Graduation Ceremony – Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey.

I was delighted to be invited to attend and join the procession for the graduation ceremony on Friday July 18th held at Guildford Cathedral for those graduating from the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey.

Such ceremonies are always a joyous occasion with proud friends and family in attendance; but this ceremony also had special significance as Dr Julie Llewelyn, past High Sheriff, was being awarded a Honorary Degree for her services to Surrey.

I have known Julie for a number of years through our work with the Community Foundation for Surrey and it was a privilege to be in attendance for this well deserved recognition. Jim Glover, also a past High Sheriff, recent Pro-Chancellor of the University and past Chair of the Community Foundation was also there to join the celebrations.

The Kings Award for Voluntary Service 2025 – Nominees Reception.

Last week Suzanne and I attended a reception at Loseley Park to recognise the nominees of the Kings Award for Voluntary Service 2025. This annual event was hosted by the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey – Michael More Molyneux, who was also joined by the Vice Lieutenant – Mary Cresswell, the Chairman of Surrey County Council and local Mayors. 

This year the 16 nominees are – Artventure, Banstead village in Bloom, Camberley Care Trust, Camberley Nepalese Gurkha Association, Cranleigh Arts Centre, Epsom Repair Café, Ewhurst Secret Gardens,  Friends of Albury Old Saxon Church, Hale Community and Youth Centre, Phoenix Cultural Centre, Space2Grow, Spelthorne Dementia Support Group, Surplus to Supper, the National Honey Show, Voluntary Support North Surrey and Sutton Vision.

It was a great honour to meet and chat to so many Surrey people who give up their time for the good of the community and join the Lord Lieutenant in congratulating and thanking them for their commitment. 

If you are part of a voluntary group and would like to  find out more about the awards and the nomination process, please visit –  https://www.surreylieutenancy.org/the-kings-award-for-voluntary-service/.

Artventure Trust
Banstead Village in Bloom
Camberley Care Trust
Camberley Nepalese Gurkha Association
Cranleigh Arts Centre
Epsom Repair Cafe
Surplus to Supper
Friends of Albury Old Saxon Church
Hale Community & Youth Centre
Phoenix Cultural Centre
Space2Grow
Spelthorne Dementia Support Group
Ewhurst Secret Gardens
The National Honey Show
Voluntary Support North Surrey
Sutton Vision

Photos by Andy Newbold.

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.

Shawfield Primary School – ‘Shine Points Awards’.

It is always enjoyable putting on the Court Dress to visit a primary school and Suzanne and I had a lovely morning on July 7th visiting Shawfield Primary School when gold and platinum awards were given to pupils who had amassed 150 and 200 Shine Points respectively over the course of the year. A Shine Point is awarded for actions, deeds and attitudes that are deemed noteworthy including good effort in their work, good manners, caring attitude, staying on task and putting the school values into action.

The assembly hall was standing room only as many proud parents other family members and friends looked on as the prizes were awarded; and I was privileged to firstly be asked by the Head Teacher – Stephen Corcoran, to address the assembly and then to hand out the platinum awards. I like the concept of Shine Points; it is not about being the best overall, but to be the best version of yourself, something we should all strive to be.

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