An Amazing Charity that Offers Support to People affected by Cancer and their Families.

Suzanne and I have a number of friends who sadly have received cancer diagnoses. The news brings such terrible stress and at times feelings of hopelessness which is why charities like The Fountain Centre are such a vital support providing all encompassing help and compassion. We visited their Centre which sits just alongside the cancer care department at the Royal Surrey Hospital; but with comfy sofas, chairs and a relaxed atmosphere it is easy to forget you are still within the hospital. They also have a number of therapy rooms, a large space for group gatherings and a wonderfully serene outdoor garden space.

They support anyone affected by cancer from diagnosis, through treatment and beyond, caring for the whole family. They provide a wide range of services including complementary therapies, psychological support, ward visits, exercise services, benefits advice, group meditation, creative art, yoga and well-being classes and also so the respite of just somewhere to drop in and find some solace.

We were shown round by Anne Pike, Kas Girdler (pictured), and Danielle Freeth, all of whom are enthusiastic and empathetic ambassadors for the wonderful work The Fountain Centre undertakes.

With over 120 new referrals a month, they have a large number of cancer-affected people to support; undertaking over 10,500 one to one sessions a year in addition to the various other services. They are supported in their work by some 130 volunteers without whom it would be impossible for them to help the number of people that come through their doors.

As with many charities, there is a constant pressure to raise funds to support the growing number of cases that they help. For anyone that has been, or is currently affected by cancer, please see if The Fountain Centre can offer support and please in turn support The Fountain Centre in any way you can. https://www.fountaincentre.org

Wates & NESCOT – Delivering Summer Programmes for Students at Risk of Becoming NEET.

As many of you know my Shrieval theme this year is to help reduce the number of young people in Surrey from becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) and I was therefore delighted to be invited by Su Pickerill, Head of Social Value at Wates to attend their summer programme which was being hosted by NESCOT.

Wates have been delivering summer programmes for young people for eight years, usually as a residential course at a university for sixth form students, but this year, aligning with their new direction of “Brilliant Locally” they invited some 40 Year 10 students at risk of becoming NEET from six state schools in Surrey to a week of confidence building and skills training.

The week started with some get-to-know you activities, and a brief address from me, before Adam Corbally, a motivational speaker, with a back story of his difficult teenage years, captivated the young audience. The remainder of the week includes timber structure building, Go Ape team building activity, career insights and presentation skills.

It is so refreshing to see how Wates, and some other Surrey based companies, are reaching out to young people and offering opportunities that can’t be provided within the school classroom. It is vitally important that intervention measures are deployed as early as possible to help young people at risk of becoming NEET; before their hearts and minds have been lost, and programmes such as this could have a profound effect on young people’s lives.

FareShare – Turning Food Waste into a Lifeline.

I was delighted to finally visit the Fareshare facility in Guildford with Suzanne on Friday July 4th and meet with Dan Slatter (Chief Executive) and Suzie Maine (Vice-Chair). As Chair of Guildford Philanthropy, I had been aware of the long search Fareshare had to find suitable accommodation from which to deliver food supplies to charities in the Guildford area. The warehouse space together with two vans enables them to provide this vital service. Some 85% of the food supplies they receive comes from relationships the national office has with large food chains and the balance comes from local food companies and donations from customers at local supermarkets. They encourage charities seeking food donation to sign up and they provide supplies based on weight, with the charities paying 20-30p per kilogram for whatever is available that particular week; a massive discount on both wholesale and retail prices. They are also very keen that as little food that they receive as possible is wasted, and currently less than 2% of what they receive ends up not fit for human consumption. To achieve this in some cases they will engage a local company to turn any surplus raw produce (such as tomatoes or cauliflowers) into tinned soup. 

It was great to see them up and running in Guildford and providing such a sadly necessary service to the local community.

Civic Leaders Meeting.

I was delighted to attend a Civic Leaders meeting at Surrey County Council’s offices at Woodhatch, Reigate.

Hosted by Tim Hall and Bernie Muir, the  Chair and Vice Chair of SCC, also in attendance were Mary Cresswell, the Vice Lord Lieutenant, myself as High Sheriff and the majority of the District, Borough and Town Mayors from across the County. Each of us in turn explained a little about our roles, our themes for the year and the various engagements we had in our diaries. It was a great opportunity to meet those in office that I had not yet come across on my engagements and to arrange to see them on their own patches later on in my Shrieval year.

There was obvious concern in the room about the effect the change in local government (the abolishing Boroughs and Districts), would have on local civic appointments and the desire for some local civic function to survive the changes to support future local community events; matters that would hopefully be discussed further when more is known of the proposed reforms.

Oasis – Supporting Children and Families in Elmbridge.

I had the pleasure of meeting Caroline Edwards, the Founder and Director of Services for Oasis, a charity that provides vital support to vulnerable families and children in Elmbridge and the Surrounding areas.

Caroline has been supporting her local community for a staggering 29 years and Oasis provides a wide variety of services including crisis support, emotional well-being, emergency services, parenting support, legal support, Christmas services, children services as well as running a bursary in their centre in Cobham. As so often seen in Surrey, there is a problem in convincing people that deprivation and need are very real issues, albeit hidden away, from the more affluent more visible parts of the County; and there are people living in both absolute and relative poverty. One of the other key services Oasis provides, which sadly is prevalent in many homes, regardless of wealth, is help for people suffering from domestic abuse.

Oasis provides support sessions which, unlike statutory provision services, are not of any fixed duration; and they have over many years helped countless individuals and families find more positive pathways and happier futures. 

If you live in the Elmbridge area and would like to offer your support you can find more information here https://www.oasischarity.co.uk/

Royal Surrey Hospital – Community Open Day.

It is rare you get the opportunity to see the inner workings of a major hospital; so Suzanne and I were delighted to be invited to attend the Community Open Day at Royal Surrey on Saturday June 28th. It was a very busy day, with hundreds of visitors young and old having tours of the various hospital departments and seeing the number of volunteer and charitable organisations connected to the running of the hospital wand welfare of their patients. There was even an opportunity to climb on board, or press the sirens on, a number of emergency vehicles. 

We were privileged to be escorted round by Joss Bigmore, the Chair of the Royal Surrey Foundation Trust, who having only been the post a couple of years seemed to know the names of all the staff and volunteers we met. He also furnished us with some amazing statistics including the fact they have 5,300 dedicated staff and nearly 300 volunteers who see around 90,000 patients in the emergency department and over half a million in out-patients over a year. 

The hospitals offers some 350 careers and provides around 100 placement opportunities a year.

We had a fascinating tour of one of the operating theatres with its state of the art robotic surgical arms, controlled by a surgeon. They can each carry out up to four prostrate operations a day in the theatre (when previously only one would be possible) and because they need to make less incisions the patients can return home the same day rather than spending three days in hospital. The hospital has four of these machines with a further four on the way. We then visited the cancer centre and saw how the radiotherapy unit works carrying out over 3,800 sessions a year.

It is a great idea to open the hospital up in this way and hopefully it will encourage people to apply to be a part of it whether a volunteer, placement or a full time career.

I would recommend it for a fascinating insight to hospital life when the opportunity arises again next year.

A Date for the Diary – The Air Ambulance Winter Ball.

If you read my blogs you will have seen a couple about the Air Ambulance Charity. A vital service in our county and that of Kent and Sussex too. This is another way to support them and help save lives – find out about their events at: events@aakss.org.uk.
#charity #airambulance #Akss #surrey #sussex #kent #savelives #pennyhillpark #WinterBall

Passing out ceremony for students at Merrist Wood College who passed the 'Uniformed Protective Services' course.

Passing Out Celebration at Merrist Wood College.

Suzanne and I enjoyed a lovely afternoon at Merrist Wood College where a number of their students at both Level 2 and Level 3 were celebrating completing their courses in Uniformed Protective Services. The day included friendly competition between the various Activate Learning colleges that teach the course with both tug-of-war and mock gun assembly assault courses. After a lunch break, Gary Headland, CEO of Activate Learning, Suzanne and I were able to meet the students who lined up in front of their parents, families and friends. I was very impressed by the confidence that the students displayed and the fact that most of them were interested in pursuing a career in public service having fully enjoyed the course they had been studying. I was able to give a short speech providing them with some advice as they look towards their future studies and careers. I left them with my favourite piece of advice, which is a quote from arguably the best boxer of all time, Muhammed Ali, which simply says:- Don’t Count The Days, Make The Days Count. Something I try and remember!

Uniformed protective services are crucial in the UK for many reasons including upholding law and order, emergency response, national defence,  community safety, upholding human rights, promoting equality and diversity; and for the high level of discipline and professionalism that is necessary to maintain public trust and credibility. Clearly the course had instilled in the students many of the necessary qualities they will need but more importantly had lifted their sights as to future rewarding careers.

You can read my speech HERE.

Promoting Safety for Children at The Guildford Spectrum.

Suzanne and I had a very informative morning at Guildford Spectrum on June 26th when we joined final year primary school children in attending a Junior Citizen Safety Event run by Child Safety Media. Over a two week period approximately 1,200 Year 6 children (10–11-year-olds) from local primary schools will be taking part in a series of interactive safety workshops under the ‘Junior Citizen’ banner.

The ‘Junior Citizen’ scheme teaches children about important issues that are often overlooked by the curriculum, such as: first aid (learning how to save a life; DRABC; basic life support – CPR;  recovery position); the dangers and consequences of criminal damage (trespass, graffiti, object throwing); anti-social behaviour (what it is and what it isn’t, who can cause ASB and how to report it);being wildfire aware in the countryside, what to do if a fire is encountered, how to make a 999 call; health and wellbeing (the importance of physical activity; sugar swaps); safety on the railways (safe places to cross, dangers of electricity and platform safety); water safety (dangers, lifeguards, flags, safety signs, floating, what to do in an emergency).The workshops are delivered by local safety agencies and  give pupils the unique opportunity to learn valuable skills from the professionals, through practical demonstrations and discussions in real-life situations.

The event, will run until Friday, 27th June 2025, and includes sessions from agencies such as South East Coast Ambulance Service, British Transport Police, Thames Basin Heaths Partnership, Children and Family Health Surrey (School Nurses), Network Rail/ South Western Railway and Freedom Leisure.

The children were certainly fully enthralled and from a quick quiz at the end of the session they had clearly absorbed the main safety messages that had been conveyed. Suzanne, Howard Smith, Mayor of Guildford, and I also came away suitably enlightened. Many congratulations to Dan Lowrie, Director of Child Safety Media, his fellow staff, all the agencies involved and Freedom Leisure (who run Guildford Spectrum and make the space available).

Guildford Philanthropy’s Corporate Ambassador Evening at Chilworth Manor Vineyard.

With my feet still a little weary from the Wine Walk the previous weekend I returned to one of the vineyards, Chilworth Manor,  for Guildford Philanthropy’s Corporate Ambassador evening. It was a glorious balmy evening and Sir Graham and Mia Wrigley, were the most gracious hosts. We were all able to sample the three types of wine they produce and we heard about the history of the vineyard and the growing techniques. I stepped down as Chair of Guildford Philanthropy earlier this year, although I remain on the Panel, and my successor, Nikki Ackerley, informed all present of the grants that had been awarded this year due to the generous donations made by our Corporate Ambassadors. To emphasise the impact of their contributions, Rob Kelly, from Home Start related how the grant of £9,900 made at the end of last year had helped a number of local families. Guildford Philanthropy, since it started the initiative six years ago, has welcomed 45 local businesses to join its Corporate Ambassador programme, and it has developed into a strong business networking club, meeting four times a year, as well as a force for good in the local community. If you want to know more about the Club, and how to join, information can be found  here https://guildfordphilanthropy.org.uk/corporate-ambassadors/ A huge thank you to Graham and Mia, their team Nik Badain, Helen Harber and (on her first event!) Emma Biggin; also thanks to Surrey Hills Wood Fired Pizza for the delicious canapes. It was definitely more pleasurable not having to walk all the way to the vineyard, however, I had promised Graham I would turn up in my full court dress as a thank you for the hospitality and I had not banked on 25 degrees of heat!