My constituent Dinkie Flowers, now 103 and a quarter, was in typically irrepressible form when she turned up at the Fishersgate Gateway Hub to present a cheque to organiser Jill Lennon following her successful sponsored dance classes in the run up to her 103rd birthday in May. The one that left me in a hot sweat and Dinkie beaming without a bead on her. Thank you to everyone who helped raise the final sum of £750 which will be put to good use at the Hub. They have been inundated with local children for their activity days throughout the summer and in the autumn will be running new events for older residents including dance classes and Vera Lynn evenings amongst other things. You can find out what is going on there or how you can help with volunteering and funding on their Facebook page or my website.
After tripping the light fantastic with Dinkie on Friday I joined Sompting Big Local and over 500 local residents on Sompting Rec for their ‘Sompting Summer Event’ organised by Sid Youth and Audioactive. It was great to see so many families enjoying themselves on a fine summer’s day at last funded by Sompting Big Local which has done so much for the village since it was established and endowed by the National Lottery almost 10 years ago. The fund formerly comes to an end in 2025 but there are still funds to spend to leave a lasting legacy for the local community.
Another local community hub which we rescued last year, Chesham House in Lancing, is opening its doors to the public to see what progress they have made. On Saturday September 23rd there will be a fundraising day at the South Street centre from 10am – 4pm with plenty of entertainment and the legendary cheese scones should be in plentiful supply in the Vintage café.
I also popped over to Shoreham Beach where I am pleased to say Soldier’s Point is again open offering disabled access to the water, but much more safely this time!