Searchlight was founded in 1933 by Matron Powell, successor to Dame Grace Kimmins

Grace Kimmins

Dame Grace Kimmins, DBE was described in Punch as ... in her quiet practical way is probably as good a friend as London ever had, a description for the driving force behind the Guild of Play and the Guild of the Poor Brave Things.Born Grace Mary Thyrza Hannam, she became a Wesleyan deaconess and...

, as a set of workshops and home to teach useful skills and formed under the auspices of the Chailey Heritage

Chailey Heritage

The Chailey Heritage was founded out of the Guild of the Poor Brave Things in 1903 by Dame Grace Kimmins.Today the heritage is renowned for orthopaedic care, and the Chailey Heritage School...

. It was founded because Matron Powell realised that once the boys were 15 they were thrown out into the world unprepared to make their way.

History

The Duchess of Norfolk

Duchess of Norfolk

The title Duchess of Norfolk, held by the wives of the Duke of Norfolk , may refer to:-People:*Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk, created as such in 1397...

became a patron and opened a second building in 1951. The Queen

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 visited in July 1962.

Present day

Searchlight undertakes printing and small assembly work as well as making garden furniture and bird tables etc. It participates in an East Sussex

East Sussex

East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...

 apprentice scheme.

Currently (2009) there are three residential houses, which accommodate forty-seven, and a day centre.