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Purple Reign!

• Letter from Lindsay

• We’ve Got Skills

• Around the Houses

• Spot Light On...Lindsay Hill– CEO

• Fundraising News

• Dates for your Diary & Meath 100

• Thank You

Purple Day Edition

The Meath delivered a spectacular Purple Day fundraising

and awareness campaign which saw buildings in Guildford,

Godalming and Cranleigh lit up purple in honour of

International Epilepsy Awareness Day (Purple Day).

Godalming’s landmark Pepperpot building and High Street

provided the perfect canvas for the Meath’s Purple Day

’Yarn Bomb’ which was beautifully adorned with 4,000

hand made hearts in honour of Purple Day.

Continued on pages 6-8.

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CEO, The Meath Epilepsy Charity

A Letter from Lindsay

Dear Reader

Spring is here! It’s always great to reach springtime with the promise of lighter evenings and warmer days. The Horticulture group’s purple tulips have sprung up and they team with the theme for March perfectly. I’m sure that you’ll have seen or heard about lots of Purple themed events and activities going on at the Meath and in the local community. It’s been a fantastic and high profile fundraising and awareness campaign and I do hope that you enjoy seeing the many purple pictures and features from our Purple Day antics. Purple Day has been a culmination of lots of hard work but has also shown a truly heartfelt and overwhelmingly supportive response from so many people in the local community, including the local media. The Meath Purple Heart Yarn Bomb which adorned the Pepperpot and High Street for a week, together with purple lit landmarks across Guildford and Godalming have really made an impact and we look forward to welcoming new supporters to the Meath as a result of it.

I hope you enjoy catching up on our (mostly purple) news and look forward to seeing you soon.

Kind regards

We’ve Got Skills!

The skills centre hosted a fun afternoon of Purple Day Activities. 55 residents enjoyed attending the

purple themed Quiz , Afternoon Tea and Dancing! The event was lots of fun for residents who enjoyed

dressing up in purple outfits for the special occasion. The Purple themed quiz was very popular as was

dancing to Purple Rain! Well done to the Meath Skills Centre Monday cookery group who made the

delicious purple cupcakes.

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Around the Houses

Singing in the (Purple) Rain

The ‘Backstage’ Meath Choir have been rehearsing a new set of set of songs including ‘Purple Rain’ which

fast became the Meath’s signature song for Purple Day. The group which is led by Phoebe Gaydon and

supported by singers from Guildford and Godalming Jazz Choir along with Meath staff and volunteers

have truly gone from strength to strength.

The fundraising department has assisted with the co-ordination of two informal community singing

activities during March. Pupils from St Hilary’s School Choir practised Phoebe Gaydon’s new

arrangement of ‘Purple Rain’ and joined the Meath Choir for a morning of joint singing and performance

in the skills centre. Mr Wade, Head of Singing at St Hillary’s School commented that the pupils had really

enjoyed the activity and that they would love another opportunity to work with the people we support in

the future. Backstage of course welcomes the chance to work with St Hillary’s again and had a great time

singing with the school choir!

During the week of Purple Day the Meath

choir surprised customers at Waitrose

Godalming with their wonderful Purple Day

set. Thanks to Waitrose Godalming for

allowing us to sing in store and fundraise

for the Meath, we raised over £200 in store

but also helped to keep the Meath and

epilepsy in the hearts and minds of the

local community.

Photo by Ian Lee.

We Minglers!

‘Minglers’ Social Evenings are now a firm favourite in

many Meath resident’s diaries. The group’s co-ordinators,

Jo and Kay, have hosted two great social evenings during

March. Residents enjoyed a quiz evening early in the

month and then, as Purple Day approached, the group got

crafty and made lots of purple felt hearts which were on

display as part of the Meath’s Purple Day Yarn Bomb

installation at the Pepperpot and High Street.

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Regan, resident at The Cottages, visited Eagle Radio’s news

team presenter Carol Musgrove with Helen Jackson,

Marketing Co-ordinator and Sinnan, Support Worker.

Regan and Helen’s interview about epilepsy and the

Meath’s awareness and fundraising campaign for Purple

Day has been aired on the radio station which broadcasts

to 250,000 listeners across Surrey and Hampshire. Regan

spoke openly about her experience of living with epilepsy,

the challenges that it has presented and how living at the

Meath enables her to overcome these challenges and to

make the most of life. Giving a radio interview was a huge

Stop Press!

challenge for Regan, who, despite her nerves, gave listeners a great insight into her experiences. As

always Regan was fully supported by her caring support worker. Sinnan kindly drove Regan and Helen to

the radio station and was impressively skilled at keep Regan relaxed which ensured that the interview was

a really positive experience.

John & Regan Talk to the Surrey Advertiser

about Living with Epilepsy

Regan and John (also a resident at the Cottages) spoke to

the Surrey Advertiser’s Eleanor Fleming who included

their interview about living with complex epilepsy in a

double page feature on the Meath’s Purple Day

Campaign. Well done to John and Regan who did a

fantastic job of telling readers how the Meath supports

them through thick and thin.

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Cedar View Bakery!

You can always rely on Thursley to team with

the theme. Residents worked hard at creating

these pretty purple butterfly cupcakes. Mix the

winning combination of red and blue to make

purple proved tricky but Marjorie was pleased

as punch with the results. Many Meath resi-

dents use Makaton to communicate, like

Thursley’s cake icing, the sign for purple mixes

red and blue.

Cedar View residents love to bake and Support Worker and

Domestic Goddess Lisa is all too pleased to indulge in one of

her favourite hobbies with them! Pictured far left is Chris

having fun making cupcakes. Chris celebrated his Birthday last

month and had a tea party with his peers at Cedar View.

Pictured left: Molly and Louise proudly present their rolls and pastries.

Hocus Crocus!

The Meath was fortunate enough to have the

local famous ‘Compton Phone Box’ given a

purple make-over as part of our Purple Day

Campaign. When Helen Jackson, Marketing

Co-ordinator, was tasked with producing 200

faux purple crocuses as part of the phone box

decoration she knew she would need some

Meath Magic! With the kind help of the Skills

Centre Arts & Crafts Group and clients at

Cedar View, who were supported by Lisa, the

beautiful Purple flowers were ready in time

for the Purple Day Phone Box!

Full House for Hambledon Bingo Earlier in the month, (before turning every event

purple became mandatory), residents at

Hambledon enjoyed a relaxed evening of Bingo

together. The chance of winning is lots of fun

but nothing beats chatting with friends !

Purple Treats at Thursley

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Lindsay explained “I’m really proud to be surrounded by so many inspirational people who are willing to challenge themselves, learn, try new activities and who accept people as they find them.” Clearly Lindsay also doesn’t take for granted the fact that Meath staff “never cease to pull together and go the extra mile for the people we support, I’m extremely grateful for and proud of that”.

Recently two new Registered House Mangers have been appointed, Jo Axton and Tracy Toth. Lindsay explained that with the Registered House Mangers in place she is better positioned to focus on her next key projects which are to work smarter and make the charity’s financial position stronger. While focusing on these two key areas, Lindsay supports the Registered Managers to continue making improvements with residential care. Like most charities, the Meath is having to work proactively in order to attract funds. One of the main challenges that the Meath continues to face is that care package fees for residents who have been at the Meath for a number of years do not increase while the cost of living continues to rise. As well as putting an increased emphasis on fundraising, Lindsay and her team are addressing this issue by working towards having a full team of permanent support staff in place. Recruitment has been an increasing challenge, this is largely due to a rapidly increasing demand for 1:1 care. “We are in the process of filling Support Worker positions. While using agency staff has provided us with a short term solution to our developing needs, the use of permanent staff will better serve our need in the long-term”.

While Lindsay and her team at the Meath are busy making on-going improvements to current services, she also looks forward to launching an exciting new project in 2020. Having worked in care for many years, Lindsay is a passionate advocate for enabling people who live with complex epilepsy and disabilities to not only live as independently as possible but to embrace all that life has to offer. Lindsay will be launching a new apprenticeship scheme which will encourage and support Meath clients to take up volunteering and employment opportunities in the local community. The exciting new apprenticeship scheme promises to add another string to the Meath’s bow as it continues to support adults with complex epilepsy and associated disabilities to achieve their individual goals in life.

Spot Light On…Lindsay Hill, CEO

Lindsay Hill, Chief Executive Officer of the Meath took the

time to catch up with Meath Matters in order to give her take on what

makes the Meath such a special place. It’s clear from talking to Lindsay

that she is extremely proud of the people we support at the Meath. An

array of photos of Meath residents enjoying activities and accomplishing

challenges lines her office walls which, Lindsay explains, help her to keep

focused on what motivates her each and every day.

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Fundraising News

The Meath was the local charity on

everyone’s lips during the week of Purple Day! The

Purple Lit Buildings, Godalming High Street Yarn Bomb

and Compton Phone Box generated lots of interest on

social media, on the radio and in local press. We are

hugely grateful to Lightscapes Ltd for lighting shops in

Godalming and venues in Cranleigh and to Ian Lee for

lighting venues in Guildford, the Pepperpot and Changing

Perceptions. Thanks to the kind support of Compton

Village and their talented but secretive Phone Box

decorator, local people have enjoyed a drive by Purple

themed surprise in support of the Meath.

Pictured Right: The Meath team with supporters including The High Sheriff of Surrey, Jim Glover OBE, Mayor of Guildford, Mayor of Surrey Heath, Cllr. Dan Adams and Sarah Adams, Mayor of Godalming, Cllr. Nick Williams and Mayor of Waverley, Cllr. Denise Le Gal, at Guildford Castle following a drinks reception at the March Hare.

Above: The ‘Give it Away’ building site at West

Clandon even turns Purple in support of the Meath. Guildford’s historic Guildhall has a

purple make-over.

Compton Phone Box looked

great by day but stunning by

night.

Cranleigh Arts Centre couldn’t resist teaming with the

theme.

Cranleigh Department Store 140 lit up Purple for one night only!

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Meath Purple Yarn Bomb Hits Godalming High Street!

In addition to the purple lit buildings and phone

box was the beautiful purple heart yarn bomb.

4,000 handmade knitted and sewn purple hearts

adorned Godalming High Street’s Pepperpot, sign

posts, bollards and railings all the way down the

High Street. The breath-taking and poignant

installation provoked much discussion and

interest and even got people talking about

epilepsy. Pictured below is Harvey who told

Meath Matters that he was pleased to see the

Yarn Bomb as he thinks it helped to increase

awareness of epilepsy. Harvey explained that he

has epilepsy and that he found that there was not

as much awareness of the condition at his school

as he had hoped, the Meath would be delighted

to visit and give an assembly talk.

We are so grateful to all the people who kindly made

the purple hearts for our Yarn Bomb. Stich by stich

150 people from the local community took the time

and effort to each create a part of the installation.

Pictured above are Heart Makers who attended our

thank you tea and cake gathering at Changing

Perceptions and below are pictures of some of the

makers at work. Groups who knitted hearts for us

include Farncombe Day Centre, Godalming Meadrow

WI, Ockford WI, Send Prison, Milford Mother’s

Union, Prior’s Field School, St Hilary’s School and

many individuals.

Above: Godalming Baptist Church Knitters

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Pupils from Prior’s Field

School visit the Yarn Bomb

to see their handmade

hearts on display.

Members of Farncombe Day Centre

knitting group making hearts with

Meath resident Regan who volunteers

with them.

Meath ‘Minglers’ handmade hearts proudly being

handed over to the Fundraising department to

get ready for display.

Members of Ockford WI proving

that they’re part of a close knit

community.

Linda from Merrow Knitters

showing her support stitch by

stitch.

Clare at ‘I Made This Crafts’, Church St,

Godalming turned her window purple and

encouraged crafty locals to make hearts for us.

Many individuals also made

knitted and sewn purple hearts.

Above supporters Margaret and

Matilda made over 400 sewn felt

hearts!

Members of Send Prison WI knitted purple hearts for the Yarn Bomb Installation. Group leader Dina told Meath Matters “ The group enjoy having activities which will benefit charities and people in the community. They were keen to take part in this project because many of the members of the group have a personal connection with epilepsy. There is an above average number of prisoners who live with epilepsy, this is largely due to trauma sustained during head injury. It’s great that the group were able to contribute to a project that really means something to them and they look forward to a visit from Helen at the Meath who will show them photos of the Godalming Yarn Bomb for Purple Day.” Dina Lincoln, Resettlement Department.

‘Arty Crafty’ craft shop also turned their

window purple and were a huge help

with spreading the word about our

secret Yarn Bomb plans among local

knitters!

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Michael More-Molyneux, Lord-Lieutenant of

Surrey and his wife Sarah kindly hosted a

lunch in support of the Meath on Purple Day.

Borough and Town Mayors from across Surrey

turned out to enjoy the lunch gathering.

In addition to raising funds for the Meath the

charity were thrilled that such a high profile

event was held in support of epilepsy

awareness day and the Meath.

Making Purple Day Their Business!

So many businesses from across Surrey and West Sussex held fundraising and awareness activities in

support of the Meath Purple Day Campaign. Fundraised money is still pouring in and the Meath

Fundraising and Marketing team are so pleased that so many shops, restaurants and offices have kindly

supported the charity.

Guildford Fire Station supports the

Meath! Having allowed the Meath to

have a stall at their recent open day

the fire station will be holding their

annual car wash in support of the

Meath…and they’ve even encouraged

their friends at Godalming Fire Station

to do the same!

Pictured far left: The Team at Taurus

Wines donated a percentage of every

bottle of ‘Nocturne’ Champagne

during the week of purple day and

they continue to support the Meath

with their CP made collection box.

Pictured Left: staff at Tectrade in

Godalming held a bake off and cake

sale.

Our friends at Colgate Palmolive,

who previously visited the Meath

for a CSR volunteering day, held an

office cake sale and with matched

funding raised a fantastic £800 for

the charity.

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Other local Businesses supported the Meath in many different ways for Purple Day!

Cllr. Dan Adams, Mayor of Surrey Heath supports the Meath as

one of his nominated charities during his mayoral year. Dan kindly

invited Helen to his regular Eagle Radio podcast slot to talk to

listeners about the many businesses who had pledged to support

the Meath during Purple Day. On Purple Day Dan Adams and his

wife Sarah Adams were a whirlwind of purple and gold chains as

they kindly supported the Meath by visiting many key Purple Day

participants.

Mayor of Surrey Heath Shows his love for the Meath on Purple Day!

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Locals are used to enjoying the ‘Compton Phone Box’ decked out for every

special occasion of the calendar year. The Meath were thrilled to have their

wish for a Purple Day phone box granted by members of the local village of

Compton who have adopted the phone box. Having created 200 purple

crocuses the Meath were thrilled to see the phone box decorated for their

Purple Day Campaign and it proved to be a high profile aspect of the

awareness campaign. Not only has it attracted lots of interests and

comments on social media but the Meath fundraising team have recently

been offered ‘charity of the year’ with the ‘Compton Little Theatre’, a

wonderful opportunity which can be attributed to the fabulous phone box!

Thank you Dan & Sarah for your

sterling work in support of the

Meath on Purple Day!

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Community Organisations also Teamed with the Theme...

Purple Zumba’s group leader Karen got her

class members involved in our campaign’s

most high energy way to raise funds for the

Meath on Purple Day! Karen commented,

“ Purple is my favourite colour and I love the

work of the Meath so holding a Purple Day

fundraiser Zumba class was a must do!”

Godalming Meadrow WI held a Purple Mufti

Day and cake sale in support of the Meath.

Members of the group also knitted purple

hearts for the Godalming Yarn Bomb. Following

a visit to the Meath before Christmas Helen

looks forward to visiting the local WI group to

explain more about epilepsy, the Meath and

how easy it is to support the charity.

On the run up to Purple Day Helen Jackson gave a live interview on

local community radio station ‘Kane FM’. Helen spoke to listeners

about epilepsy, the work of the Meath and the Meath’s plans to light

up the local area purple. Huge thanks to Kane FM for their support.

Member’s of Godalming Baptist Church Friendship group

held a purple dress up day for their March meeting in

support of the Meath. As a local church group many

members have a personal connection with the Meath

and were pleased to support the charity for International

Epilepsy Awareness Day.

Godalming Cubs recently had a talk where they learnt

about the Meath, epilepsy and associated disabilities as

part of working towards a new badge. The Meath were

pleased to see that they felt inspired to hold a purple

Mufti Day in support of Purple Day!

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The Moss Lane mini Pepperpot play equipment got a mini Yarn Bomb make-over for the occasion and

pupils Matilda and Sammy gave an interview for ‘That’s Surrey TV’ with Head Teacher Mrs Abbott in

order to explain why it was important for the school to support the Meath on Purple Day. The children at

Moss Lane had an assembly talk earlier in the year and are fantastic and much valued mini Meath

supporters!

Prior’s Field School supported the Meath on Purple Day

with a handmade ‘head ware’ competition and mufti

day. The 3 school house colours are purple, red and blue

– as pupil and Meath volunteer Hazel pointed out to her

teachers, red and blue combined make purple! Thanks

to Hazel’s enthusiasm and support for the Meath, Helen

Jackson was invited to give a whole school assembly talk

and we are so thrilled to have had support from the

whole school for Purple Day. Hazel began volunteering

at Changing Perceptions Café as part of her Duke of

Edinburgh Award. Having completed her D of E, Hazel

continues to volunteer at Changing Perceptions as she

enjoys it so much! Thank you Hazel for your on-going

support as a volunteer but also for getting the whole

school on-board with fundraising and the awareness

campaign for Purple Day!

Pictured left: Pupils at Prior’s Field School with Hazel, Meath

Volunteer in the centre.

Thanks also to the many Individual Supporters who kindly held fundraising events in

Support of the Meath on Purple Day!

Children at Moss Lane

School, Godalming held a

Purple Mufti Day in support

of the Meath on Purple Day.

Staff and pupils were

delighted to have the Mayor

of Surrey Heath, Cllr. Dan

Adams and Sarah Adams,

visit.

We are so grateful to the many individual supporters who have taken part

in our campaign by holding purple day tea parties, coffee mornings and

supper parties. Supporter and relative of a Meath resident commented “It

was a fun and easy way to support the Meath and I’m really pleased with

how much we raised!”.

Pictured right: Resident Peter with his Stepmother Sarah who held a Purple themed

supper party!

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This month’s winners are Mrs & Mrs Brown who won £150,

Mrs Sarah Leigh and Pam Knight who both won £50.

Dates for Your Diary

Saturday 6th April Godalming Spring Festival

Saturday 27th April AAT Events The Fox Ultra, Godalming, 7am

Saturday 1st June Godalming Town Show, Burys Field, Godalming, 1pm-6pm

Saturday 8th June Occam Singers Concert, Cranmore School, 7.30pm

Sunday 7th July Godalming Food Festival, in support of the Meath

Saturday 20th July Outdoor Cinema Event (Bohemian Rhapsody),

Guildford Rugby Club, gates open 7.30pm

Wednesday 24th July Meath Charity Golf Day, Worplesdon Golf Club

The Meath 100 is our very own lottery! It’s super easy to join, you’ll be in with a

good chance of winning monthly cash prizes and it’s a great way to

#SupportMeath. You can either choose to pay your £5 Meath 100 Membership

monthly via BACS or cheque or you can pay a one-off annual fee of £60 via PayPal.

visit www.meath.org.uk to join.

• 140, Cranleigh

• Amy Lou's

• Arty Crafty

• Bada Tapas

• Bentley Brown

• Between the Lines

• Borough Hall (Cinema)

• Bramley Golf Club

• Café Mila

• Care for Health

• Caroline Sayers

• Cassally

• Cat Walk

• Celebration Cakes

• Changing Perceptions

• Charities Trust

• Charles Robinson, Guildford

Borough Council

• Charlotte Grobien, Give It Away Ltd

• Cheam 41 Club

• Chris Sharples

• Colgate Palmolive

• Connect Surrey

• Cook

• Cornmeter

• Cranleigh Arts Centre

• Cranleigh Parrish Council

• Cromwells Coffee Shop

• Crumby Bakery

• Cyder House

• Daisy’s

• Dog & Pheasant

• Eagle Radio

• Elizabeth Atkinson

• Enzorosario

• Farncombe Day Centre

• Fordway

• Gill Bennett

• G Live

• Godalming Baptist Church

• Godalming Deli

• Godalming Delights

• Godalming Inner Wheel

• Godalming Meadrow WI

• Godalming Scouts

• Godalming Town Council

• Granary Crafts,

• Grantley Arms

• Guildford Fire Station

• Guildford Golf Club

• Halo Hairdressers

• Hankley Golf Club

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We are very grateful to have been supported by the following organisations and individuals during

March, thank you to you all…

Registered Charity number No: 200359

• Maureen Willett

• Meadrow WI

• Meath Catering Team

• Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, Michael More-

Molyneux

• Milford Mother's Union

• Moss Lane School

• Mr & Mrs Lowe

• Mr & Mrs Wadsworth

• Mr Ferguson

• Mr Fubini

• Mrs Harbott

• Nest

• Nikki Legg

• Noah's Ark

• Ockford WI

• Onslow Arms

• Paratus Ltd

• Phoebe Gaydon

• Pinnock’s Coffee House

• Prior’s Field School

• Purple Zumba

• Rawlings Butchers

• Red Hot Yoga

• Richard Atkinson, Lightscapes Ltd

• Sammy & Helen Marler

• Sarah Andrews

• Sarah Foster

• Scully Scully Hairdressers

• Send Prison WI

• Seymours Ripley

• Singolingo

• Specsavers, Cranleigh

• Specsavers, Godalming

• St Catherine's Prep School

• St Hilary's School

• Steamer Trading

• Surrey Advertiser

• Taurus Wines

• Tectrade

• The David & Julian Charitable Trust

• The Friary Shopping Centre

• The Olive Tree

• The Party Company

• The Racquet Shop

• The Stag on the River

• The Star Inn

• Thyme for Tea

• United Reformed Church

• Waitrose Godalming

• West Surrey Golf Club

• White Lodge Golf Club

• Withies Inn

• Yard Market

• Yeomans Honda

• Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

• Zoe Arundell

• High Sheriff of Surrey,

Jim Glover OBE

• Hollist Arms

• I Made This!

• Ian Lee, ICL Media

• Idyllic

• Informed Choice

• Jan Prothero

• Jean Simpson

• Joe and Claire Stansbury

• John Pennington

• Joyce Pennington

• Kane FM

• Kate Gilbert

• Lee Taman Hairdressers

• Linda Chung

• Linda Record

• Lloyds Bank

• Ludi Lochner

• Malcolm & Lizzie Ring

• Manns, Cranleigh

• March Hare

• Margaret Jackson

• Marjorie Lewellyn

• Matilda Thorp

• Mayor of Guildford, Cllr. Mike Parsons

• Mayor of Godalming, Cllr. Nick Williams

• Mayor of Surrey Heath, Cllr. Dan Adams

and Sarah Adams

• Mayor of Waverley, Cllr. Denise Le Gal

If you are interested in supporting the Meath by volunteering, making a donation or have an idea for a fundraiser please contact the Fundraising & Marketing Office: 01483 411071

Helen Jackson, Marketing Co-ordinator: helenj@meath.org.uk

Yasmine Gordon, Fundraising Events Manager: yasmine.gordon@meath.org.uk

www.meath.org.uk The Meath Epilepsy Charity, Westbrook Road, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 2QH