Joyce’s joy as she becomes Littlehampton’s mayor again

Joyce, who represents Brookfield ward, took up the chain of office this week, with Jill Long as her deputy, and has already hit the ground running with plans in the pipeline for future fund-raising events.

However, she has some sizeable boots to fill following in the footsteps of Emma Neno, who passed on the chain of office having raised a record-breaking £21,376.28p in her mayoral year for her two chosen charities.

Joyce will be supporting Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, a national charity which trains dogs to alert deaf people to important sounds and danger signals.

She aims to drum up at least £12,000 to purchase and train a dog which will be used to support a deaf person in the Littlehampton area.

Joyce explained: “I wanted to choose a charity that wasn’t as well known as some of the others. Everyone knows about Guide Dogs for the Blind and the fund-raising that supports that.

“But I believe the charity I’m supporting is under-utilised and really deserves much more support.”

To kick-start her efforts, she will be holding a 10k “Jog for a Dog” race, which will be supported by the Wick branch of Morrisons.

The event will take place at some point this summer and will see people jogging or walking the route, which is yet to be announced.

She is also planning to host a fun weekend with Tesco, in Broadpiece, Littlehampton, which will involve face-painting and a range of family frivolity.

On top of this, Joyce will be asking Guides and Scouts in Littlehampton to take part in a bag-packing event at the superstore.

“I really want people to get actively involved,” she added. “It costs around £12,000 to train a dog and I almost raised that last time, so I’m optimistic about achieving this.”

l Tomorrow (Friday, May 24) Joyce will be selling cakes and plants at a charity stall, in High Street, Littlehampton.