Sussex weekly round-up: 3 August - 9 August 2024
Will Tupper will represent England at the World Ploughing Championships in Estonia
- Published
The story about a West Sussex farmer preparing to compete at the World Ploughing Championships proved a popular read this week.
A variety of local issues featured on the BBC News website, BBC Radio Sussex and BBC South East Today.
We have picked five stories from the past week in case you missed them.
Brighton Pride parade kicks off party weekend
An estimated 300,000 people took to the streets
Celebrations for last weekend's Brighton Pride were expected to contribute £22.5m to the local economy.
Girls Aloud and Mika were the headline acts for this year's event.
An estimated 300,000 people danced and cheered in the streets of Brighton on 3 August for the annual Pride parade.
Paul Kemp, managing director of Brighton & Hove Pride, said: “Pride has always been a mix of protest and celebration - Brighton & Hove Pride has a proud mix of both driven by all that is good about our LGBTQ+ communities.”
Support means everything after threat - mosque
About 60 people were said to have turned up to Hastings Mosque to show their support
Displays of support for a mosque that was reportedly threatened with an attack "mean everything", one of its committee members has said.
Sussex Police said it was treating a message received by Hastings Mosque on 4 August as a hate crime and had stepped up patrols in the area.
Alongside officers, about 60 people were said to have showed up to support the mosque, although an attack did not take place.
Yunis Smith, a member of mosque's board of trustees, said it was "a real solidarity moment, very emotional".
EasyJet to launch drive for over-50s cabin crew
EasyJet is offering taster sessions for over-50s
Budget airline EasyJet is launching a recruitment drive aimed at people aged over 50.
The campaign is called Returnships and the company is offering taster sessions at its London Gatwick training centre.
EasyJet said it had carried out research which showed that half of over-50s had considered a new career.
Michael Brown, director of cabin services at the airline, said being cabin crew could be a job for anyone, "no matter their age".
EasyJet are actively recruiting the over 50s for cabin crew.
Brighton counter-demo as police stand by for unrest
Crowds of people packed the streets in Brighton, with police at the scene
About 2,000 counter-protesters took to the streets in Brighton for a peaceful protest, as police were on stand-by following anti-immigration unrest.
About 500 people had gathered by about 19:00 BST with many more to follow on 7 August. People carried Stand Up to Racism posters.
There were also anti-immigration protesters at the scene, but a BBC reporter said there were eight in total.
Anti-racism campaigners also turned out in Hastings. Sussex Police had mobilised additional and specialist resources, as information circulated about possible clashes in Brighton, Hastings and Crawley, but there were no arrests.
WW2 Veteran gets police escort to 100th birthday
Ann Russell and her father George Durrant at the Not Forgotten Buckingham Palace Garden Party in May
A veteran travelled in a World War Two jeep with a police escort to his 100th birthday celebrations in West Sussex on 3 August.
George Durrant, a Burma Star veteran from Crawley, reached the milestone on 4 July but his party was delayed after he caught Covid-19 four weeks ago.
His daughter Ann Russell said he made "a great recovery" and he planned to mark the day with a barbecue party.
Ms Russell, 64, said: "It's such a milestone and we're all very excited about it."
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