Sussex village’s special tribute to our NHS heroes

Every Thursday evening when households all over the country take part in the Clap for Carers campaign, the village of Crawley Down goes one step further.

The village’s green is illuminated with blue floodlights as a special tribute to health workers.

It’s the brainchild of Crawley Down resident Dan Terry, who works as head of technical services at Creative Spark Services. He approached Worth Parish Council, which owns the green, offering to install the lights free of charge.

Dan said: “Our main business is providing technical services for events and weddings and with the current situation we have found ourselves with a warehouse full of equipment not being used.

“We wanted to do something more to show our appreciation for the amazing NHS staff and frontline workers and thought we could put some the kit to good use.

“There is a great spirit in the village, supporting the NHS and this was an easy way for us to help show all of our appreciation for these brave people.”

Councillors thought Dan’s initiative an excellent idea and Dan and his team were out on Thursday installing the lights in time for the 8pm applause.

Council chairman Elaine Anscomb said that the council was delighted to accept Creative Spark’s offer.

“The blue lights show that all residents of the village are appreciative and very mindful of the personal sacrifices that many NHS workers and other health professionals are making during the coronavirus pandemic.”

The lights will be on every evening.

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.