Charities get boost from police fund
SEVERAL charities from the Maidstone area have received a welcome financial boost from Kent Police. Area Commander, Chief Supt Matthew
Nix, presented cheques totalling £4,700 to organisations from across Mid Kent. The money comes from the Police Property Fund, which raises cash from the auction of recovered property, if the owners cannot be traced. Charities to benefit include: Maidstone Mediation - £300 Members provide a valuable contribution
to making the community of Maidstone a safer place. They work with schools in the borough to deliver mediation and train pupils to become teen mediators. Westree Boxing Club, Parkwood - £500 This club has been running since 1960. It
has more than 50 members aged 10 to 30 who attend shows around the South East. Maidstone Street Pastors - £500 They work every Saturday night and one Friday night a month in Maidstone and are hoping to recruit more street pastors to
Families find it’s time to get skates on
cover every Friday night. They provide as- sistance in the town centre and would use the contribution to buy consumables e.g. flip flops, tissues and blankets and also re- cruitment and training. The Heart of Kent Hospice, Aylesford -
£500 It cares for people who have been diag-
nosed with a terminal illness. Specialist palliative care ensures patients have a full a life as possible while dealing with the symptoms. The care they offer is free and last year the hospice helped more than 600 patients and their families. Ringlestone Community Association, Maidstone - £500 This association uses one small hall on an
estate that has no other resources. The hall, which is leased, is used to run weekly tod- dler groups and various groups use the hall for line dancing, bingo, quiz nights and drama groups. Hi Kent, Maidstone - £500 This small local charity has been estab-
lished since 1986, serving the deaf and hard of hearing in Maidstone and the surround- ing areas. It provides services to elderly people who have NHS hearing aids, by run- ning special aftercare clinics where clients can get their hearing aids cleaned, re-tubed and obtain new batteries, all free of charge. Chatterbox, Nettlestead - £400 This is a scheme for the older generation
FAMILIES rolled up to join in the fun when Maidstone YMCA launched its first skating session in nearly nine years. So many peo- ple turned up that there were not enough skates to go round and organisers have ap- pealed for financial help to buy more. Youth project officer Leslee Hardy-Harris
said: “It was great to see some of the old faces with their families, as well as new people. Some of the people who used to skate, have now got children, and they brought them along to skate as well. “With a limited number of skates, we ran
out of some sizes and would like to appeal for help from any company that would like to help with funding.” Leslee became a regular attender after
she started skating at the YMCA centre in Melrose Close, Loose, in 1968. But the ses- sions had to stop in 2002, when the build- ing became too decrepit, and have just returned to the newly rebuilt centre. Sessions are on Thursdays from 4 to
6pm for under 13s and families, and from 8 to 10pm for over 13s and adults. Contact Leslee on 07776 301888.
in the Nettlestead area who meet in the local church and chat with people of their own age. This was set up with the help of the local PCSOs in the area.
Praise for soloist JOHN Rogers is the guest soloist at the Sal- vation Praise on Sunday, March 13 (6pm) at the Union Street church. Further informa- tion from 01622 681808.
Cricket nets plan THE Mote Cricket Club has unveiled a plan to erect a two-bay temporary practice net with astro-turf surface at its base inWillow Way, Maidstone.
Efforts of young sports stars rewarded
YOUNGSTERS’ sporting achievements have been recognised at an awards cere- mony.
Maidstone Council and its sponsors came together at Maidstone Leisure Centre to host the 20th Youth Sport Achievement Awards evening. Laura Paine, 20, was the first winner of
the evening, collecting the YSAA Bronze award for rowing. Laura, who belongs to Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club and is studying at Oxford Brookes University, has been selected as a cox for her first U23 train- ing camp. The next award was the YSAA Silver, awarded to gymnast Gareth Thomas, a Roseacre Primary School pupil, for winning gold at the South East Regional Champi- onships, gold at the National Set Work Championships and bronze at the London Open. This year’s YSAA Gold award was handed to 21-year-old Martin Brockman, who was unfortunately unable to collect his award due to prior commitments. He was awarded for winning a bronze medal at the 2010 Commonwealth games in Delhi, India, in the decathlon where he set a personal best score of 7,712 points. Lauren Lethbridge took home two awards
from the night – first for Outstanding Per- sonal Achievement and then for the Maid-
4 Town
Service Award for helping raise funds for his club and for mentoring youngsters. The annual awards ceremony is the biggest celebration of sporting achievement in Maidstone, recognising the borough’s up- and-coming sporting stars. To highlight this work a new award was created, the Club of the Year, sponsored by the Kent County Playing Fields Association for hard work and commitment to the ath- letes. This went to Bearsted Korfball Club. Three schools shared the Primary School
of the Year Award – St Francis (pictured), East Farleigh and St John’s. St Simon Stock collected the secondary school award. The Kent Messenger Service in Sport
Award went to the Maidstone School Sports Partnership. Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture,
stone Disability Sport Award. The team award went to the men’s artistic
team from Pegasus Gymnastics Club – Euan Cox, Finlay Lincoln Reece Shepherd and Gareth Thomas. David Porter, another Invicta Rowing Club member, collected the Outstanding Youth
Cllr Richard Ash, said: “It was a great night. The ceremony is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the aspir- ing young sportsmen and women from the borough. All of the nominees deserved awards for their talent, dedication and en- thusiasm in sport.” The awards also hosted the presentation
of training grants from Maidstone Rotary Club. The winners of these were Lauren Lethbridge, Kelsie Gibson, Martin Brock- man, Courtney Tulloch and Ian Payne, who each received a grant of £100.
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