MAYOR'S MOMENT: Money, money, money!

I have, however, had the pleasure of meeting with representatives of various groups who have raised money for my charity appeal for the Littlehampton Heritage Railway Association and the Friends of Mewsbrook Park.

I started on Thursday going to the New Inn to meet with landlady Becky and her dad James who, through doing a Christmas raffle with the main prize being a wheelbarrow of booze, had raised an astonishing £1,000 to be split equally between my appeal and the River Beach School, who had also previously been beneficiaries of money raised from the pub earlier in the year.

Teachers and students from the school were present to receive their cheques, but also to show us what the money had bought for the school.

Using the funds from this and from the earlier donation the school had purchased six virtual reality headsets and phones which allows them to go out in the world while still in the classroom.

Of course I had to give it a try and one moment I was in the warmth and familiarity of the public house and next was in Greece, followed by Rome!

I can see these are going to become an amazing addition to the school and will aid learning in so many different ways, bringing so much to life and off the written page.

Following this I popped to the other side of town to Morrisons to meet with the supermarket’s community champion Alison Whitburn, where I was presented with a cheque for £181.01 following a collection last month.

It was also great to find out that they have things planned all the time to help community groups and charities raise money.

Finally, Saturday I was at the miniature railway in Mewsbrook Park where they were holding an open day for people to see behind the scenes of what goes on in the train shed and to sign up some new members and gain interest.

Despite the wet weather when I arrived it was great to see the train full of people and find out that they had already signed up numerous new members and had lots of interest.

If you’re interested in joining in with the miniature railway they are a wonderful friendly group.

Details on annual membership – £20 single, £30 family or £10 for under-16s – can be found by visiting www.littlehamptonminiaturerailway.com.

While there James Rushman joined us to present a cheque on behalf of the Edwin James Festival Choir and Orchestra for £250 following their successful Earth, Wind & Fire concert at St James Church earlier this year.

I have been overwhelmed this year by the amount of help and support I have already had in raising funds for these groups and am still doing all I can to keep raising the total.

If you’d like to organise something to help I’d love to hear from you so please do get in touch by calling my office on 01903 732063.

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