The Church of Scientology has asked Mid Sussex District Council to impose an order stopping people from protesting outside its British headquarters in East Grinstead.

A request for a Public Space Protection Order was submitted in the hope of preventing protests like the one held by ex-Scientologists last November outside the grounds in Saint Hill Road.

Scientology became a recognised religion in the UK in 2013.

Alexander Barnes-Ross, a spokesman for the ex-Scientologist group, said such an order would be a “direct threat to their freedom of speech and right to protest”.

FreeShop Crawley has received a funding grant of £66,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to continue to deliver the free community café and FreeShop offer at the Bewbush Centre.  

The community café is a key part of the local community and helps reduce the impact of the cost of living for those in Crawley. The café, which is open every Wednesday from 9am to 3pm, is free of charge and offers food, charging points and digital inclusion clinics.

The Freeshop Offer provides opportunities for members of the community to get support with a variety of areas including wellbeing programmes, form filling, money management and budgeting advice, as well as bespoke workshops.

The UKSPF aims to decrease the gap in healthy life expectancy and increase opportunities between those in the most and least deprived areas in Crawley.  Crawley Borough Council secured £1 million from the UKSPF over three years for funding to support projects that boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards, improve public services, empower local leaders and communities, or restore a sense of community and local pride.

We are really pleased to have awarded this grant funding to FreeShop Crawley. The vital work that the volunteers do is invaluable for local residents, particularly in the current cost of living crisis.

Councillor Michael Jones

Leader

Crawley Borough Council

This funding will offer a lifeline to the community and will aid us in our mission to reduce social and financial inequality in Crawley. Thank you so much for this funding and the incredible opportunities it is going to open up for our community.

Laura-Jane Wainwright

FreeShop Crawley

Crawley Borough Council recently organised its 32nd Junior Citizen event, attended by more than 1,600 Year Six students from 24 schools.

Junior Citizen, a long-running event held at The Hawth, gives children advice on how to safely deal with potential dangers and teaches them valuable life skills. This year’s event was funded by Crawley Borough Council, Safer Crawley Partnership and Southern Water, which specifically funded the coach travel.

The fortnight long event covered a wide range of topics including:

• vaping
• fire safety in the home
• body image and self-care
• safety at train stations and on trains
• online safety – gaming
• reduce, re-Use, recycle
• online safety – what’s safe to share
• handwashing
• water use and using water wisely
• anti-social behaviour

The organisations supporting the event included Crawley Young Persons Council, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, Juno Project, Southeast Communities Rail Partnership, West Sussex County Council Community Safety and Wellbeing, West Sussex County Council Waste Prevention team, Sussex Police and Southern Water, as well as Crawley Borough Council Environmental Health team and Crawley Borough Council Community Protection team, with Crawley Luxury providing the transport.

Representatives from Crawley Borough Council visited one of the morning sessions including Mayor of Crawley, Councillor Sharmila Sivarajah, Councillor Yasmin Khan (Cabinet member for Public Protection), Councillor Bob Noyce (Cabinet member for Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change).

We are pleased to have organised our 32nd Junior Citizen event, which encourages good citizenship.  Local children have had the opportunity to learn key life skills, as well as being reminded of important online safety advice such as not to reveal personal details to strangers.

Councillor Yasmin Khan. Cabinet member for Public Protection. Crawley Borough Council.

It was great to see the students at Junior Citizen learning about the importance of protecting our environment, encouraging them to adopt lifelong behaviours such as re-using and recycling, and using water wisely.

Councillor Bob Noyce. Cabinet member for Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change. Crawley Borough Council.