandnorthbrook.commonplace.is/

Adur Markets relaunch a big success

The relaunch of Adur Markets has proved to be a big success with footfall increasing by up to twenty per cent as hundreds of people get a taste for excellent local produce.

Adur District Council took the decision to bring the three monthly markets - Lancing Village, Shoreham Farmers' and Shoreham Artisans' - under one banner in April, with the aim of giving greater exposure to each of the events.

After just a few months, the idea has gone down a treat - with footfall in Lancing increasing by twenty per cent as more and more people are drawn in by the goods on offer.

The hope is that Adur Markets will continue to grow in popularity, energising the district’s shopping areas on Saturday mornings while providing a platform to local producers.

Councillor Emma Evans, Adur District Council’s Executive Member for Environment, said: “The Adur Markets programme in Shoreham and Lancing has been an undeniable success story, bringing big crowds into our town and village centres at weekends.

“From fresh produce to baked goods, artisan crafts to open-air entertainment, there’s something for everyone on offer at the monthly events.

“In particular, I’m delighted to see that the rebrand has had a real positive impact in Lancing, bringing in many more people to the village centre which is a great boost to new and existing traders.

“For those that have not had the chance to check out the Adur Markets yet, I urge them to come down and give it a try!”

The three markets take part monthly as follows:

·         Shoreham Farmers' Market, East Street - every second Saturday - 9am to 2pm

·         Lancing Village Market, North Road - every third Saturday - 9am to 1pm

·         Shoreham Artisans' Market, East Street - every fourth Saturday - 9am to 2pm

The rebranding saw the creation of a new Adur Markets tomato logo, as the fruit was a common crop grown in greenhouses up until the post-war period.

Fruit and veg are still on offer at all three markets but the produce continues to get more diverse - with small-batch gin producers, artisan bread makers and chocolatiers bringing their wares to Adur Markets.

In addition to a new logo, the rebranding included:

·         The relocation of Lancing market to a more central location in North Road;

·         A drive to support small lifestyle businesses by offering a free pitch for a trader's first market;

·         Keeping pitch fees at a competitive rate;

·         The introduction of Enterprise stalls where traders are supported with guidance on insurance and environmental health issues;

·         The creation of a one-stop Facebook/Web page listing events happening in all three markets

With the addition of the Councils’ markets officer John Kerr, who has proved to bring lots of energy and enthusiasm to the role, the future of Adur Markets looks bright.

For more details on the markets, including how you can apply for a stall, visit the council webpage.

Council leaders write to Secretary of State calling for fair deal for West Sussex schools.

Schools in West Sussex would receive almost £100 extra per pupil a year if the government funded the county fairly, a joint letter signed by the leaders of Adur and Worthing Councils.

The letter to the Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds, points out that, despite a recent funding increase West Sussex still has the eighth lowest funding per primary school pupil in the country and the sixth lowest for secondary school pupils.

The letter has been sent by all leaders of district and borough councils in the county, including leader of Adur District Council, Cllr Neil Parkin and Worthing Borough Council, Cllr Dan Humphreys, together with the Leader of the County Council.

They say they understand that more money must be spent in more deprived areas of the country but points out that West Sussex is still unfairly dealt with compared to Hampshire and East Sussex. If similar deals were in place here primary schools would have an extra £9.5m for primary schools and £10.5m.

‘This lack of funding is beginning to have significant impact on the ground, with a number of West Sussex schools having to make difficult decisions about staff reductions,’ the letter says, ‘We call on the Government to increase the total amount available for education funding in England to ensure that all schools have sufficient resources.’

The letter goes on to urge the government to allow the county to open new schools saying the restriction In West Sussex is failing to help it meet rising demand and is hampering the area meet the government’s house building targets.

‘In West Sussex the limits on the County Council’s ability to open new schools, coupled with significant rising demand for school places, are impacting on the viability of new housing developments in Mid Sussex, Horsham, Adur and Crawley, where new schools are required to meet the needs of the growing community,’ the letter says.

Cllr Parkin said, ‘I’m pleased to be a co-signatory of this letter. The government must take another look at these figures and also realise that while it continues to insist on house building targets it must also allow us to develop the infrastructure these new communities need such as schools and GP surgeries.’

Cllr Humphries said, ‘There seems to be no sound reason that the schools in our neighbouring counties should benefit to the tune of millions of pounds a year extra. We are just asking for another look at this funding and for fairness.’

The letter has been sent to the Chancellor, Philip Hammond and all West Sussex MPs.

Connaught Cinema wins Best Indie Cinema Team award at MAFTA’s

More2Screen, a leading global distributor of Event Cinema, has bestowed Worthing’s Connaught Cinema with a prestigious award.

Last week at the annual More2Screen Awards for Tremendous Achievement (MAFTA’s), the Connaught was awarded the title of ‘Best Indie Cinema Team’.

Just some of the recent films screened at the Connaught Cinema in collaboration with More2Screen include the latest award-winning West End musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella, the Oscar Wilde Live season broadcast from The Vaudeville Theatre and the prestigious Royal Opera House 2017/2018 season; for which the Connaught Cinema has been acknowledged as the 3^rd best-selling venue in the UK.

Derek Cownty, More2Screen Sales Manager, says “We introduced the MAFTA’s a few years ago at our annual UK Independent Cinema Networking event to recognise excellence in a number of categories. The Best Indie Cinema Team recognises a venue that screens much of our content and always effectively promotes each event title to achieve maximum success.”

James Tully, Film and Campaigns manager at Worthing Theatres says "We are absolutely delighted to win this award. We love working with More2Screen and our customers absolutely love seeing their exclusive shows broadcast from London. It gives the people of Worthing a chance to see the best in West End entertainment right on their doorstep. Over the next year we are looking forward to another fantastic season from the Royal Opera House as well as theatrical productions from Shakespeare's Globe and the Classic Spring Theatre Company. Here's to another great year!".

More2Screen was founded in 2006, and has been a global pioneer in the harnessing of digital technology to bring the very best in live music, performance arts and cultural entertainment to local cinema audiences. In collaboration with its stellar list of long-standing content partners, More2Screen has acted as consultants, producers and worldwide distributors in bringing more than 150 individual ‘special event’ productions to its network of more than 7,000 cinemas in 65-plus international territories.

To book tickets and find out more about upcoming Screen Arts and Films at the Connaught Cinema, visit worthingtheatres.co.uk or call the box office on 01903 206 206.

Notification of major gas works: Rectory Road, Worthing

We’re writing to make you aware of our forthcoming upgrade of our gas network in Rectory Road, Worthing. Our project involves the essential replacement of old metal gas mains with new plastic pipe to ensure we continue to provide a safe and reliable gas supply to the local area. Our contractor DJ Utilities will undertake this work on our behalf.

In consultation with West Sussex County Council, we started works today on Monday 30 July 2018. Over the next ten weeks, our engineers will be working in Rectory Road, between Wiston Avenue and the High Street.

To ensure everyone’s safety around our site, we need to install temporary three-way traffic lights at the junction of Rectory Road and Wiston Avenue. As our work area progresses northwards away from the junction, we will replace these with temporary two-way traffic lights on Rectory Road.

The traffic lights will be manually operated during peak hours to minimise disruption.

We may also need to suspend some on street parking around our work area to allow our engineers the space to dig safely.

We understand that people can get frustrated by roadworks. However, the new plastic pipe has a minimum lifespan of 80 years. This means that when the work is complete, Worthing residents will continue to enjoy the benefits of a safe and reliable gas supply for years to come.

Say 'thank you' to the generation who shaped our world. Worthing Museum and Art Gallery open their doors and welcome the public to share their stories

100 years ago the guns fell silent on the first truly global war. It was a war that cost millions of lives - and shaped the future of our world forever. This year you can do your part to show your gratitude to the generation who served, sacrificed and made Britain what it is today.

To commemorate the final year of the World War One centenary, Worthing Museum and Art Gallery join forces with the Royal British Legion in inviting the public to take part and say ‘Thank You’ to all who served, sacrificed and changed our world 100 years ago. The movement’s campaign calls on the public  to remember those who lost their lives and express gratitude to those who gave themselves to the war and rebuilt a nation from its darkest hour.

Worthing Museum and Art Gallery are inviting local members of the public to share their ‘Thank You’ to camera and become part of their upcoming exhibition; WWI Centenary: 100 Years in a unique film project.

The exhibition commemorates and remembers the men and women who fought on the front line and on the homefront; with a key focus on Worthing during WWI and the story of the men both young and old from Worthing fighting in the Sussex Regiment, with archive images encapsulating these courageous troops. This includes a narrative of events 1914-1918, covering the war from the perspective of those at home in Worthing, and those who were fighting in France & the Middle East.  A collection of diaries, “trench art”, posters, personal letters and more from the museum’s collections heighten this narrative and will give attendees a chance to delve into the real life experiences of our Worthing heros.

The museum has a rich social history collection showing how those on the homefront were affected by the war from family photos, postcards and letters.  Additionally the exhibition will focus on the training of the men who went to war, with a particular emphasis on the large camp near Shoreham-by-Sea that so many thousands passed through on their way to France and beyond. The project led by Worthing Museum and Art Gallery and funded by the heritage lottery explores the war training camp in Shoreham and the effect that training camp had on the local communities. The project produced a wealth of new information that forms part of this WWI commemorative exhibition.

The film project will be made up of a sequence of video interviews to camera with local people within the Sussex area, real-life photographs and exhibition items, recognising the ordinary people who did extraordinary things for our country.  The  exhibition and film campaign narrative will encapsulate the Legion’s motto: 'Live On – to the memory of the fallen and the future of the living' and inspires the public to show appreciation to our military, veterans and fallen heroes for the legacies they have left for us that were born out of the First World War.

The exhibition will be running from 13th October 2018 until 2nd February 2019 with various events and activities taking place throughout this time. Although Worthing’s WWI collections are rich in social history, the museum are keen to add items directly relating to the front line.  As part of the ‘ThankYou’ project WMA welcome those coming to the museum to film their thoughts to bring in and share any items that are directly linked to the front line to help increase their battlefield display, ideally with a local connection, anything from bullet casings to tobacco tins.

As part of the film project WMA are keen to collect a wealth of voices so encourage everyone to come forward, in particular they would love to hear from those with stories about the following: The Commonwealth: British Forces included Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims whose descendants contribute to life in the UK today. WMA invite them to join in saying Thank You to their ancestors who served so honourably. Women played a huge role in the First World War; and this, in turn, significantly influenced the role of women in Britain. In 1918 women were finally given the vote for the first time. Equally WMA welcome each and everyone to share their stories.

Making Tax Digital – a brief guide

As a nation, our connection with digital services is interwoven within our day-to-day activities. The apps on our phones give us information on how busy our commute, live updates on bank balances, advice on what shopping we need to order for the coming week, and business tools such as where staff are working, and tracking suppliers and materials. So having real time information on our taxes is just the next step, right? 

For those who are not aware, HMRC is digitising the tax system in what is the largest shakeup of the personal tax system in a couple of decades.  The aim is to ensure that the process for taxpayers is simplified, and to develop a more efficient tax system with better use of information.  The programme will be rolled out with some groups such as smaller housebuilders and developers being one of the first to be involved.

The project has been named ‘Making Tax Digital’ (MTD), and will apply from April 2019 to unincorporated businesses and landlords with turnover above the VAT threshold (currently £85,000) in relation to VAT only.  The direction of travel is for the entire tax system to be fully digitised, and we should expect to see further businesses come into scope from 2020 onwards.

There are three steps to take now to ensure you are well prepared for the transition:

• 1.    Obtain your Government Gateway account – HMRC is already collecting real time data, and this can be found at www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account. With the onus switching to the taxpayer ensuring that the correct taxes are being collected it is crucial you can access your account.
• 2.    Assess whether your record keeping methods are adequate for the new reporting structure. Having a paper file of receipts alone will no longer be acceptable, and information must at least be accumulated on a spreadsheet which can then be uploaded using specialist MTD software.
• 3.    Consider whether an online accounting product is suitable for your business. The decision to go digital should not just be from a compliance standpoint. There are online products in the marketplace and apps to support their use across many business sectors, helping to save time and money.

Each of these steps will almost certainly introduce further queries, for which you should obtain professional advice. Whilst there are no penalties formalised at this point, although we should expect this to manifest itself after the bedding in process has been completed, and you would want to ensure you do not fall foul of the rules.

One thing is for sure, and that is there is no time for complacency. There may be a couple of years of transition time to keep records digitally, but with other challenges such as Brexit looming, it is well worth preparing for.

In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Well, taxes just got a bit more uncertain, unless you act now.

Jake Standing is a senior manager at accountants Kreston Reeves.  He works with fast growing residential developers focusing particularly on online accounting and virtual FD support.  He can be reached by email: jake.standing@krestonreeves.com.  Visit www.krestonreeves.com.