Swale Borough Council Donates £20,000 to Citizens Advice Swale

Cllr Roger Truelove and Mark Hinton.

Citizens Advice Swale has received a £20,000 grant from Swale Borough Council to help support their free advice service to the residents of Swale.

Citizens Advice Swale is an independent local charity that provides free and impartial advice about debt, housing, unemployment, immigration and family matters.

The charity has helped more than 60,000 people since the offices in Sittingbourne and Faversham merged in 2005, and also carries out research and campaigning alongside its free advice service.

Cllr Roger Truelove, leader of the council, said:

“We are very pleased to provide this extra support to Citizens Advice Swale.

We already donate money to the charity every year, and last year we contributed more than £130,000 in total.

We hope that this £20,000 grant will help them continue their invaluable service to the people around the borough who find themselves struggling.

They provide free advice about debt, housing, welfare benefits, employment and family matters among other topics, and we are very conscious of how much they do to support the community.

This is a key objective for us, so we’re pleased with the opportunity to support those who support our community.”

Mark Hinton, Chief Officer at Citizens Advice Swale, said:

“We are very grateful to Swale council for this additional funding.

Every year we help more than 4,000 people around the borough, and any money we receive helps us provide a free, confidential and impartial service to anyone who needs it.

We have a dedicated team of staff and over 40 volunteers and we would not be able to keep them without the financial support we receive from various grants, so this £20,000 will go a long way to helping us provide the invaluable service we’re known for.”

Citizens Advice Swale are operating an increased telephone service in place of face-to-face services while the country works to protect people from the spread of COVID-19.

People can call Adviceline on: 0344 848 7978 for general advice, Help to Claim on: 0800 144 8444 for new Universal Credit claims, or visit: www.citizensadviceswale.uk for more information.

Swale Borough Council

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James Heming Joins 106.9 SFM

James Heming in his home studio.

Former Heart Kent and Invicta Radio presenter James Heming is joining Sittingbourne’s local community radio station, 106.9 SFM.

James presented Kent’s most listened to Breakfast Show for nearly two decades. He joined Invicta FM in 1997, taking over as the main presenter on‘The Morning Zoo’ in 2000.

James said:

“What a time to hop on board and help a superb station do what they do best. Now more than ever SFM is an absolute lifeline for Sittingbourne’s community and proves local radio is very much alive and well.

Personally, I can’t wait to be back on a Kent radio station over the Easter weekend. I couldn’t be happier!”

We are pulling out all the stops this Easter weekend to entertain those that are at home. We have called this weekend our #StayAtHomeWeekender, so that’swhat our listeners should do! We will be making sure that we bring entertainment to not only those following government advice but also the key workers and NHS staff that we owe our thanks to.

All our presenters, including James, will be broadcasting from their homes and will be for the foreseeable future, so it’s important that our listeners do the same: stay at home, put the radio on, stay safe and protect our NHS.

Pete Flynn, Station Manager at 106.9 SFM, added:

“It has taken a little while to make this happen but it will definitely be worth the wait. When we knew James was available we knew we had to get him on board in some shape or form, back on the air again here in Kent.

This will be a great opportunity for James’s fans across Kent to be reunited with one of their favourite broadcasters. He is a hugely likeable guy with a natural ability to say what everyone else is thinking. We have all grown up with James on the radio every weekday morning, so it will be great to hear him back On Air again as part of the #StayAtHomeWeekender”.

James’s first show on 106.9 SFM will be from 11:00am this Friday (10th April) and again from 11:00am on Bank Holiday Monday (13th April).

You can hear SFM on 106.9FM in the Sittingbourne area and online via their website: sfmradio.com, on the ‘106.9 SFM’ App on Android and iOS and also on the Radio Player and TuneIn.

#StayAtHomeWeekender Schedule changes:

Good Friday:

7 - 9 - Nicky B’s Breakfast

9 - 11 - James Waters

11 - 1 - James Heming

1 - 3 - Ian Henderson

3 - 5 - Terry Shea

5 - 7 - Dan Davis

Bank Holiday Monday:

7 - 9 - Sam Gillham’s Breakfast

9 - 11 - Bradley Jacobs

11 - 1 - James Heming

1 - 3 - Angela Maybourne

3 - 5 - Graeme Burford

5 - 7 - Jack Cheeseman

The SFM News Team
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Swale Borough Council - Community Support Line

People with no-one to help them get food or essential items while they are self-isolating can get support from Swale Borough Council.

The council has set up a community support line to help people who don’t have friends or family around to help whilst they keep themselves, or others, safe from coronavirus.

The support line can help these people with things like collecting their food shopping, or other essential items, so they can stay safe in their homes.

To keep people safe from coronavirus, the government have also asked certain groups to self-isolate, either because they are in high risk groups or because they, or someone they live with, has symptoms of coronavirus.

Most of these people will have a network of support - family, friends and neighbours – who can help them whilst they’re self-isolating, but there will be some who don’t.

There is support from the government for the clinically vulnerable, but this can take time to arrive, and isn’t available to those who are self-isolating because they or someone in their household is displaying symptoms.

This is where the council is stepping in, by working with local volunteers to help these people who have no-one else to turn to for support.

Cllr Roger Truelove, leader of the council, said:

“We all need to be doing the right thing and staying at home unless we have a good reason such as going out for food or essential supplies.

We can also try to help each other by keeping in touch with family, friends and neighbours who may be self-isolating. It might be that you can help them with things like picking up their shopping, or even just being a friendly voice on the end of the phone whilst they’re staying safe at home.

For those who don’t have this kind of support network around them, we have been working with community partners for more than a week to help with things like shopping pick-ups.

Since the county-wide #KentTogether line opened on Wednesday, they’ve sent us more referrals for help than any other Kent district.

This shows how vital it is for us to work together and support each other during this pandemic, and we ask that people only contact us if they don’t have someone to help.

Demand on the service is high and we need to make sure we prioritise those that are most vulnerable and are in greatest need.”

Cllr Richard Palmer, cabinet member for communities at the council, said:

“We are getting regular updates from the government with details of the clinically vulnerable in our area. Over the last 10 days we’ve contacted around 500 people in this group, to make sure they have support in place, and if not, we’ll step in to help.

As this is a fast-changing situation there will be people we don’t yet know about, which is why we’re asking them to call us so they can stay safe and well at home.

We’ve had a fantastic support from the local community – from local groups, organisations, and volunteers – and it heart-warming to see how people from all walks of life are willing to roll up their sleeves and help people they’ve never met before.”

The community support line is available on 01795 417525 and can offer help to people who are:

• over 70

• under 70 with underlying health conditions

• self-isolating because they, or someone they live with, have symptoms of coronavirus

and have no friends or family nearby who can help with things like food shopping or topping up prepay meters.

The line is open from:

• 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Thursday

• 9:00am to 4:30pm Friday

• 10:00am to 2:00pm Saturday and Sunday, and bank holidays.

Outside these times people can contact the Kent Together helpline on 03000 41 92 92 or at www.kent.gov.uk/KentTogether

For more information, visit www.swale.gov.uk/community-response

Swale Borough Council

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Four Seasons of a Tree

“There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So, he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the autumn.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfilment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a pe
rson, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfilment of your autumn.”

William J. Little

Editor - The Gabriel Church Supplement

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Service Update: Swale Borough Council - Garden Waste Collections

We’re incredibly grateful for people’s understanding of the cancellation of our garden waste service last week.

This helped our contractors focus on making sure that general waste, recycling and food waste bins are being collected.

Following the pause in garden waste collections, we are now looking to reinstate the brown bin service from Tuesday 7th April.

Unfortunately we will not be able to catch up on the brown bins that have been missed up to this point, and we will be starting fresh on the usual schedule from Tuesday (7th April 2020). The fortnight that has been missed will be added to the end of your current subscription.

We would appreciate it if people could share this message with friends and neighbours who use the service but may not see this update.

We will continue to prioritise general waste, recycling and food waste, so there may continue to be disruptions to garden waste collections, but if you leave your bin out we will try to collect it as soon as possible. The crews will work hard to try and deliver the brown bin service over the coming weeks, and there will be a number of new employees to help with this task, so please bear with us if the service is intermittent.

We want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during these difficult times. We will continue to update you with any service disruptions on social media and our website.

Swale Borough Council
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KCC - Pandemic Forces Changes to Registering a Death

The process for registering a death in Kent has changed, due to the current Coronavirus pandemic. These changes are as a result of the Government’s legislative changes to support the fight against Coronavirus and will be coming in across the country.

It is no longer possible to book an appointment to register a death in person; instead this will now be carried out by telephone.

The process begins by making an online application here: www.kent.gov.uk/births-ceremonies-and-deaths/deaths/register-a-death. A registrar will then contact you by telephone to complete the process.

You must have a Medical Cause of Death Certificate (MCCD) from the doctor before you can register a death. With this new approach your GP surgery, hospital or hospice will have already sent KCC a copy of the MCCD, along with your details, which then the registration service will use to contact you to complete the registration. If anyone has received the MCCD form and not registered the death, then they will need to go to the website or call KCC’s contact centre and the procedure will be explained.

KCC’s registration service is working to complete registrations as quickly as possible and apologises for any delays anyone experiences due to the current circumstance.

The people who can register a death are: a relative of the deceased; a person who was present at the death; an administrator from the hospital where the person died; a person arranging the funeral; or the funeral director.

The registration service is free of charge, although there is a charge for buying copies of the death certificate, which can be discussed on the phone with the registrar.

After the registration entry is complete, the registrar will send by Email a certificate for burial or cremation (form 9) a green form to the funeral director or the crematorium. If the death has been referred to the Coroner and the funeral is a cremation, the equivalent form will be sent by the Coroner to your funeral director.

Birth registrations are currently on hold until further notice due to the current Coronavirus pandemic.

Murray Evans
Kent County Council

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