RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP) has made a £100,000 donation to AGE UK in Thanet, to help them to set up and staff a community hub. The hub will help Age UK to ensure isolated, elderly and other Thanet residents who are struggling as a result of coronavirus, are given vital support.
With the help of Sir Roger Gale MP, the directors of RSP identified Age UK Thanet as the ideal recipient of the donation which has been made by the firm’s investors. The firm is waiting for a government ruling on its development consent order application to create a cargo/freight hub and associated aviation at Manston.
Head of Age UK Thanet Vanessa Wood has said the funds will help them to distribute food supplies and hot meals, support older people working on zero hours contracts who are suddenly without income, and create an army of volunteers to check in on and chat to isolated residents.
Vanessa said: “On behalf of Age UK Thanet, I would like to express our deep appreciation of the support and decision RSP’s investors have made, to donate £100,000 to Age UK Thanet, so we can continue our work with Coronavirus and support our very vulnerable, elderly and frail clients in the community.”
Tony Freudmann, director of RSP, said: “Our investors came to us and said they wanted to help people in Thanet. We asked Sir Roger for guidance on how we could get the money to where it is needed as quickly as possible and I am delighted that Vanessa and her team will be able to help so many residents whose lives have been affected by the coronavirus. Our investors asked me to tell Vanessa how much they admire her work and that of her volunteers and that they are delighted to be able to help at this time of national crisis.”
Sir Roger added: “I am delighted that RSP are helping to support Age UK’s work to assist people in Thanet that are in desperate need, at this difficult time.”
Age UK Thanet
Day Services are operational as per government guidance.
Hot meal delivery available
Call 01843 223881
This is an inappropriate donation! If Manston re-opens it will cause ill health due to noise, and especially air pollution! This will impact especially on the elderly with existing respiratory ill health, apart from destroying Ramsgate Harbour tourist industry, and devaluing property! Manston is just a couple of miles from Ramsgate town, and cargo planes (no passenger planes will operate) will approach over the harbour at less than 300 meters! Then descend over the town towards St Lawrence from 250 meters, to 150 meters, before landing at 100 meters! The noise and air pollution will be horrendous! And for what? Jobs? What jobs? Unless Thanet has a stack of aircraft engineers sitting idle, who can strip down a jet engine, and re-build it! Any skilled jobs will come from outside, if they can find somewhere to live! Send this tainted money back!
where’s the money come from rsp only have money from loans from the pirates haven island again its trying to buy the public as they know there is 5 to 1 against there plans to reopen the airport
First some trees for the Margate area, now some money for Age Concern. Of course, as Dumpton implies, the best thing RSP could do for the welfare of Thanet’s inhabitants is something they should have done years ago- give up their idea of a very very busy cargo airport at Manston and go away.
What a fantastic contribution from RSP to help the people of Thanet in their hour of need.
Dumpton – how long have you lived here? I was born in Thanet in 1956 and went to school in Ramsgate for 7 years, obtaining excellent O and A levels. The airport in no way affected me or my health and to be quite honest, I can’t even remember the noise of the planes – it was only when the Vulcan flew in or out that we noticed the noise – and that was only occasionally.. And in those days, there was a very busy, very noisy airport with planes polluting far more than any plane in the sky these days.
So please do not use this generous donation of RSP in these very sad and desperate times to have a rant against the possible re-opening of Manston. Try and be appreciative for those who will benefit from the funds.
Jan, slavery was popular 150 years ago, but no longer, its called progress! During the cold war, in which I served, military aircraft did not fly in 2 or 3 an hour, day and night at Manston did they? This is what is proposed. I have stood in Ramsgate High Street when huge cargo planes were practicing landing and take off at Manston on Saturday mornings! There is no warning, as they approach over the harbour, and suddenly the noise is heart stopping as they fly over the town at 250 meters! Its enough to bring you to your knees, as it did once when I was stationed in BAOR Germany in the early 60’s at the height of the cold war!
We were on exercise, under canvas, in a field lined up with our mess tins, waiting for breakfast, when two Hunter Jet fighters came screaming in at tree top level, and all 600 of the Black Watch Regiment who I was with at the time, were left on our knees!
It was meant to show us the devastating effect low flying jet aircraft have, which worked, and reduced us to quivering wrecks! That’s what you can expect every hour day and night, and for what? To get Mackinlay & Gale re-elected that’s what! This money is a bribe, give it back!
The consensus amongst experts is that exposure to pollution from aviation is a bad thing. Why do you think that H3 had stalled? Because of environmental issues.
Don’t worry, Mr Dumpton, there won’t be any planes.
RSP is softening us up so that when they reveal their real plan (ie masses of houses) people won’t be too critical.
BTW a few weeks ago IoTN published a story about a scheme to fly freight into Manston, trans ship into trucks, trans ship again onto barges, chug up the Thames to London, trans ship again to trucks, then on to destination.
The tenor of the piece was that the PLA approached RSP, rather than the other way round.
Kathy Bailes was asked several times to verify the source. Last I heard she was waiting for a call back from the PLA.
Any advance, or is it on a barge somewhere, awaiting trans shipment?
If RSP has so much money to slosh about, then why don’t they offer a reasonable compensation package for those who will be living under the flight path.
If I was Age UK I would cash the cheque pronto.As for these mysterious investors who are they and what is the source of their money?
I really do wish some people would stop banging on about how long they have lived here, as it is some kind of special merit, that gives them insight on the affairs of Thanet, England or the UK.
It’s very nice Jan, that you have a sense of place, but it does not give you an expert’s opinion on what is a very poor project, from both the business and environmental perspective.
The airline sector is in some disarray at the moment and highly speculative schemes from RSP are not likely to cut the mustard with most prudent investors.
As for boasting about your qualifications, I don’t think that is a good idea.I believe in life long learning and not ossification based on qualifications obtained in the early 1970’s.
Ignoring the rights and wrongs of this donation from RSP I think Anthony Freudmann and Sir Roger Gale should tell us exactly who these investors are, which they failed to do during the recent DCO examination.
I have no doubt that in the current climate the need for any additional air freight capacity in the UK is significantly less than it was before ( and it was in global decline through 2019). This makes the viability of reopening Manston for freight non-existent. However one can only say that if nothing else Age UK will be the sole beneficiary of this completely deluded project. My long term prediction is that RSP and their mysterious investors have no intention to operate an airport at Manston but no have an eye on the development potential when economic circumstances force them to abandon the air freight hub. House and commercial development is what this is about.
Wot he sed
Thanet Community Transport Ass has been out shopping for many Thanet Elderly and Disabled all week, taking over many age concern clients as their normal shopper is no longer available. We have increased our service from 10 people to 50. It seems a little unfair we are not receiving any help.
There is so much rubbish and bad feeling being put out by just a few about Manston I can’t be bothered to name them but with so much hate go back to where you came from. Thank you for the donation the only name we need when the current emergencies over we will need Manston even more.
People who do not think that a 24/7 cargo airport near Ramsgate is a good idea are not people with”so much hate” but the opposite: people who think that the noise and pollution of such an airport should not be inflicted on the 40,000 inhabitants of this town.
What exactly does”go back to where you came from” mean in this context”? It is a sentence often used by pro-airport writers, but it seems to mean little more than “If you don’t agree with me, shut up.”
Why is it that everything tdc is involved in it ends up being a white el ephant we had the hoverport, the Sally line and years ago a lovely marina swimming pool the ⛵ boating pool and a airport that made it very nice and convenient to get a flight to the continent without the hassle and expenses of travelling to Gatwick or Heathrow we need the airport to regenerate more jobs for local people.so don’t mess this up tdc.
Err, Manston is out if TDC’s hands. RSP tried (twice) to enter into a CPO with TDC as partners. Twice (under different political leaders) TDC turned them down because RSP had no money and no plan
Err, Manston, ir resurrected, will be a cargo hub, so no flights to Costa Del Mar for sun seekers.
Err, Manston failed several times because too few people flew from it.
Hope this helps.
Is this another bout of money laundering in Thanet? Be careful and make good, deep checks into where this money is actually coming from. This is the second donation from RSP lately with a similar amount on trees for Thanet. For these large amounts there is no full trace of the mysterious investors from where it comes from and I would be very suspicious indeed.
It is so sinister, this secret mysterious overseas money being bequeathed to Thanet from behind the curtain, like some soviet era mind control we’re all supposed to be grateful for. It is weird and disturbing.
Investors want to help Thanet during Covid but don’t mind landing a plane over our heads at 200 metres every 10 mins and Roger Gale rolling out the welcome parade?
No doubt Age UK will make good use of these funds but something seems off to me.
What next? Free ice cream for Thanet and some spending money for the amusements? How about a new sound proof garden shed for everyone under the flight path?
Has any of this money promised by RSP actually materialised ? Usual RSP hype loads of promises but nothing concrete. Given the state the aviation industry is in I can’t see any genuine investors coughing up £300m for an airport that has failed three times and run by a serial failure like Freudmann.
Isn’t an American Hedge Fund company behind this? RSP is just a front, Hedge Fund Companies used to be known better as “Asset Strippers” remember!
Because the Principals are based in the Beitish Virgin Islands, no one knows who’s behind this scheme; not least the PI, who asked several times.
Personally, I’d be very wary of any “gift” from a serial embezzler, and that’s what Tony Freudmann is.
no that’s the con riveroak llc was based in Delaware but tony f left and paid to keep using the riveroak name to confuse people.don’t forget it was disclosed at the dco hearings that they entered manston under riveroak llc when in fact they had pulled out and sold out making the surveys etc somewhat not 100% legal
“Tony Freudmann, director of RSP, said: “Our investors came to us and said they wanted to help people in Thanet”
Clearly this cannot be true, for if it were the case, these supposed investors wouldn’t be planning to land a cargo plane over the harbour every 10 minutes at 100DB volume would they. The best way RSP could help, is to stop patronising the residents of Thanet with their tree planting and other cash splashing and take their funds elsewhere and stop supporting an absurd, incompetent, unfinished DCO. I’m happy to give them this advice directly if they are worried about us. The more I read this article, the more disturbed I feel about how weird it is.
Kathy, did you ever hear back from the Port of London Authority about who contacted who in the great electric barge debacle? I’ve read very little about any further enthusiasm for landing our shortage deliveries of freeze dried fish at Manston, then driving them to the port, then loading them on one of Tony’s lekky barges, then taking them back to London, then loading em up on a lorry again. I’m a bit concerned about how the luxury race horses are going to cope with this journey. Let’s remind ourselves, RSP suggested the UK was short of both these provisions at the public hearings and it’s on the record.
IoTN is curiously reticent on the veracity of this multi modal Manston story.