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Kreepy Kemptown ghost walk returns for fifth season

Kreepy Kemptown Ghost Walks return for a fifth season of scary stories and eerie locations on Saturday, February 13.

Adrian J Andrews
Adrian J Andrews

Described recently as “The best value for money of all the tours in the city”, The Ghost Walk starts at 7.30pm every Saturday night from The Marine Tavern in Broad Street, Kemptown.

Adrian opens the box office in the bar at 7pm and is available to answer any questions or sell you a selection of spooky gifts at pocket-money prices.

Until he started the tours, Kemp Town’s haunted history was somewhat neglected. If anyone wanted an evening of chilled spines they would have to turn to Brighton’s most famous tour, Ghost Walk of the Lanes.

But Brighton’s East End has an equally macabre past resulting in many sudden deaths, which according to Adrian is how ghosts are created.

“Some don’t realise they are dead, some have lived a rather dubious life and are afraid of what awaits them on “the Other Side” so choose not to cross and some don’t know what to do next as they are completely unprepared.” he said.

Since February 2012 when he began the tours, Adrian has gone from being an actor creating work for himself to a fully fledged Paranormal Investigator.

Not a day now passes without him studying the subject and after producing a tribute to Antix Productions’ popular Most Haunted in Worthing three years ago, he and his team were offered a television show of their own.

He continued: “It was originally branded “The Unrested” and I had already done a couple of location shoots when it was put on hold. I am told by the Production company behind it that we will resume this year with a new title to the show.”

Adrian recently staged another tribute to this iconic show at The Marine Tavern.

He added: “It was an amazing night. We had a small group of people who had never experienced either investigations of this kind or séances and came along neither believing nor disbelieving.

“Lee Cockshott the ‘Guvnor’ gave us complete access to all areas of the building and we found some entities that were not documented previously. Half way through the night one of our group was twice attacked in front of the whole group by a man from the 1920s. I stepped in and challenged it to attack ME, but of course the guy is as much a coward in death as he was in life and prefers to victimise women. Some sceptical opinions were certainly swayed by the end of the night.”

Adrian now also hosts a web series which explains aspects of the Paranormal in easy to follow steps (“DEAD but NOT FORGOTTEN”) and he was the first Ghost Hunter in many years to investigate The Royal York Hotel on Old Steine, just before it opened as a youth hostel in 2015.

He is now working on enhancing his Clairsentient abilities, hopes to train as a Medium and regularly answers enquiries about all things Ghostly via his Kreepy Kemptown Ghost Walks Facebook Page.

Nowadays, Adrian includes some of his own experiences of Kemp Town’s dead residents on the tour, so be prepared for the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end long into your Saturday night!

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PREVIEW: LGBT History Month events at Worthing Library

Al Brookes, author of The Gift of Looking Closely will be presenting two friendly, safe, supportive workshops at Worthing Library during LGBT History Month.

LGBT History Month in Worthing

The workshops will explore ideas around belief, and discover new ways to imagine and express ourselves.

Al Brookes
Al Brookes

“As LGBT people, we know only too well how the beliefs of others – and our own internalised beliefs – can impact our lives.”

There will be an opportunity for participants to share what they write at a public reading in the library on Saturday, February 20.

The workshops are suitable for anyone who identifies as LGBT and wants to write.


Event: LGBT Creative Writing Workshop: Beyond Belief

Where: Worthing Library, Richmond Road, BN11 1HD:  Tel: 01903 704809

When: Tuesday February 9 and Tuesday February 16

Time: 7pm

Cost: Free tickets available from the library (places limited)


 

LGBT History Month: Worthing

Pressure mounts to offer PrEP on NHS

WEB.300Central North West London (CNWL), NHS Foundation Trust add their voice to calls for once-a-day drug to prevent HIV infection be offered on the NHS.

The drug, Truvada, is pre-exposure prophylaxis medication (PrEP) which prevents new infections by killing the virus before it has a chance to take hold in the body.

Truvada

Dr Mags Portman, CNWL Sexual Health and HIV Consultant, said: “Staff at CNWL have been advocating for PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV) since the PROUD study results were published earlier this year.

“This UK study recruited HIV negative men, including gay men and men who have sex with men, as well as transgender women, who had sex without condoms in the preceding three months. It showed that taking a daily pill called Truvada reduced the risk of becoming infected with HIV by 86%.

“It’s great to see a further study published in the Lancet today showing that PrEP, along with expansion of other HIV prevention strategies, could have a significant impact upon new HIV infections in men who have sex with men.”

Dr Laura Walters
Dr Laura Walters

Dr Laura Waters, CNWL HIV Consultant, added: “It is really exciting to have further evidence on how PrEP can be an important addition to current HIV prevention strategies”.

PrEP is not currently available on the NHS; NHS England will make a decision about whether to fund Truvada for use as PrEP in June 2016.

Dr Portman, continued: “In the meantime, we are aware that people at risk of HIV are accessing PrEP in different ways, including obtaining generic (non-brand) versions cheaply online. We cannot fully endorse this, because drugs bought online may not have gone through the same safety processes as generic drugs used for other conditions on the NHS but at Mortimer Market our HIV clinic in Central London we believe that we have a responsibility towards people who are buying PrEP online, to keep them as safe as possible and are happy to see people who need PrEP monitoring.”

System for planning school places “essentially broken” says Hove MP

Peter Kyle, MP for Hove and Portslade says system is essentially broken as deadline for school places passes.

Peter Kyle MP for Hove & Portslade
Peter Kyle MP for Hove & Portslade

New analysis published by the Labour Party reveals the Government’s approach to planning for school places across the country is failing.

To cope with pressure on places, in Sussex alone, more than 26,000 primary children are being accommodated in super-size classes.

Mr Kyle said: “It is clear that the Government’s approach is not working for parents and children across Sussex.  Soaring numbers of children in the area will continue to be crammed into ever-expanding classes, as the only option left for many schools. Some families applying today will go straight onto a waiting list with no offer of any school place.

“The current system for planning new places is essentially broken. It is time for a parent/student-focused solution which will drive up standards, and put the urgent need for sufficient good school places in Sussex first.”

He continued: “In their 2010 manifesto, the Conservative Party promised to create “small schools with smaller class sizes” and David Cameron has said “The more we can get class sizes down the better”. Yet in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, West Sussex the number of pupils in classes of size 31-35 taught by one teacher is 26,325. The number of pupils in classes of size 36+ taught by one teacher is 988 and the number of pupils in key stage 1 classes of size 31-35 taught by one teacher is 3742.”

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