About Town
Published Summer 2021
The Hanover Band receive £75k Grant
The internationally acclaimed Hanover Band, based here in Arundel, has been awarded a grant from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund to help it recover from the pandemic. The money will enable the Band to hold a series of bandstand concerts this summer in preparation for its return to the concert hall. The concerts will be held across three counties on Bandstands in Brighton and Hastings, East Sussex, Bognor Regis and Crawley, West Sussex, and Margate and Folkestone, in Kent.
The orchestra, which was formed by cellist Caroline Brown, celebrated its 40th anniversary last year by performing all nine Beethoven Symphonies and broadcasting them online. The recordings were made when restrictions were relaxed during the summer and can be found on The Hanover Band’s website.
The news was greeted with great excitement by Stephen Neiman, CEO of the Band and Howell James CBE, Chair of The Hanover Band Foundation, said: “We are very grateful that the grant from the Culture Recovery Fund will allow The Hanover Band to continue playing in a time when it is not economically viable to do so, and ultimately help secure our future survival by creating employment opportunities for musicians, providing audiences and communities with experiences to enjoy live music in quality arts and culture venues. The funds will enable concerts in Bandstands to take place over the next few months as lockdown restrictions are relaxed.” For more information go to www.thehanoverband.com
Arundel Lawn Tennis Club Revamp
Arundel Lawn Tennis Club has seen a makeover during lockdown. The club was originally built in 1963 on Angmering Estate land. The acquisition of the freehold of the land was enabled by Club President, Lady Jane Ancram- herself a very keen tennis player. It has always been a small, friendly club in a beautiful setting tucked away just behind the putting green in Mill Road. It has three hard courts, two of which are lit, and a small clubhouse. Partly due to the lockdown, it has been able to significantly increase its membership recently as outside courts have been at a premium.
Membership is currently 140 members of varying standards. There are tennis camps for infants and juniors run by the LTA registered coach, Colin Piper. It has twice weekly sessions for senior players with several sessions each week for members. and very much welcomes beginners and improvers. For the more competitive members it has two ladies’ teams and three men’s teams entered in the Sussex leagues. For social play, members can book their own courts and also arrange private coaching.
A major refurbishment has been underway during lockdown, all undertaken by one of the committee members with the help of volunteers. Given the recent increase in members, the committee are now looking at the next stage of development and have engaged professional consultants to advise on court improvements and in particular better lighting increasing the available playing time.
Club Chairman David Cooper (pictured above with Club Secretary Fiona Watson) is enthusiastic about the Club’s future plans: ‘We want to make it known in the local community, attracting more adult players and particularly introduce children to tennis. After all they are the future! We also want to attract people who can hopefully not only enjoy the tennis but also enjoy the social side. Why not come down and play or even come down and just watch the tennis while enjoying a glass
of wine!’
David adds: ‘The refurbished Clubhouse will officially be opened by the mayor, Tony Hunt, on 26th June. We’ll be celebrating with a glass or two of fizz and a barbecue. We’re hoping many of you will come on down to join in the fun!’
Arundel Lido Gets Funding for Schools Swimming………..
Nikki Richardson, the Manager of the Lido, has managed to receive funding for our two schools children to have free lessons. She explains: ‘We applied for some funding from the STA (Swimming Teachers Association) as they received a large amount of funding to support swimming lessons in Arun when Inspire Leisure Closed and changed to Freedom Leisure. I applied to offer ACE and St Philips free swimming lessons for the season.’
They usually only teach years 3 to 6 but this season they have managed to secure funding for years 1 to 6 for both schools! They have also extended from just offering 6/8 weeks of lessons to ACE having 12 weeks and St Philips having 10 weeks of swimming! So in total they will be delivering 20 weeks of swimming to around 180 children from Arundel for free – well done Nikki!
………and Launch an Elevenses Club
The Elevenses Club launched on 17th May at 11am in the Marquee at the Lido.
The idea is to give people who have dementia or are feeling isolated at home, a place to meet and have a break. There is no charge as funding support has been forthcoming from Arundel Post Office, the Co-op and the Town Council. Another great initiative from the Lido.
New Asian Supper Club
Arundel resident Tiffany Curry has added a new source of authentic Asian food to the culinary choices we now have in town. ‘I always loved food’ she explains, ‘and I was lucky enough to live in London, so I could have the pick of Thai, Japanese and Vietnamese food as well as the more usual Chinese and Indian.’
About a year before lockdown, Tiffany started an Asian supper club at her home. Over the next year she progressed from doing meals for people to actually making food for people to cook at home. She aims to taking the hassle out of making your own marinades, sauces and soups. ‘Now we’re coming into warmer weather, I am making salads as well. I am lucky enough to be able to prep at a good friend’s commercial kitchen and have started off small with the things I know well.’
Her range includes Thai pastes, both red and green, which people can use in stir fries or as a curry base. All the recipes have been adapted to enable them to be enjoyed by vegetarians and vegans as well as those that eat meat. Examples include Thai Chicken and Coconut soup, Satay Marinade with peanut sauce (with or without raw chicken) and salad with noodles and either peanut chicken or tofu.
Tiffany was born in Vietnam during the war which ended in 1975. She remembers the amazing story of how she got out at the end of the conflict. ‘My mother saw that Julie Andrews had adopted Vietnamese girls and asked my father, who was a theatrical agent, to get in touch with Julie’s agent to see what adoption agency she got her girls from. The agent put my father in touch with a lady called Rosemary Taylor and she organised for my adoption. I was on the last plane out of Vietnam as the South fell to the North.’
She says of her new cooking venture: ‘The business has grown thanks to the loyalty and support of friends. It’s local home delivery on Thursdays for orders made by Wednesday.’ For any queries please contact Tiffany at tiffany.curry.1610@gmail.com or call on 07875 502245.
Arundel Festival of the Arts
The Arundel Festival of the Arts Committee is working hard to ensure that they can stage a safe and responsible Festival for 2021. The general view among people is that a ‘scaled-down’ Festival should take place this year as a post-lockdown morale booster for our community and to help give stimulus to local businesses.
The committee has already made a number of changes. This year the Festival will have a greater focus on residents and the local community. There will be more open-air events spread throughout the town and greater use of big spaces. Many events will be accessible through pre-booked tickets with numbers limited to make social distancing possible. Venues for these have been chosen as suitably Covid-compliant. There will be fewer events on the Bank Holiday weekend to try to avoid congestion and reduce the number of visitors from outside of the town.
The pullout section in the middle of this issue presents the overall plan of what the committee hope the Festival will be able to achieve this summer. They are collaborating with a wide range of groups to increase the offer of wellbeing and family activities, trails and events specifically for the local community, such as a residents’ picnic on the Castle Lower Lawns, a concert at The Cathedral and the ‘Raising of the Flag’ Ceremony.
Events such as a Music Festival and a Big Top Cabaret Evening will be held on The Meadows and Brooks Field, while the 10k Scouts Run will take place through Arundel Park rather than through the streets. There will be a reduction in street entertainment helping to create a cafe-style culture scene, with the craft market and classic car display, but no enclosure in Jubilee Gardens.
This reduced programme is of course subject to latest Government guidance and Public Health England advice and the committee are in regular consultation with their own Event Health and Safety Company as well as Arun District Council’s Events Team.
Sharon Blaikie, the Chair, comments: “The Festival plan has received a warm and positive response from residents and businesses at the recent Farmers markets. As with all charitable bodies, funds are limited and the Festival needs to generate income. The volunteer Festival Committee, together with the Pre-Fest sub- committee, took the responsible decision to cancel the Pre-fest fundraising party in June on the Castle Lower Lawns for the second year running. Instead however, the wonderful team are working on ‘Community Pre-Fest fundraising initiatives’, so please look out for upcoming activities, crowdfunding and sponsoring opportunities in support of this event.’
Sharon added that the committee were ‘very grateful to House Arundel for sponsoring the Festival Pull-out and to Arundel Town Council for its generous grant support over the years without which the Festival would not be possible.’
If you would like to become a sponsor for one of the festival events or are a community-minded team player who could offer a small amount of time to become a volunteer and make a positive contribution to the Festival please email secretary@arundelfestival.co.uk WOW! What’s on Where- the detailed timetable of Festival events- will move on line at www.arundelfestival.co.uk and www.visitarundel.co.uk
Arundel Gallery Trail 2021 Is On!
Despite the uncertainties which have made planning a nightmare for everyone this year, the Arundel Gallery Trail will still happen, albeit in a slightly different format. There will be four consecutive ‘long weekends’ throughout August and venues will have their choice of when to open on a schedule of Thursday to Sunday openings throughout the month. One of the organisers, Penny Schuler, explains the thinking behind this change: ‘This gives artists more freedom of choice, gives town residents, families, friends and personal clients the chance to also visit outside of Festival dates and also hopefully spread the crowds.’ Venues can then choose when to open whether for just one, more than one, or for all “long weekends”. Minimum opening times will be 12 noon to 5.00pm.
Penny continues: ‘We truly appreciate that- as many venues are private homes- some artists will be unsure of whether to participate this year. It’s a difficult choice given that no-one can truly predict what “outlook” August will bring.’ Alongside commercial Galleries, there are a number of public buildings and retail spaces in Arundel that usually participate in the Trail and the Gallery Trail organisers really hope they will again this year.
The AGT has also rented space at the Victoria Institute for the entire month of August. Visit to see a series of Art & Ceramic Exhibitions to include the Secret Artist Exhibition & Auction which will run as usual for the month of August. There will be 60 Secret Artist boards, and bidding will open on August 1st. Solve the puzzle by discovering who are the Secret Artists this year! For more details see www.arundelgallerytrail.co.uk or Contact: info@arundelgallerytrail.co.uk
The Gammons Celebrate their Blue Sapphire Wedding Anniversary
Huge congratulations go to long term Arundel residents Michael and Elizabeth Gammon who celebrated their Blue Sapphire Wedding Anniversary on 31st March this year. They married 65 years ago in Sleights in Yorkshire but have lived in Arundel for over 50 years. They are well known amongst gardening circles for opening their wonderful garden in Birch Close to the public for the National Garden Scheme. They have three children, seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren!
So what is the secret of such a wonderfully long and happy marriage? They both agree that tolerance is the key.
Make Ford Road Safe Campaign
Over 1,500 people have now signed the petition calling to make the Ford Road safe for cyclists and walkers by building a footpath through to Ford Station. Plans are now being made to present the petition to West Sussex County Council, ideas include school children, walkers and cyclists going to County Hall to hand the petition to leaders of WSCC.
The huge response also means that Arun District Council will be asked to debate the matter which is perfect timing as they are formulating their priorities for Active Travel which will also feed into WSCC requirements for Cycling and Walking investment.
Spokesman Andy Batty said “There are no guarantees, but Arundel residents have ensured that the councils know this is important to our town. We are a small town but when we speak as one, we get heard.”
Arundel Community Aid
The worst of the pandemic may be over but for many the hardship is still very real. Arundel Community Aid, the service set up to help with the fallout from the pandemic, providing emergency food parcels and provisions for people struggling to provide food for their families, still needs your help. ACA runs alongside St. Nicholas Church and the Town Hall’s Arundel Community Support Fund initiative and is supporting households in Arundel with food parcels as well as hot meals prepared and delivered by St. Nicholas volunteers and provisions are also delivered to Morrison’s in support of the Littlehampton and District Foodbank and to Turning Tides homeless organisation.
ACA was originally set up as an extended complimentary emergency service and the need is still there as a number of families are still under strain with no source of income and some may now have exceeded their limit from agencies.
You can help in two ways. Firstly if you would like to contribute foodstuffs, domestic goods, and toiletries (the full list is available at the donation sites), there are donations boxes located at the Co-op, McColls, Larkins, Wholefoods & Co, Pallants, Hillside Stores and the Post Office. Secondly if you know of any individuals or families who need help to receive food or other essentials, please contact the team at hello@arundelcommunityaid.co.uk.
Calling all Arundel Photographers
A new photographic competition has been launched by Arundel Post Office. They want to find 12 images related to Arundel for inclusion in an Arundel Community Charity Calendar 2022 which is raising funds for the local children’s hospice, Chestnut Tree House. One of the 12 successful entrants will also get their image on the front of the Calendar, as well as inclusion within. The competition is open to Arundel residents only as this is a community focused calendar.
Send in one image that captures what you love about your Arundel. It could be a favourite view, a building, a person or people, an event, an activity – anything that you think represents Arundel. Closing date for submissions is Friday 3rd September 2021 after which judging will take place. Calendars will be on sale from October 2021 and available from Arundel Post Office and Chestnut Tree House Charity Shop.
Please send your images to arundelpostoffice@gmail.com together with your full name, address and a contact phone number. Important: For more information and the full Terms and Conditions before you send your image, please visit www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk/ arundel-post-office-community-charity-calendar
Arundel Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber continues to support the business community and work on measures to help local businesses to recover from the economic impact of the crisis. The Chair of the Chamber Sharon Blaikie says: ‘Businesses are making every effort to welcome you in to a visibly safe environment and there are some exciting new businesses in town. There is engagement across the various stakeholders for planning, development and communication of existing events and new initiatives.’
- The Chamber and Visit Arundel have recently teamed up on a collaborative marketing approach for Arundel. They’ve held regular meetings with stakeholders and businesses and attended relevant tourism workshops and webinars to inform the marketing plan. There is a new mailing list system; creation of quality content, including unique pages and blogs; a new press image library and press contact library, plus a 2021 Event Planner. They are also looking at a central booking system which can be used as a platform to sell, for example, Festival tickets from a single online location. Sharon comments- “There is the opportunity for the whole town to pool resources and capabilities together in a collective approach, to present as complete a picture as possible and market Arundel effectively as the year progresses”. The Chamber are continuing to engage with the Arundel Farmers Market working group. They have also met with the Hospitality businesses in town to discuss procedures to trade outside premises and in communal areas.
- The Chamber, supported by the Town Council, are investigating a new initiative to help businesses and their customers reduce their environmental footprint. 100% compostable cups are the only cups that can be fully broken down BUT only if they are separated out from recycling streams of waste and sent to specialist composting facilities. Working with local waste and recycling company Paper Round and packaging market leaders ‘Vegware’, they are planning to launch a composting collective in Arundel. More details will follow.
- The Chamber AGM is kindly being hosted at the Castle on Tuesday 29th June at 6pm and we hope that many of the businesses will be present. A new constitution is being circulated to all members. Following this, the yearly calendar of breakfast meetings and evening networking events will be reinstated.
The Chamber of Commerce is open to anyone working in Arundel, including freelancers and small businesses. They welcome new members and if your business would like to join, the reduced fee of £25 (from £50) still applies. Please email arundelchamberofcommerce@gmail.com for a membership form and any further information.
Priory Pocket Park
The Friends of PPP group, who are about 15 in number, is a group of local residents who have experienced the joy of nature and community connectivity and developed a delightful park for everyone to enjoy.
They received a grant from the National Community Lottery Fund of £1060 to support a programme of 10 nature connectivity Zooms for the community of Arundel and beyond covering a vast range of subjects from The Knepp Rewilding project to foraged hedgerows, bees, weaving- all delivered by experts in their field. The talks attracted audiences of between 10 to 40 people and were a great 
success during lockdown. The remaining money was spent on equipment, books and nature ID sheets which will support an Arundel Community Forest Schools Project that will be expanded as soon as such gatherings are allowed.
One of the Friends, Mary Peach, was a teacher and has a background in the benefits of reconnecting with disaffected pupils through nature, so her knowledge will be invaluable in establishing the Community Forest School. She explains ‘We come from a variety of backgrounds including education, the NHS and the commercial world. We all recognise the value of immersion in nature which our little park provides. Being a group of people who were strangers before the restoration began only adds to the joy.’
British Red Cross Logo
The figures make extraordinary reading. Just a few examples are:
• 101,298 food deliveries and 14,660 medicine deliveries helping people stay safe and well at home during the pandemic
• 21,718 calls to the BRC telephone support line, offering emotional and practical support for people struggling to cope.
• 11,952 people supported through the Hardship Fund with cash grants, helping those that have been economically impacted by Covid-19, with £2,537,296 disbursed so far.
• 12,997 volunteers deployed to support communities, from helping at food banks to providing a welfare call for someone suffering from loneliness.
• 195,442 people supported at vaccination centres across the UK.
• 73,726 people supported to get safely home from hospital since March 2020.
• 103,469 loans of wheelchairs and other equipment, helping people regain their independence.
• 1,462,314 people reached by the BRC community education resources, including learning first aid online, equipping people with vital skills and building the resilience of communities.
• 27,526 refugees, asylum seekers and victims of trafficking supported during the pandemic, helping meet their basic needs and rebuild their lives in the UK.
Obviously all this comes at a cost and raising money is a priority. Collecting on street corners is a really effective method but it needs volunteers. If you are able to spare some time to help with collecting during Red Cross Week please contact Maggie Robinson on arundelredcross@gmail.com
Dorset House School – Skills for Life
A new curriculum is being developed for Years 7 and 8 at Dorset House School in Bury, to better reflect the skills pupils will need at senior school and beyond. Changes include the introduction of an enterprise project and this year, the Year 7s are going to run a stall selling plants at the Arundel Farmer’s Market on June 19th. Playing to their individual strengths, children have applied for membership of groups looking after finance, marketing, design, practical aspects, and sales. They are working to nurture plants, design flyers, publicise the event and keep a close eye on the budget!
They will decide as a group on which charity they wish to support and any profit they make will be donated. Go along on 19th and give them your support.
