Long may it last

We have quite a lot to share with you this week, including more cost of living suggestions as we promised a few posts ago. First, though, this week saw World Menopause Day, so as a man I will not be arrogant enough to comment but will share this.

It’s Half Term week and you may be wondering what to do with your children, or grandchildren - or even fancy doing something yourself. There is plenty going on, so if you are wondering what is on offer, you might want to start off with the Experience West Sussex website.

Sadly, many children this week may be hungrier because they are not at school. Full Up's High Street premises in Selsey, ‘The Place', will be open during half term with cooked meals available for collection between 4pm and 6pm or, you can stay and 'eat in.' Donations for children's meals taken in 'The Place' are welcome, but absolutely not requested or required. For adults eating, they will be asking for a small donation, whatever you feel able, to help them continue to provide hot, nutritious food to Selsey's children. Their menu includes Pasta Bolognese Bake on Monday, Cheeseburger and Chips on Tuesday and Fish, Chips and Peas to end the week on Friday.  To book  contact them.

I have a family heavily involved in healthcare, with a paramedic daughter, another studying to enter nursing and their significant others also working on the front line. I found an article about the busiest local GP surgeries interesting, but I am a little cautious because the methodology does not take account of age or seasonal variations: I know the surgeries on the Peninsula are swamped, partly because of the addition of holidaymakers but also because of the development that has been allowed here, e.g. Selsey's has twice the number of registered patients than it was built for; I should also add that I am aware that the surgeries in this article are really busy too.

I was deeply moved recently when a student I teach told me they were unable to concentrate during the last lesson of the day because they had not had any Lunch and were hungry. Without taking a national position, I welcomed the news that the President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is calling for all children to be given free school meals to help tackle the growing problem of food poverty.

At this juncture, it seems appropriate to share some more energy saving ideas that have come our way. Even if you do not need to economise, as we may face blackouts this winter, doing anything we can is a good idea, and will reduce the cost of the energy price freeze to taxpayers. This week, it was widely reported that we should prepare for evening blackouts  if the weather becomes so cold that it eats away at the country's gas supplies. John Pettigrew, the National Grid chief, told the Financial Times Energy Transition Summit, that blackouts could happen between 4pm and 7pm on weekdays, if there is a supply issue. 

• Small plug-in heaters are gaining popularity.

• A mum experimented with washing at 20 Celsius.

• Depending on your tariff and meter, these are the cheapest times to run appliances by Supplier.

• The Welsh can be quite canny, here they compare the cost to run air fryers and slow cookers' with ovens and microwaves - spoiler: use your slow cooker as much as you can. 

M&S fans will be saddened by the news they are going to close more stores, particularly as many people value Chichester’s and will hope it survives. 

In happier news, an initiative called Weald to Waves hopes to create a safe corridor for nature from Ashdown Forest to the Climping Gap, protecting the most valuable and vulnerable areas for nature, as well as potential wildlife migration routes, highlighting areas to focus restoration efforts on. 

Staying with coastal matters, Coastal Partners 2nd report can be read here.

CDC’s Tree Chichester District scheme has already seen 12,118 trees planted across the district since it was launched in January 2021. The subsidised tree scheme aims to expand on this work by helping residents, landowners, farmers, community groups, schools, businesses, and charities, to access 12,000 trees to plant in their communities later this year. The initiative is funded by HM Treasury’s Shared Outcomes Fund and aims to test different ways to increase tree cover in rural and urban areas. The funding this year will cover 50% of the cost of the trees applied for, with applicants contributing the remaining 50%. The trees will be supplied in bundles of 10, 20 or 25, but not as individual trees. Applications for the scheme will open on 7 November and close on 9 December, or when all available trees have been allocated. 

Rail travellers should be warned that essential work will affect journeys over weekends in October, November and the Christmas Period. Read more here. 

Finally: - 

• This is Suicide in Sussex should you have a concern

• Some significant energy saving tips

• Government's help for households

• WSCC's cost of living information

• Other suggestions from CDC

• Warmer Homes help site

• CDC’s Climate Emergency Plan

• WSCC's climate action

• CDC Meetings

• WSCC

As always, from the whole Team, stay safe.

Tim