Stoves by Edmed
‘100 bus’marks M&D milestone
ARRIVAhas unveiled a bus painted in the once-familiar green and cream colours of its predecessor, The Maidstone & District Motor Services Ltd, to mark the centenary of the company’s formation. Maidstone mayor Cllr Eric Hotson and other invited guests as-
sembled at the Kent Life museum at Aylesford on March 22, ex- actly 100 years to the day that M&D commenced trading from a yard in Maidstone, as the buswent on public view for the first time. M&Dwas absorbed into the Ar-
riva Group in 1998, but much of the network of services still pro- vided by Arriva have their ori- gins in routes which were started many years ago by M&D. Arriva’s publicity manager Richard Lewis said: “One hun- dred years is a very significant time for a company to maintain continuous trading and, whilst the buses arenowblue instead of green and carrying the Arriva name, we owe the longevity of our business to the pioneering busmen of the early 20th century and to the generations of busmen and women who followed them over the ensuing nine decades. “M&Dwas a major employer in
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the region, as Arriva is now, and most local people probably know someone who worked ‘on the buses’.” The centenary bus has been painted in the final version of M&D’s livery, which was intro- duced at the start of 1997, a year before the transition into Arriva. The vehicle will be seen on
The company expanded rapidly after the First WorldWar, with a fleet of 900 vehicles at one time. It employed many thou- sands of people over the years at depots stretching from Faversham in the east across to Bexhill on the Sussex coast.
From left: Arriva publicity manager Richard Lewis, KCC head of transport David Hall and Maidstone mayor Cllr Eric Hotson.
routes around Maidstone,TunbridgeWells andTonbridge andwas one of more than 50 former M&D buses and coaches on display at a Kent Showground event to celebrate the centenary.
New community health body launched The new body was formed
THE reshaping of the county’s health services has taken an- other step with the launch of the Kent Community Health NHS Trust. It serves a population of more
than 1.4 million and has a £200m budget and 5,700 staff. The new trust – distinct from
the hospital trust and the men- tal health trust – is one of the biggest providers of community healthcare in the UK. Its services range from com- munity nursing, health visiting and school nursing to podiatry (foot care) and physiotherapy.
from the amalgamation of East- ern and Coastal Kent Commu- nity Health NHS Trust andWest Kent Community Health. Trust chairman David Grif-
fiths, who formerly chaired the West Kent PCT board, said: “We will now have more autonomy to determine our own destiny, which ensures we are well placed to continue to improve our services. Our aspiration will be to become one of the best NHS organisations in the coun- try and to deliver the highest quality of care possible.”
Warm welcome is at hand for families THISmonth’s ‘Hands On Church’will be at Detling Church at 3pm on Sunday, May 22, when the topic will be about Jesus teaching people how to pray. As usual, there will be a story, singing and an activity. Now entering its second year, Hands On Church is aimed at chil-
dren from birth to 10 years, and their parents, families and friends. After the informal service, which lasts between 30 and 40 minutes, there will be time for a chat and drinks and biscuits.
Mall’s Red Nose run MAIDSTONE MP Helen Grant launched a Red Nose Day event in the The Mall shopping cen- tre, organised by solicitors Whitehead Monckton. More than £500 was raised in
the eight-hour, 20km en- durance race in the shopping centre, which saw 20 employ- ees using various methods of ‘travel’, including a space hop- per, a three-legged walk – and even an egg and spoon race.
Visit Downs Mail’s website—
downsmail.co.uk
A warm welcome goes out to families from all areas for the gathering on the fourth Sunday of most months, which usually alternates between the two churches at Boxley and Detling.
Garden shed theft GARDEN equipment was the target of thieves who stole two lawnmowers, a strim- mer and two hedge trimmers from a shed at a property in Church Lane, Bearsted.
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