MSDC seek help to commemorate Mid Sussex Virtual VE Day

With planned VE Day events now not taking place, MSDC are compiling a virtual tribute

With planned VE Day events now not taking place, MSDC are compiling a virtual tribute

Mid Sussex District Council are calling for your help to create a memory bank of commemoration for Victory in Europe Day (8th May).

While current social distancing measures are in place it will not be possible for street parties to take place at the moment, so Mid Sussex District Council is calling for submissions for a virtual memory bank to help commemorate VE Day. Tributes and photos, memories, songs and stories of VE Day and what it means will be merged into a showreel and presented on the Council’s digital platforms. Recordings of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ can also be sent to form the soundtrack to the presentation.

Earlier in the year MSDC provided grants to commemorate VE Day; but given the current national and international situation these events won’t take place at this time. The Council will of course be honouring our grant commitments when recipients feel they are in a position to mark the many sacrifices made and to commemorate the end of WWII.

Councillor Norman Webster, Cabinet Member for Community said: “This is an important commemoration and we want to do everything we can to ensure it is marked. Somehow it is even more relevant, as we all recognise the bonds of friendship and community we are experiencing anew, that we commemorate those who gave so much at that time”.

Please send photos and poems for Mid Sussex Virtual VE Day to comms@midsussex.gov.uk or via the Council’s Facebook channel. You can upload film or songs to a special form at www.midsussex.gov.uk/VE2020

Deadline for submissions in Monday 4th May 2020. MSDC cannot guarantee all will be used but the team will try to use as many as possible. Before submitting you must ensure you have permission for any items to be displayed publicly.

Ensemble Reza - Midday Music YouTube series a success

By Hannah Carter, MD, Ensemble Reza

We have been completely overwhelmed with the support for our Midday Music series.  We had 119 people watch our concert live last Tuesday and our YouTube Channel has now had over 3.5k viewings! It's really great to catch-up with people in the chat and it has given us a real buzz to welcome people from all over the country from Scotland to Cornwall! Thank you for watching and for all the generous donations. 

Today we had Andrew Thurgood (violin) and his son Jeremy (guitar) running the concert from their home.  Jeremy is off to BIMM (British and Irish Modern Music Institute) in Brighton in September and has recently purchased some new microphones.  I have to say they sounded amazing at our soundcheck last week. 


Unfortunately, however not all our musicians have access to such amazing kit.  So we need your help!!! If we can reach 1000 subscribers on our YouTube channel we will be able to film the live concerts using our mobile phones.  Surprisingly the sound quality on a mobile phone is superior to laptops and of course much easier to set up! 

Hannah Carter shows you how to create a Google Account so that you can subscribe to support the Reza channel.

Online library services widen

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Since the closure of local libraries due to the Coronavirus pandemic, West Sussex Libraries has now created a virtual hub with activities for children and elderly people, including online books, magazines and comics, puzzles and local history.

With your library membership number you can access a lot of this information - some of which includes special member access to external providers simply because you are a West Sussex Library cardholder.

A spokesperson for the Library service said: “We know how much libraries mean to our members which is why we’ve introduced this virtual hub of your local library’s online services, all accessible from home.

“We’re talking RhymeTimeOnline, handy links for book lovers, family history content, resources for home learning, links to the latest offerings from authors, publishers and more!”

There’s even access to Theory Test Pro to help learner drives study the basics before they get on the road.

For more information search the web or put this link into a web browser: https://bit.ly/2yn1f7m