The Talk on Swifts by Edward Mayer has been cancelled on Friday 2 June.

As you have probably heard, more rail strikes have been called, including action by the RMT Union on Friday 2 June.  Unfortunately, this strike will make it impossible for Edward to travel to Warnham to give his talk.  There is some uncertainty over the potential impact of the strike, but we have taken the decision to postpone Edward’s talk until later in the year.

We apologise for any inconvenience this might cause.  We will of course let you know the rescheduled date as soon as it is fixed.

Wild About Warnham

Between January and March this year, residents in West Sussex lost a total of just over £3.5million to criminals using different types of scams. The majority of victims were aged 60 or over and just under half of the reports came from people living alone. To stop individuals becoming victims of fraud and blackmail, a new series of free webinars and in person events are being run to raise awareness about online safety.T The Horsham sessions, organised by the County Council’s Digital Safety Team, will be held online and in person on       Wednesday 2 August at Horsham Library at 10.00am Tickets for the online sessions can be booked via Eventbrite. The webinars will provide individuals with the knowledge on how to spot scams and what to do if they, or their family, become a victim of online fraud. After the sessions in libraries, members from the Digital Safety Team will be on hand alongside Digital Ambassador Volunteers and the West Sussex Library Service’s Digital Support and Digital Access Teams, to support people with any digital enquiries or to provide information on how to be more scam aware. Duncan Crow, West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Community Support, Fire & Rescue, said: “Whether it’s online, on the phone or on your doorstep, fraudsters have many ways of scamming people, and unless you know what to look for, it is very easy to get caught out.“ The top three fraud and blackmail scams between January and March this year are courier and impersonator fraud, sextortion and dating and romance fraud. With most of these taking place online, these scam awareness webinars, and in-person events are a great way for people to find out more on how they can stay safe and ultimately stop themselves, or their friends and family from becoming another victim.” If you can’t attend one of these sessions, you can visit www.westsussex.gov.uk/staying-safe-online where you can find more information on how the Digital Safety Team can support you, your family or business to stay safe online.

Find additional details here

As part of the PCC’s #TalkSussex Campaign, the Commissioner has invited Sussex residents to complete a survey about their experiences of crime, what makes them feel unsafe and what measures could be put in place to help people feel safer in their communities.I would like to invite each and every NHW member in Horsham District to complete the survey, by clicking on the link below – it should only take a few minutes. .#TalkSussex – Sussex PCC Survey (office.com)

To ensure any Public Right Of Way enquiries are dealt with efficiently by WSCC, please report them directly via their on-line form:Report a problem with a Public Right of Way­­

Landowners please be aware that you are responsible for trees on your land and have a legal duty of care and must maintain your trees in a reasonably safe condition. 

We hope our residents are aware that:

Potholes can be reported to West Sussex County Council at Report a pothole online – West Sussex County Council

Wild About Warnham is organising a talk next month on Swifts by Edward Mayer, one of the UK’s leading Swift Conservationists.

This talk will be in Warnham Village Hall on Friday 2 June 2023, at 7.30 pm (doors open at 7.00 pm – admission £2). No booking, just turn up – get there early.

The title of Edward’s talk is ‘Swifts – The Birds You Need’ and has been made possible thanks to funding from Wilder Horsham who feel they are extremely fortunate to have Edward Mayer coming to speak. Edward is one of this country’s leading experts on the Swift, a bird which has been added to the Red List of endangered species and for which Wild About Warnham has been taking action to help the local population.

Edward first became fascinated by Swifts at the age of six when he saw these amazing birds flying above his home in Southampton. He has been in love with them ever since.

In the late 1990’s he noticed that the Swifts nesting in his local area were in decline and realised that re-roofing of local properties was blocking Swifts from returning to their long-established nest sites. His talk will be inspirational and is one not to miss!

It promises to be a great opportunity to learn more about the Swift, which is such an iconic and fascinating summer visitor!

Please do take the time to hear the talk!

The following article appeared in Sussex World on 27th March 2023 and we thank Jane O’Sullivan for promoting the event so widely:

On Sunday March 27 Holy Trinity Church, Rushams Road, in conjunction with the Trafalgar Neighbourhood Council and The Horsham Green Gym, hosted a very successful Tidy Trafalgar Litter Pick.

About 65 pickers collected a huge amount of rubbish. The areas shown in green on the map were all covered.

Two Beavers groups and a Squirrels group helped out, along with many of the members of the Neighbourhood Council.

The Horsham Green Gym helped enormously by providing extra picking equipment and disposing of the bags of rubbish afterwards.

The pickers arrived back at the church hall an hour or so later to be welcomed by drinks and home made cakes.

It was a very enjoyable community event which they hope to repeat in the future.