Hailsham

PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: Members were treated to a brilliant wildlife lecture by Kathryn Haylett titled On Safari. Kathryn's photos took members through Namibia into Botswana enjoying the scenery from ancient deserts, action packed coast, along rivers, with colourful photos taken from sunrise to sunset, and an amazing array of wildlife. Kathryn is a safari guide and a founder of Your Safari arranging tailor made, self-drive and escorted tours to Namibia. Her passion for Namibia is obvious as she shared her photos and stories.

MACMILLAN: The Mayor of Hailsham will join staff and customers at Bucklers Café today, Friday, at 11am for the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, and is urging local residents to pop along and play their part. Macmillan Cancer Support’s flagship fundraising event, the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, raised a record-breaking £29.5m last year and, now in its 27th year and with the help of fundraisers in Hailsham and organiser Apex Prime Care Hailsham, Macmillan hopes to beat money raised last year across the UK. Funds from the event will go towards providing practical, financial and healthcare support to people affected by cancer, as well as independent, expert, up-to-date information services to meet the needs of people diagnosed with cancer.

FESTIVAL: This year’s Hailsham Festival of Arts and Culture has been well received by the public and hailed a success by the Town Mayor, as hundreds of people turned out to a wide variety of events held last week. The festival, which ran from Thursday September 14 to Sunday September 24, saw a steady stream of visitors to the town and had a varied programme of events to capture the attention of the public. Visitors got the chance to attend a rich mix of art exhibitions, live music, theatrical events, children’s workshops and historical art talks, spread throughout Hailsham and surrounding areas. Entertainment at this year’s festival included performances from Beatles tribute band The Electric Beatles and esteemed UK soul artist Joel White. The festival programme featured an art trail with many venues participating and local artists exhibiting, plus a MiniVille town-building creative workshop at the Square Youth Café, a pop up art gallery at Gallery North, an audience with renowned TV gardening presenter Tom Hart Dyke at Lime Cross Nursery as part of the line-up. Young talent was represented with performances by students from Hailsham Community College, the East Sussex Music Service’s Eastbourne Area Concert Band and Irish music and dancing during the Showstopper final concert.