Cheerful Sparrows Thanet
This is a sincere ‘Thank you’ to everyone who has helped us to help the people of Thanet during the challenging times that we now live in. Thank you for your kindness which has kept us going as a local registered charity throughout the Covid pandemic. During this time we have helped over 140 local families who were facing extreme hardship. We have also supported staff and patients on the wards at the QEQM Hospital.
At the beginning of the crisis, we changed the way we worked so that we could respond to urgent needs on a weekly basis. We have found cookers, washing machines, fridges and freezers when a broken-down appliance was perhaps the last straw. We have provided beds and bedding for children, pushchairs and car seats for babies and clothes and uniforms for school children. The list of requests, that we take only from professionals who know the families well, is as varied as it is long. We are proud that your support has helped us make the Covid crisis bearable for families who had very little to begin with.
In order to continue our vital work, can we ask that you now support us in any way you can? As we were one of the very few charities that kept going, and after nearly 100 years of helping local people, our present funds will only last a few more months. We are always very careful and every penny goes towards helping someone in Thanet who will know that our community cares about making a difference. We have no other means of fund-raising at the moment and are totally dependent on the support for this appeal. We will be most grateful for any donations.
Bank details : NatWest sort code: 60 14 05
Account No: 6782 4013
Registered Charity No.276074
Thank you for taking the time to read this, The Cheerful Sparrows Thanet.
Broadstairs Tesco/Age UK Thanet
Colleagues at a Broadstairs Tesco are calling on shoppers to help support Age UK Thanet.
For the past three years the Broadstairs Extra Tesco store has had a charity bookcase where lovers of literature can purchase a hardback or paperback for 50p, with funds going to a chosen charity.
The scheme has been well supported since it began, with more than £9,700 raised for a wide range of good causes, including Headway Thanet, Thanet Disabled Riding Centre, Angels for Dogs, and the Pavilion Youth and Community Cafe Project in Broadstairs.
Now the store is supporting Age UK Thanet – and is urging generous shoppers to help push the fundraising total well beyond the £10,000 mark.
Kat Powell, Wellbeing Activity Facilitator at Age UK Thanet, said: “We’re so grateful to Sue at Tesco for nominating us as the bookcase charity. Our wellbeing team provide activities for the over-50s of Thanet to reduce isolation and loneliness.
“While promoting independence and encouraging new friendships, this support network has been invaluable and as our activity resources aren’t funded, it means so much to us and our project to receive this help.”
Among the services on offer from Age UK Thanet are home visits, a handyman service, information and advice, cleaning and shopping, a home meal delivery service, and dementia support.
Sue Dent, Community Champion at the Broadstairs Extra store, said: “It’s amazing how such a modest little fundraising scheme has raised so much money for so many charitable causes.
“Our shoppers are incredibly generous and are always keen to help us help the community. We’ve raised a great amount already and we’d love to take that figure above the £10,000 mark for such a worthy cause.
“Age UK Thanet does incredible work for so many in our community and their efforts have never been needed more than during the pandemic.
“They offer lots of services for older people and their carers across Thanet and the surrounding area, and we’re very proud to be supporting them.”
The charity bookcase is at the Broadstairs Extra Tesco store. Shoppers can donate books as well as purchase them.
For more information or to donate towards our project, please contact Age UK Thanet on 01843 223881
St Peters Village Tour
Specially invited guest of St Peter’s Village Tour, John Weir, was officially appointed by the Queen as the High Sheriff of Kent in April this year. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the high sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere, so that its functions are now largely ceremonial.
The High Sheriff is photographed with his wife Beverly, the Mayor and Mayoress of Broadstairs and St Peters, Paul Moore and his wife Wendy and on the far left of the photo, Amanda Cottrell OBE, Patron of St Peter’s Village Tour.
Other invited guests included the Rev. Jan Durrans, vicar of St Peters.
St Peter’s Village Tour is created by a team of over one hundred volunteers who since 1995 have entertained the public with a series of vignettes illustrating the historic events associated with St Peters over the centuries. The tour is conducted in 5 groups of 6 visitors setting off at five-minute intervals and covers less than a mile of flat walking, but does involve standing for a number of five- minute presentations. It includes a break for tea or coffee. At the end of the tour you are invited to contribute towards Tour costs which average £4 per adult. Booking is essential on all the tours, for online reservations visit: villagetour.org.uk.
Thanet Rotary Club
Following a plea from the Vicar of St Peter’s Church in Broadstairs, Rotarians John Reid and Sam Matsubara, on behalf of the Rotary Club of Thanet, responded by delivering some £200 of tinned produce to Thanet Food Link. John is pictured with the urgently needed supplies.
This makes approaching £4,000 provided over the last two years to Thanet Food Link from club members’ own savings during Covid.
There are 6 Rotary clubs in Thanet. If you are interested in the fun and community purpose which is to be found as a Rotarian, why not look up the Thanet Club’s website
RNLI Ramsgate
Our lifeboat Esme Anderson, on the left, will soon be heading off to Cowes for her regular maintenance and check over.
In the meantime we have been sent a relief lifeboat 14-06 Windsor Runner ( Civil Service no.42) which will act as cover.
14-06 is the old Blyth Lifeboat and she also had a brief spell at Dunbar before becoming part of the Relief Fleet.
She has been stored in Hartlepool Marina, in County Durham, North East England and came down over two days via an overnight stop in Lowestoft.
So what’s a relief boat? From the RNLI website ‘On standby in strategic points around the UK and Ireland, the relief fleet is kept in a constant state of operational readiness to provide cover at all stations. The fleet of 34 all-weather lifeboats and 42 inshore lifeboats are ready to be sent, at any time, to any of our 237 lifeboat stations to seamlessly take over from the regular lifeboat and save lives in its absence.’
Kent Community Foundation
Kent Community Foundation fund-holders, donors and supporters gathered on 16 August in Marden to celebrate 20 years of local grant-making across the county. Over the last two decades, Kent Community Foundation has distributed over £45 million to support thousands of small charities and deserving causes where a modest sum of money can make a significant impact.
As part of a UK wide accredited network of 47 UK Community Foundations, Kent Community Foundation is committed to improving the lives of local people and communities, particularly the most vulnerable, isolated, and disadvantaged by matching those who want to help, with those who need the help. Kent Community Foundation is responsible for more than 80 philanthropic funds and are unrivalled in their knowledge of local causes