Welcome to the Eastbourne Emergency Services Display 2008
We believe our 999
event in Sussex, which attracts over 30,000 people each year, is the
largest public display of the emergency services in the United Kingdom.
The purpose of the event is to promote partnerships between agencies and
regions, raise awareness and promote our services to the community,
educate and impart important community safety information and interact
with the community to hear their views on how we can better serve them.
The display is now over 20 years old and takes place on the Western
Lawns in Eastbourne, adjacent to the Seafront - a prime location in the
summer months.
The display is
supported by Eastbourne
Borough Council and displays are provided by the East Sussex Fire
and Rescue Service, Sussex Ambulance, Sussex Police,
Royal National
Lifeboat Institute, Coast Guard, East Sussex Road Safety, Search and
Rescue, and a variety of other supporting agencies. Throughout the two
days a number of events take place in the arena, including a Police Dog
demonstration, extinguishing kitchen fires and mock road crash scenes
demonstrating the emergency response. There are seaborne displays from
the RNLI and Coastguard and it is anticipated helicopters from the
Police, Coastguard search & rescue, and a fixed wing Coast Guard search
plane will fly by. Its not been confirmed but we may also be joined off
shore by a Royal Navy training ship, a Coast Guard patrol cutter, and a
Sussex Fisheries Protection cutter.
New For 2008 and
our head line attraction is The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment's
Parachute display Team, "The Tigers", who will be dropping into the
arena, smoke trailing, flags flying, performing several amazing
formations both in the air and under the parachute.
For the second year
running the Royal Naval Underwater Bomb Disposal Team will have some of
their diving and bomb disposal equipment on show together with an 18,000
litres divers tank. Joining them in the water will be Divers from
the Sussex Police Specialist Search Unit.
As part of our
innovative approach to the display we are inviting a contingent from the
French Gendarmerie Nationale based in the Calais Lille region to join us
this year. East Sussex has strong links with France and the county is
twinned with Essonne, whilst several of our towns and villages have twin
connections in France. We also have the international port of Newhaven
close by, just along the coast from Eastbourne. Newhaven has
ferry connections to the French north coast Dieppe with a new route to
Le Havre and is establishing strong partnership links with
Seine-Maritime. To increase the French feel of this aspect of the event
we have BrunoMart French Market coming for the
weekend.
This is now the
largest event of its kind in Sussex and possibly the UK, and its getting
bigger and better. This is an ideal opportunity to present the police
family together with the other emergency services, in a positive light;
to build up community and partnership links. To slow the public to get
up close and ask questions in a friendly, family atmosphere.
Many thanks for
supporting for this event.