Worthing has a new school. I was delighted to be part of the opening ceremony of the Red Balloon School in Windsor Road on Saturday along with the mayor and head of the excellent Red Balloon charity Carrie Herbert. Red Balloon specialises in helping young people missing from mainstream education, not because they are not interested in learning or have been excluded, but because they suffer from mental health problems often brought on by long-term conditions or bullying.
I worked with Carrie in my time as Children’s Minister and saw at first hand the live-changing difference her charity can make to young people who have dropped out of school facing particular challenges. It is great that they are now giving that opportunity in Worthing and not surprisingly demand has been high.
The real heroes of the project though have been Nick and Rachel Munday whose personal experience identified the need and set about providing a home for the new school with the generous support many local donors. We are lucky to have a Worthing school to join the Red Balloon family.
Elsewhere in Windsor Road things have not been quite as easy with the uproar over the proposed conversion of the old Windsor House Hotel into yet another form of an HMO. I have joined many constituents in raising my concerns with the Council Planning Department and you can see my submission on my Facebook page. We have succeeded in forcing an extension of the consultation period and I would urge all local residents to have their say.
We really are blessed with some fantastic charity sector organisations in Worthing and Adur and on Thursday I was given a very warm welcome by Samaritans volunteers handing out information and advice to commuters at Worthing station. It is a sad fact that many suicides take place involving trains and it was good that they were here to show people that there is a group of dedicated volunteers who are here to listen. Thank you for all you do. www.samaritans.org/branches/worthing
