Newsletters Eastbourne Cultural Communities Network, Units 4 & 7, Cavendish Business Centre, 86a Cavendish Place, Eastbourne, BN21 3RR Registered Charity No: 1115365 Latest News Toddler Dancing Our Monday afternoon Toddler Dancing sessions have now stopped for the Summer. We’d like to thank all the kids and families who have joined in the fun over the months and we’ll be introducing new activities later in the year. We’ll let you know when we have further details. In the meantime, you can help us evaluate and potentially improve these sessions by completing and returning this short questionnaire, thanks! Partnership News ECCN’s Student Graduation gets a mention in the July edition of Eastbourne Crime Reduction Partnership’s newsletter. Check it out here  to find out about the 999 Event and news updates. WRVS Heritage Project The second project working in partnership with the WRVS Heritage Project and Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation has now come to an end.  This year it was based on “our place of worship” – where we pray, why we do so, what it means to us and where we have all come from i.e. different parts of the country or from other countries. Several members took part and had trips to Eastbourne Library for research purposes and a visit to Langney Cemetery’s Jewish section, which provided information about the oldest families in the town.  On one of the sessions Philip Kiberd from Anglo-Jewish Trails, who are based in Oxford, came and spoke about the work they are doing and expressed an interest in developing the work already done on this project.  On a trip to East Sussex Records Office in Lewes, our group were treated to a tour of the building which included the restoration room and the archive area which contained many ancient documents and books. It gave them an insight into how records are kept and how ancestors can be traced.  Anyone can visit for a fascinating look. For more information please contact the Outreach and Learning Officer, Isilda Almeida-Harvey  on  01273 3363315 or email Isilda.almeida-harvey@eastsussex.gov.uk Crafty Kids We’d like to offer a big “Thank You” to our friends at The Towner for helping stage the Crafty Kids workshops on Saturday 24th April as part of Eastbourne Festival. The event gave kids the chance to participate in arts and crafts activities inspired by the exhibitions on show at Towner Gallery. Incidentally, The Towner is currently in the running for The Art Fund Prize 2010. For information on the competition and to vote for your local gallery, visit www.artfundprize.org.uk/2010/vote/ Learn to Blog Are you interested in starting a blog but aren’t sure how to go about it? Why not give our good friend Lin a call on 01323 431770 and she can help you out. To view a sample of what you can do - Eastbourne’s Blog Annual General Meeting 2010 If you would like to find out more about ECCN or get involved as a committee member or volunteer helper, our AGM will be held at our offices on Saturday at 11.30am on 23rd January 2010. Everyone is welcome to come and find out what we have in store for the coming months and how you can become more involved. New members and volunteers are always welcomed. Refreshments will be provided and we will be on hand to answer any questions that arise. Healthy Support from Primary Care Trust Thanks to the PCT Health Improvement Partnership, ECCN received a grant to encourage healthy eating to improve mental health and well being. ECCN Chair Urszula Tompsett said, " Our Toddler Dance and Activity group will benefit greatly from receiving information and will enjoy sampling the healthy snacks on offer." The sessions are being held at the Russell Centre, WRVS, Hyde Road in the town centre from 4pm to 5pm every Monday from 11th January to the end of February. The sessions will also feature a Polish Folk Dancing class by a qualified teacher. Cost is £1.50 per family. For more information please phone 01323 735772 Winter Party Thank you to everyone who came along to our Winter Party on Saturday 12th December. We had a lot of festive fun with food, games and Gingerbread decorating for the kids. We even had a very special visitor - Father Christmas - who managed to find time during his busiest period to pop in and distibute a few presents. Black History Month We’d like to thank everyone who joined in our Black History Month celebrations on 31st October. The event held at The Pier Hotel was the first official Black History Month event ever held in Eastbourne and we were thrilled to see so many people there. The day involved fantastic performances from Ratton School and our own ECADO drummers as well as a fashion show of ethnic clothing and streetwear curtesy of Marcy’s Crib. A variety of African food was generously supplied by guests and there were informative presentations on Black History and other cultural issues. Fire Station Funday The Eastbourne Crime Reduction Partnership have produced an article about our recent Fire Station Funday event click here to read.