Time for a Cuppa
A tea and cakes event at Radford House in Ramsgate has raised £459.45 for Dementia UK.
Last year organiser Maxine Morgan did a callout for ladies to come and help with a new poppy installation at the Sailors Church.
From there a few of the ladies started a Tuesday group.
Maxine said: “We have painted rocks, we have sewn Poppies, we have crocheted Poppies, we have had to go at origami, water painting and more. We have such a good laugh and they are such great ladies. There’s one that was completely new to Ramsgate and another that has been living here for years but met nobody and another turned out to be my husband’s babysitter when he was young.
“It is a complete mixture of ladies that would never have come together. Now they’ve pulled together and raised £459.45 for Dementia UK with baking skills, organisation skills, craft skills and personality.”
QEQM Hospital League of Friends
We are delighted 2 new sleeper chairs, which can be used as normal chairs but also convert to flat beds, we funded for Rainbow Ward are now in use. A significant part of their £2,770 cost was met thanks to the monies generously raised by the charity bookcase last November and December at Tesco Manston.
As well as allowing them to comfort their child in a relaxed way as shown, they allow parents to properly rest overnight so they can be fully engaged in their child’s care and recovery. Having a parent or carer present also ensures the distress to the child of being in hospital and away from their usual surroundings is reduced by having a familiar person to give them comfort.
We have got several events coming up soon where you can have a really good time while supporting our charity. Check out our page on Facebook or our website for the details, but here’s a little list:
- Thursday 20th June from 2.30 to 5.30 p.m. Cream Tea at the Coffee Shop in Young’s Nurseries Garden Centre, Sacketts Hill, Broadstairs.
- Saturday 29th June from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Stall at St. Nicholas-at-Wade Church Summer Craft Fair selling handcrafted items.
- Friday 5th July starting at 6.30 for 7.00 p.m. Quiz Night at St. Peters Church Hall, Hopeville Avenue, St. Peters, Broadstairs.
Also, if you’ve visiting the QEQM Hospital, tickets for our Summer Draw are now on sale. They are only £1 each and the first prize is £100 with lots of other prizes. They are available at our Tea Bar & Shop, which is situated at the St. Peter’s Road side of the Hospital (above Outpatients and next to Walmer A) and is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday.
Look out too for our pop-up stand, at which you can also buy tickets, that will be appearing from time to time in the corridor opposite the restaurant and near the Ramsgate Road entrance. As usual, the proceeds will be used to benefit the patients & staff at the QEQM Hospital. You have to be in it to win it – good luck!
Please visit our page on Facebook and our website www.qeqmfriends.com
St Augustine Week
Blessing of the Sea – Friday 24th May, 4.30pm by the Royal Harbour Obelisk – Bishop Paul Hendricks and the Mayor
Organ Recital – Saturday 25th, 7pm-8pm at St Augustine’s -David Newsholme, Director of Music at Canterbury Cathedral -including Bach Prelude in E Flat, Elgar Vesper Voluntaries and Langlais Te Deum
Talk on St Augustine – Monday 27th May 7pm at St Augustine’s – Fr Marcus Holden
Margate Civic Society
Alfred Deller OBE (1912-1979) was a world-famous countertenor, born in Margate. At a young age, he sang in the choir of St John’s Church, Margate, and Margate Civic Society is installing a wooden commemorative plaque in the church to mark the start of Alfred’s remarkable career.
Alfred Deller is often referred to as the ‘Godfather’ of the modern countertenor, having almost single-handedly revived a solo voice that had lain dormant for more than two hundred years. As his memorial plaque in Canterbury Cathedral records, “by his art and singularity of voice he translated the male alto from the relative confines of the choir stall to the forefront of the world’s stage”.
Alfred was born in Margate in 1912, attended the Central School and at the age of eleven joined the choir of St John’s Church, where he subsequently became a notable solo boy chorister. Leaving school at fifteen he worked for the local furnishing firm of Munro Cobb, until being made redundant in 1929 at the time of the Great Depression. However, by then his reputation as a singer – as well as his prowess at St John’s, he was a frequent soloist at the Winter Gardens and the Hippodrome – was such that he gained a professional singing post at the well-known musical church of Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea, together with employment at a large furnishing company in Hastings. From there, in 1939, he was offered the post of alto lay clerk at Canterbury Cathedral.
It was while singing at Canterbury that, in 1943, the composer Michael Tippett heard him, and realised that Alfred had just the voice he had been looking for to sing the important counter-tenor parts in the music of Henry Purcell, which he was in the throes of reviving at the time in London. Alfred’s subsequent appearance at several concerts in the capital made such an impression, that in 1946 he was invited to take part in the inaugural concert of the BBC Third Programme, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. The following year he joined the choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, where he continued to sing as a Vicar Choral until 1963, long after he had gained an international reputation as a soloist. He could be heard regularly on the BBC, appearing more than fifty times in 1951, either as soloist or with his ensemble the Deller Consort, which he had formed the year before.
In 1949, just ten years after leaving Margate, he made the first of several 78 rpm recordings for HMV, and his first LP two years later. After further recordings for Decca and L’Oiseau Lyre, in 1954 he was contracted to Vanguard, an American company, with whom he made more than sixty records during the following eleven years, and then, from 1966 until his death in 1979, the French Harmonia Mundi label, with whom he made a further sixty discs.
His concert career took him all over the world; tours of the USA and South America on many occasions, Australia, Japan, Israel and almost every European country, including many that at the time were behind the Iron Curtain. In 1960 Benjamin Britten composed the role of Oberon for him in his opera A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and in 1970 he was awarded an OBE. He was still performing right up to the time of his sudden death in Bologna in 1979.
As Norman Platt, the founder and director of Kent Opera, remarked at his memorial service in St Paul’s Cathedral, “Alfred Deller’s name will always be remembered and honoured wherever Western music is played and sung. He was unique.”
St John’s Church is Margate’s Parish Church. There has been a church on the site since about 1050. The church reached its present size by around 1200 and was a chapel of Minster until 1275. A treasury with battlements was added in the early 1500s. The church was restored in 1875 by a well-known Victorian church architect, Ewan Christian.
The plaque will be unveiled by Alfred Deller’s eldest son, Mark, at an evensong service to be held on Sunday 2nd June. Mark Deller is himself a distinguished musician who has sung in the choirs of Salisbury and St Paul’s Cathedrals and, as well as many overseas and UK performances, sang with his father in concerts and on recordings. He has served as Chairman of the Trustees of Margate’s Theatre Royal and Director of Canterbury Festival and Stour Music Festival, the latter founded by Alfred Deller in 1962. Mark will be accompanied by his sister Jane and two of Alfred Deller’s grandsons.
The service will start at 4pm on 2nd June and will include a solo performed by the countertenor David Wilcock, Lay Clerk at Canterbury Cathedral, accompanied by organist Paul Stubbins. Refreshments will be served after the service and all are most welcome to attend.
D Day events Cliffsend
On the 6th June 2024, the Parish Council will be commemorating the 80th anniversary of the 1944 D Day landings, with a number of events within the village.
One of these will be a fish and chip lunch in the village hall, which will be served in wrapping paper with tea or coffee. This event will be free for those residents who are 80 or over by 6th June 2024.
Any spare places will be offered to residents of the village and for those younger than 80 there will be a nominal charge.
Beryl Harrison is currently taking names for those who would like to partake of the event, whether over 80 or not, for planning purposes. Your names need to be on the list to be included in the fish and chip lunch. Please contact Beryl by phone or email: [email protected]
Fish and chips will be the only dish on the menu, as the whole significance of this is that fish and chips was the one food that was not rationed throughout the war years.
It is intended to play wartime music at the event, and memories of this momentous time in history will be shared.
If you have neighbours who are in the older age group and who may want to take part in this event, but with no access to the internet, please could you let them know. Beryl’s number is 01843 594094. If unable to answer please leave a message on the answerphone.
Later on that day, the beacon will lit on Hugin’s Green, at 9.15pm, with wartime music being played, and the proclamation relating the occasion being read as has been done in the past. It is intended that we put out a board with photographs and information about the event. If you have any stories relating to that period in time either personally or from loved ones, and you would like them included on this board, please contact Beryl.
The Viking café will be staying open until 10pm for drinks and food, and parking will be available on the green.
Cliftonville YBC
Do you know someone aged 7-21 who loves bowling?
Or are you under 21 and want to join a fun weekly club and learn new skills?
Then we need you!
Cliftonville YBC are a Youth Tenpin Bowling Club who meet every Sunday morning at Bugsy’s Bowling Alley in Margate.
3 Games of bowling each week with full training from British Tenpin Bowling Association approved and DBS checked coaches.
The first two weeks are free for new members.
https://www.facebook.com/cliftonvilleybc
See Me Play
See Me Play, a self-directed, neurodivergence-affirming play scheme for Neurodivergent/disabled children, young people, and families in Thanet, has two provisions over summer:
Every 2nd and 4th Monday at St James’ Church in Westgate, 3.30-4.30pm. The next play is 13th May and then 27th May. Times are 3.30pm to 5pm.
Play, tea, snacks and support. £4 each child, £1 per sibling, concessions available.
Monthly Saturdays at the Garden Gate, the next on is on the 18th of May, followed by 15th of June and July 6th. Times 2pm-4pm. Forest School sessions, cooking, sensory play, art and music.
Email [email protected]
Copperfield Court
Leaders from the soon-to-open Copperfield Court, part of Oyster Care Homes, participated in a vibrant and musical gathering at the local Parkinson’s support group on 3rd May, from 13:30 to 15:30. The event was held at Union Church in Margate, a longstanding venue that has welcomed the Parkinson’s group for nearly three decades.
General Manager Eve Balcombe, Deputy Manager Jade Hammond, and Senior Healthcare Assistant, Kathryn Waller attended the event, which featured a performance by Charlie from Music for Health. Charlie’s live guitar session not only entertained but also served an important therapeutic role, encouraging participants to sing along. This activity is known to assist with common Parkinson’s symptoms such as tremors and posture issues and is a testament to the power of music and community in enhancing the quality of life for those living with the condition.
Eve Balcombe, General Manager of Copperfield Court care home, said: “Visiting the Parkinson’s group was an enlightening experience. It was truly heartwarming to see the joy and spirit alive in the room. At Copperfield Court, we believe in building strong community ties and supporting our residents in every aspect of their wellbeing. Engaging with groups like this is just a glimpse of how we intend to integrate and contribute positively to the local community.”
Dilys, the organiser of the event, described the group as “a perky, optimistic bunch of individuals who live life to the fullest despite their Parkinson’s diagnoses.”
The visit was part of a series of community engagement activities planned by Copperfield Court ahead of its grand opening on 16th May. The care home aims to establish strong links with local groups and services to foster an environment of support and inclusivity for its residents.
For more information about the care home, or to RSVP for the grand opening event, please call 01843 423207.
https://oystercarehomes.co.uk/care-homes/copperfield-court/
Martha Trust
The Martha Trust golf day in association with John Shepherd held at Walmer & Kingsdown Golf Club on Friday 26th April was a fantastic success raising over a record breaking £12,400 for the charity.
The sun came out by the time the golfers took to the course, who had come from far and wide, including Surrey and London, to support the charity.
Taking first place was 3 Men & a little Ady, in second place was Country Carpets and in third place was Kingsdown Rocks.
There were various fundraising aspects during the event including a game of heads n tails, raffle, and an auction.
The event was run in conjunction with Barclays UK and the Main Sponsors for the event Superior Healthcare who are the Martha Trust’s Event Sponsor for 2024, Walmer & Kingsdown Golf Club and GPM Services who were present on their day with 3 teams.
Fundraising & Events Officer Kerry Banks BEM from Martha Trust said: “We are delighted that the day was such an enormous success and are so grateful to the golfing community for rallying around to help us stage such a special day with the club. Thank you so much to Club Manager Kevin Arman at Walmer & Kingsdown Golf Club for all his support, to Golf Pro Andrew Jones for providing all our winners prizes and an auction prize, to West Indies cricketer John Shepherd for his ongoing support of Martha, to Arsenal’s Lead talent Coordinator Steve Brown who came down to play plus give a Q&A session at dinner and to all the players, sponsors, auction and raffle donators.
“Thank you also to Steve for organising a wonderful prize with Arsenal which raised £1500 alone”
Chris Mansfield Photography captured the event and 18 local businesses sponsored holes.
Kerry added: “We would like to say a huge thank you to all the following sponsors: Walmer & Kingsdown Golf Club, Walmer & Kingsdown Golf Pro Professional Andrew Jones, Superior Healthcare, GPM Services, Castles Removals, Daniel Clarke Electricians Ltd, Anglo Dutch Model Trucks Ltd, 9g Websites, Total Motor Care, K&M Roofing & Building supplies Ltd, Clear FR8 Transport Ltd, RentaBar, Hardmans Solicitors, Bumper2BumperHutchings Timber, J&R Carpets, GM Pro Plumbing, KW Security, The Kings Head, Dunkerleys and the family of Gemma Goulding who was a resident at Martha- you are all incredible!”
The charity the charity is holding a Virtual Golfing Challenge called “Golf Marathon4Martha” throughout the months of June, July & August. Teams of four can take on a 72 holes in a day marathon or 36 holes in a day half marathon. It is free to take part however the charity encourages sponsorship from all participants and there is a golfing prize for the team with the highest sponsorship. To learn more please visit www.marthatrust.org.uk/golfmarathon
The charity is holding a cricket match, BBQ and live music event with sponsors Walmer Cricket Club in Sholden on Friday 31st May from 5pm. It is free to attend and all are welcome for this family evening.
Martha Trust supports young people and adults with profound disabilities at homes in Deal and Hastings. Martha provides lifetime care in a safe and loving environment, respite as well as support and advice for families and carers.
For more information on Martha Trust or the Golf Day, please contact Kerry Banks BEM
T: 01304 610448
Produced in Kent
Headline speakers on a panel at Produced in Kent’s annual Future Food Forum gave a damning indictment on the state of the current food system and the proliferation of Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) fuelling the nation’s obesity and mental health crises.
Keynote speakers on the panel of the event titled ‘What does the consumer want?’ included Kimberley Wilson; Chartered Psychologist, Nutritionist, and best-selling author of Unprocessed: How the Food We Eat is Fuelling our Mental Health Crisis and Sheila Dillon; multi-award-winning British food journalist, broadcaster, and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme.
Kimberley Wilson urged delegates to be angry about the fact that poor nutrition from UPFs is fuelling our mental health and obesity crisis and called for “a legislative body that will take this seriously and is not being influenced by the big food corporations.”
Sheila Dillon added that our current food system is leading to a health and environment disaster. She called out the corrupt traffic light system that allows a UPF snack bar to have green lights across the board, while a pack of almonds has red.
David Edwards, Deputy Chair of the Food Farming Countryside Commission, called for a grassroots approach to inclusive and sustainable food policies. Tessa Stuart, the Managing Director of Asset Research, a consumer research company, agreed that we are too used to cheap food in the UK, and this impacts consumer choice, leading more people to choose ultra-processed foods over fresh produce.
Susie Warran-Smith, CEO of Produced in Kent, says: “We have reached a critical crossroads in the food sector, and we absolutely need to be having these conversations. This is where organisations like ours, representing the local independent food and drink sector can help to drive change. Our members hold the key to a better future for food in this country as consumers seek transparency and demand better quality food.”
Produced in Kent’s Future Food Forum on Friday 3 May, brought together independent food and drink businesses, sector specialists, industry, and local Government to discuss how to create a better and more sustainable food system.
The event was well attended by grass roots and more established brands from across the food and drink sector, from producers through to retailers. The forum took place at the Kent Business School, University of Kent, in Canterbury, and combined thought-provoking presentations with interactive workshops.
Visit Produced in Kent to find out more or follow @producedinkent