The charities chosen at the Village Fair Annual General Meeting for this year are:

CHESTNUT TREE HOUSE. This is a hospice for children which provides palliative care, respite care and support for children with progressive life-limiting conditions and their families from across East and West Sussex. It provides a holiday for very sick as well as respite for those who care for them. The whole family is invited for the break and wonderful activities are available for the patient's siblings who can so easily miss out in life. It costs £2 million per year to run, receives very little government funding, so relies on the generosity, help and support of the people of Sussex.

THE SUSSEX KIDNEY TRUST was formed in 1967 by the Sussex Area of the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies. The aims of the voluntary trust are to raise money to purchase equipment for the Renal Units of the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, Bexhill and Worthing Hospitals. Since the formation of the trust well over three quarters of a million pounds of equipment for these units has been raised. New equipment to the value of £73,000 has just been purchased for the new unit in Brighton.

COMMUNITY RESPONDERSwork in partnership with South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust, responding to emergency calls and often arrive at life threatening emergenciesbefore the ambulance can get there, as they are round the corner.

When a 999 call is made within the area covered by the SE Coast Ambulance Service an emergency ambulance will be dispatched and the community responder on duty will be contacted. On arrival the responder can begin treatment - give oxygen therapy, clear and control airways, provide resuscitation and heart defibrillation, control bleeding, etc. In cases where the patient has suffered a cardiac arrest, the most vital piece of equipment they carry, called the defibrillator, would be used to deliver a controlled shock to attempt to put the patient's heart back to normal rhythm. The quicker this happens, the better the chance of survival.

The schemes are totally self-funded and therefore rely on fund raising and kind donations from local people, businesses and organisations to help purchase equipment and keep the schemes operational. The aim is to cover the area from Peacehaven to Ovingdean twenty four hours a day, every day of the year, but considerable help is needed as each kit costs just over £1,700. Ongoing costs of replacing items used on patients are then met by the Ambulance Service.

The Whiteway Centre which provides clean, warm, attractive accomodation for so many of our village clubs and societies and organises lectures and courses for adults and children and many other events during the year, as well as being available for hire for private or commercial functions, receives an allocation. This helps to keep fees and rents affordable to all.

A proportion of the profits will be given to the Grange for the support and service given to the fair.

We hope that everybody will agree that the money that we raise is well spent.