Hurst senior school help the community

Over 400 pupils from Year 9 to Upper Sixth took part in the Hurst Community Action Day on Thursday 26th June. They were accompanied by 60 members of staff and worked at 31 locations across Sussex.

The annual initiative was designed to help charities in a practical way. One Senior girl who helped with weeding at Paws and Claws cat rescue centre in Sayers Common said, “It is nice to be able to go out and do something for charity. It’s more involved than a cake sale at College or a non-uniform day.”

In Brighton, students helped to build special banks for snakes and adders and installed steps at the Rock Garden at Preston Park. At Whitehawk Hill they cleared paths and collected wild flower seeds and at Racehill Orchard a team cleared scrubland. In Hove, Hurst students tidied the vicarage garden at St Andrew’s Church and carried out conservation work on Wolstonbury Hill near Pyecombe.

The community work also included helping at Chailey Heritage School, a special school for children and young adults with complex physical disabilities. The Hurst team cleared weeds from the school’s pond, washed windows across the large campus and cleaned the school’s minibuses.

Hurst minibuses took students as far as Selsey where they took part in litter clearing.

In Haywards Heath a group of students helped to prepare Haywards Heath Cemetery in Western Road for the South and South East in Bloom Competition which begins later this month and others did painting work at Haywards Heath Rugby Club.

Groups of students carried out gardening and painting at three locations: Wivelsfield Primary School, Hollyrood residential and day centre in Lindfield for adults with autism and the Torch Trust Centre in Hassocks, which organises holidays for visually impaired people.

Teams also cleaned windows and washed minibuses at St Peter and St James Hospice in North Chailey and ran activities and entertainment at Ladymead Care Home in Hurstpierpoint, Firgrove Nursing Home in Burgess Hill and Age UK in Hassocks.

Seven students worked at charity shops in Burgess Hill and Hurstpierpoint and others worked in the office at CCHF All About Kids in Hassocks which provides residential activities and respite breaks for children affected by poverty and abuse.

Report and picture contributed by Hurstpierpoint College.