Burgess Hill Celebrates St George’s Day 2023

Burgess Hill Town Council celebrated St George’s Day with two events this year, catering for a mix of residents in Burgess Hill!

St George’s Senior Citizens’ Tea Party – 20 April
Held at the King’s Weald Community Centre, the tea party was free for senior citizens in Burgess Hill to attend. Funded by the Town Council, with a donation from Burgess Hill and District Rotary, 60 residents enjoyed tea and scones, whilst listening to the fabulous voice of local singer Clare Jarvis. Reminiscence boxes were available for attendees to view, with each box containing items from a different past decade – they were a great conversation starter! These boxes are available to borrow, free of charge, from West Sussex Libraries and are well worth checking out!

Two special guests were invited to attend the Tea Party. Colin and Sandra, who appeared in the Queen’s Coronation video of 1953, were invited to be part of a ‘then and now’ photo in preparation for Burgess Hill’s Coronation celebrations!
Great feedback was received from all attendees, with many commenting that they enjoyed the chance to get out the house, and meet new friends.

Thanks goes to Burgess Hill and District Rotary for their donation towards the Tea party, and to the mayor for his help on the day.

St George’s Day Celebrations – 22 April
On Saturday 22 April, Church Walk was abuzz with an assortment of community groups and commercial providers running stalls in the town centre. Free family activities, funded by the Town Council, were available for everyone to enjoy.

Bintems Crazy Golf set up in the stone garden, with their mini golf course quickly becoming a firm favourite with children and adults alike! The fabulous WishWorks entertained visitors with their amazing ‘jousting’. Wearing handmade, willow-framed, paper horses, participants had great fun hitting each other with soggy sponges to win their round! They also brought along their own dragon puppet, who paraded through the town centre, chased by St George himself. Rounding off the entertainment, an eye-catching ‘living’ statue of Britannia was supplied by Statuepeople, wowing the children – and even some of the adults!

Burgess Hill Bonfire Society ran their ever-popular bottle tombola, Burgess Hill and District Lions made free balloon models, and Central Sussex Rotary offered free fruit, and sunflower seed planting. Burgess Hill Youth offered free children’s crafts, whilst Escape Youth Club, U3A, and Girlguiding Burgess Hill all had stalls in Church Walk raising funds and their profiles. Burgess Hill Artists held an exhibition in the Help Point and even set up outside, sketching the activities of the day!

Burgess Hill Library offered free dragon crafts to children and St John’s Church held an ‘Open Church’ event with a performance by harpist, Fiona Hosford. The day had a great atmosphere, with many smiling faces enjoying all the activities in the sunshine!