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BUSINESS MINISTER TO PAY VISIT TO ENTERPRISING BRIGHTON ACADEMY

Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk is due to visit a Brighton school on Thursday. Mr Prisk, the Conservative MP for Hertford and Stortford, has been invited to the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy in Falmer.

He will meet staff and students at the academy as well as principal Philomena Hogg and Aldridge Foundation chief executive Honor Wilson-Fletcher. The foundation sponsors the £28 million academy which specialises in entrepreneurship.
Mr Prisk is to be given a tour of the newly opened building including the “Brighton Creates” business centre, which is at the heart of the academy. His tour comes shortly after Honor Wilson-Fletcher spoke on ‘Wake Up To Money’ on BBC Radio Five Live and the Today programme on Radio Four, criticising the Young Apprentice.

She said: “Many parents hear words like entrepreneurial and risk and don’t know how to help children develop these qualities. Unfortunately programmes such as Young Apprentice or Dragons’ Den may give the impression that successful entrepreneurs are ruthless wheeler-dealers, simply in it for personal enrichment, and with little desire to work as a team, when the reality is quite different.”

ROPETACKLE TRUSTEES SAY THANKS AFTER RAISING £20K TO SAVE VENUE

Weeks after appealing for £20,000 to keep the Ropetackle Arts Centre open in Shoreham, the trustees have raised the money. Hundreds of people made a donation or attended a fundraising event, culminating in the Save Ropetackle All Dayer, with live performances from several Sussex acts.

Ropetackle chairman Martin Allan said: “We are extremely grateful to everyone who donated to the Save Ropetackle fund or attended fundraising events. To have been gifted £20,000 in the current financial climate is nothing short of astonishing. We are hugely grateful to everyone who has helped us.”

Mr Allan paid a particular tribute to John Baine, also known as Attila the Stockbroker. He was instrumental in organising the Save Ropetackle All Dayer as the finale to the arts centre’s fundraising efforts. He added that the Ropetackle was secure for this financial year and was working on a review of its finances with Adur Council.

BRIGHTON PROPERTY TYCOON TO STAR AS TELEVISION’S SECRET MILLIONAIRE

Self-made businessman Mike Holland is the Secret Millionaire in the episode to be shown on Sunday (4 December). The Brighton-based property tycoon is transported to Grimsby where the organisations that he works with help him deal with tragedy from his own family past.

Mr Holland, who restored Stanmer House and owns the British Engineerium in Hove, was amazed by how charities ran on just a shoestring and said: “I was very impressed with the resourcefulness of the people involved in organising and running the various charities that I discovered in the Grimsby area.

“It made me realise that while it is extremely difficult for charities in Southern England to make ends meet and survive, at least we have businesses here we can approach for funds. Some areas in the North East did not look as though there was any money, anywhere, to ask for.

“Despite the difficulties, through sheer determination some of these organisations manage to survive and I am full of admiration for the individuals concerned. People such as these are the real backbone of our country and give best value for money. This needs to be realised by government because if cuts are to be made anywhere, only a fool would apply those cuts to the voluntary sector.”

Andrew Kay remembers Peter Burton, writer, journalist and publisher

It came as a great shock to hear of the recent and unexpected death of writer and journalist Peter Burton.
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