Hear from the winners of the High Sheriff of West Sussex Recognition Awards 2024

The High Sheriff of West Sussex Recognition Awards 2024 was held at Thakeham Village Hall on Thursday, an informal gathering where winners could network and raise awareness of the work they do.

Andy Bliss, High Sheriff of West Sussex for 2023/24, presented certificates to 23 different charities and organisations across West Sussex. Each will also receive a cash award from the High Sheriffs’ Fund, held by the Sussex Community Foundation.

He said: "These awards express appreciation on behalf of The Crown for the positive contributions and impacts made by public-spirited organisations and individuals – especially charities and volunteers – on the wellbeing and safety of local communities.

"During the course of my year in office, I have experienced the immense privilege of visiting many charities and public sector organisations and seeing at first hand the tremendous work that they do to protect and care for people and enhance their quality of life.

"Above all else I have been particularly impressed by the sheer breadth and depth of volunteering by those of all ages who generously contribute to the wellbeing and quality of life of people in our county.

"To pick just a handful of organisations to receive awards has not been an easy task as there are so many brilliant groups to choose from. I have been guided by my main focus this year, which is to support those organisations that protect and care for the public in West Sussex, as well as my subsidiary aim, which is to lend support to the charities which promote the county's rich history and heritage."

Award winners were as follows:

Alzheimer's Society

Mr Bliss said: "The Alzheimer's Society is a national organisation with a local footprint and this award is for Horsham and its Singing for the Brain."

Vocal coach Rachel Riley said: "As soon as the singing starts, something very profound happens and suddenly they are singing all the words. Music just transforms people's lives."

Carers Support West Sussex in Crawley

Mr Bliss said: "Carers Support provides vital support for carers. It is a tough job and from some people it can take all day and all night."

Astrid Stubbs, locality manager, said: "We support unpaid family and friend carers. There are around 30,000 carers registered with us in West Sussex and we are registering around 400 new carers each month, so you get an idea of the need that there is."

Chichester & District Foodbank

Mr Bliss said: "Chichester & District Foodbank is doing valuable work in the west of West Sussex and I have been very impressed with them. It is tough out there and I have learned a lot from the work that they do."

Stephanie Chadwick, trustee and volunteer, said: "Our purpose is much wider than just emergency food. We help people out of crisis that they are facing through our signposting referrals, our online citizens advice worker, peer support and also campaigns.

"Nobody ever wants to be in a position where they can't afford the essentials but we all need to live, and yet last year we support 6,730 people, that's 4,162 adults and two-and-a-half-thousand children. On top of that, we provide 2,800-plus school holiday lunch packets for families across the region who usually receive free school meals during the term."

The Coroners Courts Support Service in West Sussex

Mr Bliss said: "This wonderful team quietly offers support."

They are there to provide emotional and practical support to witnesses and families.

Penelope Schofield, senior coroner, said: "They are amazing, caring, kind individuals who selflessly give up time to support individuals who are really struggling when they attend an inquest."They are a really, really important part of our service. We couldn't do without them. It is such an important role they play."

Crawley Museum

Mr Bliss said: "It is a fantastic place. They do great work with the community and it typifies some of our fantastic museums that operate on a shoestring but do a fantastic job."

Paul Castle, chair of the board of trustees, said: "Crawley Museum is a small, independent local history museum with a big community heart. We have two museums, Crawley Museum in High Street and the beautifully-restored working watermill in Ifield."

Jo Pettipher, learning and liaison officer, said: "With ever diminishing funding, we heavily rely on our amazing team of dedicated, loyal and passionate volunteers. Basically, without them, we would not be able to open either of the museums and we are truly indebted to them.

Friends of Shoreham Fort

Mr Bliss said: "They saved that historic monument and have done a brilliant job. It is a fantastic place to visit. They have saved it for the nation and for Sussex."

Founder Gary Baines said: "It is the last of its kind in the world and it was subject to a lot of heritage crime but we have thankfully been working with Sussex Police and Andy to get that down to a minimum now.

"We have got a fantastic education and outreach project and we like to be able to teach through experience. We have actually built a First World War training trench and that is now being registered by the Imperial War Museum as a war memorial for all of the troops that were trained in Shoreham."

Girlguiding Adur Valley Division

Mr Bliss said he joined the girls at their summer camp and it poured with rain for four days but the leaders faced up to the challenge and were 'brilliant'.

Annabel Gray, chairman of adult support, said: "We cover Shoreham, Southwick and along the coast to Lancing and Sompting, and inland to Steyning and all the villages around there. We have nearly 400 girls aged four to 18 and we provide weekly activities. We also do camps, sleepovers and Brownie holidays."

Girlguiding Sussex Central County

Wendy Colson, county commissioner, said the award money would be spent on a weekend for the older girls, aged 13 to 14.

She explained: "They don't often get a chance just to go away as a smaller group. We are going to take them away to have a challenge weekend. They will be learning to budget and cooking a meal on a budget."

Good Neighbours CARE in Haywards Heath, Cuckfield and Lindfield

The group has been operating for more than 40 years and Mr Bliss said it was very close to home.

Mr Bliss added: "It really flourished during Covid, when people needed help with shopping and collecting prescriptions."

Chair John Bines said: "We have over 100 volunteers, it is completely voluntary led, and over 500 clients, so every week we will do around about 50 jobs."

JubyLee Bakes

Mr Bliss said: "I have been impressed with what they do for young people with special educational needs and for some of them, it has led to employment opportunities."

Ellen Tomlinson, manager, said: "We knew that these fabulous young people have got loads of skills which they can use to enrich the local community and also to contribute meaningfully back to society as a whole."

Magistrates on the West Sussex Bench

Nigel Fullbrook JP said: "There are 170, roughly, magistrates across West Sussex and we sit in court every day except for Sunday, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Ninety-four per cent of the cases we deal with, we deal with from beginning to end."

Oak Grove College, Worthing

Mr Bliss said: "I don't know a lot about special educational needs schools and it has absolutely opened my eyes. They have got just a brilliant school. I am a great believer in everyone deserves a chance."

James Winchester, deputy headteacher, said: "I lead an amazing staff team, who, every day, go out of their way to make dreams come true for our young people and give them those opportunities to get the best out of life."

Olive Tree Cancer Support, with centres in Horsham and Crawley

Mr Bliss said: "Possibly the most important thing they do is to enable people to go in an talk. People have said how much it makes a difference to their lives."

Volunteer Kevin Murdoch came to the charity as a cancer patient and is now in remission. He set up the Horsham group and said 'it is going from strength to strength'.

Petworth Community Garden and Men's Shed

Mr Bliss said: "It is a beautiful space, overlooking the South Downs. Green horticulture is very good for us and it is great to see they help they give to disabled people."

Founder Kate Green said: "Petworth Community Garden started in 2005 and it was a very overgrown allotment. It has been growing by and for the community ever since, with amazing volunteers."

Richard Green, founder member of Men's Shed Petworth, said: "We create space for isolated men to come along, any ages, any experience. We make crafts and sell that at the local farmers market, which provides a source of income for us, too."

Quarry Café and Community Fridge in East Grinstead

Sarah Howland, director and executive manager, said: "Food is at the heart of how families bond and those same principles can apply to a whole community. In the current growing financial crisis, these food principles are more important than ever and just as a family cares, we will not let a community member go hungry."

RNLI

Mr Bliss said he was 'blown away' by the work of the RNLI, which is celebrating its 200th anniversary, and made awards to Littlehampton, Selsey and Shoreham Harbour lifeboat stations.

Lynn Spillett, fundraising chair at Shoreham, said: "We have 22 crew and launch, typically, around 90 times a year. We have men and women on the crew and we are a very busy station. I am in awe of the crew and what they do."

Nick White, lifeboat operations manager at Littlehampton, an inshore lifeboat station, said: "We are all volunteers, that is the flavour across the RNLI."

Rob Archibald, coxswain at Selsey, said: "We have 50 shouts a year. It ranges from everything, as most stations do, and we are busier in the summer than we are in the winter. This award will raise the profile, we can have it on the wall and it will make a massive difference to us and our fundraising."

Sussex Volunteer Police Cadets

Mr Bliss said: "I want to celebrate the work the leaders do. They go the extra mile and don't always get a lot of thanks for it."

PC Theresa Broad explained there are five cadet units throughout Sussex with 120 cadets aged from 13 to 18.

PC Sarah Pack added: "We try to make it as fun and interesting as possible. We do scenarios and role plays. It is very rewarding to see a lot of them then join and we are now working alongside some of them as police officers and PCSOs."

Victim Support Sussex

Mr Bliss explained the team is based in Shoreham but covers the whole of Sussex.

Sidonia Porteous, operations manager, said: "We provide services to victims and witnesses of crime. We are very busy. We get between 600 and 800 referrals a week, so we are very reliant on a team of about 30 volunteers to help provide that support."

West Sussex Community Safety and Wellbeing

Jim Bartlett, head of service, said it was a diverse service, including a prevention assessment team, high risk domestic abuse service celebrating its 20th anniversary, community safety team to reduce serious crime and Digital Spaces, to reduce risk of exploitation.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service's targeted education team

Mr Bliss said thanks to the team, there had been a formidable reduction in the number of fires.

Pete Rickard, assistant chief fire officer, said he was excited about the work they do with young people and revealed plans to launch fire cadets as a pilot project in Bognor Regis.

West Sussex Youth Justice Team

Mr Bliss said it was incredible to see what the team had achieved, working with young offenders and helping them get into work.

Lorna Vincent, service manager, said: "We work in a trauma-informed way to try to divert children away from the behaviour and the risk factors that increase the likelihood of them committing offences. We recognise that offending as a behaviour is a consequence of other factors in children's lives."