High Sheriff opens Arts Awards celebrating women’s creativity

Dr Llewelyn was honoured to be asked to speak at the opening of the Women’s Support Centre Surrey Art Awards exhibition at the Lightbox in Woking. 

The annual event opens the art and creative writing exhibition, which celebrates work from women who have received support from the centre.  The women’s lives have been affected by at least one encounter with the criminal justice system and some have served a sentence. 

Following an introduction to the evening from Marilyn Scott, Director of the Lightbox, Dr Llewelyn spoke about the centre’s ethos and why it is so effective. She said: “The centre recognises that what we do and feel is directly related to our lived experiences and it works with women in a non-judgemental way to help them address their needs and rebuild their lives.”  

Leanne Spiller, Chief Executive of the Women’s Support Centre, then gave some examples of how its work has helped women reintegrate into community life, which can often take a long time and requires specialist help. Some of the artists were at the event and received a resounding round of applause from the audience. 

A large audience attended the event, including the Lord-Lieutenant Michael More-Molyneux, Police and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend, Chief Executive of Women in Prison Kate Paradine and Chief Executive of the Community Foundation for Surrey Dr Rebecca Bowden.

Guildford fun day gives young carers a welcome break

Surrey’s High Sheriff saw the cares lifted from young carers’ shoulders as they were freed from their responsibilities to enjoy simply being children during the Guildford Young Carers family fun day at the Spectrum Leisure Complex.

Dr Llewelyn visited all kinds of activities during the day, including basketball, tenpin bowling, ice skating, knitting, arts and crafts, an assault course and planting plants. And she saw many young carers’ spirits lifted as they took a welcome break from caring for siblings, parents or other relatives.

She said: “Every family I chatted to, and that was a lot, had a wonderful time. The team did an outstanding job organising so many different activities. On behalf of the County of Surrey, I’d like to thank them all for the support they provide to young people who are carers. I hope they are very proud of everything they achieved and the happiness that the day spread.”

Dr Llewelyn, above, with Mike Parsons, who set up the Guildford Young Carers Fund when he was mayor in 2018/19. The fund is part of Guildford Philanthropy, which seeks to tackle local needs and transform the lives of the disadvantaged.

Reaching new heights in basketball.

Crimestoppers visit focuses on youth service

A visit to Crimestoppers in Wallington gave the High Sheriffs of Surrey and Sussex a chance to learn more about the charity’s work in their counties and nationally.

The charity, which launched in 1988, helps people to report crimes anonymously. It also shares advice and research on crime, working to keep us all safer.

Neil Hart, High Sheriff of West Sussex, and Dr Llewelyn, Surrey’s High Sheriff, joined the Chairs of their counties’ Crimestoppers Committees during the visit, which took in the Crimestoppers Contact Centre.

Given the rise in county lines in Surrey, Dr Llewelyn was particularly interested in hearing updates about Fearless, the Crimestoppers youth service, from Mick Duthie, Head of Operations, and Glenys Balchin, Regional Manager for Surrey and Sussex.

Fearless provides a safe place for young people to pass on information about crime and wrongdoing without giving their personal details.

Queen’s Award presented to Surrey Ethnic Minority Forum

It was an evening of great celebration as Neelam Devesher, Chair of Surrey Ethnic Minority Forum (SMEF), received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, presented by the Lord-Lieutenant Michael More-Molyneux. 

Neelam comes from Yorkshire and set up SMEF in 2009. The organisation provides a voice for small groups working in Surrey to help improve the lives of its ethnic minority citizens. It is now a well-established umbrella organisation, which nurtures groups and runs a wide range of activities. One of them is SMEF Health and Race, run in partnership with Surrey Public Health, Surrey Heartlands and Active Surrey. It aims to reduce health inequalities in BAME communities.  

Community work earns award for Barnett Wood Pre-School

A visit to Barnett Wood Pre-School in Ashtead gave Dr Llewelyn a golden opportunity to present a High Sheriff Award recognising the school’s work in the community.

Even when times were tough during the pandemic, the school “stood strong”, said one parent, supporting both children and parents “in style with beaming smiles”.

Barnett Wood Pre-School’s dedicated team put children and their families front and centre in all they do. The school is independently run as a limited company with charitable status by directors who give their time voluntarily.

When she arrived, Dr Llewelyn introduced herself to the children, who are between two and four years old and live within the Ashtead KT21 postcode area. She explained the High Sheriff’s role and read them a story.

Dr Llewelyn is pictured with some of the children at Barnett Wood Pre-School and presenting the highly deserved award to manager Louise Pruthi.

Team receives award for first-rate community work

Surrey mental health and drug and alcohol service Catalyst gave Dr Llewelyn insight into its invaluable work helping people to change their lives during a visit to its new space in Woking’s Moorcroft Centre for the Community.

Catalyst focuses on mental health and wellbeing support, help for drug and alcohol users who want to change, and counselling for individuals and loved ones affected by drug and alcohol use.

Over a coffee in the centre’s social enterprise café, Dr Llewelyn heard about the tsunami of people who have asked for mental wellbeing support from Catalyst since the pandemic began.

She also discovered that Catalyst owns a community enterprise company that helps people with complex needs to build independence, and works with Surrey County Council, Public Health England and the Office of Police and Crime Commissioning to offer outreach services.

Lady Louise O’Connor DL, Catalyst’s patron, presented two people in the Catalyst team with a well-deserved Lord Lieutenant’s Award that recognises their outstanding work in the community.

To get in touch with Catalyst, please use their contact form on catalystsupport.org.uk.

Dr Llewelyn, left, with Catalyst CEO Sue Murphy, Lady O’Connor DL and Catalyst Chair Warren Rockett.

Dr Llewelyn celebrates Law Sunday with fellow High Sheriffs

Winchester Cathedral was the magnificent location for this year’s traditional judicial service, which was Choral Matins on what is called Law Sunday.

Dr Llewelyn said: “It was a very great pleasure to join the celebrations at Winchester with my fellow High Sheriffs. It was a beautiful setting for this ancient tradition.”

The High Sheriff of Hampshire, Phillip Sykes, hosted the service, which included High Sheriffs from nearby counties, and the Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, who as tradition dictates sits at the front of the cathedral seating.

A wide range of guests who work tirelessly to keep the Queen’s Peace attended. They included judges and their clerks, coroners, magistrates, the police, fire and rescue services, and the Police and Crime Commissioner. The rest of the audience was made up of civic dignitaries, such as mayors and their consorts and county and borough council representatives and representatives from the voluntary sector.

The civic procession was followed by the shrieval procession, with the High Sheriff of Hampshire being the last person to be guided to his seat before the service started.

Pictured from left to right: The High Sheriff of East Sussex, Greater London, Isle of Wight, the Under Sheriff of Hampshire, and the High Sheriffs of Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire, Surrey, and West Sussex.

Dr Llewelyn pauses for a moment in the historic cathedral.

Supporting the lifesaving work of KSS

As an NHS doctor, Dr Llewelyn was fascinated to hear about the work of Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS) Air Ambulance during a visit to the base at Redhill Aerodrome.

KSS is an independent charity with close links to the emergency services and raises 88% of the £15 million it costs to run the service through donations and fundraising. Its medical emergency responders have attended a total of 35,000 accidents.

Dr Llewelyn was particularly impressed with the pioneering medical advances made by this world-class emergency medical care service. These include checklists for emergency procedures, such as intubation (when patients need the portable ventilator carried onboard). The checklists help make the process as safe as possible.

The fast-responding crews now also carry blood products, so they can give transfusions on-site if necessary. And the service has a fleet of road vehicles, which they position in strategic sites around the county, ready to attend emergencies during bad weather when the helicopter can’t fly.

Dr Llewelyn said: “The set-up is hugely impressive and very professional. Surrey is fortunate to be able to call upon the service.”

Dr Llewelyn is pictured above with some of the crew and below, with two doctors demonstrating what happens to a patient and the helicopter’s medical equipment.

SMEF healthy eating and healthy living in Surrey communities

A visit to a community event at the Maybury Centre in Woking about healthy living and eating organised by Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum (SMEF) gave the High Sheriff plenty to contemplate.

Dr Llewelyn met several of the outstanding SMEF team at the event, which included talks, specialist stalls and the opportunity to socialise while trying delicious healthy foods.

She gave a short speech about how, in her role as an NHS doctor working with people who live with diabetes, she is aware of the importance of combining a well-balanced, healthy diet with frequent moderate exercise and incorporating both of these into everyday life.

Dr Llewelyn said: “It is good to get into the habit of three sensible meals a day, with no grazing or snacking on biscuits and sweets, and combine this with walking whenever possible. I always like to say, ‘everything in moderation’.”  

During the three-hour forum, Dr Llewelyn also spoke to Dr Negin Sarafraz-Shekary from Surrey County Council, Councillors Tahir Aziz and Muhammad Ali, and Daman Barma from Dee’s Kitchen.

Dr Llewelyn is pictured with the councillors and younger community members who enjoyed the organiser’s fun activities for the whole family, including sampling kitchen samosas and Biryani from Dee’s Kitchen.

Woking Street Angels are back!

Dr Llewelyn spent a very late night with the Woking Street Angels, who returned to walking the streets in the spring.

The Street Angels are trained volunteers who spend every Friday and Saturday night from 10pm-4am offering support and someone to talk to for those who are intoxicated, sick, lonely, vulnerable or sleeping rough.

They work with the police, door staff and council and medical services to ensure revellers and night-time workers have a safe experience in the town and have contributed massively to reducing violent crime.