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Welcome to our special edition Residents’ eNewsletter.
However you are planning to spend the period over Christmas and the
New Year, we wish you a safe, peaceful and enjoyable time.
Merry
Christmas from West Sussex County Council
A message from the county council's Chairman and
Leader.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all
a Merry Christmas.
During this busy season, county council staff will be
working to provide services as usual, ranging from libraries and
highways to social care and the Fire and Rescue Service.
2024 has been a very successful year for the county
council, with more investment in social care and extra investment
in highways across the county, including our gritters which stand
ready to tackle challenging winter weather.
The county council will continue to work for you in
2025.
Cllr Pieter Montyn
Cllr Paul Marshall
Chairman (pictured right)
Leader.
We're here
for you
If you need us over the Christmas and New Year
holidays, we are here for you.
The link below has details of opening hours over the
festive period, including our community hub, family hubs, and
customer service centre.
You can also find all the out of hours contact numbers
you many need, and what problems you can report online.
Christmas at
our children's homes
Children and young people cared for by the county
council have been getting into the Christmas spirit, with special
festive events throughout December.
Parties have been taking place across the council’s
children’s homes to bring the magic of the season to the young
people, who have often faced significant trauma and challenges in
their lives.
One child described an event at High Trees home in
Crawley as the ‘best party ever’, while a parent said: “I cannot
thank the team at the home enough for all they do for my child and
our family.”
A wartime
Christmas in West Sussex
Take a step back into festive times past and read
about two wartime evacuees who produced a magazine called The
Petworth Stars.
Amy and Nellie Scaddan were living with the Parvin
family in Petworth and their hand-written and illustrated magazine
highlighted the happy times they had in the West Sussex village,
despite the hardships of wartime Britain.
The magazine’s 1943 Christmas issue is featured in one of our
Record Office blogs where you’ll discover what the
family ate for Christmas dinner and their full list of gifts –
which included slippers, a pink scarf, a doll’s bed, and a
toothbrush.
Visit our Record Office on the link below to discover
a wealth of local history dating from 780AD to the present day.
You can trace your family history, view historic
photos, research a military ancestor, use maps to explore your
local area and house history, find out more about times gone by –
and much more!
Help us help
you
The NHS is asking everyone living in Sussex to Help Us Help You as demand on
health services increases through the winter months.
If you have loved ones in hospital, help them to leave
hospital when they are clinically safe to do so. Every day spent in
hospital when they don’t need to be there makes their recovery
longer - it’s ok for them to ask ‘when am I going home?'
If you’re eligible, today (19 December) is the last
day you can book your flu and Covid-19 vaccination
online using the NHS National Booking System. From tomorrow (20
December) you can arrange an appointment directly with a local
service or attend a walk-in session.
Find out how you can make the right choices on which
health services to contact over the Christmas break on the NHS Sussex website.
You can also visit our Keeping Safe this Winter webpage
for tips on staying safe, well and warm this winter.
Get ready to
reduce waste this Christmas
We’re encouraging residents to reduce waste wherever
possible during the festive season.
Wrapping gifts in reusable materials like ribbon and
scarves, using crockery when hosting parties rather than paper
plates and plastic cutlery, and making your own crackers are just
some of the ideas that can reduce Christmas waste.
We understand that some waste is unavoidable, but
there are lots of Christmas items that can be recycled, including:
- Christmas cards
- Wrapping paper (if
it scrunches up in your hand and stays scrunched)
- Paper bags
- Glass bottles and
jars
- Plastic bottles
(with lids on)
- Plastic pots, tubs
and trays (including sweet and chocolate tubs)
- Flexible toothpaste
tubes
- Tins and cans
- Foil
- Pringles tubes
Finally, it’s easy for food waste to build up over the
festive period. Instead of letting leftovers go to waste, why not
turn them into something delicious or make a conscious effort to
only buy what you need.
Stay safe
from fire
The festive season should be filled with joy, not
disaster. Stay safe by following our West Sussex Fire & Rescue
Service’s essential dos and don’ts for fire hazards in your home:
- Never place candles near your Christmas
tree or materials that can catch light easily.
- Keep candles,
lighters and matches out of children’s reach. Never leave
burning candles unattended.
- Never overload
electrical sockets. Always switch Christmas lights off and
unplug them before you go to bed.
- Decorations can
burn easily – don’t attach them to lights or heaters.
Check out our Newsroom to read more West Sussex
stories.
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