Welcome to the monthly newsletter from your local Green Party. Including updates on our Councillors’ hard work, members’ campaigning, dates for your diary, and all things Green! Local news We had a fantastic turnout for our recent Green Talk in Barnham. Local residents, Green councillors and members all got together to speak, listen, and share their views on the current situations around sewage and anti-social behaviour in the area. Thank you to everyone who came along. You can see videos from the evening on our YouTube channel. These issues are ongoing, and our Green team are working hard to find long-lasting and sustainable solutions. Remember to stay in touch – at Arun District Council, the Green councillors representing Barnham are: Sue Wallsgrove, Paul Ayling, and Anita Lawrence, and our Green MP candidate for Arundel & South Downs is: Steve McAuliffe.  In Bosham, our Press Officer Georgie has been leading on campaigns for safer streets and active travel. She has been working with other local residents to encourage a ‘walk bus’ and a ‘bike bus’ for school children. Please get in touch if you want to get involved. At the local elections on 2 May, our Green candidate for the Police and Crime Commissioner post, Jonathan Kent, received over 43,000 votes – thank you to everyone who voted Green! We were delighted to see our share of the vote increase again this time. And more positive news from our neighbouring wards, with new Green councillors elected in Havant, Worthing and Adur. Across the country, the Green movement continues to grow! News from our local councillors In Arun district council, councillor Steve McAuliffe met with the senior management team to establish that the current Climate Change and Biodiversity working plan should be reviewed and improved. The most important addition, put forward by Steve, is a new section on climate change resilience and adaptation – this was accepted and agreed. Further major additions to be considered will be the introduction of specific measures and targets, and identifying key areas of activitity around carbon reduction, waste and biodiversity. These will be passed to the committee for further debate. Councillor Carol Birch, who is Chair of the Housing and Wellbeing Committee at Arun, helped to open the latest Changing Places toilet facilities in Arundel. These facilities are vital to allow people with certain disabilities to live a more fulfilling life as they often find their needs are not being met with standard toilets. This is the fifth Changing Places toilet to be installed in the Arun district, with more to follow in the future.  Councillor Carol Birch also attended a fundraising event for St Mary Magdalene church in Madehurst, who are raising money for maintenance. This South Downs church is a popular venue for community events, and Carol is also helping them to look for further options where they can apply for more funding. Arun councillors have recently attended briefings about the new Housing Regulations. These should make social housing safer for residents. Councillors have also been busy helping local residents with their individual issues, including around planning and development. Chichester Councillor Tim Young was invited to speak with students at the Politics society at Chichester university. He enjoyed the chance to talk to the next generation of voters – and hear their hopes and concerns for the future. As well as representing these young people at a local level, Tim will also be our Green MP candidate for the Chichester constituency in the upcoming General Election. We’re proud to say that our councillors have signed up to a pledge to support refugees if the government try to remove them under the awful Rwanda scheme. The national party have been clear in their objection to the Rwanda Bill, which co-leader Carla Denyer has described as “a very expensive way to be cruel”. Please contact us if you want to get in touch with our councillors, or are interested in standing for election in the future. Upcoming events and actions Over the coming months we are going to be focused on getting our positive Green message out to local people. Can you help? Our candidates, councillors and volunteers will be delivering leaflets, distributing 60 second surveys, and canvassing across our wards. If you can help, please sign up here.  Calling all Green crafters! We have several events coming up over the summer where we want to have a colourful Green Party presence. Would you like to join us to help create some new beautiful banners? Do you have any spare fabric or crafting materials? Please contact Faye to get involved. Picture: “Craftivism, Peas and love” by Campaign Against Arms Trade is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Saturday 18 May. Paddle Out with Surfers Against Sewage in Brighton. All over the country people will be coming together to take a stand against sewage polluters. Local party members will be heading to our nearest group in Brighton to pledge our support. Find out more details here, and if you’d like to join us travelling to the event please get in touch. Sunday 19 May. Action Day supporting Siân Berry’s campaign in Brighton. A group of local party members will be travelling to Brighton by train, and we’d love you to join us. This will be a great opportunity to meet more Green supporters from across the south east. Please get in touch if you’d like to come with us. Saturday 25 May. Chichester Pride in Chichester. This year Chichester Pride will hold their first parade through the city centre – and local Greens will be there in support and unity! The parade will start from Priory Park at 10.30am, please contact Faye for details of when and where to meet. The third annual Pride festival will then take place from 12 noon to 7pm at Chichester college. Sunday 26 May, 9.30am. Beach clean in Littlehampton. Local Green Party members will be joining The Beach Cafe on their monthly litter pick along the coast. Meet by the shack, where the Beach will provide grabbers, gloves and bags. A member of the Beach team will lead the clean. To attend with other Green Party members, please contact Sarah. Tuesday 28 May, 6.30pm. Greening Felpham in Bognor Regis. One of our fantastic local members has organised this free event to help residents attract, protect and nurture wildlife in their own gardens and urban spaces. Local speakers on topics including pesticide-free gardening, soil health and helping hedgehogs. Book your ticket here. Saturday 22 June. Restore Nature Now march in London. We are planning to get together a local group to travel up to London and take part in this event. This will be a family-friendly and accessible march – calling for the political and policy changes desperately needed for nature. Find out more details here. Why not come with us? Please get in touch if you’re interested! If you can, please plan your journeys on public transport. If you are able to offer / require a lift share to any of the events, please contact the relevant organiser. Next branch meetings: Monday 10 June, 7pm on Zoom. Click here to RSVP Tuesday 9 July, 7pm on Zoom. Wednesday 7 August, 7pm on Zoom. Monday 9 September, 7pm on Zoom. Tuesday 8 October, 7pm on Zoom. Wednesday 6 November, 7pm on Zoom. Can we help you? Want to join us? Have skills to share? Keep in touch with your local Chichester and Arun Greens Join the party: join.greenparty.org.uk Ask a question: contact@chichesterarun.greenparty.org.uk Keep up to date: Find us on Facebook, You Tube, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter)  Help us grow: We rely on one off donations or regular standing orders to help us cover the cost of our local campaign work. If you can help out, please click here or follow the QR code. All support is very gratefully received. Please include your last name and postcode as a reference, so we know who to thank.A big thank you to everyone that has worked so hard over the last month on all Green causes! We look forward to seeing you soon |