HERSTMONCEUX AND WARTLING Dianne Town 01323 833841 TENNIS CLUB: During the winter months our local tennis players have been benefiting from the funding received from Millennium Awards and have been taking part in extensive coaching from professionals at the Windmill Hill Tennis Centre.

They are looking forward to the coming season with a great deal of enthusiasm and an enhanced level of skills.

COFFEE PROFIT: Action Research raised a staggering £410, with donations, at their recent coffee morning on which they must be congratulated, especially those who worked so hard in making it such a success.

They have an Open Garden fund-raising event coming up in May.

Yapton & Ford John Dickeson 01243 551972

PARISH COUNCIL: Ford Parish Council at their March meeting agreed to pay £1,500 towards the cost of the millennium clock on the village hall.

There are also outstanding payments to be made towards the cost of the external maintenance and also for the cost of the millennium mugs to be presented to the primary school pupils who live in Ford. This is presenting some difficulty because there is no school in Ford and a survey has been made by Coun Matthews to ascertain where children go and how many are involved.

A reply has been received from Southern Water stating that they do not intend to use surplus methane gas to generate electricity for use within the site, although there will be some bio gas used to heat various parts of the plant to enable efficient working. The remainder will be flared off at a rate of up to two hours per day. This was considered by the council to be a waste of energy. Southern Water are not going to take any action on this unless it is made mandatory by the government.

A speed limit has been requested for Church Lane/Ford Road. West Sussex highways department have replied that they are looking into ten sites to introduce a 40 mph limit and are going to assess the situation to see whether the road is a suitable candidate for trials they are carrying out.

The next meeting will be the AGM preceding the Parish Meeting on May 16.

Forest Row and Ashurst Wood Pauline Maynard 01342 823618

EASTER MUSIC: On Sunday the choir and congregation of Holy Trinity Church will be singing Cross of Christ at 6pm. Why not go along to sing with them, or just listen to this devotional music?

TENNIS: Mid Sussex District Council are now responsible for the management of the tennis courts on the John Pears Field in Ashurst Wood. Inquiries should now be directed to the leisure department on 01444 458166

VOICE: A further voice workshop is being held on Sunday, April 16, at Birch Grove between 10.30-5.30pm at a cost of £14. Space is limited, so booking will be essential. Take your own lunch, but drinks will be provided. The workshop will concentrate on voice techniques, breathing, voice games, song and movement, but all the time the emphasis will be on having fun with your voice. Bookings and further information from 01825 740536.

eastbourne Dee Sharpe 01323 649986

CHARLES SAATCHI COLLECTION: There is still time to visit this exhibition at the Towner Art Gallery in Old Town, before it finishes on Sunday. The exhibition features work by artists who contributed to the Royal Academy's famous Sensation exhibition.

HAMPDEN PARK Angela Kirby 01323 506619

PIGEONS: Shop-owners and people shopping in the Brassey Road parade of shops are getting increasingly annoyed with the influx of pigeons under their shopfront canopies. Shoppers have told me they have to watch where they walk because of all the pigeon droppings and falling debris. The managing agents have not responded to the environmental health department so the Dangerous Building section of the 1984 Building Act has been invoked by the planning department.

Lancing Gordon WhitE 01903 761910

ORGAN SOCIETY: The Sussex Organ Society is the largest electronic organ society in the Brighton/Worthing area and

has been in existence for the last

27 years. Now in the millennium year it is on the Internet, http/www/organfax.co.uk/clubs/sussex.html. So you can read all about the society.

Monthly concerts are held at Lancing parish hall on the first Thursday in each month at 8pm. Full details on our concerts and artists are on the web site together with contact numbers for our secretary and press officer.

Billingshurst Madeleine Woods 01403 783253

Macmillan Support Group: There was good local support for the Mad March Threshing Day at Brookdale Farm which raised £700 for the Billingshurst Macmillan Support Group.

The Garage Sale at Blue Idol Lane on April 2 had everything, including the bathroom sink, on offer and raised a further £673.

On Saturday this indefatigable group hold their Easter Sale in the Stanley Room of Billingshurst Village Hall from l0am-noon.

Handel's Messiah: Billings-hurst Choral Society invites you to Handel's Messiah in the Weald School Sparta Hall on Saturday, April 15, at 7.30pm. Joining the Society is the choir of Millais School. Tickets £7 (students £4). Call 01403 783799.

National Spring Clean: Come and help Billingshurst in Bloom Spring Clean the village on Saturday, April 15. Tabards and plastic sacks will be available outside Dillons in Jengers Mead at l0am. Please bring your own gloves.

Cooksbridge and Offham Mavis Clark 01273 473666

MALTHOUSE AFTERNOON CLUB: At their last meeting members enjoyed a general knowledge picture quiz which had been arranged by Susan Rowland. This months meeting is on Monday at the Malthouse, Cooksbridge, from a 2.30-4pm.

DOG BIN: A bin has now been installed at the entrance to Charders Mead, Cooksbridge, which will hopefully encourage dog-owners when they go walkies to clean up after their dogs

A plea also to those who are using the rear of the Malthouse to walk their dogs. Shortly the grass will be cut and the area tidied. It is hardly fair to those who volunteer to undertake the work to find that the area is being used as a dog toilet.

SUSSEX POLICE AUTHORITY: A public meeting of the Lewes and Seahaven Police Community Consultative Group will be held at Pelham House, Lewes, on Wednesday at 7.30pm. Agenda items will include community safety strategy for Lewes District and the policing plan for Sussex. This is an opportunity for residents from our area to attend and meet members of the group and officers from Sussex Police. David Hill, clerk to the group, can be contacted on 01323 894895.

PORTSLADE Penny Gilbey 01273 642085

BARN DANCE: Portslade's Community Theatre Company, Smiles and Tears, are holding a fund-raising barn dance on Saturday at 8pm at Portslade Town Hall.

During the evening there will be a short cabaret of country songs performed by the local group, who are supported by the North Portslade Community Association.

All funds raised will go towards their first major production, Fings Ain't Wot They Used To Be, which will be performed at the end of June as part of the Portslade Festival.

BAZAAR: Portslade United Bazaar (Pub) is a new organisation with the innovative idea of getting local community groups together to raise their own funds and hold regular events to keep alive the true sense of community in Portslade with everyone pulling together.

Their first Bazaar will be held at Mile Oak Community Centre on Saturday, April 15, from 2-4pm with a variety of stalls and refreshments.

Woodingdean Ray Blackwood 01273 559766

CHURCH NEWS: On Sunday Downs Baptist Church welcome as guest to the morning service the Mayor of Brighton and Hove, Coun Jenny Langston.

At the recent Mozambique Appeal the church raised no less than £780 for that cause.

Next Sunday is Passion Sunday and at 5.30pm on that day at the Church of the Holy Cross there will be a performance of Stainer's Crucifixion.

On April 14, the Holy Cross annual parochial church meeting will take place at 7.45 p.m. in the Parish Room. On Good Friday the Church presents The Passion of Jesus.

Next month from Saturday, May 27, the church is taking part in a visit to Disneyland Paris for which bookings are now being taken. It will cost £99 for adults and £75 for children. More details from Beryl Trott on 708540.

GARDENS: Woodingdean Horticultural Society meet at the Community Centre in Warren Road at 7.30pm on Tuesday for a talk by Gwen from Country Gardens on planting pots and containers.

LIBRARY: Woodingdean Community Library will be open during the usual hours on Easter Saturday, but not on Easter Monday.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.