All very much appreciated

It has been many weeks now since the Covid-19 lockdown and I felt that appreciation for all the hard work of volunteers etc in our communities need an extra thank you.

As county councillor for the

Petworth division and district councillor for the Loxwood ward I have been privileged to help where I can and it has to be said that because of age I haven’t been able to physically work with many of the community groups but I have done all I can to help with advice.

I feel a bit frustrated because I am very fit but also have to abide by the rules.

Now, this isn’t about me it’s about the communities that I represent and further afield. They have been nothing short of miraculous.

The community spirit has been strong and some who have never worked together before have been doing an amazing job by joining together for the good of their communities and it’s been heart-warming to see.

One or two things took place during this lockdown which would have been lovely community events. VE day and Sussex Day were the days that most were looking forward to.

Undeterred the villages recognised these days without breaking the rules and speaking for Petworth Juliet Fynnes (a Petworth town councillor) and her son Nathan started the ball rolling to make sure that Petworth did not miss out on these two days.

Once the ball was rolling others joined in and thanks have to go to Fr Mark Gilbert, Nick Wheeler from the

British Legion and James Parr, the standard bearer, for helping out at the war memorial on the morning of the 8th.

In the afternoon Nathan played wartime tunes in Rosemary Gardens on his trumpet. He is a member of Petworth Town Band and his mother Juliet is the town band chairman.

Harsha Desai, another town councillor, made sure this event and the Sussex day event were webcast so that many more could join in.

And then we get to Sussex day. Several parishes recognised this day and again in Petworth the town crier Nigel Flynn read out in his normal fashion the Sussex Charter, Nathan on bugle and myself reading some verses from ‘The South Country’ by Hilaire Belloc in Market Square acknowledged Sussex

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