Hilderstone Radio Club
Izzy and Betty from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary school were amazed with the results of their communication with the International Space Station on the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s first flight into Space.
They successfully downloaded an image using an antenna and ham radio provided by the Hilderstone Radio Club.
Betty said the signal sounded like lots of bleeping!
The image shows various cosmonauts with the call sign of the Space Station RS0ISS. Izzy had already sent a greetings message to the astronauts in February for which she received a certificate from the European Space Agency.
At the school on Thursday, April 19 the girls will pick up the voice of astronaut Ricky Arnold as he answers questions from the children at King’s School in Warwick.
The girls’ connection with the International Space Station continues on May 1, when an amateur radio contact is made with a school in Atlanta Georgia.
Three of the questions will be from the girls! Unfortunately they won’t be able to ask them in person but the children at the school in Atlanta will say ‘this question is from Izzy, a student Broadstairs, England’.
Westgate & Birchington Inner Wheel
Two of the leaders of the Minnis Community Hub, Gill Newman and Sue Sykes, came to talk to Westgate and Birchington Inner Wheel at our March meeting and told us all about their work.
Following supper Gill and Sue gave a talk about the services that they provide. The Community Hub takes service users from all over the Thanet area. They spoke about how, following the refurbishment four years ago, they offer services to help keep people living in their own homes for as long as possible.
They provide a meeting place to avoid isolation and groups for sewing, singing, gardening, even bongo drums! Many people come to enjoy the meals provided in a social atmosphere. Some people take the opportunity to bathe in specially adapted baths and to have their hair washed or use the hairdressers and many use the clinic support, such as chiropody.
At the moment they have fewer service users but they tend to have more complex needs. Gill and Sue asked if anyone was aware of someone in the community who may need their services to provide details to the Case Manager who would arrange an assessment of need and a financial assessment for them.
Although the centre is funded by KCC the members of staff run coffee mornings and other fund- raising events for their Amenity Fund which provides money for the garden, an annual pantomime and other activities. President Janet Knuth made the presentation to Gill and Sue of a professional hairdryer and brushes together with a cheque for £90 towards a camera.
The money was raised through our ‘Supper at the Inner Wheel Spokes Pub’, when we gathered together to enjoy a supper and play typical ‘pub’ games, earlier in the year. Our group of ‘Sing For Your Life’ presenters were delighted to be invited to come to look round and bring our ‘Music Box’ to be enjoyed by the service users and we are looking forward to making regular visits.
Sue Wade, our welfare officer, also presented a card and a bouquet to one of our members, Lynda MacGowan, who was celebrating her 80th birthday on that night.
The pictures show President Janet presenting the speakers with the gifts of hairdryer and money for a camera, and Sue presenting Lynda with her bouquet.
East Kent Mencap
Do you have all the answers? East Kent Mencap is looking for teams to compete in a charity quiz night to raise money for people with a learning disability.
The event will take place on Wednesday, April 25 between 8pm and 11pm at Grosvenor Casino in Thanet. Tickets cost £10 per person, which includes a buffet and £5 from each ticket will go to East Kent Mencap.
There will also be a raffle on the night. To book your place contact Hayley on 01843 579999. (£5 per person deposit will be required at the time of booking)
Please note, participants must be over 18 years old.
May Day rally
Thanet looks set to get its biggest May Day rally in many years, with a platform packed with star speakers.
Called “People Before Profit” the rally aims to give a voice to all who are concerned about the state of our public services — most importantly care for the sick and the elderly.
A spokesperson for the rally organisers said: “People in Thanet love our NHS and this will be a wonderful chance for them to express their support.”
The rally will also call for new thinking to solve Thanet’s longstanding problems of poverty and unemployment.
“For decades we’ve been told that the only answer to our problems lies in the free market,” the spokesperson said. “But things have just got worse. It’s time to look at new ways of doing things. This rally will be the perfect opportunity to discuss new ideas about how we can fight the cuts and achieve new prosperity for our community.”
Speakers will include Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Civil Service Union, NHS campaigner the GP Dr Coral Jones and leading Jeremy Corbyn supporter Chris Williamson MP.
Also on the platform will be Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt, South Thanet Labour Party’s newly selected parliamentary candidate. The event, which has been called jointly by Thanet Left and Momentum Thanet, will be chaired by one of Momentum Thanet’s founder members, Jackie Walker.
The rally will take place at 7pm on Tuesday, May 1 at the Oddfellows, 142 High St, Ramsgate CT11 9TT. To get a ticket email [email protected].
EKC Group
EKC Group’s new apprenticeship, professional learning, higher education and community learning arm, EKC WorkHigher, was launched at the south east National Apprenticeship Show.
Following the creation of the EKC Group from the merged Canterbury College and East Kent College, EKC WorkHigher will now deliver all of these key services across the east of the county, with delivery centres at the Group’s colleges in Broadstairs, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone and Sheppey.
The Director of EKC WorkHigher, Jonathan Smith said: “It was wonderful to launch this new service at the National Apprenticeship Show in Detling, a leading event in the annual apprenticeships calendar.
“Apprenticeships are a huge part of our area, and we’re proud to have delivered thousands of high quality opportunities over the past few years. The high quality of our apprenticeship service is illustrated in the fact that we’ve seen significant growth this year, even while nationally apprenticeship starts have declined steeply.”
EKC WorkHigher also encompasses the Group’s higher education courses in the new structure, offering students a greater connection with the business community’s needs.
The area also delivers a wide range of professional training courses for the county’s businesses. It currently has a number of free digital skills courses for Kent businesses to take advantage of. These are funded through the European Social Fund.
Mr Smith said: “It’s brilliant to be delivering these high quality digital training courses to employers across east Kent, as it’s great to see the impact that improving their digital skills can have. And as they’re free, we’d encourage as many of our county’s employers to get in touch to find out what we can do for them.”
To find out more about EKC WorkHigher or the range of apprenticeships and courses it offers get in touch by emailing [email protected]