Hassocks Goes Gold

Welcome to Hassocks Life’s Hassocks Goes Gold event page. Here you will find our most recent information for everything Gold in Hassocks.

Every September, something rather special happens in the village: Hassocks Goes Gold. While many of you are aware that, in 2017, a much-loved Hassocks resident and Windmills pupil, Pearl Dixie Bartlett-Bundy died from bone cancer, aged ten, but newcomers to the village may wonder what this is all about. Back in our August 2019 Hassocks Life issue, Rachel and Jamie Bartlett-Bundy introduced their wish for Hassocks to go gold in memory of their daughter, Pearl Dixie to fundraise vital funds for research to stop similar tragedies affecting other families.

See also, Hassocks Goes Gold Facebook

---

Introducing Hassocks Goes Gold for 2025

By Rachel Bartlett-Bundy

This year, Hassocks Goes Gold returns for another fabulous month of gold fundraising. This year’s theme is goldfish! Be they ornate and elegant or fairground and fun, your pictures of these wonderful golden creatures will be brightening up the village and helping to raise money for the newly-named Children & Young People’s Cancer Association. The PearlPower fund stands at over £125K and has funded its third research project, this time into Ewing’s Sarcoma - the very type of childhood cancer that cut Pearl’s life so tragically short, aged just ten.

Sunflower Competition

The competition is on to to grow the tallest or prettiest Sunflower in the village. See if you can spot sunflowers growing around the village or nurture your own blooms. How tall will this year’s winner be?

Bank Holiday Fun

The Greyhound pub will be in full music mode over the whole August bank holiday weekend with the money raised split between Hassocks Goes Gold and St Peter & St James Hospice.

Poster Competition

Everyone is welcome to join in the annual drawing competition for the gold poster – open to all ages! Adults included too; don’t be shy, as there are never enough entries from adults. Draw your very own goldfish or colour in the pre-printed one on the entry form. It’s free to enter, and, in September, the winners from each age category will receive fabulous prizes and be featured on the Hassocks Goes Gold poster! Plus all entries will be included in the annual Parklands Road Art Gallery. Free entry forms are available to download on the Hassocks Goes Gold Facebook page, via Hassocks’ schools, or pick one up from QD Stationers. The deadline for entries is Friday 4th July.

Go Go Gold

In September, the sponsored trail of Giant Gold Bows will be back, along with the ever-popular daily FaceBook auctions. There will also be craft, Face-painting and tombola stalls at the village markets, culminating in the Golden Gala extravaganza on 26thSeptember and the popular Wine Tasting event on the 3rd October, organised by the wonderful Amanda Felix. September in Hassocks is all about gold. It’s about raising awareness, and the research funds desperately needed to find kinder and more effective treatments for the childhood cancers with such poor outcomes. It’s all about community fun and this year it’s all about goldfish!

All about Age Concern Hassocks

Deirdre Huston popped into Age Concern to chat with Assistant Centre Manager, Lindsey Fitch, about what’s on at this village hub.

Newcomers to the village may not be aware that we have a thriving Age Concern centre off Dale Avenue, near the small green and the high street. Lindsey explains: “We try to tell people we’re here, but, unfortunately, because we’re tucked away, sometimes people miss us, or they don’t realise how much happens here.” For over thirty years, the centre, which is run by a local independent charity, has been helping older people in this area.

Lindsey says: “Our aim is to improve the lives of older people in Hassocks and the surrounding villages by providing a caring and friendly environment for all.” Every weekday, the dining room caters for both regular and occasional visitors who enjoy a homecooked three course meal for only £7. We ask people to book in advance or up to 10am on the day they wish to dine with us. We also run a Minibus on a Tuesday and Thursday picking up from Hassocks and the surrounding Villages. Lindsey says: “Lunch is a delicious experience which our clients enjoy very much.”

The friendly, welcoming day centre lunches are aimed at clients aged 55 plus. However, anyone can drop by to have a browse in the shop or purchase a hot or cold drink and a slice of homemade cake. The coffee shop is open from 9am to 3pm from Monday toFriday and 9am to 11.45 on a Saturday. The terrace and Community Garden help provide a relaxing space where people can enjoy being outdoors.

The centre offers outings to places like Birling Gap and One Garden at Stanmer. “Those two outings are very popular, and people seem to really enjoy them,” says Lindsey.

Some services are run by independents who make a small charge. You must book, directly, in advance for the hairdresser, chiropodist, massage, reiki and reflexology. There is no need to book various sociable activities which aim to improve the quality of people’s lives, including Chair Yoga on a Friday morning, Chair Pilates and Tai Chi on a Monday afternoon. The Tuesday Art Club offers people the chance to get out and be sociable. Lindsey says: “You bring your own artwork, in any medium, and then you can relax and enjoy making art in company.”

Hassocks Village Market and the Repair Shop are usually held at Age Concern on the 4th Saturday of each month. “Market Day is very good for us,” says Lindsey, “as it draws people here to see what else we offer.” She explains: “We would like people to see us as a community hub which has lots of other things going on, too.”

The centre has a light, well-sized charity shop to help raise funds. They are now holding a rummage sale every other month, with the next one on July 13th. Lindsey says: “The rummage sale offers us a last-ditch attempt to shift good quality stock and clothing from the shop, which we would prefer to sell rather than recycle.”

Prices are very reasonable with most adult clothes for one pound and children’s clothes for fifty pence. There is also a quality rail, where items are individually priced. “Those items are still a bargain,” says Lindsey, and adds: “We hope to welcome you to Age Concern soon.”

What can you bring to the Hassocks Repair Café?

By Juliet Merrifield

What a year 2023 was! Over 400 items were brought in for repair last year, double the number in our first year. In January we moved to our new location at Age Concern, linked with the Hassocks Village Market on the fourth Saturday of the month. We were blown away by the numbers of people bringing items for repair, and apologies to the people who had to queue a long time.

Our talented volunteer repairers managed to repair 75% of the repairs attempted. That’s a lot of items given life extensions and kept out of the landfill. Based on the Repair Café Carbon Calculator (using averaged data), these successful repairs will result in emission savings equivalent to more than 9000kg of CO2, equivalent to flying 60,000 miles (that’s three times round the world). Hats off to the team!

What can we work on? The answer is a very wide array of household items.

• mechanical and electrical items, such as vacuum cleaners, toasters, kettles, coffee makers, air fryers, radios, CD players, keyboards, lamps, clocks
• we can also PAT test electrical items to be sure they are safe to use
• wooden items, such as picture frames, chairs or tables with wobbly legs, knife handles
• garden tools ¬- we replace handles for forks or spades, secateurs, repair cords for hedge trimmers and lawnmowers
• treasured objects that need to be delicately glued like statues, toys
• textiles - repair or replace zips, sew up seams, replace buttons, stitch up little holes and tears
• sharpening knives, scissors, garden tools
• There are only a few things we don’t work on: microwaves, bicycles, pressure cookers, child’s car seats. If you’re not sure about something, just get in touch, as we may be able to help or refer you to a professional.
• items must be clean
• it must be something you can carry in
• if a part is needed, you need to purchase it (or refund us if we supply it) • you bring items for repair at your own risk, we can offer no guarantee for repairs
• repairers are entitled to refuse to repair items

The Repair Café Hassocks team are all volunteers, and we welcome new people to join our friendly group. It’s a free service and we are able to cover our costs like rent of the space, public liability insurance, special equipment and publicity costs through small donations.

You can bring items to the repair café at the Age Concern centre on Dale Avenue on the fourth Saturday of every month, except August and December. No booking needed, just bring items between 9.30 and 11.30 am. Small repairs can usually be done on the day. If parts or special tools are required, our repairers may agree to take an item home to work on and arrange collection later.

Contact us by email repaircafe@hkdtransition. org.uk, phone 01273 040110, or visit us onFacebook www.facebook.com/repaircafehassocks

The Repair Café in Hassocks relocating in January 2023

By Juliet Merrifield, HKD Transition

From 28th January, the Repair Café will be relocating to the Age Concern Centre on Dale Avenue. Along with Hassocks Village Market, we’ll be part of a new village hub and we hope to see lots of people there.

You can bring items for repair between 9.30-11.30 am. We can usually complete simpler repairs that morning by 12.30pm, and more complex tasks can be taken home by our repairers for pick up later. No need to book, but if you’re not sure we can work on something, do email or message us on Facebook.

The Repair Café’s second year was very successful, with many more items brought for repair: a grand total of 246 assorted hedge trimmers, toasters, radios, clocks, vacuum cleaners and jackets, shirts and coats needing zips and buttons. There were also some more unusual items successfully repaired: a 60-year-old doll missing an arm, a raclette grill, a violin, a 70-year-old leather holdall, a small wooden box with a ‘magic’ closure and a toy rabbit that had been chewed by a puppy.

Thanks to generous donations we covered all our costs and ended the year with a small surplus. Our amazing and talented repairers achieved an 80% success rate – not everything is repairable but we can have a go and more often than not we can get things fixed. We can also offer advice on items that you may be able to fix yourself or refer you to professionals who can help with things that we can’t.

We’re always keen to recruit new repairers to keep up with rising demand so if you’re good at fixing things, whether electrical items, sharpening tools, sewing zips or other more specialist items please do contact us at repaircafe@hkdtransition.org.uk.

The Hassocks Village Market moves to Age Concern's car park from Jan 2023

From January 2023, Hassocks Village Market will be at a new site.

For twenty years, the market has been a familiar sight every month on the forecourt of National Tyres Centre, but now it is moving! Market Manager, Catriona Hawksley says: “A big thank you to the National Tyres Centre for hosting us. We’ve had lots of different managers and staff, and they’ve always been very supportive.” Catriona explains: “For a while, there’s been a lot of uncertainty about the market’s site because it might be developed at some point, so we’ve been on the look-out for somewhere new.”
She continues: “We’ve had lots of friendly talks with local charity, Age Concern, and we’re really excited to be moving the market to the Age Concern car park.”

The new site will have more space which will enable the market to include more stalls. But that’s not the only advantage! Catriona says: “The new site will be less noisy because it’s away from the road, making it a more pleasant and sociable shopping experience, more conducive to people meeting and chatting with friends.” All the usual stalls will be there: look out for fresh vegetables, meat, a bakery, cheese, beer, cakes, chocolate, plants, chutneys and jams, Middle-Eastern inspired foods and salads, Rushfield’s pies and sausage rolls, homemade soaps and natural cosmetics.

“We are hoping there will be more craft stalls too, such as jewellery and homemade candles,” adds Catriona. This is very much a local market. “Many of our stallholders live or produce their goods in Hassocks, while others are from nearby villages or towns.”

Local charity, Age Concern, will have their shop open and they will have their own stall. Market visitors will also be able to purchase hot drinks and light refreshments from their café.

The first Hassocks Village Market at the new site will be on 28th January from 9am to 12.30pm and thereafter on the 4th Saturday of the month, as usual. Why not go along and show your support?