Small Grants 2026
The application form for small grants is now available on this website. Deadline for applications 31st May 2026. For the form and policy, see here:
CHAILEY REPAIR CAFÉ – BUSIER THAN EVER !!!!
Despite our temporary move back to the village hall while the church floor is being repaired and the challenging weather in January, Chailey Repair Café has hit the ground running, with a busy start to 2026. The stormy weather didn’t deter folks from bringing in a huge range of repairs to tackle and we are bracing ourselves for whatever you throw at us next! (and the weather improving, hopefully!)
We are now in our 8th year and in that time have seen an amazing variety of items brought to us for repair. East Sussex is clearly a county of toast eaters, as we’ve had a large number of toasters in recently! Don’t leave it too late to bring us your bikes as we get ready for what we hope is going to be a decent spring. The same applies to those garden tools which have been loitering in your shed over the winter – we can sharpen them and get those mowers and strimmers to work much better than they did when you put them away!!
We have an IT team who will not only get your laptop or iPad working properly again but will also spend time showing you how to use it if you’ve got stuck. It’s all in a day’s work for this successful local initiative which has gone from strength to strength since we opened our doors for the first time in 2018.
Our 2026 dates are easy to remember – we are normally open every 2nd Saturday of each month between 10am – 1pm. Our new posters and flyers with all our new dates are now available at the Café, so you won’t forget!
Chailey Repair Café is part of a world-wide movement where volunteer experts repair things free of charge – although a donation towards running costs is invited. Anyone can bring along broken items or clothing needing repair from home, and have a cuppa and a cake while they wait.
You’ll find us at Chailey Village Hall (next to the Five Bells) on the A275 normally on the second Saturday of each month (14 Feb, 14 Mar, 11 April, 9 May and so on….) between 1000hrs and 1300hrs where we have a full Café service including our legendary cakes!
Contact us at chaileyrc@gmail.com and we’ll see what we can do to help.
See you very soon!!
Bryan McAlley and the Chailey Repair Café team
Bus Service Improvement Plan
Following the cessation of BSIP supported fares, fares on our demand responsive transport (DRT) service are changing from Monday 2nd February.
In line with many other services, the standard fare will be the £3 national fare cap. Child fares remain and concessionary passes continue to be accepted. All of these single fares can be selected in the RidePingo booking app.
A range of other operator day tickets can be used on Flexibus. This helps passengers to connect to other services where needed without having to worry about buying another ticket.
A Flexibus family ticket only for use on Flexibus has been introduced for £14.
For more information on Flexibus fares and tickets, please click ‘Fares and tickets’ on the Flexibus web pages Flexibus – bookable rideshare | East Sussex County Council
Tourism contributed over £4 billion to Sussex economy in 2024
New research from Experience Sussex shows that tourism made a significant contribution to the East and West Sussex economy in 2024. According to the report, 50.6 million visitor trips generated more than £4.06 billion for the region (excluding Brighton & Hove). The report also notes a 21% increase in overseas visitors staying in Sussex compared with 2023.
Experience Sussex provides free marketing, training, networking and funding guidance for businesses operating in the visitor economy. The programme is co‑funded by East and West Sussex County Councils and works in partnership with Visit England, Visit Britain and Visit Brighton, aiming to strengthen the attraction of high spending visitors to the area.
Further information is available at Sussex Visitor Economy Resources & Toolkits.
The full report can be found here.
Bus Service Improvement Plan Update
Since August 2022, our Bus Service Improvement Plan has helped thousands of East Sussex residents by delivering a wide range of enhancements to local bus services, including:
- Scannable QR plates at every bus stop, for easy access to live bus times.
- Traffic light priority at 29 junctions to help support reliable journeys.
- Over 100 new real time information boards to help you on your journey
- Upgraded bus stop infrastructure, including high quality bus shelters and improvements at Uckfield Bus Station and Hailsham High Street.
- The introduction of Flexibus, our on-demand bus service covering over 90% of the county, now providing over 800 journeys a week.
- Affordable travel options. From £1 short hops to reduced youth fares, these have made a real difference.
As our current BSIP funding comes to an end, the fare reductions will conclude on 1 February. The £3 national single fare cap will continue until March 2027, helping keep journeys affordable.
The Freedom Weekly Ticket, which provides unlimited travel for under 19s on all bus services in East Sussex, will change later to align with half term.
From Monday 16 February the cost of this ticket will increase to £20 for seven days of unlimited travel.
Thank you to everyone who has supported and benefited from our BSIP initiatives. Your feedback and ridership have helped shape better, more reliable services across the county.
For further information on BSIP, Flexibus or changes to fares, please visit the ESCC website: https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/roads-transport/public/bus-service-improvement-plan
IMPORTANT ROADWORKS INFORMATION
IMPORTANT ROADWORKS INFORMATION 14 January 2026
Blackbrook Lane, North Chailey
Balfour Beatty is working in partnership with East Sussex County Council to manage the highways service across East Sussex. As part of this, we will be carrying out repairs to the bridge on Blackbrook Lane, North Chailey, to improve overall safety to road users and pedestrians.
Works will take place from Monday 2 February to Friday 27 February 2026 between 8am – 4:30pm. We will inform you of any changes to the dates or times via advanced warning signs on site.
What does the work involve?
We will be repairing the brickwork parapet of the bridge to match the existing infrastructure. We will also be replacing the fencing at all four corners of the bridge.
How will this impact highway users?
We will be working at the bridge along Blackbrook Lane which crosses the Pellingford Brook watercourse.
Access will be restricted to residents while we are working, with traffic diverted via Hunt’s Gate, Butterbox Lane, Nash Lane, the A272, the A275, Warrs Hill Road and vice versa.
Information for residents and businesses
Parking: If required, we will put out ‘no parking’ signs and cones on the site to advise where parking is restricted. Please avoid parking in these locations as it will delay our works.
Weather: All of these works are subject to favourable weather conditions, for example heavy rain may affect the progress of the works.
Public Transport: Local bus services have been informed of these works and will be diverted.
Waste collection: Access will be granted for any waste collection.
Properties close to the carriageway may experience a temporary disturbance as this can be a noisy process and those properties may experience flashing lights and reversing sirens.
We would like to take this opportunity to apologise in advance for any inconvenience or disruption this work may cause, however this forms part of our continuing improvement for the East Sussex highway network. Should you have any concerns regarding these works, you can contact us at eshcomms@balfourbeatty.com.
For information on roadworks and journey planning, visit www.One.Network.com. Please follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @esccroads or Facebook @EastSussexHighways for updates. If you would like to know more about East Sussex Highways and what we do, please visit our website www.eastsussexhighways.com.
Thank you,
East Sussex Highways
Chailey Commons Society – Forthcoming Events
Join us for some Winter Work tasks January to March 2026 10am -12.30.
Bring your own flask. Biscuit break.
We will be using hand tools including birch poppers, targeting areas of particular habitat value or which are not suitable for machinery due to the terrain.
Friday January 16th
Thursday January 22nd
Friday January 30th
Thursday February 5th
Friday February 20th
Thursday February 26th
Friday March 6th
Thursday March 19th
- Meet at the car park on Red House Common unless otherwise listed.
- Tools will be provided but please bring gloves if you have them
- If you have not registered as a volunteer with East Sussex please let us know and we can email you a form.
It would be helpful if you could reply to the folloiwng email address if you plan to join us for any of the dates mail@chaileycommons.org.uk
Chailey Commons Society – Forthcoming Events
A Happy New Year to you and Best Wishes for 2026.
A reminder of our Indoor Meeting on Thursday January 8th. A Talk by Sacha Turnbull – Walking and Painting on Chailey Commons – Chailey Village Hall 7.30pm. Parking and refreshments; visitors welcome.
Birch harvesting for Besom Brooms
Join us for birch cutting for besom brooms on Sunday 11th January 9.30am to 1pm.
Hot drink and biscuit break- please bring a mug. Bring gloves if you have them.
- Meet at Red House Common car park.
- If you have not yet registered as a volunteer with East Sussex County Council please let us know and we can email you a form.
- Please reply to members@chaileycommons.org.uk if you plan to join us.
CHAILEY REPAIR CAFÉ – WE ARE ON THE MOVE!!!
Happy New Year everybody! We start 2026 with some important news….
St Peter’s Church is closing due to urgent repairs to the floor being refurbished from January onwards. Chailey Repair Café is moving back to Chailey Village Hall, (next to the Five Bells just 500 yards down the road from the Church) from 10th January until the work in the church is completed, when we will look forward to returning to the Church.
2025 was an outstanding year for the Repair Café – we tackled 736 of your repairs, 77% successfully, many of those on the day. Although we will always do our best to fix your item while you wait (we don’t offer a drop off service) sometimes the repair is just too complicated. When that happens, it is possible that the volunteer will offer to take your item home to complete as a private arrangement outside the Repair Café – but please note that is not always possible..
Our most popular service was sharpening, followed by repairs to lamps, clocks, zips and radios.
And the strangest things we tackled? A hoverboard, a trimphone and a tiara! Oh and numerous stuffed animals including a dog, moth, pig, reindeer, squirrel, unicorn, furby, cuckoo, owl and monkey – we see all sorts at the Repair Café!!
Our 2026 dates are easy to remember – we are normally open every 2nd Saturday of each month between 10am – 1pm. Our new 2026 posters and flyers with all this year’s dates are now available at the Café, so you won’t forget!
Chailey Repair Café is part of a world-wide movement where volunteer experts repair things free of charge – although a donation towards running costs is invited. Anyone can bring along broken items or clothing needing repair from home, and have a cuppa and a cake while they wait!
You’ll find us at Chailey Village Hall on the A275 next to the Five Bells pub normally on the second Saturday of each month (10th Jan, 14th Feb, 14th March and so on….) between 1000hrs and 1300hrs where we have a full Café service including our legendary cakes!
Contact us at chaileyrc@gmail.com and we’ll see what we can do to help.
See you very soon and a very Happy New Year from all of us here at Chailey Repair Café!!
Bryan McAlley and the Chailey Repair Café team
Cabinet Green Light for next Lewes District Local Plan Consultation
Earlier this month, we advised that Cabinet Councillors at Lewes District Council would be convening on the 11th December 2025 to approve the fourth public consultation regarding the draft Lewes Local Plan. The Plan was approved and is now open for public consultation.
The Plan represents a significant advancement in establishing the future development strategy for the district.
Local plans are based on evidence, with data collected to determine where new developments—such as housing, employment spaces, and community facilities—are suitable and where they are not.
According to the government’s formula for assessing housing needs, the district must plan for approximately 15,000 homes throughout the plan period, which concludes in 2042, for its designated area.
Nevertheless, the Council’s spatial strategy can only identify a housing need of around 8,570 new homes during this timeframe. This estimate is grounded in evidence and takes into account the limitations affecting the local plan area, including its borders with the South Downs National Park and the coastline.
It is vital that as many residents as possible take part in the consultation. A strong response is important because when the Plan is examined by the Planning Inspector, the level of community engagement and public support will be a key consideration.
The consultation period is active up to the 28th February 2026. To find out more about the Local Plan, please visit https://planningpolicyconsult.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/LP_SpatialStrategyandSites
