About Town – Winter 2021

Arundel at Christmas

THE one day ‘Arundel by Candlelight’ event has now been transformed into ‘Arundel at Christmas’, a new and exciting programme of smaller events and initiatives that can be enjoyed across the whole of December. Arundel Chamber of Commerce, Visit Arundel, local businesses and community groups are all working together to make Arundel a top destination during the winter months. ‘Arundel at Christmas’ provides the overarching umbrella and marketing platform under which businesses and organisations can promote their Christmas programmes.

A special residents only, Christmas tree lighting ceremony with carols will take place on Friday 3rd December followed by the Tarrant Street Christmas market on Saturday 4th December. Arundel ‘s Christmas Farmers Market will be on Saturday 18th. On Sundays throughout December there will be pop-up street entertainment, brass bands and local choirs. There will be competitions for the best dressed Christmas windows for residents and businesses, plus Christmas card competitions at the primary schools.

Many people are working hard to make sure that whilst we all keep safe, Arundel has the best possible Christmas, so please do support your local high street this festive season.

The Chamber of Commerce is very grateful for support from Arundel Town Council and the Welcome Back Fund. For details of what’s on in Arundel this Christmas be sure to follow the ‘Arundel at Christmas’ Facebook page and see Visit Arundel website: www.facebook.com/arundelatchristmas

www.visitarundel.co.uk

Deputy Mayor Receives Centenary Award

OUR wonderful Town Crier and Deputy Mayor, Angela Standing, has received a Centenary Award from the Royal British Legion. One of only 85 volunteers across the whole country to be honoured, her citation states ‘Angela was determined to ensure that Arundel’s Remembrance Service could go ahead in 2020, despite Covid 19 restrictions. She adapted the plans following ever-changing guidance and negotiated with the District Council to obtain permission. The socially distanced service went ahead with several local dignitaries and 200 people in attendance. She was heavily involved in the Poppy Appeal, preparing boxes, manning a stall and counting, and single-handedly raised an impressive £1600.’

Angela says ‘I’m extremely honoured to have received the award. I was invited to attend Westminster Abbey on 12th October, for the Thanksgiving service when the Queen was there. I have also been given the opportunity to attend the Remembrance Service at the Royal Albert Hall on 13th November- which I am so excited about.’

Camilla and Manon, the two staff pictured above, say they were ‘amazed by the vibe in Arundel’ and ‘delighted and surprised’ with how well their first visit went. If you want to know more go to www.thesussexpeasant.co.uk

NSPCC Date for your Diary

THE Arundel NSPCC are planning a spectacular mediaeval evening for their next fundraising event. To be held at Arundel Castle on 16th February next year, Her Grace the Duchess of Norfolk has invited Henry VIII to visit Arundel Castle for the evening. He will be accompanied by his own musicians so an evening of mediaeval music and refreshments is planned. Put the date in your diary and if you need any more information, contact Pauline Lovell at paulinglovell1@gmail.com

Arundel Chamber of Commerce

THE Chamber of Commerce Committee are working proactively with the business community in support of new initiatives in the town including ‘Arundel at Christmas’, ‘Cafe Culture’ (to enable hospitality venues to trade outside) and are collaborating with Visit Arundel on the ongoing marketing plan. They are also working with Arundel Town Council on specific projects supported by the Welcome Back Fund.

Alzheimers Initiative
The Chamber wants to encourage as many local businesses as possible to become a Dementia Friendly Business with the ultimate aim of making Arundel a Dementia Friendly town. The Alzheimers Society’s Dementia Friends programme is the biggest ever initiative to change people’s perceptions of dementia. It aims to transform the way the nation thinks, acts, and talks about the condition. Businesses can play a vital role in supporting people affected by dementia. The Arundel Lido are now working with Dementia Friends to put on a series of one-hour workshops and representatives from the Chamber Committee, Lulamaes, Pallant of Arundel, Martin Steel Opticians and Arundel Post
Office all attended one of the first sessions. For more information, please get in touch with Nikki at the Lido- nikki.richardson@arundel-lido.com
A Greener Town with Recycled Coffee Cups
Britain gets through 2.5 billion takeaway coffee cups every year, only 1 in every 400 get recycled, with the rest going to landfill or incineration. A typical cup has a carbon footprint equivalent to up to 60.9 grammes of carbon dioxide. With a plethora of hospitality businesses in our town, and an estimated one million visitors to Arundel every year, this problem is very close to home for us all. Consumers also increasingly expect businesses to be proactive in helping to address these issues.

Encouraging customers to bring their own reusable cups is an ideal solution. There are disposable cups which are to a certain extent recyclable but often require specialist recycling facilities, as the liner will still be plastic. When recyclable cups are disposed of in a council operated waste bin or at home, they will be treated as general waste and may end up in an incinerator. Compostable cups made of all-natural materials will completely rot down and lead to a nutrient-rich soil. A cup that is commercially compostable will breakdown at much quicker speeds- often around 12 weeks. Again, these need to be disposed of properly in a waste stream that will ensure they end up at a commercial composting site.

Arundel is starting to tackle this problem and there are various initiatives being adopted across the town. Arundel Wetlands Centre with their new ButterFly cup: The Brewhouse Project are involved with the Cup Neutral scheme which started in Brighton: Lulamae’s Café and Pallant of Arundel have joined the Vegware Composting Collective scheme – all excellent initiatives but we need to keep the momentum building and would like to hear what other businesses are doing to tackle this problem. (arundelchamberofcommerce@gmail.com). The public are also encouraged the next time
they purchase takeaway hot drinks in town, to ask the business how they are rising to the challenge.

The Chamber have welcomed a number of new members this year and is open to anyone working in Arundel, so if your business would like to join, please email arundelchamberofcommerce@gmail.com for a membership form or make contact via their Facebook page facebook.com/ArundelChamberofCommerce.

Arundel Amblers

IF you live in or around Arundel and enjoy walking and hiking, the Arundel Amblers could be just what you’re looking for. Set up in February this year, The Amblers are a friendly, community walking group who meet once a month to share the fun of walking in the fabulous countryside that surrounds Arundel.

“The group was set up for the community by the community, and everyone is welcome,” says Julie Fynn, one of the Arundel residents who set up the Amblers. “Some of the people in the group haven’t done much walking before; others are experienced walkers who want to discover some new routes and meet new people.”

The Arundel Amblers meet on the first Sunday of every month at 10.00am, and the routes are posted on Facebook in advance. The walks are usually between six and eight miles long, but occasionally there is a more challenging walk. In July the group helped to organise a fantastic 13 mile walk around the entire Arundel parish boundary – something that will hopefully be an annual event.

The Amblers were also behind the extremely successful community walk in the Castle Gardens during this year’s festival. To find out more or to get in touch, look up Arundel Amblers on Facebook.

Amazing Wing Walkers

IN April next year a group of intrepid ladies from Arundel and the surrounding area are doing a Wing Walk to raise money for Medical Alert/Detection Dogs. The organiser is Maxine North who lives in Aldingbourne and she explains how losing her daughter earlier this year became her motivation for arranging the Walk.

‘I lost my daughter in May this year. Tragically, Jess had a peanut allergy and ate something with peanuts in it. She was on life support for six days but heartbreakingly we had to say goodbye to our beautiful girl on the 14th May. I am trying to raise awareness of the everyday fears people with allergies have to face along with the amazing work they do at the Medical Alert/Detection Dogs charity.’

The Medical Detection Dogs charity trains dogs to detect the odour of disease. Their research includes cancer, Parkinson’s and other diseases and ‘could save millions of lives by improving diagnostics. We already help people manage complex, life-threatening medical conditions by training Medical Alert Dogs.’

‘There are five of us so far but I’m hoping more may join along the way. No males have yet proved willing to join us!’ Currently the participants are left to right Lucy De Silva Puttick, Maxine, Olivia Eden, Julie Buckle and Maxine’s niece, Charlotte Taylor (not pictured) who lives in Worcester.

Jess’s JustGiving page (including Gift Aid) has raised just over £26,000, ‘but we are determined to get to £29,000 which helps one dog through the first 2 1⁄2 years of training.’

If you would like to help by donating, just go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Maxine-North1. For any more information about the Wing Walk contact Maxine at maxine.north@googlemail.com

Silver Sunday at Arundel Museum

SILVER Sunday is a national day celebrating older people, which takes place on the first Sunday of October every year and aims to tackle loneliness in the older generations.

Arundel Museum took part this year on Sunday 3rd October. They offered a free visit to the Main Gallery and to a Special Exhibition in the Jubilee Gallery, exhibits which were selected from the stored collection and thought to have particular interest for older people. The day lasted from 10am to 4pm and from 1pm, tea and a choice of cakes were served by volunteers. Pauline Carder, President for Life of the Museum, said: ‘We had 92 visitors and we must thank Jan and Susan for the Special Exhibition, Jan and Jennie for the tea and cakes and the efforts of the morning and afternoon front of house volunteers, who did a wonderful job of attracting visitors in.’

An Update from the Community Land Trust

SINCE the Ford Road development gained outline planning approval in July, the Arundel Community Land Trust have liaised with the Norfolk Estate, Arun District Council and their chosen Registered Provider of housing Aster Homes, on the S106 Agreement for the site and their Local Lettings Policy. These important agreements ensure the affordable rented homes will be let at genuinely affordable, social rent and for the benefit of those with a local connection to Arundel in perpetuity. These are two of the major objectives of the CLT, to maintain community cohesion and true affordability.

On 1 October, Chair, Darrell Gale and Treasurer, James Stewart met with MP, Andrew Griffith for a ‘round table’ discussion on the development of CLTs. James reports: ’This was a very useful meeting, not just because we were able to raise important issues with the MP but also because we were able to meet representatives of other local CLTs from Slindon, Angmering and Eastergate/ Westergate/Barnham.’

At the meeting Andrew Griffith confirmed that he was not opposed to development on greenfield sites where they arise out of a made Neighbourhood Plan. Following the meeting Andrew Griffith wrote to the Rt Hon Chris Pincher, MP and Minister for State in the Dept. of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The letter raised points about certainty for CLT funding, taxation of CLTs, and strengthening Neighbourhood Plans and access to specialist advisers.

To join the Arundel CLT or for more information visit their website www.arundelclt.org.

Arundel Festival of the Arts

THERE is a consensus amongst the sponsors, organisers and residents that the return of the ‘live’ Festival was an all-round success and produced an inspiring event for our community.

Against the public health background, the limited manpower and budget available, a number of critical decisions were made to ensure that the Festival was staged safely notably targeting the Festival towards the residents. New initiatives, such as the popular picnic and community walk in the grounds of Arundel Castle and ‘Burfest’ on Burpham Cricket Green, were hugely successful. Events were spread geographically across town and used more venues with a strong focus on open air and “big space”. New events which they hope to develop in the future include the Three Day Music Festival and the Cathedral programme of three concerts: Children, Classical and Jazz.

The Festival is funded through sponsorship, fund-raising and charitable donations and delivered a programme of four smaller fundraisers across the town this year. It also offered a platform for other charities to raise considerable funds with this years’ total raising in excess of £20,000 to include Riding for the Disabled, Dementia UK and Arundel Home-Start as well as raising money for its own charity partner this year, the Trussell Trust.

They are very grateful to Arundel Town Council and to all the businesses and organisations who supported this years Festival with events, sponsorship and donations.

Chair Sharon Blaikie comments “After such a difficult period, it was wonderful to see the energy generated throughout and to be able to celebrate life, community and friendship in our town. For more information contact secretary@arundelfestival.co.uk.