High Sheriff Awards presented to groups across West Sussex in recognition of outstanding service to the community

Mental health was a big focus for Dr Fooks during his year as High Sheriff and he paid a particular interest in how men were affected.

The High Sheriff Awards were presented at The Mellstrom Centre at Christ's Hospital School on Thursday, March 12.

Dr Fooks said: "This was an opportunity to try to capture some of the remarkable things that I have seen and experienced, the people I've met, the things I've learned, those activities that are going on around our county that really make me feel very proud to be part of West Sussex.

"As you'll see as you look through the people I'm giving an award to, the awards are a physical sign of recognition that I feel what you each do is exceptional in the areas that I've been trying to have an influence and focus on.

"The first few are to do with the justice system and my link particularly with the justice system, and then we move into more things to do with communities.

"My particular focus for this year has been on mental health. I've been particularly concerned about issues to do with access to mental health, stigma and men's mental health, and you'll see that men's mental health is particularly highly represented in this group of awards."

High Sheriff Police Cadet Award Certificates went to Finley Anderson from Worthing Cadets, Lauren Farnhill from Mid-Sussex Cadets and Nathan Tudor from Crawley Cadets.

Gemma Sterry and Amy Skinner received an award on behalf of West Sussex Probation Service.

Dr Fooks said: "I have been really impressed by the probation service in West Sussex. They have three offices and I have visited each of them and I know how much they are committed to the best outcomes for the individuals they work with."

Teresa Large and Phil Smith received an award on behalf of the Magistrates’ Court Usher Team for West Sussex.

Dr Fooks said the ushers were key to the running of the courts but never had any public acknowledgement their work.

Kerrin Page and Kate Scales were presented with an award for West Sussex Mind, and David Chaffey and Suzie Mulhern received an award for BHT Sussex.

Dr Fooks said: "Mental health conferences that we organised brought together 400 different people. I was really very grateful that I was able to work with West Sussex Mind and BHC Sussex. The agenda I was wanting to focus on was actually, I discovered, part of their own strategy as well. It was a very happy marriage of work."

Neil Kerr received an award for Breakeven, a charity helping those affected by gambling related harm.

Dr Fooks said: "Breakeven are a remarkable organisation, perhaps because they have lived experience, perhaps it's just because of the way in which they are so compassionate and determined to make a difference." Jacob Whiteside was presented with an award for Lifecentre.

Dr Fooks said: "It does very special work with children, as well as adults, and because of what you've done across West Sussex, there have been many people whose lives have been able to be reclaimed."

Jacob added: "We have children who've been through really unspeakable experiences. We see children as young as three and we work our way up to as old as you can get. So often, the feedback that we receive is that we were someone's last chance."

Ashwin Soni and Sujain Jogalingam received an award for DIVERSE Crawley.

Ashwin said: "I think one thing that defines DIVERSE Crawley is their extraordinary ability to turn diversity into a living, breathing celebration of community."

Isla Moran and Lynn Richards received an award for Pulborough & District Community Care Association.

Dr Fooks said: "This has been an extraordinary organisation, started 60 years ago. Throughout my career in Pulborough, it has been a fundamental part of the bedrock of what gives wellbeing to those who live in this rural setting."

Henna Chowdhury was presented with an award for Henna Foundation, which works with south Asian women in Worthing and Bangladesh.

Dr Fooks said: "One of the more memorable days I had was the Henna Foundation's Pink Chai Day. It was a fantastic day that brought together experts in the issue of breast cancer. I'm sure there will be women whose lives will be changed because of their ability now to understand the cause going forward."

Avril Robinson and Johanna North received an award for My Sisters’ House.

Dr Fooks said: "My Sister's House is a well-established organisation, respected across the whole of the county. The thing I wanted to highlight particularly was the DART programme supporting mothers and their children who've been affected by domestic abuse."

Tom Morris received an award for Crawley-based A Band of Brothers.

Dr Fooks said: "A Band of Brothers is a really remarkable model. It brings together mentors and men with difficult journeys, who for the first time are meeting with someone who's really been able to stand alongside them and help them through, to understand who they are, in a way that helps them to escape into a different sort of journey, and become part of a community."

Jean Evenor and Johnny Edmond received an award for Limitless Youth Football Club in Crawley.

Dr Fooks said: "Sussex is home to the biggest single community of Chagossian people outside of the Chagos Islands and Mauritius. The journey has been a very difficult one but the journey for their young people, perhaps particularly their young men, has been something that has been transformed by the development of this youth football club."

Jean said the group was formed in 2023 with the help of Johnny, a former professional footballer in Mauritius, and it has been successful in giving the young people something positive to do.

Dan Flanagan, Stewart Cummings and Tyler Slade received an award for Dad La Soul.

Dr Fooks said: "Being a father is not always a journey that we do very well and for some fathers, it's a particularly difficult journey. This group enhances the journey men can take with their children. When I went to one of the sessions, it was a revelation."

Mark Howell received an award for Andy’s Man Club, a men's suicide prevention charity.

Dr Fooks said: "Men sadly sometimes don't reach out at the right time and take a step which is obviously very sad. Andy's Man Club started because of exactly that. What I've learned is that actually given the right environment, men are very good at talking."

Sean Orr and Peter Mayne received an award for Menshare Listening Group, which covers Crawley and East Grinstead.

Dr Fooks said: "It's almost more of a fellowship. There's a sense of companionship and belonging generated at Menshare Listening Group, which is powerful and very moving."

Sean added: "I decided there was nothing out there for older men and I just had a vision of maybe six to ten guys turning up once a week. In five years, we've served nearly 1,000 men, so it just shows you that the call is for men to come to a safe place and to be heard."

Simon Pepper and Alan Savage received an award for MenWalkTalk.

Simon said: "When you step outside and you're not face to face, you're walking side by side, the conversation starts to come. I've seen it numerous times, guys who's body language is closed up but after talking with the volunteers, you just see it, there's a weight that's being lifted."

Efrem Brynin was presented with an award for StrongMen.

Dr Fooks said: "Efrem has made a remarkable organisation that helps men through bereavement, and there's a special need there. To actually manage to get under the skin of what men need when they're in distress has to be really quite specific and the peer-to-peer support which you get through StrongMen is incredibly powerful."

Ben Harragan and Lorna King received an award for Angling & Mental Health Initiative CIC.

Ben said: "We've come a long way since the initial idea, which was to get people into fishing and get people talking, and establish the connection of being outdoors and improving mental health.

"Mainly through my own drive of my own mental health, I've turned it into a superpower to continue my work, and we have an amazing amount of volunteers who have helped us along the way."

Colin Clay and David Wolf received an award for the National Coastwatch Institution's NCI Shoreham. The volunteer-run station is situated on the western side of Shoreham Harbour’s entrance and mouth of the River Adur, overseeing the busy coastline between Brighton and Worthing. From the lookout station, volunteers maintain watch throughout the year, reporting incidents and working with emergency services as events develop.

As an additional layer of safety, mariners can call up the station via VHF radio or phone, asking for radio checks, weather and tidal information. The station also broadcasts weather and tidal information every three hours during the day.

Station manager Mr Clay said: “I’m very proud of all the volunteer watchkeepers at Shoreham for all that they have achieved for this fantastic award. I was honoured to be presented the award by Dr Tim Fooks on behalf of the station.”

The Rev Andy Kerr was presented with an award for HMP Ford Chaplaincy.

Zoe McCarthy and Sheila Sparkes received an award for the Coroners’ Courts Support Service.

Martin Quinn and Hollie Coupar received an award for Turning Tides, recognising the charity's work with the homeless at St Clare’s Hub in Worthing and the Littlehampton Hub.

Becky Edwards and Chris Smethurst received and award for Adversity to University at the University of Chichester.

Lauren Ellis and Graham Harmour received an award for WSFRS Targeted Education.

Matt Briers and Jane Latawski received an award for Chichester Harbour Conservancy.

Claire Parsons received an award for The Lynn Foundation.

Special Individual Recognition Awards went to University of Chichester Conservatoire associate lecturer Emma Button, Sussex Community Foundation chief executive Kevin Richmond, and Stonepillow chief executive Hilary Bartle, who is stepping down from the charity this month due to relocating to another part of the UK.