Surrey weekly round-up: 24 August - 30 August 2024
Organisers say 2024's Weyfest could be the last for the foreseeable future
- Published
The story about the future of a Surrey festival being in doubt proved a popular read this week.
A variety of local issues featured on the BBC News website, BBC Radio Surrey and BBC South East Today.
We have picked five stories from the past week in case you missed them.
Couple 'on target' to visit every lifeboat station
Allan and Helen Thornhill have visited 60 RNLI lifeboat stations so far
A Surrey couple who are attempting to visit all 238 RNLI lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland are a quarter of the way through their challenge.
Allan and Helen Thornhill, from Smallfield, are raising funds for the life-saving charity which celebrated its 200th anniversary earlier this year.
On reaching their 60th lifeboat station in Blyth, Northumberland, Mr Thornhill said they were "on target" to complete the challenge in summer 2026.
The couple said the experience so far has been "inspirational, emotional at times, but also extremely educational".
Pride event to go ahead despite founder’s arrest
The event in September will be the fifth anniversary of Pride in Surrey
A Pride event is to go ahead as planned after its founder and another volunteer were charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse against children, organisers have said.
This year's Pride in Surrey event will take place in Guildford on 21 September.
Organisers said it had been a "difficult week" for them and that they were "taking extra measures" to ensure event-goers were protected.
Stephen Ireland, 40, and David Sutton, 26, both from Addlestone, were arrested on 14 August.
Sam Powell is a volunteer manager for Pride in Surrey
Boy with epilepsy runs every day for charity
Zac and his dad James have completed a half marathon as part of their running adventures
A 13-year-old boy from Sussex has been nominated for an award after running at least a mile every day this year for a local school and charity.
Zac has clocked up more than 400 miles and £61,000 so far for Young Epilepsy and St Piers School and College in Lingfield.
Chief executive of the charity Young Epilepsy, Mark Devlin, called Zac "a hero".
Zac is also a finalist in the Fundraiser category for the BBC Make A Difference Awards.
'Most influential gardens ever created' go on show
The tours are to help the National Trust prepare for opening the site up to the public
The “most influential gardens ever created" have been shown to the public in the heart of Surrey's countryside.
The National Trust has run "test tours" of the Grade I listed garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll at Munstead Wood, near Godalming.
Ms Jekyll is widely seen as having “democratised gardening,” according to the historic site's general manager Katherine Mills.
"What she did very simply was encouraged people to garden and it didn't matter whether you had a window box on a windowsill, a corrugated iron roof or a lovely cottage garden in the Surrey landscapes," said Ms Mills.
Film studio launches £250,000 education fund
Shepperton Studios plans to provide technology and equipment for educational facilities in Spelthorne
A Surrey film studio has launched a £250,000 fund to support film and media teaching to young people.
Shepperton Studios, part of the Pinewood Group, said it wants to raise awareness of the sector and routes in to the industry for the next generation of filmmakers.
The "Virtual Academy" fund of up to £50,000 per year for five years aims to provide technology and equipment for educational facilities in the borough.
Tristam Slater, general manager at Shepperton Studios, said: "Grants will be awarded to projects benefitting the Shepperton area and the wider borough of Spelthorne."
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