Hailsham

ANZAC DAY: The ANZAC Day Commemoration Service is to be held at the Hailsham War Memorial on Sunday at 10.45am. The parade will start in the Charles Hunt car park at 10.30am proceeding north along Vicarage Lane and along the High Street towards the war memorial, where the Service will take place.

ANNUAL TOWN MEETING: This is on Wednesday in the Civic Community Hall, next to Freedom Leisure. There will be local information stalls from 6.30pm with the main meeting starting at 7.30. The Mayor and Councillors between them will be reporting on the achievements and projects they have been involved with over the year and invite questions from residents. If you have a question and would like to find out more about what your local Town Council does, is doing and hopes to do over the next year, come along and find out. If you have a question you would like to submit let the Town Clerk know today. Non-registered questions can of course be asked, but time may run out.

GIVE BLOOD: There is a blood donor session at the Civic Community Hall, Vicarage Lane, next Friday April 27. You must book please on 0300 123 23 23 or at www.blood.co.uk. Slots are 1.30pm to 4pm and 5pm to 7.30pm.

SCALE MODEL CLUB: Come along next Friday, April 27, with your finished or project in progress for an evening of informal chat to Union Corner Hall, Hawks Road, between 7.30pm and 10.30pm. Entry is £3 which includes refreshments.

OUR PARKS FITNESS: Free group exercise classes started a couple of weeks ago now at the Western Road Recreation Ground. It is currently funded for 21 weeks. They take place every Saturday morning from 9am to 10am. I went along to see what it was all about and it was so good, I went along this week and joined in. It is open to everyone from 16 years plus at the first session the age range was between 50 and 65 years, although there were some either side and this week we were joined by some teens. The same jolly atmosphere was enjoyed this week and the teamwork provided an opportunity to chat. This week there was a little equipment involved, water bottles for weights, elastic bands, balls and other things you could probably find at home. It was another fun and lively session and it was good to see several new faces. The sessions end with a very important warm down to minimise any stiffness that may follow. It’s a good reason to get up and out on a Saturday morning. Hope I will see you there. If you would like to come along just turn up, but it would useful if you could register at www.ourparks.org.uk. Wear loose fitting comfy clothing and bring some water.

HAILSHAM FORWARD: Hailsham Forward, the Town Team which aims to bring together key local stakeholders including Hailsham Town Council to review the best ways to revitalise the town centre, has been successful in its application to become a Community Interest Company. At recent Hailsham Forward meetings, stakeholders discussed and agreed the formation of a Community Interest Company (CIC, a special type of limited company which exists to benefit the community), which will help to create more potential funding opportunities for Hailsham Forward in the future and carry other financial benefits for the Partnership. By going down the Community Interest Company route, Hailsham Forward can benefit from a higher profile and be eligible for additional funding for various projects which are in the interest of residents and local businesses

HISTORIC SOCIETY: The society’s next meeting is on Wednesday May 2. Gilly Halcrow will be talking on The Special Operations Executive – Churchill’s Secret Army at the Charles Hunt Centre, Vicarage Field. Refreshments 7pm for 7.30pm start. All welcome. Non-members £2.50. This month Aled Evans gave an in-depth account of the extensive and varied work carried out by the South Downs National Park Downland Rangers. Many are unpaid volunteers. Illustrated with photographs recent work, the South Downs National Park encompasses a huge area and the range of work is often carried out in conjunction with other local and national agencies such as the County Council, Natural England, and Forestry Commission. Winter work is mostly scrub bashing to maintain all sites and footpaths. Other times involves many special projects such as putting up signs, gates and stiles, coastal access steps, fences, wildlife refuges, benches and picnic tables, pond clearing, to name a few. This very informative talk gave an insight and subsequent appreciation of the amount of hard work the Park Rangers do to expand and maintain the facilities and natural countryside beauty we all enjoy and often take for granted. For further information contact Chairman, David Bourne on 01323 440359.

HERITAGE MUSEUM: Squires, gentry, and others of our parish (and those beyond the parish borders), please be informed that the Hailsham Museum opens for public inspection on Friday May 4, and every Friday and Saturday until the end of September, from 10am to 12.30pm. Admission free, donation appreciated. Many artefacts of the past, from the local area, are on display, along with a large collection of photographs of the Town from days gone by. This year there are two special displays. One is the centenary of the end of the first World War, and the other being 50 years (yes, 50 years) since the closure of the Hailsham to Polegate railway line, the Cuckoo Line. For more information contact Maxine Kitcher on 01323 843206.

PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: Jay Charnock FRPS who has been secretary of the London Salon and Chairman of the Visual Arts Group judged the PDI Photographer of the Year (Portfolio) which comprises six images that demonstrate the photographer’s versatility in for example, abstract, architecture, movement, pattern, landscape, people, record, and so on. Thirteen members entered and Jay gave a constructive and varied critique of every photo. Her humour and knowledge held members captivated all evening. Winners were: 3, Janice Payne; 2, Ray Beckwith; and 1, Alan Bousfield. The chairman thanked Jay for an excellent evening.

ITARE FUNDRAISER: A big thank-you from Living Word Community Church to everyone who helped us raise funds for Life Word Children’s Home in Itare, Kenya, on March 24 at the Quintins pop-up shop. The purchases and donations together came to over £350 and will go towards building a new kitchen and refectory block to replace the very basic cooking facilities they use at the moment and to provide an indoor eating area. For more information on the project please contact Steve Wood on 01323 441211.

CHARITY FOOTBALL MATCH: On Sunday April 29 at the Beaconsfield (Hailsham Football Club), Western Road, there is a charity match for the Richard Page Memorial Trophy. Kick-off is at 11am between the Whiteline Wanderers v The Class of 2012. The teams are from Richard’s workplace against the Hailsham United team he coached for over 10 years. Free entry, hot food, tea, coffee, cakes, face painting and more including a raffle with a first prize of £250. Richard died last year and his sister, Leeann pays tribute to ‘a fantastic father, brother, son, friend who was an inspiration to everyone who met him. He would help anyone with a big smile and go the extra mile.’ Proceeds will go to You Raise Me Up, a charity that offers financial and emotional support to families that have lost a young adult between the ages of 16 and 25 years. Richard supported You Raise Me Up having helped her after the passing of their nephew Little Allen in 2013 suddenly and unexpectedly. They are a fantastic local charity set up by a couple who lost their daughter Megan suddenly. Her mother Jane, sadly passed last December of breast cancer. Her legacy was for all the You Raise Me Up family to keep the charity alive which is why Richard’s legacy will support other families in extreme times of grief which nobody will ever know unless they have gone through it.

SUSSEX RAMBLERS: Could you be a Sussex Ramblers local footpath secretary? Local Footpath Secretaries are a crucial part of how the Ramblers monitors the state of footpaths in our area. They look after one or more parishes, usually close to where they live. In the first year it is a good idea to walk all the paths of the parish, and in subsequent years to concentrate on those with more problems. You might be asked to provide information if a planning application is likely to impact a footpath, or to comment if a diversion is proposed. It also helps to keep an eye out for planning notices and to be aware of any footpath issues your parish council may have. A remote monitor is usually less proactive and probably not walking the paths on a regular basis. Photo-checking on the condition of a path. They currently have no one keeping an eye on these local East Sussex Parishes: Arlington, Chiddingly, Hellingly, Selmeston. Please think about becoming a footpath secretary. For East Sussex contact Diane Smith via [email protected]. You will need to join the ramblers to become a footpath secretary, if you are not already a member.