Walk for Parkinson’s UK
A 200 mile coastal walk initially undertaken by two Birchington women, and a 12-year-old dog, has been completed, raising more than £1000 for Parkinson’s UK.
Samantha Glynn and friend Caroline Warwick and Caroline’s dog Eve, began their fundraising trek in February 2022.
The pair met while working together as science tutors. They came up with the idea to support the charity while out on their regular walks.
Samantha was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s in August 2019 and Caroline’s mother sadly passed away with Parkinson’s in 2015.
A few hitches led to them splitting up the walk along their Kent railway route.
Sadly this year Eve wasn’t been able to make the last few walks as the vet diagnosed her with terminal cancer and she doesn’t walk as well now. Caroline also had to stop for health reasons. But Samantha was determined to finish the walks and was accompanied for the last miles by friends and her son Adam.
March 5 marked the last day of the challenge with a walk from outside Westgate Bay café to The Minnis Bar and Brasserie followed by a celebration.
Margate Rotary Club
Nadia Hgregorieva came to the UK from Kyiv with her two young children in May last year. Since then, she has been very active with the local Ukrainian diaspora and is Head of the Thanet Ukrainian Community, offering help and guidance to all the refugees, liaising with Thanet Council and other support services.
Nadia pointed out the urgent need for medical instruments as many of the doctors have to fund vital medical equipment themselves.
Margate Rotary Club agreed to provide what it could as well as making donations to the Food Bank and The Turkey/Syria disaster.
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/Margaterotaryturkey2023?invite=true
In 48 hours, Margate Rotary Club sourced and purchased stethoscopes and optometers in time for Nadia to take to the Ukraine this weekend.
Contributions for the Ukrainian appeal can be made at the Salvation Army Centre in Ramsgate every Saturday morning.
Litter Angels
MP, Craig Mackinlay, has presented prizes to the winners of this year’s Litter Angels anti-litter poster competition in Thanet.
Litter Angels is a charity set up by Gordon Henderson, the MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, in 2008 to create, through education, awareness about the anti-social nature of litter and its effect on our local environment.
Year 5 pupils from 10 schools in Thanet and Herne Bay were tasked with designing a creative and vibrant anti-litter poster.
Lexie-Louise (pictured) from St Ethelbert’s Catholic Primary School was the overall winner. Craig presented Lexie-Louise with a cheque and ‘goodie bag’, and St Ethelbert’s Catholic Primary School also received a cheque.
Lexie-Louise’s poster will now be printed and displayed in the car parks of the McDonald’s restaurants in Thanet.
The other winners of the competition were:
South Thanet
Chilton Primary School – Evie
Palm Bay Primary School – Rufus
Ramsgate Arts Primary School – Leela
St Laurence-in-Thanet Junior Academy – Darcie-Robyn
Upton Junior School – Nellie
Wellesley Haddon Dene – Clara
North Thanet
Birchington Primary School – Henry
Chartfield School – Oscar
Holy Trinity & St Johns Primary School – Polina
All 10 winners received a ‘goodie bag’ with a Litter Angels book, certificate, a mug displaying their name and poster design, and a bag of sweets.
South Thanet MP, Craig Mackinlay, said: “Litter blights our towns and roadsides, and spoils our enjoyment of both the seaside and countryside. It’s also incredibly expensive, costing local councils hundreds of millions of pounds a year to clear up.
“That’s why I look forward to seeing Lexie-Louise’s poster displayed in and around our local McDonald’s restaurants. All of us have a duty to Keep Thanet Tidy.”
Kent Community Foundation
The funding for a new £600,000 Infrastructure Support Fund has been provided by Kent County Council and will be awarded to charities, community groups and CICs to support existing, dormant or new infrastructure support projects.
The type of work that the infrastructure fund will support includes the development of leadership skills, including Board development or good governance and policy development, help for collaborative working for back office and mergers, organisational strategy and development projects, support and training for income generation, diversification, financial strategy and sustainability.
Natalie Smith, Director of Grants and Impact, Kent Community Foundation said, “Grants of up to £75,000 from the new Infrastructure Support Fund will make a big difference to the charitable sector across Kent. We anticipate awarding a few grants of £75,000 with the majority of awards being at a lower level. The full funding criteria can be found on the Kent Community Foundation website and requires that successful initiatives must be accessible to a range of organisations across the county, including those groups that that may have additional barriers to accessing funding and have specific support needs. The fund will open for applications on Monday 13 March and we estimate that funding decisions and first payments will be made in May 2023.”
To apply to the Kent Community Foundation Infrastructure Support Fund visit; www.kentcf.org.uk/funding
The fund opens on Monday 13 March.
Applicants must cover as a minimum at least one of the four areas specified below
North – Dartford, Gravesham, Swale
East – Thanet, Dover, Canterbury
South – Folkestone/Hythe, Ashford
West – Sevenoaks, Tonbridge/Malling, Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone
The closing date for applications is 14 April.
There will be no continuation funding available, and grants must be fully spent by March 2025
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
A Bronze award for Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust follows the signing of the Armed Forces Covenant and work to promote the trust as an armed forces friendly employer.
The Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (DERS) has presented Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) with the bronze award recognising their work to become an armed forces-friendly organisation.
In December, KCHFT signed the Armed Forces Covenant witnessed by representatives from Royal British Legion.
Developed by the Armed Forces Community Staff Network, Human Resources and Patient and Carer Participation Team, the covenant includes eight pledges which outline ambitions to employ and support colleagues from the armed forces and improve the patient experience for people from this community.
Chief People Officer Victoria Robinson-Collins said: “This is a great step towards our goal to achieve gold in the scheme. This award acknowledges the work we are doing to support our armed forces community, while recognising the potential they bring to roles in healthcare.
“We already employ people who have served and those from military families. They are key to helping us improve essential training and importantly provide support to each other with an understanding that only someone within that community has.”
The DERS scheme encourages employers to support defence and inspire others to do the same.
View the signed Armed Forces Covenant and list of pledges