May 20th, 2021

Worthing Beach wins top national award

Worthing beach has been recognised as one of the best in the country after winning the coveted Seaside Award for the fourth year running.

Overseen by charity Keep Britain Tidy, the honour identifies and rewards beaches achieving the highest standards of beach management and water quality.

Worthing’s seven mile stretch of shingle, soft sand and rock pools joined some of the best beaches in England in winning the award, and now means the Borough Council has retained the title for a fourth straight year.

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May 19th, 2021

Time’s running out for local businesses to apply for vital restart funding

Vital funding is still available to support local businesses to get up and running again as further sectors reopen in line with the latest easing of COVID restrictions.

The Restart Grant, which closes for applications on 30 June 2021, is one of several financial support packages that in the last year have been created for businesses impacted by the COVID pandemic.

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April 30th, 2021

David’ 6000 mile walk arrives in Worthing

On Thursday 29th April, David Matthews arrived in Worthing as part of his epic 6000 mile walk around all the Samaritans branches in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
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April 30th, 2021

The Wave Closure: Children and Family Centres: Why they are so important.

In recent years Children and Family Centres have become a truly important resource in our communities. They are one of the few places that parents can go to be with others and reach out for support. They are in the heart of our communities, bringing services together and reducing social isolation. Support is available in many forms and that is what makes them so essential. People employed in them can identify many issues and how these can be addressed early before they become more serious. It has thus come as a shock to many that West Sussex County Council are proposing to withdraw services from 32 of the 43 Children and Family Centres in the County.

Research published in 2015 indicates that these centres are essential to well being because they improve the physical health of many families and individuals (especially those living with disadvantage) and have a positive social impact on communities. They bring people together, enable people to build networks of support, and combat social isolation.

A whole range of community services are available. ‘The Wave’ in Broadwater has areas for staff to meet, provides NHS services for mothers and babies including baby weighing and breast-feeding support, monitors child development, offers a meet up point for those suffering domestic abuse (Safe in Sussex), has Childminder support meetings, Moo Music for infants, a counselling service for children and families, wellbeing and weight loss classes, and an internet café. This is complemented by the café, which offers a place for elderly and otherwise isolated members of the community to meet for lunch. In addition to these it offers a centre for Foodbank collection and period poverty. If services are withdrawn, it is not known if the café will survive.

The logic behind this Early Help Redesign, which will see the closure of so many centres, is that they can better target services to the smaller number of people most in need of support. Indeed, throughout this debate there has been an either/or discussion about whether we should have children and family centres or more mobile, targeted support for those most in need. However, it is clear to anyone who works in this field that we desperately need both approaches in order to meet the range of needs in our communities across the county.

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