Thanet community news: Isle litter picks, cat neutering service, diabetes group, RBL Margate, Stagecoach and football at Baypoint

Ramsgate litter pickers

Ramsgate litter pick

There was another wonderful turnout for today’s litter picking, organised by John Walker of the Ramsgate Society, as a part of the Great Spring Cĺean-Up in the town.

Mayor Raushan Ara said: “A massive thank you to the McDonalds’ staff for joining us, and to the rest of the community volunteers – and especially to Chris Barton, the Ramsgate Town Council technician, for supplying all the equipment, and ensuring that everything took place smoothly.”

Botany Bay to Palm Bay litter pick

A Thanet mum was joined by families this morning for a beach clean from Botany Bay to Palm Bay.

Graphic designer Claire O’Shea,organised the clean up from the Botany Bay beach entrance to Palm Bay. Helping out her children Jaz, 8, and Marley, 6.

Missing Cats and Strays in Thanet

We have teamed up with Vets 2 U which is a mobile veterinary service in Thanet run by two female small business owners called Kate and Kerry, and their amazing staff. They do everything a normal veterinary practice would do, but only mobile.

The collaboration came about because during lockdown many veterinary practices here only seeing emergency appointments, and cat neutering unfortunately was pushed back in many practices, causing a backlog of unneutered cats, which creates a big problem in the Thanet area, which is already a problem area for backyard breeding, and unwanted cats.

So far we have probably neutered over 40 odd cats in the area, including some stray cats which have been abandoned, and since rehomed, as well as medicated.

Vet 2 U is offering this neutering service at a reduced price to their usual fee, as we subsidise it – however in order to utilise this service you must book via missing cats and strays into Thanet, and not the vets directly.

Each neutering day we neuter both male and female cats at the same time, so far we have had a couple of incidences where one female turned out to be a boy, on another occasion one cat was found to already be neutered, so we cannot wait to see what the next neutering day brings!

It costs £50 to castrate male cat, and £75 to spay a female cat. If you would like your cat chipped at the same time this costs £10 additionally. If you would like to book in with us please inbox Missing and Cats and Strays via facebook.com/MissingCatsAndStraysInThanet

Thanet Diabetes Community Group

Doctors should be more honest with overweight patients who may unknowingly be suffering from diabetes. Even though an individual’s weight problem is “blindingly obvious”, some GPs shy away from the subject and put the person at risk of missing out on an early diagnosis. This was the view expressed at the monthly meeting of Thanet’s Diabetes Community Group.

Members heard that 7.7% – one in every 13 – of the district’s population has diabetes, and this figure rises to almost 10% if the estimated numbers of those who are undiagnosed are included.

The group’s secretary John Hall, who lives in Ramsgate, related how he was diagnosed as diabetic by his doctor – but only after he had asked to be tested. His GP then put Mr Hall on a low carbohydrate diet and he lost 22kgs (about 3.5 stone). Beforehand, he was unaware of having any symptoms.

His discovery came after he visited a friend in Ireland who had lost 20kgs after his doctor put him on a low-carb diet.

Mr Hall, who now is pre-diabetic, told the meeting: “I was very overweight at the time and asked my doctor to test me. I didn’t have any symptoms

“A lot of people must be going round totally ignorant of the fact they are diabetic. I certainly never contemplated it.

“It’s obvious some NHS doctors do propose the low-carb diet and that it does work. It worked for me.

“But through pure coincidence I went and asked him, am I diabetic? It’s the wrong way; it should have been him saying, ‘you look a bit overweight’.

“I find doctors don’t like telling people they are overweight. They never mention it though it is blindingly obvious. They steer clear of it as people don’t like being told this.”

It is estimated that, nationally, £10bn is spent on diabetes – 10% of it on medications. The meeting heard about potentially huge savings the NHS could make by urging people to change their eating habits.

In a presentation by group member Jeremy Martin, he quoted an expert, Prof Tim Noakes, who believes 80% of modern chronic diseases are diet-related.

He produced figures showing a 37% rise in people with Type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the ten years to 2018 and a 73% increase in prescriptions for T2D in the same period. Mr Martin said it illustrated that “you can’t use drugs to cure a dietary disease” and that the NHS treatment plan does not reverse T2D.

However, one GP in Southport, Dr David Unwin, has saved the NHS £50k a year by offering his patients the option of a low carb diet rather than drugs to patients with T2D.  To date, 95 of his patients have reversed T2D, added Mr Martin.

The Thanet support group meets on the first Thursday of each month, currently via Zoom though this may change soon. For details, email chairman Brian Urwin at [email protected]

Royal British Legion – Margate

Margate Branch is amongst one of the oldest Royal British Legion Branches in the County and until recently was in danger of closing. Through the work of the County Chairman and the County Committee we have been able to halt this. At the present time the Branch is temporarily registered as being County Supported.

We are holding an open meeting for prospective new members and current Branch members on July 22 (Covid restrictions permitting) at 7.30pm at the TSD (Thanet Society of Druids) Club, Unity House, Percy Road, Cliftonville, with the expectation, that in the very near future, we will be able to return the Branch to full status from County Supported.

With the centenary of the Royal British Legion this year and the centenary of RBL Kent County in 2022, we are working hard to ensure the continuation of all our branches and the important volunteer work they do for our Armed Forces, Veterans and beneficiaries across the County is carried on well into the next 100 years.

Stagecoach South East

Bus operator Stagecoach South East has thanked its passengers for helping to raise more than £75,000 for Demelza Hospice Care for Children.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Stagecoach reduced cash handling on its services in Kent and East Sussex as part of a range of measures to minimise transmission of Covid-19 and help protect its customers and colleagues.

As a temporary policy, cash overpayments were directed to Demelza – a charity providing specialist care and emotional support for children with serious or terminal conditions and their families in Kent, East Sussex, and South East London.

Demelza is almost entirely dependent on the generosity of its supporters to provide the funds to keep services going. The cancellation or postponement of fundraising events and closure of retail shops during the pandemic has had a huge impact on the charity’s income.

But now, Demelza has received a donation of £75,870.07 thanks to the support of Stagecoach customers who parted with their change when the exact fare scheme was in place.

Almost 50,000 children are living with serious or terminal conditions in the UK.  And as more children live longer with complex conditions, there’s an increasingly urgent need to support them and their families.

This unique support comes at a price, and the donation could be used to fund 1,522 hours of care for children and young people with a serious or terminal condition by specialist children’s nurses or fund two children’s nurses for an entire year.

In 2020, the transport operator celebrated its partnership with Demelza with the unveiling of a specially branded bus.

The double-decker bus – which features Demelza’s distinctive clown and red dot design – has been serving routes across East Kent following its unveiling at the charity’s Sittingbourne Hospice last year.

Stagecoach has pledged to continue its partnership with Demelza for an additional year, as lockdown restrictions and limits on social gatherings last year led to the cancellation of planned fundraising events.

Baypoint Football

Baypoint Sports Club now has its own designated football section.

The club, situated between Sandwich and Ramsgate, will be running adult and junior teams for both sexes, as well as a men’s vets team, and Director of Football Mick Ashby says: “We are a new, exciting and progressive club and this is partly due to our exceptional facilities. All our players train on one of our 3G all-weather surfaces and play matches on what are some of East Kent’s best grass pitches.”

And Ashby, who is also club chairman, added: “We will be offering our players and coaches pathways to post-16 and Junior Premier League football “

The Junior Premier League is England’s only national league for youth players from U8 to U18 and is the largest league in the country, with over 25,000 players.

Where men’s adult football is concerned Baypoint will be entering a team in the Canterbury & District Saturday League next season and they will be holding the first of two opening training sessions next Saturday (June 12) from 11am.

And on the same day there will be an open training session, starting at 1030, for the U18 team which Baypoint will be entering in the East Kent Youth League next season.

To learn more about the club, and/or to inquire about taking part in any of the training sessions, go to: facebook.com/baypointsportsclubs

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