Useful information and News
News and general interest items appear here in the date order they were entered - latest first.
Save The Date 2024 Annual Village Meeting - The 2024 Annual Village Meeting will take place on Friday 12th April at the Village Hall.
Village
events to mark the passing of her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second and
the proclamation of His Majesty King Charles the Third.
1.
An official book of condolences was opened in the
entrance lobby of the Village Hall for any residents who wished to add their
messages and names, until the day following
her late Majesty’s funeral. The book is now closed and the pages from it will be combined with
others from towns and villages throughout Wealden District in a single bound
volume. This volume will be lodged with the East Sussex Records Office at The
Keep, Falmer, as a permanent record of this unique time in our nation’s
history. A letter informing his Majesty of this book will be forwarded in due
course to the Royal Household.
2.
The union flag was flown at half mast on the flagpole by
the Village Green War Memorial from the day following her late majesty's death until the day following her funeral.
3.
A service of thanksgiving for
the life of her
late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second was held in East Dean Parish Church
at 9:30 am on the 11th September.
4. A proclamation, naming his Majesty King
Charles the Third was made at St James’s Palace on 10th
September. This proclamation was repeated in the City of London, in
Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast and then, at 12:30 pm on 11th
September in County Towns throughout the United Kingdom, including our own
County Town of Lewes.
5.
At 4:15 pm on 11th
September, a traditional ceremony to repeat the proclamation was held here
on the Village Green. This ceremony, which dates back many hundreds of years to
a time before mass communication and instant news, is designed to bring the
news of a new monarch to the entire Kingdom.
6.
On the day of her late
Majesty’s funeral (Monday 19th September), a live stream of the ceremony from Westminster Abbey was provided on the big screen in the Village Hall. Two minutes silence was also observed at the War Memorial on the Village Green at 12:00 Noon.
To celebrate HM the Queen’s 70 years as monarch, the government
declared 2nd and 3rd June 2022 to be Bank Holidays and a national programme of
celebrations took place over the resulting four-day weekend.
Locally, our village has a long history of celebrating royal jubilees, (going
back to Queen Victoria’s diamond celebration in 1897) and 2022 was no
exception. The Parish Council, Cricket Club, Residents Association, Village
Hall, and Parish Church organised events, covering not only the Bank
Holiday weekend, but the three preceding school half term days.
The complete programme of events can be viewed by clicking here.
The Parish Council was responsible for organising the Jubilee Beacon lighting event which formed part of an evening celebration on the Recreation ground with music, a hog roast, barbeque and bar. The event was enjoyed by several hundreds of residents and formed part of a national simultaneous lighting of beacons around the UK.
More pictures of the event can be seen by clicking here.
Annual Village Meeting: After a two year gap due to the
Covid
pandemic, it was great to welcome over 60 residents to the Village Hall
on 20th May for the Annual Village Meeting. The evening included
presentations by
local clubs and societies, as well as a chance to question Parish
Councillors.
Speed Warning Sign comes to Gilberts Drive
As part of the Parish Council's policy of tackling motorist speeding through the village, a speed warning sign has been purchased by the council and installed by East Sussex Highways team. The location of the sign is in Gilbert's Drive, opposite the church, but additional ground sockets are being installed so that it can be moved to other locations when required.
Downsview Lane Bus Stop Restored At Last:
It has been over five years since the north-side bus stop on the corner of Downsview Lane was demolished in a motor accident. Since then, although the stop remained on the No. 12 bus timetable, there was no physical evidence to show where people should stand to wait. The Parish Council have been lobbying East Sussex highways for many years to re-instate the stop and this has now been achieved. Our thanks to County Councillor Steven Shing for his support in this campaign, which will ensure that residents from Downsview Lane and Sussex Gardens will have a safe place to wait for buses towards Eastbourne.
Support for Ukraine
Many of you
will have found the pictures and reporting of the conflict between Ukraine and
Russia difficult to comprehend. Several residents wish to assist with the
crisis and below are ways that you can help.
·
You can donate by visiting dec.org.uk or phone
0370 6060 900 or text TELE to 70150 to donate £10.
·
You can register your interest in accommodating
refugees and their families at homesforukraine.campaign.gov.uk.
Both of the
above sites are UK Government sites.
You may also
register at sanctuaryfoundation.org.uk which is a Christian based charity
offering to accommodate refugees.
East Dean and
Friston is friendly community and The Church, Parish Council, Community Watch, and Residents
Association intend to lead on support and help within the village when and as
those who have been made homeless from the Ukraine are offered accommodation here
in our village.
If you do apply
to accommodate refugees and are successful, then please make sure you contact
us. We are here to support and help you along with many other individuals and
organisations in the village.
Further
communication will follow as the situation develops with information published
on websites, notice boards and emails.
As a token of
our support the Ukrainian flag is now being flown from the village green
flagpole and several houses are displaying the flag in their windows.
“Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”
The first
event in our village, celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, took place on
Friday 11th March at the Recreation Ground when two Holm Oak trees
were planted by the Chair of the Parish Council. This date was chosen by the
National Association of Civic Officers for planting trees across the nation as
it represents the 70th Day of the 70th year of Her
Majesty’s reign.
Parish Council
Chair Paul Seeley with fellow councillors Mike Keller and Chris Lees planting
one of the Jubilee Holm Oaks at the Recreation Ground.
DONATION OF DEFIBRILLATOR TO BEACHY HEAD CHAPLAINCY
Back in 2019 East Dean Responders ceased to exist and the Parish Council took over the management and maintenance of their Defibrillators, used to restart a heartbeat in the event of cardiac arrest. Three of these life-saving pieces of equipment are now sited in permanent cabinets around the village. The Parish Council also agreed that, after refurbishment, we should donate a further Defibrillator to the Beachy Head Chaplaincy and we finally achieved that objective on Tuesday 23rd June 2021. The presentation was made by Flora Richards and Lys Paige, who were two of the East Dean Responders, seen in this photo with the Chief Executive and members of the Chaplaincy together with Mike Keller, Chairman of the Parish Council. As one of the Chaplaincy Team said "This is a really vital piece of life-saving equipment to have - although we hope we never need to use it!"
