Youth Services for Young People in Addlestone.

I always find it enjoyable when a plan comes together and such an opportunity presented itself this week when I was invited to visit Jubilee High School in Addlestone and also St Paul’s Church next door which provides a number of youth services for local young people and are a recent recipient of a High Sheriff Youth Award Grant.

Jubilee High School is part of the excellent Bourne Education Trust which consists of 24 primary, secondary and specialist academies plus 8 associate schools in total educating some 14,000 young people. I met with Penny Alford – Deputy CEO, Andy Field – Chair of the Board, and James Newman – Transformation Director. Having attended my Summer Party at the Brooklands Museum they were fully aware of my Shrieval theme to help prevent young people from becoming NEET (Not in Education or Training) and were keen to understand how they could become more involved. Jubilee High School is a wonderful example of how they can transform the performance of a school both from the perception of its pupils and parents, and also the local community.

I also met with Rhi Hyatt, the Deputy Head of Jubilee High School, who expanded further on the school’s activities and also endorsed the wonderful work St Paul’s Church undertakes in connection with the school. Last year the High Sheriff Youth Awards gave a grant of £4,000 to help support the work St Paul’s undertake in the community. Running an after-school club for Jubilee High School, having a drop-in café, providing mentoring services and helping with the transition of year 6 pupils to joining Jubilee High School are just some examples of their youth provision. They will shortly also launch their winter warmer initiative which provides hot chocolate and a croissant before school. This safe space provides an opportunity for young people to socialise and gain self confidence. 

At the church I met with Rita and two other members of the PAIS team (who are international volunteers) who help run the youth activities together with Ron Enticott, my fellow High Sheriff Youth Award Trustee, who helped me present them with a certificate to commemorate their grant award.

A most enjoyable morning all round.

The Good Company – Leading People to a Poverty-Free Future.

The Good Company are striving to lead people towards a poverty-free future, whilst supporting those who need help. Suzanne and I visited one of their five food banks at St Barnabus Church in Epsom. These provide food for those most in need whilst also offering a friendly ear and advice over a drink. They have recently moved their model from providing food packages to allowing people to choose what they want and feels more like a shopping experience than a hand out. They run advice cafes too where people can drop in and just seek help when required and also three pantries. We also visited the pantry in Epsom where their members pay a nominal £5 sum a week and can then choose a number of items which would cost around £35.

Jonathan Lees, the managing director and founder spoke passionately about how they are helping to stop poverty arising, being there to support as early as possible and then from the foodbanks and advice cafes through to the pantries and ultimately hopefully a café they can not only help solve poverty issues but also loneliness, financial burdens and other issues which cause stress and often despair. They have over 6,000 visits to their foodbanks alone each year and have over 250 volunteers helping them with their work.

It was a pleasure also to meet Dafne, the operations manager in Epsom and Bex who runs the Epsom pantry

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service – Farnham.

It was a great privilege for Suzanne and I to meet Chief Fire Officer, Dan Quin, at the Farnham Fire Station. Accompanied by David Nolan, Area Commander and Kerry Doyle, we were given the opportunity to see the incredible work undertaken by the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service. Very little of their daily call-outs relate to domestic or commercial fires. Road traffic accidents, wild fires and flood risks are the main reasons for their deployment. We saw a real-time asset deployment computer model which showed how their resources are constantly being redeployed across the County as a result of incidents arising. We then viewed the station and the fire trucks standing in full readiness. The aim is for the fire crew to be in the vehicles fully attired within 75 seconds of a mobilisation order which is incredible; and assets are held across the County to ensure that most areas can be reached within 10 minutes.

It was an thoroughly absorbing afternoon and huge thanks go to Dan and everyone at Farnham Fire Station for making us so welcome.

A Hive of Activity at Hale Community Hub.

Suzanne and I have visited a number of community hubs during my Shrieval year but the Hale Community Hub was certainly the most bustling. It was a hive of activity. In one room there were a number of senior men and women deeply engaged in friendly, but competitive, games of rummy. In another members of the community of all ages had gathered for a social chat and to have a delicious lunch. There was a community larder and fridge offering produce provided by Fareshare; and preparations were also underway for a craft skills session. Meeting with a number of trustees and staff, we quickly understood the importance the Centre plays in the Community. It has a youth centre adjoining it which runs several sessions a week for young people from Year 7 upwards and also arranges trips away during the holidays and summer clubs. They also undertake out-reach sessions in the community.

Receiving no state funding, the centre relies on the generous support of the local community and grant providers; and it provides such valuable support for people of all ages in the local community and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

A Posse of High Sheriff’s at Gatwick!

A posse of High Sheriffs from London, West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent and myself came together for an enlightening and enjoyable visit to Gatwick airport.

The day started with a visit to the police station at the airport and a presentation by Chief Superintendent Justin Burtenshaw and Chief Inspector Richard Church, which provided a glimpse of the complexities involved in policing the UK’s second busiest airport handling over 43 million passengers a year. We then were introduced to the Armed Response Team and the Dog Handling Team. The dogs of choice are spaniels due to their tenacity and they are trained just to search for explosives and we were treated to a demonstration of their extraordinary skill in detecting explosive material.

We were then handed over to the operators of Gatwick Airport and Pierre-Hugues Schmit the CEO and his team enlightened us to the complexities of running the busiest single runway airport in the world and the largest single site employer in the South East with more than 22,000 jobs on site (plus 76,500 more across the UK). They have more than 60 airlines flying to over 220 destinations and the recent approval to construct a second runway will create a further 14,000 jobs and generate £1bn a year in economic benefits.

The airport also has a large outreach programme, since 2021 engaging with over 600,000 students encouraging involvement in STEM subjects and environmental sustainability.

The last part of the day was to be taken airside and driven round the airfield seeing the many operations undertaken by the Gatwick Airport Team. We also saw fire crews testing out new breathing apparatus in a smoke filled test plane which rounded off a great day out for our posse.

YMCA East Surrey – 18,000 people Benefitted over the Past Year.

Suzanne and I, and my cadet, Imogen, had a wonderful afternoon at the Horley Youth Club run by YMCA East Surrey. Situated in the Old Fire Station, CEO – Ian Burks, and his team walked us through the various activities the YMCA East Surrey undertake. In the past financial year their services have benefitted over 18,000 people covering key areas of support from providing accommodation (over 25,000 nights), professional support in family centres and health and well-being services.

We were able to see their wonderful bus which enables them to undertake outreach initiatives in areas where anti-social behaviour issues have developed, and also the incredible music studio where young people can come and play instruments or create music direct from computer programmes. There were many young people enjoying the facilities and helping to cook (and eat) some food.

I was also joined by Pat Cannon, who carried out an assessment on the centre on behalf of the High Sheriff Youth Awards earlier this year which led to a grant being given to help them with their work.  

A Raindrop Falls – the Unveiling of a Great New Surrey Book at Wotton House.

Given the appalling weather, the title of a new book A Raindrop Falls could not have been more appropriate. Written by Lucy Reynolds with illustrations by Katie Hicks it is an environment story following a raindrop that falls on Leith Hill down to the sea, exploring Surrey’s rich heritage and habitats and addressing pollution and water quality issues. The children from St Mark’s and All Saints School from Godalming were involved in the writing and drawing and were on hand to see the book unveiled which caused intense excitement as they searched for their contributions inside. They also unveiled a large poster of the raindrop’s journey standing by the side of the Tillingbourne river as the launch was held at Wotton House near Dorking.

Chair of Surrey County Council, Tim Hall, was on hand to give them each a copy and they also each received a certificate to mark their involvement in the project.

Remembering our War Heroes at Guildford Cathedral & Brookwood American Military Cemetery.

Suzanne and I were honoured to join the Lord Lieutenant and his wife Sarah at the County Service of Remembrance at Guildford Cathedral. The Lord Lieutenant and I were joined in laying wreaths at the Altar by Bishop Andrew, the Dean Bob Cooper, Chair of Surrey County Council Tim Hall, Deputy Mayor of Guildford Jane Tyson, Chief Constable Tim de Meyer, Police and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend, Surrey Deputy Bench Chair Mike Kelly JP, and Professor Amelia Hadfield from the University of Surrey and Zuzanna one of the Lord Lieutenant’s cadets who lay a wreath on behalf of the Royal British Legion. 

https://www.surrey.police.uk/cadetsI was also joined by my two cadets Imogen and Grace who, after the end of the service, also joined Suzanne and I at the Remembrance Ceremony held at the Brookwood American Military Cemetery hosted by The American Battle Monuments Commission.

Woking Chamber of Commerce Business Exhibition.

I was delighted to meet many familiar faces at the Woking Chamber of Commerce Business Exhibition held in the impressive ballroom at the Hilton Hotel in Woking.

After a breakfast seminar which provided latest updates on the impending local government reorganisation I toured round the stands with over 80 exhibitors; and as a trustee of the Community Foundation for Surrey I was pleased to see them represented and also the Woking and Sam Beare Hospice. 

It was a pleasure seeing Cllr Amanda Boote, Mayor of Woking, and it was good to see that the exhibition was well attended.

Guildford Samaritans AGM.

Suzanne and I were delighted to be asked to attend the Guildford Samaritans for their AGM at the Holiday Inn in the company of two of their Patrons, the Lord Lieutenant and Sally Varah.

It is a special event in their calendar as, together with their summer party, it is one of only two events during the year when the Guildford Samaritans get together. For most of the rest of the year they work in small numbers on shifts manning the phones and on-line responding to people in need. In the year to March 2025, they averaged 154 listening volunteers who spent in total 8,950 hours on the phone answering 26,011 calls. Each listening volunteer is known by their first name and a three digit number.

In addition to the listening volunteers they have recruitment and training teams, an outreach team and a team of nine volunteers who support Send and Coldingley prisons. They also have representation across four locations at the University. The evening was compered by Heather Fisk the Branch Manager who also presided over the giving of awards for dedication and long service. There was also an inspiring speech about Alcoholics Anonymous from someone with lived experience which he bravely shared with the room.

Guildford Samaritans is a charitable incorporated organisation run entirely by volunteers relying on generous donations and sales through their shop in Godalming.

https://www.samaritans.org/branches/guildford