Kent Fire and Rescue Service - FREE Safe and Well Home Visits

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

This is a message from Neighbourhood Watch on behalf of Kent Fire and Rescue Service.

What happens during a Safe and Well home visit?

A home safety officer will visit you at home at a time that’s convenient to you - they’ll have an ID card which states they work for KFRS. They’ll carry out simple checks around your home, such as testing smoke alarms and making sure they’re in the best place - they can install new ones if needed; all for free. If you have hearing or eyesight challenges there are special smoke alarms that flash and vibrate that can be provided too.

The officers can also identify any potential fire risks such as overloaded sockets, look at the position of candles, as well as anything that could increase the chance of slips, trips and falls - providing advice about how to enhance safety in your home.

You’ll also have a chat about escape routes, and they’ll go through what the best options are for you in your home in the event of a fire.

The home safety officer is there to help make sure you’re safe, provide advice, and answer any questions you may have. The visit will take around 45 minutes, and by the end you’ll have peace of mind that your home has been given a thumbs up for fire safety.

Who can have a FREE Safe and Well home visit?

The visits are tailored to keep people living safely and independently at home across Kent and Medway, and are available to:

• People over 70-years-old

• People with a long term health condition

• People living with Dementia

• Families with young children

• Expectant parents

• Smokers

How to book

Call Kent Fire and Rescue Service’s home safety team on: 0800 923 7000 and book your visit today, or book on behalf of someone you know who could benefit from a home safety visit.

Kent Community Messaging

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Swale Borough Council - Sittingbourne's New Multi-Storey Car Park Now Open

Sittingbourne’s new 317 space car park is now open for drivers visiting the town.

Bourne Place Multi-Storey Car Park has been built as part of the town centre redevelopment and includes 21 disabled and 4 parent and child parking bays.

The car park has 10 motorcycle bays, space for seven bicycles, and there will also soon be four electric vehicle charging bays to help support the growing number of electric vehicles using local roads and reduce vehicle emissions.

From today (Monday, 9th September) the short stay car park will be open from 8:00am until 7:00pm, seven days a week and will eventually be open 24 hours a day when the hotel and cinema open.

Cllr Monique Bonney, cabinet member for the economy property at the council said:

“I’d like to thank local people for their patience while we have been working on the car park.

We weren’t entirely comfortable with a few aspects of the design, so we’ve had to spend a bit more time getting these sorted out before we were happy to open.

The extra spaces will help ease some of the pressure on other short stay car parks, and I hope this encourages more people to visit the town centre and support local businesses.”

Parking charges for the car park are in place between 8:00am and 6:00pm. These are:

Duration	Charge (£)
Up to 30 mins	0.50
Up to 1 hour	1.00
Up to 2 hours	2.00
Up to 3 hours	3.00
Up to 4 hours	4.00
Up to 5 hours	5.00
Up to 6 hours	6.00
Over 6 hours	15.00

There will also be FREE parking on Sunday’s for visitors to The Light cinema when it opens next year.

For more information about car parking in Swale, visit: www.swale.gov.uk/car-parks

Swale Borough Council

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Upchurch Village Hall Improvement Project - Update

The Village Hall Management Sub Committee thought it time we brought you all up to date with our progress. Firstly the disappointing news, our bid for Lottery funding failed. However we have other fund raising available and we are well on the way to seeking a grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation, so keep your fingers crossed.

We have completed parts of the project using our own funds. For example, the emergency lights have all been checked, the guttering and roof gullies have been cleaned and redirected so that the hall no longer floods when it rains hard. The kitchen lights now meet modern lighting standards and are safe to use. We have also replaced some plug sockets in the chair store that were dangerous.

Shortly (in late September and October) the rear hall will get a coat of paint. It is hoped that in the new year the main hall will also be painted. Unfortunately this will mean the hall will be closed, for perhaps a week, we will let you all know these dates when we have them.

The extractor fans in both the rear hall and main hall will we hope be connected to a time on/off switch so that next time we have a heat wave (yes we did have one) those using the hall will be able to turn them on and extract the hot air from the ceiling.

The Friends of Upchurch Village Hall are taking a year off (having raised over £6,000.00 so far) as UpARA has nominated the Village Hall as their chosen charity for this year.

Lastly, despite the setback with grants, we are moving ahead as planned, it is just going to take longer than we had hoped.

John Tutt

For the Upchurch Village Hall Project Sub Committee

Website: www.upchurchvillagehall.weebly.com

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Upchurch Short Mat Bowls Club - House Singles Bowls Competition

Congratulations to Peggy Lightfoot, winner of the house singles bowls competition held at Upchurch Village Hall on Thursday 5th September 2019.

Competitions organiser, Peter McGibbon presented Peggy with the Brian Glover Memorial Trophy.

Malcolm Groves

Upchurch Short Mat Bowls Club

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National Hate Crime Awareness Week Event

A FREE community cohesion event in Medway

On Saturday 12th October from 4:00pm until 9:00pm

Exhibitions, networking, entertainment and more

At St. Mark's Church, Canterbury Street, Gillingham, Kent ME7 5JA

For more information contact: bobby.mahay@kent.police.uk

Kent Community Messaging

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Medway Council Receives RSPCA Award for the Sixth Year Running

Medway Council’s outstanding work with stray dogs has been recognised by the RSPCA for the sixth year in a row.

The stray dogs team has been awarded the RSPCA Gold PawPrints Award for the sixth time.

The awards recognise and celebrate the council’s continued work with stray dogs.

The team has been very successful in reuniting lost pets with their owners in the last year as well as finding new homes for abandoned dogs.

Between April 2018 and April 2019 the community wardens picked up 237 dogs, luckily 130 were scanned for microchips on the street and were returned directly to their owners. The team also reunited 57 dogs with their owners. The team also found forever homes for a number of dogs and placed some in longer-term foster care until homes could be found for them.

Medway Council’s community wardens also have their own Facebook page which is dedicated to the stray dogs service. They use social media to help find the owners of stray dogs, find new foster carers and to rehome abandoned dogs.

The team also attend community events and encourage dog owners to follow the Medway canine code which includes keeping your dog under control at all times, ensuring your dog’s vaccinations are up to date and treating your dog with love and kindness.

Cllr Rupert Turpin, Portfolio Holder covering Community Wardens, said:

“We are delighted to have once again been recognised by the RSPCA for our work with stray dogs. Our team works tirelessly to help reunite stray dogs with their owners and to rehome those that have been abandoned. I would like to thank our community wardens for all their hard work.”

Rachel Williams, senior parliamentary advisor for the RSPCA, said:

"It's great to see Medway Council achieving our prestigious Gold award. This is a real testament to the hard work of Medway's staff, their commitment to animal welfare and the health and happiness of their residents."

To find out more about the council’s stray dog service visit: www.medway.gov.uk/dogs

Medway Council 

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