According to A4e's own website, 'the A4e Brighton Pathways Programme supports people in Brighton…read morewho have been on Disability Allowance to get back into sustainable employment and works on initiatives to Improve Peoples Lives'. Despite some controversies surrounding their involvement with the government's New Deal program (you can see some funny takes on this here http://a4ephotogallery.blogspot.com/) , my experiences with A4e have been almost entirely positive. I am currently setting up my own business and the staff have not only been incredibly helpful, but have also directed me towards other organisations which are helping me with my endeavours. In the past I have been in touch with several other organisations which share the same or similar objectives as A4e, but in terms of friendliness or usefulness of the help received, I rate A4e above any of the others. You can tell that the employees enjoy working here, which for me is very important. I am also a client of another organisation and have found it quite frustrating that two of the employees which I was working with suddenly left the company so that I was assigned to someone else. At A4e I have been spared that kind of disappointment. Currently I am waiting to be assigned a business mentor by another organisation. I was initially told that it would take 2-3 weeks, but after a month I am still waiting because the Criminal Record Checks for that peson are still being processed (a slow procedure in this country!). Because of the delays I would have wished for some extra support by A4e, but the appointments with them are spaced relatively far apart my only criticism, because it means that I am currently left to my own devices. However they have provided me with so much information for new business starters, that I should now be able to work on most of the issues myself.

Having been involved with Brighton's voluntary and charity sector for some years, I've found that…read morethe CVSF are something of a glue organisation that binds many and disparate charitable local organisations together. They organise regular training sessions, sharing events and offer a vital newsletter so you know what's going on in the third secor in Brighton and Hove

I wouldn't usually trust an estate agent further than I could throw them…read more When I was looking for an abode a few years ago however, Austin Gray showed me round a handful of houses and were discreet, friendly and professional. When I mentioned a house had just come up on the street I now live on, the women told me it was a great street and property didn't come up very often on it. The fact it was a rival estate agent didn't deter her from advising us to go and see it and if we liked it, snap it up pronto. We did and she was right! So thanks AG for restoring a lil' of my faith in pushers and dealers...

This court deals with divorces, adoptions and many more services. The building has access for…read moredisabled with parking facilities for them. There is disabled toilet facilities as well. The court offers free interview room for client to privately talk with their barrister. There are drink & snack vending machines to keep one from being bored. The building is in an area where shops and food venues can be accessed easily. Children can be taken to the court but not supervised by staff. Children must be with an adult at all times. There is one childrens room. It must be noted that court staff cannot give legal advice.

Long before the council introduced the black boxes you see everywhere for recycling Magpie were…read morebusy championing the cause from Lewes road. You would regularly see their converted milk floats and other random vehicles trundling through the city. They offer residential, commercial recycling collection and also have various refurb stores for furniture and computers etc. You will have to pay for quarterly collection, but you will be ticking all the moral 'boxes' by doing so. All their vehicles are electric and they also will collect on a weekly basis (opposed to the fortnightly council box). They will also collect any garden waste for composting for a reasonable fee and their full list of services may be seen on the website. A stella idea that takes recycling to a higher level by including resale, non polluting vehicles and campaigns to spread the word.

Just by Brighton Station, in the same building as the Peace and Environment Centre the Green MP for…read moreBrighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas keeps an office and sometimes holds surgeries for constituents. Lucas won the seat in the 2010 general election to become (so far) Britain's only Green MP. She's a regular on BBC Question Time and other political shows.

Great venue situated in the middle of Shoreham. Has been going for years. You can do most things…read morehere in a communal spirit. Give blood, receptions, parties, learn, teach any others. Venue hire rates aren't bad at all. The bar has to finish by 11.30pm and all out by 00.30. Pretty good as Community Centres go.

The Shoreham Centre is a community centre in a back road of Shoreham-by-Sea, a short bus or train…read moreride from Brighton. It consists of one large room with a stage, lighting rig and sound capabilities, two smaller function rooms, (all three of these with licensed bars), and five smaller rooms, all available for hire. Prices vary dependent on the length and type of event and how many will be attending, but if you're not fussy about the premises you rehearse in or use as a classroom this could be an excellent cheap way to hire space at less than the Brighton premium. The centre also offers a programme of weekly events, but with the exception of the Wednesday and Sunday markets and perhaps the Postcard Collectors' Fair they all appear to be aimed at stay-at-home mums, the elderly or children. The centre has the instantly memorable smell and ambience of the community hall, and is unfortunately decorated in a dark yellow and grey colour combination, occasionally livened up with a splash of brown - this is the paintwork equivalent of the atmosphere, which can appear rather forbidding to the non-local. However, if you have a penchant for local watercolour exhibitions or unspeakably abysmal amateur dramatics, this is the place to come.

Well maintained car park that sits right on the edge of the main shopping centreso good that you…read morecan just manage to exit right on the boundary so you don't need to go right round the system. Very useful. Not a multi-storeyall at ground level. Entrance is easy from Butts Rd end and prices are not too bad. 50p = first hour, £1.00 for twoup to 2.50 for four hours. Free parking on Sundays and after 1800 hrs every day. On entry, keep an eye out to your left as there are often spaces that other drivers don't see, and so much closer to the shops, (as Lyn says)!!!