Community news: Ramsgate RNLI, Thanet Expo, camera club, QEQM Friends, coffee morning, Victorians, Reconnect and Martha Trust

Ramsgate RNLI and the 'Spitfire' Cubs Photo by John Ray

Ramsgate RNLI

Senior members of the 1st. St. Lawrence ‘Spitfire’ Cubs and their leaders visited Ramsgate Lifeboat Station during the morning of Saturday 24th. September.

They presented lifeboat crew members with numerous sachets of soup, beverages and packets of biscuits for which the crew were extremely grateful.

All of these “goodies’ will be put to good use whilst the lifeboat is at sea.

The Cubs received much thanks for their efforts and were shown around the lifeboats by members of the crew present.

Thanet Expo

Academy FM is organising Thanet EXPO on Wednesday 26th October, 10am – 3pm at The Royal Harbour Academy, Marlowe Way, Ramsgate. The event will showcase the wealth of great businesses, education, community groups, charities, projects and more, available in Thanet. Plus, Academy FM studio tours, entertainment and refreshments.

Businesses and other organisations are most welcome to promote and sell on the day and there is an opportunity if they have job vacancies, to recruit.

The event is open to the public, entry is FREE, and we have invited students interested in further education and employment from across East Kent. There will be an interview hub available on the day, where businesses and voluntary groups can hold informal interviews.

The event will also have a pop-up workshop space, for both businesses and the public. The workshops will be: ‘Getting the Most Out of Social Media’, ‘Caring and Sharing’ and ‘Dealing with Stress and Disabilities in the Workplace’.

Exhibitor’s Spaces 2m x 2m are FREE, there is a small charge for larger spaces.

For more information and to book a stall, please contact Chris West, Business Manager: [email protected]

The Event is sponsored by Caremark Thanet

Isle of Thanet Photographic Society

21st Century India-Rod Giddins

Our new season saw a flurry of activity with the Summer Project images being judged at our first meeting at the Portland Centre in St Peter’s, Broadstairs.

We then welcomed Carol White-Griffiths (via Zoom) to judge our 1st quarterly open digital competition. She had to review 39 images in group 2 and 40 in group 1 – no easy task as these were an eclectic mix.

Carol did a great job and awarded first place in group 2 to Rod Giddins for his image 21st Century India*. David Silk topped group 1 with his striking image Southbank*.

Southbank – David Silk

Members have lots to look forward to in October when there will be a Studio evening and “ten minutes of fame” which should be fun, plus our first quarterly print competition.

Meetings are on Thursdays at 7.30pm. Annual adult membership costs just £35 and the weekly fee is £4 (£5 for guests).

We are always looking for inspirational guest speakers and competition judges so anyone who would like to come and support the club in this way would be most welcome to get in touch via our website.

For further information about the club, including membership and the programme, please visit our website: www.isleofthanetphotographicsociety.co.uk or find us on Facebook.

QEQM Hospital League of Friends

We were delighted to fund a pre-operative haemoglobin monitoring machine now in use in Surgical Admissions. Chris Boswell, Pre-Surgical Preparation Matron, shown with the machine and Stefan Smith, Pre-Assessment Charge Nurse leading on the anaemia project, said: “Your kind financing of this machine means we can improve patient care by identifying patients coming in for major surgery who need to have treatment pre-operatively to correct iron deficiency. The patients will be better prepared for surgery as we can highlight those in need of additional testing. The machine uses a finger-prick technique and gives instant results. On behalf of the Team and Dr. Lang I’d like to thank you.”

The League of Friends will only be able to carry on making a difference to the Hospital in ways like this if we continue to receive support. So please visit our webpage – www.ekhuft.nhs.uk/lof-qeqm – for details of the ways (some of which are FREE) in which you can help us.

Thanet Health CIC

Members of Thanet Health CIC cancer care team

The team at Thanet Health CIC will be hosting a rescheduled Macmillan Coffee Morning on Thursday, October 13 between 8:30am – 12:30pm to raise funds and share details of a cancer rehabilitation project which they have been involved with since June 1.

Coastal and Rural East Kent (CARE) Primary Care Network in Thanet has been awarded funding for a cancer pre-habilitation project via Kent & Medway Cancer Alliance.

The PCN – made up of Westgate Surgery, Birchington Medical Centre, Minster Surgery, Ash Surgery, Broadstairs Medical Practice and St. Peters Surgery – is the only PCN in Kent and Medway that is offering the service and is a pilot project for the next 12 months.

The project aims to focus on early diagnosis through actions such as increasing screening uptake, reducing health inequalities and offering support or information within 3 months of a patient receiving a cancer diagnosis

Thanet Health CIC will hold the coffee morning at its base in Kent Innovation Centre, Millennium Way, Broadstairs.

Broadstairs Victorians

The next meeting.  Is on Thursday 6th October at Crampton Tower main hall starting at 2.30pm. Speaker is Ben Jones, local business owner and musician. The annual membership is £5, cash payment only please. All are welcome to come and join.

Your Leisure/Reconnect scheme

Your Leisure, thanks to funding through Kent County Council’s Reconnect scheme, welcomed hundreds of young people into its centres, with over 50% of participants visiting for the first time. KCC’s Reconnect funding allowed Your Leisure to create unique opportunities for young people to participate in activities and sport through subsidised summer camps and leisure centre passes.

Sarah Johnson, Community & Funding Manager, at Your Leisure, said; “This is the second summer we have worked with KCC to deliver Reconnect funded activities. At its core was the spirit of inclusivity and opportunity, we wanted to make sure no matter their background or circumstances, as many young people within our communities could take part. Your Leisure ran swimming, tennis and gymnastics summer camps, which were free to eligible young people, and offered a discounted summer leisure pass so young people could be active, engage with their health, spend time with their friends in a structured and safe environment, and, most importantly, thanks to the funding, experience a range of activities and sport they may normally not get to enjoy; for some participants, they were able to enjoy their first swimming lessons.”

“The feedback received from parents/guardians/carers highlighted how funded schemes like Reconnect create vital opportunities for families who may struggle to find ways to, or afford, keep young people active during the school holidays. Your Leisure is proud of its delivery of funded initiatives that allow us to run courses and events for young people, the over 55s, disabled people and marginalised groups.”

Here are some highlights from Your Leisure’s feedback survey which confirms the positive outcomes of Reconnect.

“The free-swimming lessons were amazing! We would not have been able to afford these otherwise.”

“Gave my autistic daughter a massive boost in confidence and learnt new skills that she wants to continue developing.”

“The staff at reconnect and the leisure centre have been kind and helpful and do their job well. My son has more confidence, and it has made him want to be more active.”

“All 4 of my children have made some progress with their swimming abilities. Thank you so much for the opportunity.”

Your Leisure would like to thank Kent County Council for their funding and support, and all the hard work of the teams at the leisure centres, that ensured the Reconnect scheme was a success and created much-needed opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to participate in activities and sports.

Monte Carlo Madness for The Martha Trust

The intrepid teams who took part in Monte Carlo Madness, have made it back in one piece following an 800 mile trip from Dover to Monte Carlo in just four days.

The aim of the challenge was to raise funds for Martha Trust, a charity that supports people with profound disabilities across Kent and Sussex. Each year they hold a charity car challenge taking in major cities such as Barcelona, Florence and Rome. This year the destination was Monte Carlo.

Martha has been running their car challenge fundraiser for 13 years. And, in that time they have seen 91 cars and 215 participants join their adventure raising £287k in sponsorship.

Julie Gayler, CEO at Martha Trust and a team member of the ‘The Roulettes’ described Monte Carlo Madness as their best challenge yet: “We’ve had the most fantastic time, it was our biggest car challenge to date! The trip was amazing, with a great stopovers in Dijon and Avignon, the camaraderie was great and best of all, we hope to have raised £45,000 in sponsorship when all funds are in.”

Keith, one of our Monte Carlo Madness participants said of the challenge “Solley’s Farms Ice Cream were delighted and proud to be part of a great bunch who all travelled as part of Monte Carlo Madness. Not only is the cause an outstanding charity but we met some great people and the social life was brilliant – I would recommend it to any local business looking to combine fun and some worthwhile fundraising for the community. Brilliant”

Monte Carlo Madness would not have been possible without the generous support of all the participants and their sponsors, in particular this year’s main sponsors – CH Staffing Solutions Ltd, Nick Cunningham Plumbing and Heating Engineers, R&R Environmental, Sota Solutions, Superior Care and their channel crossing sponsor Eurotunnel Le Shuttle.

Martha is excited to announce the 2023 car challenge will be going back to the popular destination of Barcelona in ‘Bonkers in Barcelona. If you would like to register your interest please call Carol on 01304 610448 or email [email protected]