Haywards Heath Town Day 2025

By David Tingley, editor

We used Haywards Heath Town Day to launch Haywards Heath Life on Saturday 13th September. After a morning of setup in what can only be described as horrendous weather - after 2pm, the sun came out consistently, and lots of people came out to see what was what - try the fun fair rides, speak to stallholders, buy gifts, connect with their community and listen to music and arts from the huge outdoor stage on Victoria Park.

Sophie, Ayesha and myself were delighted to be able to meet and greet many residents who were excited to learn of the a brand new ‘proper’ community magazine coming, just for Haywards Heath - Haywards Heath Life!

Myself and Toby also spent some time talking to stallholders and visitors to the day, for our social media channels - check out our Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/haywardsheathlife/

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Speaking after the event, Cllr Duncan Pascoe, the Mayor of Haywards Heath said:

“Town Day is always a special date in our calendar, but this year truly surpassed expectations. Seeing so many people come together to celebrate our wonderful community was incredible, and I’d like to thank everyone who contributed – from our performers and stallholders to our volunteers and visitors. Well done to the team at the Town Council for putting on such a brilliant day for all, despite the weather!”

Haywards Heath Town Council would like to say a huge thank you to our sponsors for the event, whom without the day would not have been possible without their generous support. Batchellor Monkhouse, Hayden Swan Opticians, The Orchards Shopping Centre and RBPM Direct brought the fun and festivities to life!

How many magazines are there in Haywards Heath? And which is the best one?

Well, at last count, we know about Haywards Heath Pages, RH Uncovered, plus we believe there’s Haywards Heath Handbook coming.

There are other, A4 format, magazines also, in the form of Sussex Living and Family Grapevine; a glossy lifestyle magazine and not about community interest stories, and a title geared specifically towards those with young families, respectively.

However, we know none of these will be like our new magazine (out in November 2025) – Haywards Heath Life.

Haywards Heath Life comes straight from the stable which produces truly beloved titles of Lindfield Life, Cuckfield Life, Hurst Life and Hassocks Life. We’ve been publishing community magazines for over 16 years! Our history working with community and parish councils is crucial to our magazines success. We DO NOT just put any old content on our pages and print it - we employ editors (from within the communities) to sniff out the best local news items and feature real people’s stories from the place. We work alongside councils to help them share its content to local residents. We feature stories from schools, charities, businesses and community action groups in all our magazines.

And that’s exactly what we are doing with Haywards Heath Life. We know how to produce a proper community magazine. The only thing which is different is that Haywards Heath Life will be a pick-up product - from 3rd November, there will be over 15 dispensers at high traffic areas of the town, where you can grab your free copy. This will get the magazines into the hands of a readership which truly wants to engage and find out more about the place where they live and work.

If you would like to advertise your business in Haywards Heath Life - find out more here.

Maybe you’d like to contribute content to Haywards Heath Life? Read more about that here.

Good Neighbours CARE looking for volunteers

Haywards Heath’s Mayor, Duncan Pascoe, recently spent a morning with volunteers from Good Neighbours CARE, meeting some of the charity’s Haywards Heath based clients.

The Mayor said: “I recently had the pleasure of joining volunteers of Good Neighbours CARE to understand what a normal day of volunteering looks like. For those who don’t know, Good Neighbours CARE is a local charity that offers a range of support for vulnerable people in our community that need it; this could be helping them with their shopping, giving them a lift to hospital appointments, or simply spending time with them to reduce loneliness. It’s the sort of support that is often unseen but makes an enormous difference to people’s lives. 

“During my day with the volunteers, I was humbled to witness their compassion and commitment to helping others. Some of the volunteers I spoke to have been supporting people in our community for several years and their impact has greatly improved the lives of the people supported. The best part is the volunteers are just like you and me, neighbours that want to look out for their neighbours.

“I’m grateful to the volunteers for allowing me to join them for the day and I learned that the volunteering opportunities at Good Neighbours CARE are highly flexible. For example, you could give just an hour a week to help a vulnerable person with their shopping and making a huge difference to their lives. Volunteering is an incredibly rewarding thing to do, so if you have any spare time, consider joining Good Neighbours CARE to start making a difference to your community.”

For over 40 years, Good Neighbours CARE has helped isolated and vulnerable residents in Haywards Heath and nearby villages. The charity shops with clients or shops for them, drives them to medical appointments and visits them for a cuppa at home.

If you want to know more, visit the charity’s website: www.careinhaywardsheath.co.uk

What and who is twinned with Haywards Heath?

By Liz Price, Haywards Heath Twinning Association

The keen-eyed residents may have noticed a recent addition to the Haywards Heath skyline in the form of a signpost which sits in the little garden opposite the Star pub and outside Zizzi Restaurant – showing the distances to Bondues and Traunstein. But why? You may well ask…

Behind all of this is the thriving Haywards Heath Twinning Association, membership of which is open and welcome to all residents of Haywards Heath and surrounding villages. The Twinning Association organises trips to and from Bondues and Traunstein and encourages links between clubs and societies in Haywards Heath and our twin towns of Bondues and Traunstein.

Only an hour’s drive from Calais and close to Lille, Bondues is a lively friendly community with a beautiful old town centre. Established in 1998 the twinning friendship with Bondues is very active and much cherished.

Traunstein and Haywards Heath have been proudly twinned since 1993. Traunstein is in the south-eastern part of Bavaria and is beautifully situated close to the Lake Chiemsee between Munich and Salzburg.

Anyone with children who’ve studied German at Oathall Community College will be aware of the town of Traunstein since Oathall has a regular school exchange with a school in Traunstein in Bavaria. This link has been in existence for many years and it’s from this link that the formal twinning between the towns of Haywards Heath and Traunstein came about 30 years ago. 

There are opportunities to visit for all members and this is a great way to improve language skills in French and German and meet new friends in France and Germany.  During the year The Twinning Association offers many language opportunities  including  Language Classes and groups and our very popular informal chats in local cafés in French and German, wordle groups, scrabble in French and a French Book Club. All these groups meet to progress language skills and share a common interest with friendly folk!

Since the demise of Adult Education in our area it’s difficult to find opportunities for language learning and practice and this is one of the many reasons the Association has become so popular.

With the approach of Christmas, it will  soon be time for our annual Christmas party with carols in French and German around the piano with Glühwein and seasonal food!

 If you’re someone who might be interested in joining us, we would love you to get in touch. Membership is just £10 per annum. You might also be someone involved in a local club or society interested in having links and possibly exchanges with a similar club or society in France or Germany.  Please do contact us at hhtwinners@gmail.com, or find us on Facebook.

Haywards Heath Town Mayor welcomes Haywards Heath Life

Duncan Pascoe

By Duncan Pascoe, Town Mayor of Haywards Heath

I’m thrilled to be featuring in, and pleased to endorse, the first issue of Haywards Heath Life! This new community magazine for our town will be packed with community news and events, as well as providing space to showcase our local businesses. For several years, residents of neighbouring villages Cuckfield and Lindfield have had the benefit of receiving a monthly community magazine like this one. So, it’s nice that finally Haywards Heath will get a magazine that’s all about us!

This new publication looks to celebrate everything that makes our town unique: from local heroes, hidden gems, community events, businesses, history, and the everyday stories of the people that make our town great. My hope is that this magazine will foster a greater sense of connection between residents and offer ways for people to feel more involved in our community. Whether you’ve lived here your whole life or just moved in, I’m sure Haywards Heath Life will be a fantastic source for what’s going on in and around our community.

I’m grateful to David and his team for pulling this together and I am excited to see how it grows!