Edition No. 17

Thursday, 22 October 2026

11 stories

Streets

The council is steam-cleaning old chewing gum off city centre pavements

Jet-washing couldn't shift years-old gum, so the overnight street cleaning crews now have a high-pressure, high-temperature steam cleaner.

The Labour-run council has added a high-pressure, high-temperature steam cleaner to its overnight street cleaning in Brighton city centre, to get rid of hardened chewing gum that jet-washing couldn’t shift. Keep Britain Tidy gave extra funding for it. The Argus first reported the story.

The machine softens the gum with heat and pressure so it comes away. Gum had held out against jet-washing and a deep clean known as “hubbing”.

City

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Health

Sussex's hospital trust is now a national centre of excellence for brain tumour care

University Hospitals Sussex, which runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital, was one of six UK centres given Tessa Jowell status last week.

Kemp TownUniversity Hospitals Sussex, the NHS trust that runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital, has been named a Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for brain tumour treatment, care and research. The Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission presented the award at the Royal Society in London on 14 October.

The trust was one of six neuro-oncology centres in the UK to get the status that week. It goes only to hospitals that meet the mission’s standards in a peer-led review. The trust says the six new designations mean two thirds of the…

Community

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Get together

Sussex Heart Charity starts a free support group for people with heart conditions

Heart to Heart meets in the Brighton area every six weeks or so. The next meeting, on Tuesday 27 October, has a talk on mental health.

The Sussex Heart Charity has started Heart to Heart, a free peer support group for anyone living with a heart condition and the people close to them. It meets in the Brighton area, and the next meeting is on Tuesday 27 October.

The charity says the meetings are informal, over a cuppa, with no pressure to talk about anything personal. Volunteers who have had heart conditions themselves come along, and a member of the cardiac rehabilitation team will usually be there too. Partners, carers, family and friends are welcome.

In brief

Culture

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Dance

Alina Cojocaru heads Ballet Nights at the Theatre Royal on 9 December

Two Paris Opera étoiles, a Martha Graham dancer and a live string quartet are on the bill too. It's one night only, with tickets from £30.

Ballet Nights, a mixed bill of ballet, contemporary dance and live music, comes back to Theatre Royal Brighton on Wednesday 9 December at 7.30pm. Alina Cojocaru, a former principal of The Royal Ballet, leads the line-up. The company’s spring show at the theatre sold out.

Rather than one full-length ballet, the evening is a run of short pieces with a host, Giles Pearson, introducing each one. Paul Marque and Bleuenn Battistoni, étoiles of the Paris Opera Ballet, dance the White Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake in the first…

In brief

Sea & Downs

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Lifeboat

Brighton lifeboat volunteer Chris Townley reaches 100 call-outs

He joined Brighton RNLI in 2021 having never set foot on a boat. The station is recruiting new crew now, and applications close on Sunday.

Chris Townley had never set foot on a boat when he joined Brighton RNLI in January 2021. He has now been out on 100 lifeboat call-outs from the station.

Over those 100 shouts he has helped 65 people and been part of crews credited with saving 12 lives. He started as a volunteer launch authority, the land-based role in command…

Food & Drink

Business