Visit Littlehampton retailers for Christmas shopping to '˜keep our town alive'

Perhaps had I taken my own advice at the end of last week I would not have caught a cold and left myself without any voice.

Early Tuesday morning I met with local traders at Cafe 72 for their first breakfast meeting, giving them a chance to meet informally outside of their normal premises and find out more about the Littlehampton Traders Partnership over breakfast and a cup of tea or coffee.

Having attended meetings of this group some years ago when I used to work as a manager for two different shops in the high street, it was good to find out how things had progressed and aspirations for the future.

With the festive season creeping up ever more quickly, this is often known in retail as the golden quarter and can be make or break time for many retailers.

Please bear this in mind when doing your Christmas shopping and perhaps revisit your Littlehampton retailers and see what you might be able to purchase locally to lend your support to keep our town alive.

|Also in the news - a Littlehampton teenager who had been missing for almost a month has now been found; an East Preston care home has been told it requires improvement by the Care Quality Commission for the fourth consecutive time; and Littlehampton Town Council is hosting two events to mark the centenary of Armistice Day|

Come Wednesday morning I was off to the theatre but not at the Windmill this time, instead I had been invited to St James Church for a production called Trick Your Way Home! The show, which was aimed at families with children aged over three, toured St James Church, Wick Village Hall and the United Reformed Church across three days and told a fun Hallowe’en themed story with a witch, ghost, pumpkin Jack and magician who transport through magic to each others’ worlds.

The production was created by a team of people through a full-time training and development programme funded by the Department for Work and Pensions and run by Making Theatre Gaining Skills with the aim to help long-term unemployed people tackle problems that can be associated with this and help tackle isolation, build confidence and self esteem, and learn new skills as well as refreshing others.

During the three-week intensive programme the group had to write the script, help design the scenery, props and poster, build and paint the scenery, make and operate the puppets as well as sew costumes. Being connected to amateur theatre I know just how much work goes into productions and would like to congratulate everyone for doing so well in such a small time scale.

It is great to have been to things this week that I had not been to during my first year as mayor and am still surprised by how much goes on in our town that I did not know about before this.

It just goes to show that, with a little exploring and asking about, our town does have something for everyone of all ages and capabilities to get involved with, so if you are looking for something to do I am sure Littlehampton will have something to take your fancy!

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