£1m raised for Stones new ground
THE campaign to bring Maidstone United FC back to the county town has been given a boost with the financial backing of property business- man Pat Gallagher, taking the total raised to the £1million mark. The Stones now need another
£600,000 to build a new 3,000- capacity stadium in James What- man Way, which already has planning permission. Mr Gallagher, chairman of the Aylesford-based
Gallagher
Group, has agreed to invest £150,000 into the project, which will cost £1.6m overall. Other funding includes £250,000 from the club directors and £150,000 from the Football Foun- dation. Stones vice-chairman Terry Casey said: “Hav-
BluebellWalk returns THE annual bluebell walk will be held on Sunday, May 1, be- ginning and ending at Harriet- sham Community Centre. The event, in its 24th year,
raises money for Aylesford- based Heart of Kent Hospice, with last year yielding more than £36,000. The eight-and-a- half mile route includes paths not normally open to the pub- lic.
Registration fees are £8 for an
adult, £3 for a child, and £20 for a family of two adults and two children. Register at
www.hokh.org or call 01622 790195.
MAIDSTONE United have launched a lottery as part of the fundraising effort. The Maidstone Club Draw offers players a fixed £25,000 jackpot, along with smaller prizes, for match- ing six numbers. Each tickets costs £2. To enter the draw, visit
www.maidstoneclubdraw.co.uk.
ing Pat Gallagher supporting and endorsing the building of the new stadium has given the whole project more than just money. It has given it the credibility and momentum that will ultimately re- sult in MaidstoneUnited FC at last playing its matches in Maidstone. “We are now taking signifi-
cant strides forward and are looking at a fund that has now reached £1,000,000. We are still a long way short but with your [supporters] help buying seats and bricks I am now, for the first time, convinced that
we will make the target and build the stadium.” KCC has agreed to sell the club the land bank
that adjoins the site, which will give design engi- neers more space for the east stand to be situated.
TALENTED pupils from Maid- stone Grammar School for Girls celebrated their success in this year’s BridgeWardens’ Art Prize. The competition, run by the Rochester Bridge Trust, saw girls from the school take the top two prizes for their entries on the theme of Crossing the Medway. The top award went to Isabelle
…but first a return to Sittingbourne THE Stones will next season go back to playing their home games at Sittingbourne, after the groundshare agreement at Ashford’s Homelands ground came to an end. There were concerns over
dwindling crowds and the state of the playing surface at Ash- ford, where the Stones had been for the past two years. So the club will return to Sitting- bourne’s Bourne Park, where they last played in 2008/09. They have not played in the Maidstone since 2001.
Grammar school pupils are a picture of success
Two other pupils, Bethany Morse-Wolfe (16), fromLarkfield, and Lydia Porter (13), from Trot- tiscliffe, were complimented for their entries. Sue Threader, Bridge clerk of
Lush (17), from Penenden Heath, for her portrayal of Maidstone Bridge at night, which was described as ‘very forceful’ and ‘full of passion’. Sophie Hunt (17), from Eccles, won second
prize with her collage of Rochester Bridge using a range of materials.
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From left: Bethany Morse- Wolfe, Sophie Hunt, Lydia Porter and Isabelle Lush.
the Rochester Bridge Trust, said: “Isabelle’s winning entry will now become part of the perma- nent Rochester Bridge art collec- tion, and will be displayed alongside works by John Hopper
and JMW Turner. “As the Trust founded Maidstone Girls Gram-
mar School in 1887, we are particularly de- lighted that pupils from the school have entered the competition and done so well.”
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