The London Marathon - Lindfield's 43 laps!

Lindfield runner Florence Robinson was one of many who ran a marathon on the ‘official’ day of the London Marathon last month.

While that marathon took place with only a handful of selected participants, Florence ran her first ‘London Marathon’ around Lindfield Common!

The secondary school teacher and mother of two had been planning and training for the marathon in April, which then got moved to October, which then got pulled completely. “After restarting my training plan four times during lockdown and contracting an Achilles injury in the summer, I was thrilled to make the run, taking in 43 laps of the Common to reach the 26.2 mile goal,” Florence explained.
“Paula Radcliffe helped me along through my London Marathon app - but the best bit about doing the event virtually and locally was the sheer weight of support from friends, family and strangers who clapped every lap. I was truly overwhelmed by the Lindfield community, whole families coming out in the rain and individuals jogging laps alongside me - so hugely motivational. The atmosphere was incredible despite the damp weather conditions!”

Florence was raising money for the charity Victa, which supports blind children; and so far has raised over £1,800.
“Over the past few years, I have been humbled to work alongside young people with sensory impairments,” said Florence. “Their attitude to learning and life in general is inspiring – they never let their disabilities affect their participation and eagerly get involved alongside their able-bodied friends.”

If you would like to add to her total, you can do so via the official Virgin Money Giving: https://bit.ly/2GVfmpb

PTA adapting in this ever-changing world

By Lynne Roberjot

Year 1 outdoor classroom, part-funded by the PTA

There is no doubt that 2020 has been an incredibly tough year for charities. The need for new and innovative fundraising ideas, which are safe and Covid-19 compliant, are essential.

Here at Lindfield Primary Academy PTA – a non-profit organisation run by parents and teachers of children at Lindfield Primary Academy – we consider ourselves a resilient and resourceful bunch.

In the last academic year, despite a global pandemic that shut down our school and saw the cancellation of planned events including the Summer Ball and Summer Fair, we raised £24,000. This followed a record-breaking £40,000 raised the year before.

These much-needed funds further enrich our children’s learning and environment. Recently, the PTA has helped to fund a Year 1 outdoor classroom and learning area, online subscriptions which have been invaluable in supporting home learning, booster groups and mountains of books.

New initiatives have included EasyFundraising and Amazon Smile, enabling families to gift donations to the PTA through their everyday online shopping. We have received generous one-off donations and the continued support of corporate sponsors, including Lloyds Bank.

Last month we held our first virtual PTA Annual General Meeting, with a significant uptake in attendance on the previous year. New committee members were voted in by the current committee, and heaps of new ideas proposed.

With current PTA Co-Chair’s – local businesswomen Anna Ashley and Rebecca Downie - stepping down after two successful years at the helm, we are delighted to welcome new Co-Chairs Victoria Tischendorf and Sharn Smith. Tasmin Broadstock adopts the role of Secretary, replacing Lynne Roberjot, while Treasurer Steve Hall and Vice-Chairs Carrie Faraday and Julia Barham-Wick continue with their roles.

While we are currently unable to run in-person events, including our much-loved and profitable Christmas Fair, we will be making Christmas special for the children and their families with some new and virtual festive fun!

We are incredibly lucky to have such an amazingly supportive school and local community. We thank everyone who continues to donate, volunteer, partner and support us and we wish our newest PTA committee an exciting (albeit unprecedented) fundraising year ahead!

Charity bootcamp at Lindfield Primary School

A small Sussex charity is set to benefit from a fundraising event organised by a local mum. 

Natalie Banbury says she remembers it like it was yesterday. “I was 21 when the doctor said to me ‘I think your baby may have Spina Bifida’. I left the hospital with a leaflet by the Sussex Association for Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus and have been in touch with them ever since.

“Bob White and the school (Lindfield Primary) have been so brilliant since Ryan started there three years ago,” Natalie continued.

After years of support Natalie believes that now is the time to give something back so, with the help of a few others, she is putting on a charity bootcamp at Lindfield Primary School on Saturday 16th February from 12-4pm. 

Maxine Hayes, whose son is also at the school and who runs Potential Personal Training, is helping to organise the event. The afternoon promises a ‘Kids vs Grown Ups’ session and bootcamps led by Maxine and other guest trainers. Plus, there will also be entertainment, arts & crafts and a food & drink area from local businesses. 

“We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of local businesses wanting to be involved,” said Maxine. 

All proceeds go to SASBAH. Email potentialpt@gmail.com for more info.

Santa in the Park

Hundreds of Santas will be running and walking around Victoria Park in Haywards Heath on Sunday 9th December to raise money for the British Heart Foundation – and you could be one of them!

The charity and Freedom Leisure are joining together to organize the event. The Mayor of Haywards Heath, John Sabin, will be getting the Santas off to a flying start as well as joining in the fun run too at 9.45am. The walkers get off at a more leisurely pace at 10.45am.

You can jog 3 miles or walk a mile but whether you run or walk you will be doing it in style in a fabulous FREE Santa Suit. All budding Santas must register prior to the event online at: www.bhf.org.uk/haywardsheathsantajog. The event is open to the whole family, including grandparents, parents and children of all ages and Freedom Leisure are donating prizes for the best dressed Santas. 

Pay it forward (Lindfield Juniors Football Club)

The distinctive green shirts of  Lindfield junior ootballers are gracing a dusty football pitch on the other side of the world and inspiring the young players who proudly wear them.

The shirts have been donated to a team of young footballers in a small village in Kenya – thanks to the eforts of one Lindfield dad.

Sean Collins, whose son Max plays for Lindfiel Juniors, sprang into action after hearing stories from his friend and former villager Laura Price who works at a small school in very poor area of Nairobi.

Laura moved to Kenya with her husband Chris, who works for Dfid (the UK’s oveseas development agency).

“Laura told me how many of these young children have to walk 10 kilometres to get to school – while our children just cross the common,” said Sean.  “In many cases, the only proper meal they are likely to get is a basic porridge type of food provided by the school.

”Laura asked if Sean’s sons had any old sports kit that she could take back to the children, as the school had no kit or money to buy any.

“We were glad to help and a few treasured West Ham shirts are now the very proud possessions of a couple of Kenyan boys and girls,” said Sean. “Trust me, West Ham need all the support we can get and I want 10% of any future signings from Kenya!”

But it didn’t stop there, as Sean soon set a new goal. “I started thinking on a grander scale as I have been involved with Lindfield Junios for many seasons,” he said.  “ I contacted Ian Masters from Masters and Sons, who have kindly sponsored teams for years, to see if he had any of his old kits that I could have. Within days I had a whole stash to give to Laura to take over to the school - shirts, shorts, bibs, gloves. Amazing! We  now have a Lindfield Junios (Nairobi) FC team!”

And it’s not just the Kenyan footballers who are benefiting

“It’s a wonderful thing for our fairly privileged kids to see and be involved with. A change from moaning because their Fifa 2012 X-box disc is scratched!” said Sean.

“I was immensely chufed by my son Max’s reaction to giving up his kit in the fist place and seeing the photos of a boy, in the middle of Africa, wearing his No.11 West Ham shirt with ‘Collins’ emblazoned across the back!”

Sean now plans to expand the project and send dozens more kits for diferent age groups. “My next plan is to talk to the Secretary of Lindfield Junios to see if we can supply any more old kits from many age groups to these teams. Maybe old boots and trainers, too, that our kids grow out of so quickly.

“Who knows? One day we could even take a team of boys over there on tour to play a few matches!”

To find out moe and to donate your child’s football kit, contact Sean on sean.collins@live.com