Hailsham

FAVOURITE CAROLS: Tomorrow, Saturday, Hailsham Choral perform Favourite Carols Through the Ages in Hailsham Parish Church, Vicarage Road. The conductor is Barbara Edwards and accompanist, Colin Hughes. Tickets are £12 and U18s £6 available from the Camera Centre in Hailsham High Street, wegottickets.com and on the door. For more information visit hailshamchoral.org.

CHRISTMAS STREET MARKET: Tomorrow, Saturday, the town centre from 9am to 4pm will be bustling with people seeking out fine food, Christmas gifts, candles, confectionery, festive refreshments including mulled wine, roasted chestnuts and hog roast. There will be live music in Vicarage Field by The Sussex Stompers, Christchurch Hailsham (carol singing), and a free concert of carols and Christmas music by Wealden Brass in Hailsham Parish Church from 2.30pm. During the day there will also be festive refreshments served at the church. Santa (invited by Hailsham Rotary Club) will be handing out free sweets to children, and Hailsham FM will be playing popular Christmas tunes throughout the event. Something for everyone.

KIND HEART FESTIVAL: The Christmas Kind Heart Festival is running alongside the Hailsham Christmas Market tomorrow. There will be indoor and outdoor stalls between 9.30am and 3.30pm at Vicarage Field and the Civic Centre where you can buy and sample vegan food and drink, there will be unusual gits, ethical goods, health and wellbeing stalls and advice, beauty, arts and crafts, children’s activities, community groups and charities. You are invited to join this event for a community day to celebrate compassion, community and the true meaning of Christmas.

CHRISTMAS FAIR: Right next to the town centre Christmas Market and Kind Hearts Festival will be the Bonfire Society Christmas Fair tomorrow, Saturday, in the Charles Hunt Centre, Vicarage Road from 10am. There will be crafts, gifts, cakes, refreshments and much more.

CHRISTMAS PARTY NIGHT: At Reid Hall, Boreham Street, from 7.30pm there will be dinner, dancing and a live band. Tickets are £25 which includes licensed bar. To book call 07801 708937 or 07951 019660. Table bookings welcome. Limited, ticket only event.

POP UP SHOP: Until December 22 there will be a high quality embroidery service for uniforms, promotions and events as well as personal items, daily in the Pop Up Shop in Hailsham High Street.

CHRISTMAS SERVICES: Hailsham Parish Church tomorrow, Saturday, 2.30pm A Concert of Carols and Christmas music with Wealden Brass and festive refreshments. Free. Sunday, 8am Holy Communion, 10.30am Morning Service, 6.30pm Carols by Candlelight: A traditional service of carols and readings followed by mulled wine and mince pies. Sunday December 23, 9.30am Holy Communion: A short reflective service to begin Christmas. Christmas Eve 3pm, 4.30pm and 6pm, Christingle Family Carol Service: Three identical services, choose the time that suits you best, 11pm Holy Communion: A quiet reflective service as Christmas arrives. Christmas Day, 8am Holy Communion, 10.30am Christmas Family Celebration: informal and fun, Christmas joy for all. Sunday December 30, 8am Holy Communion, 10.30am New Year All Age Service.

NEW YEAR BUSES: Local bus operator Cuckmere Buses has stepped in again to fill a big gap in the seasonal timetables over the festive break. Hailsham Town Council, along with one other parish council, is part-subsidising the cost of running a special service on New Year’s Day on Cuckmere Buses route 50 from Hailsham to Eastbourne via Polegate and Willingdon. Cuckmere Buses, which is run entirely by volunteers was concerned that Hailsham would be left without any public transport on 1st January 2019, as the commercial bus companies normally serving the town do not operate on this day, leaving Hailsham residents without a transport link to Polegate train station or Eastbourne town centre. This is the eighth consecutive year that Cuckmere Buses has run this special bus service. Full details of the New Year’s Day number 50 service are available now on the Cuckmere Buses website (cuckmerebuses.org.uk) and via the Wealden Bus Alliance’s website: wealdenbus.org.uk. If you are over 25 years of age, able to offer your services and would like more information on volunteer training opportunities, contact Philip Ayers on 01323 870920 or John on 07802 305155.

WHAT CAN I JOIN?: Keep your diaries free for Saturday January 26 from 10am until 2pm and tell friends and family to come along and find out what groups there are to join in Hailsham. Some will be showcasing what they do and are there for a chat and to find out more. Several singing groups from across the town will have slots during the event. We already have 25 groups booked in with more groups signing up every day. You will also be able to find out about opportunities to volunteer in the town if this is how you would like to get involved. Demelza will be on refreshments and Hailsham Vegans will have samples for you to try. Freedom Leisure will be there to tell you about signing up for memberships and keeping fit and Slimming World will be helping you along the way. If it is a new hobby there will be the Model Making Club, Flower Club, a one-stop Sports desk with Hailsham Active and many more. I will keep you posted in the weeks to come. Entry is free and there is no fundraising. Last year almost 300 people came through the door, get ready for another opportunity to find out what clubs, groups, associations and charities you can join in Hailsham. There is a free prize drawer and refreshments. Joining something is a great way of putting an end to feelings of isolation and loneliness.

SONG FOR CHRISTMAS: The eagerly awaited Hailsham Song for Christmas will be shown at Hailsham Pavilion on Monday bringing together local businesses all in the name of charity. More than 60 people and numerous local businesses have been involved in the making of the film to raise vital funds for Hailsham Foodbank. Over £500 has been raised for Hailsham Foodbank through the project to date and residents are encouraged to lend a helping hand to those in need by donating to Hailsham Foodbank, whilst enjoying getting into the Christmas spirit. To make a donation to Hailsham Foodbank, however large or small, visit https://mydonate.bt. com/fundraisers/hailshamnewsandtalk.

PHOTOGRAPHIC CLUB: Walter Benzie, Hon FRPS , who judged at Hailsham Photographic Society this week, was President of the Royal Photographic Society from 2015 to 2017. He described his photographic interests as eclectic ranging from digital photography to photographic history. He was a judge on the Southern Photographic Association circuit and sat on the society’s own Licentiate distinctions panel. There were 67 monochrome prints in the Stafford Trophy competition and 16 were held back before the final decision was made. First place was given to David Mills with The Roof of Selfridges, Birmingham, second place Louise Pemberton, Just Practising, third place Rob Shepherd, Stair at the Towner and the four highly commended prints were by Pat Broad with Thermal Power Station, Bob Harvey Creative Effort, Janet Monk Kaffir Lily and Liz Scott Ascent. At the end of the evening, vice chairman, John Deller thanked Walter for his positive comments and said the members had enjoyed a very interesting and informative meeting.

POST OFFICE: The Town Council is pleased to announce that it is currently in the process of applying to take over the franchise for the Hailsham Post Office, subject to legal administration and suitable premises being available. In setting its budget for the current financial year (April 2018 to March 2019), the Town Council agreed in principle at a meeting held last January to take over the Post Office if other franchise applications were unsuccessful, in order to protect the service and the staff. The required funding for the costs involved with the application process were allocated and the Town Council set its council tax at the start of this financial year to reflect this. The current plan and the basis of the Town Council’s application to the post office, is for the new service to run out of 10 High Street.

SUSSEX RAMBLERS: Access Improvements. Hailsham Footpath 53a Stiles replaced TQ 583/074 at Summerhill. Following officer contact stile S2343 has been replaced and new stile S7236 has been installed where the path has been reinstated onto the definitive line.

HAILSHAM CARD: A loyalty card scheme launched in Hailsham to give customers a greater incentive to use town centre shops now has the 2019 Hailsham Card available to purchase at the Town Council offices in Market Street. The Hailsham Card scheme, which is funded by the Hailsham Forward town team and fully supported by the Town Council and local Chamber of Commerce, offers exclusive discounts and offers to cardholders on independent businesses throughout the town centre. Membership of the 2019 Hailsham Card (valid until December 31 2019) costs just £10 (two for £14.99) and cardholders can use the card to receive unlimited local discounts in all the local businesses that are part of the scheme (including any online businesses) together with any other towns across Sussex that are signed up to the scheme, including Eastbourne, Hastings and Bexhill. There are no points to collect, no paperwork and no vouchers to print out. Members can benefit from a free app and website profiling each business and their discount.