Charity News

May 11th, 2022

Worthing’s Co-op Member Pioneer colleagues joined together to host an Afternoon of Tea and Entertain

Co-op colleagues Bob Smytherman (Member Pioneer for East Worthing, Lancing & Sompting) and Ann-Marie Lovejoy (Member Pioneer for West Worthing) joined together for a fundraiser and awareness event to support local charity West Sussex Mind to mark the start of Mental Health Awareness Week (9th-15th May).

Nationally Co-op colleagues have been raising funds for the last year to help reach the partnership target of £8 million for National Mind and SAMH in Scotland & Inspire in Northern Ireland

Colleagues Bob and Ann-Marie were joined by volunteers from the Lovejoy Centre in Worthing to prepare an Afternoon Tea with a Singalong followed by an Entertaining Quiz with Bob who is well known locally for hosting an online International Quiz during the Lockdown over the last two years.

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February 9th, 2022

Councils call on communities to celebrate Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Adur & Worthing Councils have earmarked nearly £50,000 to help the community and local groups celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in style.

Her Majesty will be the first British monarch to reach this milestone, having acceded to the throne at the age of 25 on 6 February 1952, 70 years ago. To recognise the landmark, the Councils are planning a series of events across the region to run in tandem with those being held nationally.

Funding will come out of reserves with £20,000 from Adur District Council and £28,500 from Worthing Borough Council to pay for the community-based festivities that culminate in a four-day bank holiday from 2-5 June.

Cllr Emma Evans, Adur District Council's Executive Member for the Environment, said: “The Jubilee will provide many opportunities for communities, local groups and schools to come together and share bonds, which is particularly important after the difficulties we have all endured during the last two years of the pandemic.

“Events such as street parties will provide neighbours with the opportunity to both recognise and build new friendships.”

Cllr Nicky Waight, Worthing Borough Council's Executive Member for Regeneration, added: “We are very excited about the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and all the events that are planned around it.

“As well as bringing people together, the events will stimulate and support the visitor economy in both Adur and Worthing as we work in partnership with business groups, not to mention some of the projects based around green spaces that can enhance mental and physical wellbeing.”

The Councils’ planned events kick off on 11 March when civic heads from Adur and Worthing will plant an Old English Oak Tree to commemorate the event, with the likely sites being Beach House Park in Worthing and Buckingham Park in Shoreham.

As part of the Queen’s Green Canopy - a nationwide initiative to invite people, community groups and schools to plant trees and establish new woodland areas to enhance local biodiversity - new trees will be planted in Buckingham Park and Worthing’s Brooklands Park.

The Seafront Gallery, off Marine Parade in Worthing, is also set to commission a series of Platinum Jubilee-themed displays over the summer in the lead-up to The Queen’s official birthday on 2 June.

To honour Her Majesty’s birthday there are plans to host a dawn torch-lighting event at Highdown Gardens that could be linked to a lighting of the Beacon later.

There will also be a Jubilee concert and light show in Worthing’s Steyne Gardens with music from the past 70 years of The Queen’s reign on Friday 3 June, while the following day will be a second evening of film and music, including a Jubilee finale.

The final day of the celebrations, on Sunday 5 June, will feature The Big Lunch campaign, which aims to give communities the opportunity to come together to host street parties and celebrate. The Community Street Party application process is open until 15 April.

There are also celebratory events on Worthing promenade and at Adur Recreation Ground, as well as the Shoreham Vintage Fair. The Councils will hang Jubilee bunting and fly the Union flag during the celebrations.

For more information on how to get involved visit https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/queens-platinum-jubilee/.

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December 7th, 2021

Circus Charity to Perform at Brighton Dome

Budding young circus performers are preparing to take to the stage at Brighton Dome this December, with help from professional artists from Circolombia.

Students from three local youth circus schools, The Circus Project, Teardrop Circus and Hightop Circus, will perform a ‘curtain raiser’ that will open Circolombia’s uplifting circus-concert Acelere during the venue’s Christmas programme.

In a series of workshops run by Brighton & Hove charity The Circus Project, members of Circolombia worked with groups of children and young people, aged between 10 and 18 years old, to create two short routines. Learning new skills such as acrobatics, dance and choreography to complement the aerial techniques that the schools teach, the students will showcase what they have learnt to a live audience each night.

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December 7th, 2021

Explore magical Christmas traditions through time at Petworth this festive season

Christmas at Petworth: Saturday 27 November 2021 to Monday 3 January 2022, 10:30am-3:30pm, includes Percy the Park Keeper's winter wander trail Saturday 4 December to Monday 3 January, 10am-3.30pm (closed 24 and 25 December)
Travel through time to discover Christmas traditions past and future at the National Trust’s Petworth House and Park in West Sussex. From sparkling period costumes exquisitely fashioned from winter flowers and foliage, to mystical, magical scenes from the future, this is a Christmas experience for all ages.

In the Pleasure Garden, families can meet Percy the Park Keeper and help him and his animal friends with their winter jobs on the family adventure trail, or come along to enjoy poetry and choir performances on set dates.

This festive season the rooms in the art-filled Petworth House are being transformed into Christmas periods through history. Step into Georgian times in the Somerset and Square Dining Room, then experience the merriment of Christmas trees in the Victorian themed Marble Hall. See how despite the post-war era, families still celebrated Christmas with warmth and joy in the Little Dining Room. Then finally, travel through time to a fantastical future Christmas throughout the Carved and Red Room. Here you’ll see a magical contemporary Christmas tree themed installation and discover how families may gather to celebrate the festivities in the future.

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