Clive Hilton, On Demand

SEND Reform: Can Every Child Truly Thrive?

Sunday Brunch features soundbites from the ‘Sussex & Surrey Soapbox’ podcast latest episode…. to skip chapters click on the 3 horizontal lines (left in the above player). Have your say via WhatsApp (bottom right) or join the conversation in our Facebook Group HERE. 

Special Guest:
– Matt Brewin, Primary School Teacher in Haywards Heath and Chair of Mid Sussex Green Party
– Paul Taylor-Burr, Community Volunteer and Parent of two children with ASD/ADHD 
Roundtable Featuring: Abigail Chapman-Miller (Labour), Iqbal Khan (Tess’ Kitchen) & James Tidy (Reform UK). Host: Clive Hilton. 

The SEND system was built to protect vulnerable children, so why do so many parents across Sussex & Surrey describe it as a fight for basic understanding? We bring together a primary school teacher, councillors and parents with lived experience of ADHD and autism to talk plainly about what is happening on the ground: long waits, overstretched schools, and an EHCP process that can feel like a second full-time job.

We break down the jargon so you can follow the real choices families face: SEND, EHCNAs, EHCPs, ISP/ILPs, and the proposed move towards Individual Support Plans in the 2026 SEND white paper. From the classroom, we hear how inclusion is meant to work and why it so often collapses under funding gaps, fewer teaching assistants and rising need. We also get into the uncomfortable questions people avoid, including whether diagnosis is being underused or overused, what labels do to a child’s confidence, and how to make “reasonable adjustments” without leaving children unprepared for the real world.

The conversation goes beyond paperwork into what a fair education system should value. Are league tables and Ofsted driving better outcomes, or driving burnout and pushing schools away from flexibility? What would it take to make mainstream education genuinely accessible, and when is specialist provision the right answer? We finish with practical reflections for parents about coping, advocacy, and why some families feel pushed towards home education.

Clive Hilton, On Demand

Reigate Summer Festival

Sunday Brunch features soundbites from the ‘Sussex & Surrey Soapbox’ podcast latest episode…. to skip chapters click on the 3 horizontal lines (left in the above player). Have your say via WhatsApp (bottom right) or join the conversation in our Facebook Group HERE. 

A slightly different format to the Roundtable discussions where we step back from the debate to SPOTlight a Charity or in this case a local arts festival – Reigate Summer Festival with Tim Glynne-Jones. 

A rock set in the mouth of a tunnel, choirs in a church, an art exhibition, and a pop-up photo show inside an estate agent. Reigate Summer Festival is the kind of bold, creative and friendly idea that makes you look at your own town differently, and we’re joined by one of the organisers Tim Glynne-Jones to explain how it all comes together.

We talk through the festival weekend (19 to 21 June) and why the team describe it as a mini Edinburgh in Surrey: music, dance, drama, poetry, literature, film, photography, fashion and more, much of it free to enjoy. Tim shares the longer story too, from launching New Music Nights in 2013 as a platform for original songwriters, to building New Music Fest, and then widening the collaboration so multiple arts organisations can help shape a true general arts festival right in the centre of Reigate.

You’ll get a clear guide to the layout with four key venues and stages, plus a fast-growing fringe of 30+ locations across cafés, bars, shops and community spaces. We also cover the festival’s charity partners, how donations raised around £5,000 last year, and what’s new this year including an upcycled-friendly fashion show at Ivory Lounge, more photography, more art, and low-cost workshops that make it easy to learn something new with friends or kids.

SUSY News

Appeal for Witnesses following Collision in Redhill

Surrey Police are appealing for witnesses following a serious collision in Redhill.

Officers were called to Warwick Road shortly before 3pm on Wednesday, 3 June following reports of a collision involving the driver of a white Luton box van and a pedestrian.

The pedestrian was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The van driver, a man in his 40s, was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by careless driving and is currently in police custody.

Road closures are currently in place on Warwick Road between the junctions of Gloucester Road and Carrington Place.

Were you in the area around Warwick Road between 2.30pm and 3pm this afternoon?

We are asking anyone who may have witnessed this collision, or who may have CCTV, dashcam, or helmet cam footage that may have captured all or part of this incident, to get in touch.

If you have any information that might assist our investigation, please contact us quoting PR/45260065382 using one of the options below:

If you would rather not speak to police or to prefer to give information anonymously, you can contact independent charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or completing their online form at  https://crimestoppers-uk.org/

SUSY News

Temporary Stop Notice Issued on Demolition Work in Dorking

Campaigners in Dorking say that nesting Swifts may have been displaced following partial demolition work.

A section of wall containing crevices is said to have been used by the birds was removed at the site in Station Approach in May.

The Housing Group Clarion has said that ecological checks were carried out before and during the works, while Mole Valley District Council have issued a temporary stop notice.

SUSY News

Crawley Shoplifter Jailed

A prolific shoplifter has been jailed over his latest offences in Crawley.

Jason O’Dwyer admitted five new shop thefts and three breaches of a Criminal Behaviour Order in the town centre.

The 39-year-old took items worth nearly £1,000 from Peacocks, TK Maxx, a BP Petrol station and the Co-op.

He was stopped by a Police Community Support Officer and shop security and arrested.

At Crawley Magistrates’ Court on 1st May he admitted five shop thefts and three breaches of a Criminal Behaviour Order.

O’Dwyer, a British national of The Ridges, Guildford, was jailed for one year.

The court was told how the shoplifter has 35 convictions for 64 previous offences, including 32 theft offences.

The most recent were three shop thefts for which he was convicted in February.

But on 5 February he entered TK Maxx and stole a coat worth £60, then on 19 March he entered an M&S and BP Petrol Station at Faygate and stole items worth £357.

On 22 and 23 April he stole items from Peacocks in Crawley worth £516.

He was arrested on 29 April at the Co-op store in Langley Green, where he was remanded to court.

Speaking after the case, Crawley District Commander Chief Inspector Steven Turner said: “Officers are working hard to tackle shoplifting in Crawley, and through Operation Apprentice we are identifying the most prolific offenders.

“We understand the impact retail crime has for our community and for shop workers, which is why we are determined to catch criminals.

“I am pleased that by working with partners, O’Dwyer was caught and is now serving a custodial sentence.”

The court ordered O’Dwyer to pay compensation for all the items stolen. A new Criminal Behaviour Order was granted with further conditions and requirements until April 2031.

It prohibits O’Dwyer from remaining on the premises of any shop or store in Sussex if asked to leave by security, it prohibits his entry to London Gatwick Airport unless he has a valid ticket for travel, and it prohibits his entry into all Marks and Spencer, John Lewis At Home, Waitrose, Dunelm, Superdry, Peacocks, Sainsbury’s, Co-Op, TK Maxx and HMV stores across West Sussex as well as The Barn in Billingshurst. In addition prohibits him entering the town of Crawley, West Sussex