Medway Council - Update on Changes to The Older and Disabled Residents Bus Pass

An opportunity which allowed free bus travel in Medway before 9:00am during the Coronavirus pandemic will come to an end later this week.

Medway Council offered disabled and older people the chance to use their pass for free travel before 9:00am to enable them to make an earlier essential journey, such as food shopping.

Residents who have passes will continue to be able to travel for free on buses after 9:00am when the scheme comes to an end on Sunday, 7th March.

The changeover will come into place on Monday, 8th March when school pupils return to the classroom, and passes will only be able to be used from 9:00am Monday to Friday and at all times at weekends and on bank holidays.

Medway Council has a statutory duty to provide passes for free bus travel throughout England for older and disabled people under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS).

More than 34,000 Medway residents have a bus pass including 30,000 for older people and 4,000 for disabled people.

Medway Council

Please Help Our Co-op Key Workers Keep You Safe

Please help our Co-op key workers keep you safe 😷

Thank you

Nik Clements

Manager - Upchurch’s Co-op

March News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

March has arrived and it’s time to get going in the garden. After the “Beast from the East” put in another unwelcome appearance, the weather has improved (at least at the time of writing) and things are looking spring-like. The first crocus to flower in the garden was on 5th February this year which is the earliest I have known. Snowdrops, Hellebores, Daffodils and Dwarf Iris have flowered and it looks like a good start to the year and hopefully a harbinger of things to come. Hopefully, you are getting jabbed (by vaccination that is, not by a Labour politician) and generally feeling much happier.

The lawn can get a bit of attention this month with scarification and possibly the first cut with the blades set high. Hold off until April before weeding and feeding and doing patch repairs with seed. Give the vegetable patch a good digging over, remove all weeds and winter debris and apply a general fertiliser. Your soil will probably be very stony as a lot of Upchurch sits on a bed of compacted stone that slopes downwards towards the Medway. Stones can be raked off, lifted with a shovel, put through a sieve to reclaim any soil and bagged up for disposal.

The Exhibition Longpod Broad Beans will be planted in March which provide a bumper crop, in fact, there are still some leftover in the freezer from last year. Also, the Rocket Early Potatoes will go in at the end of March. Dig a hole about 6” deep and fill with 3” of sieved soil mixed with compost and dry pellet manure (6X is my favourite, available from Amazon). Push the seed potato into the mix and then fill the hole with a final small fistful of manure on the top. The rain will wash that down and the tubers will start forming.The end of March is also a good time to get the seedlings going. Moist compost is best, not too wet and keep them covered with transparent covers which can be lifted when germination starts. Label the seedling trays if your recognition is not too good. On mild days they can go outside to start hardening off or placed in a cold frame.

If you didn’t manage it last month, tidy up all the borders and containers, remove weeds and leaf litter and fertilise or dig some compost into the surface. Also mulch fruit trees and berry canes.

It will be interesting to see if last year’s tadpole husbandry has produced more adult frogs as March is a month of happy ribbeting. If we get a lot of spawn this year we will probably separate some of it into a suitable container to prevent the high levels of predation in Spring. The good thing about frogs is that they like slugs and a healthy colony in the pond is good for the garden.

This time of year always causes me a frisson of excitement as things are about to start happening and life will hopefully get pleasantly busy again. A bit of high morale is starting to bubble to the surface so it’s time to finish off the Xmas Prosecco while I knock up the evening meal.

We are always looking for new members and try to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables and flowers or even enter any of the 3 shows we hold each year, then please get in touch, we would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Rosey on: 01634 377812 (evenings) or Email: rosemary@ringwoodaccounting.co.uk

Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society

Volunteers Litter Pick The Street and Poot Lane

A huge well done to Carole and Sarah Juniper for their successful two-hour litter pick, collecting seven bags of rubbish from two areas between The Street and the old Poultry Farm in Poot Lane, a distance of 1.75 miles.

The majority of rubbish they collected was dog waste bags, empty vodka bottles, drinks cans, cigarette packets and butts.

Carole and Sarah were supplied with litter pickers by Swale Borough Councillor Alan Horton.

#LitterHeroes #KeepKentClean

Upchurch Matters

Gill Gay Will Be Collecting For Swale Foodbank Again

Hi everyone,

I would like to thank you all for the tremendous support we have received on behalf of Swale Foodbank so far.

My husband Ron and I will be collecting again in the bus stop lay-by opposite the Church in Horsham Lane on Wednesday the 10th of March between 10:30am and 11:30am.

Please come along with your donations (in carrier bags would be helpful) and put them into our open car boot while we remain at a safe distance.

We will then deliver your donations to the Swale Foodbank Warehouse, part of the Trussell Trust.

The items they are most in need of are:

Jar Sauces eg Bolognese, Curry etc

Tinned Potatoes

Instant Mash

Tinned Vegetables-specifically Carrots, Peas and Sweetcorn

All Tinned Meats especially meals eg Curry, Stew, Casserole, Meatballs, Hotdogs

All Tinned Fish

Tinned Fruit - all kinds

Custard

Pot Noodles / Instant Noodles

Jam /Chocolate Spread / Honey

Coffee

Long-life Milk

Squash

Cat Food

Dog Food

Shampoo / Conditioner

Nappies size 4/4+/5/5+/6/6+/7

Thanks so much for every single donation we receive - we are deeply grateful!

Thank you

Gill Gay - Foodbank Co-ordinator

Email: gilliangay99@yahoo.co.uk

3 Reported Frauds to Look Out For

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

Here are 3 reported frauds to look out for:

1. Courier Fraud

2. Royal Mail

3. Covid Vaccination

These scams usually arrive unsolicited on your Mobile Phone, Tablet, PC or Laptop, insisting that you click on a link that enables them to steal from you, so please do not click on anything.

Ignore Emails, calls and messages that seem suspicious, and please report them. 

If you think you might have given away sensitive information or lost money to a scam, report it online to: ActionFraud@police.uk 

Kent Community Messaging