News Scouts get £3,000 fayre boost
MORE than £5,000 has been donated to local charities and organisations as a result of this year’s Bearsted and Thurnham Carnival and Fayre.
The main beneficiary was Bearsted Scouts, who received a cheque for £3,000 towards essential repairs to the Scout Hut at Church Landway, including a new kitchen and drainage works. The funds were raised at the
Fayre in June, which celebrated the 150th anniversary of Alice's Ad- ventures in Wonderland. Fayre chairman June Wilkins
said: “Once again, we had a very successful year, one of the best by far. The weather was on our side andwe had a wonderful turnout of people and their families. The fayre creates a wonderful commu- nity spirit which is what makes it so special.”
Other organisations to receive donations included: Madginford Seniors; St Peter’s Busy Bee Pre-School; Bearsted and Thurnham WI; Bearsted Cricket Club; Bearsted Girl Guides; Roseacre Raiders Football Club; Madginford Park Estate Football Club; Bearsted Korfball Club; Directions Performing Arts; Thurnham Infants School; Maidstone Scout Gang Show; Young Lives Charity; Maidstone Majorettes; Motor Neurone Disease Charity.
War memorial unveiled
A CROWD of people braved heavy rain and strong winds for the reded- ication of the refurbished war me- morial in Harrietsham. The ceremony was led by the
Bishop of Dover and Reverend Mil- lie Hart, with guests including MP Helen Whately, Maidstone mayor Cllr Daniel Moriarty and KCC Cllr JennyWhittle. They were joined by relatives of those named on the memorial, standard bearers from the Royal British Legion and mem- bers of the Royal West Kent Regi- ment Living History Group. The ceremony as followed by tea
in the church, where information boards supplied by Harrietsham History Society provided back- ground on villagers who had died in World War I and World War II, as well as those who survived. Catering was organised by the
Wives’ Group and local volunteers. Mike Bishop, of the Harrietsham History Society, said: “Many thanks to everyone who helped to make the day a memorable event, not forgetting the wonderful wreath kindly made by Carol Homan, with home grown flowers, lovingly put together to further strength the Harrietsham connection.”
The re-dedication was the culmi-
nation of 18 months research on the memorial by a group of vil- lagers who called themselves the War Cabinet, after five mistakes were identified on the memorial’s bronze plaques. Stephen Morris and Peter Brown identified a fur- ther 26 names which needed to be added to the memorial. The cost of the refurbishment
was supported by grants and dona- tions from individuals and village organisations, as well as fundrais- ing events.
Curate Alan leaves Bearsted
BEARSTED curate Alan Pinnegar is off to pastures new. Rev Pinnegar, who came to Holy Cross Church in June 2012, has been appointed priest in charge of the Tunstall and Bredgar benefice, near Sit- tingbourne, his first incumbency since being ordained two years ago. Before coming to Bearsted, Rev Pinnegar was a lay minister in Cran-
brook, where he and his wife Kerry had lived for 24 years. He said: “Holy Cross has been an excellent training ground. As well
as the variety of worship on offer, there are various groups that meet dur- ing theweek, in addition to the school assemblies, coffee mornings, tod- dler groups and the monthly Friday club. During his time in Bearsted, Rev Pinnegar has worked on the man- agement team for the Maidstone Street Pastors, while Mrs Pinnegar has gone out on the streets with the Saturday night teams. He has also worked with the Maidstone ChurchesWinter Shelter Scheme.
14 Maidstone East December 2015
downsmail.co.uk
This year's donation recipients Castle is triathlon winner
LEEDS Castle has been selected to be part of Triathlon England’s Na- tional Championships for 2016. The castle, which hosted its own events in 2014 and 2015, has been in- cluded on the 2016 British Triathlon Age-Group Major Events Calendar, providing an opportunity for Britain’s top age groupers to prepare for the Olympics and Paralympics. Leeds Castle's sprint distance on June 25 will form part of Triathlon England's National Championships. The 750-metre swim will take place in the castle moat, with swimmers passing under the castle through the two ancient arches. Once out of the water, there is a short run to the bike racks and, after a quick change, competitors head out onto Kent’s roads for a 26 km cycle on the A20 to Charing and back. The final leg involves a 5K run along the upper park- land. The castle’s own Junior Aquathlon takes place on the same day, with participants expected to complete a 50m swim and 600m run. On the Sunday, there will be the Leeds Castle Sprint Triathlon and the
Leeds Castle Standard Distance Triathlon. The sprint involves another 750m swim, 26K cycle and 5K run, while
the standard distance event is a gruelling 1500m swim, 40K cycle ride and 10K run.
Pre-school children progress
CHILDREN at Willow Rise pre- school in Downswood are making good progress, according to an Of- sted inspection. Parentswerewell-informed and
involved in children’s progress and staff regularly shared infor- mation with them. The children were said to be
happy and confident to explore their ideas through play. They were kept safe at the pre-school
and staff had a good knowledge of safety policies and procedures. Behaviour was good and the children were “exceptionally po- lite and respectful”. The setting was rated good. To become outstanding, the inspector suggested staff should make more of opportunities to extend learning outside and to help children de- velop their information, communi- cation and technology skills.
Infill home gets green light
PLANNING permission was granted for a new detached three-bed- room house with garage at 22 GoldstoneWalk,Walderslade. The planning application was originally for two two-bedroom houses and drew objections from Boxley Parish Council and 10 resi- dents, whose concerns included overlooking of the neighbouring prop- erties at 16 and 21 GoldstoneWalk. The infill development will be built on land previously woods and
a pond. Cllr Clive English, chairman of the planning committee, said: “The parish council was correct to object to two dwellings, which would have been overdoing it, but with the reduction to one dwelling it would be been difficult to find a reason for refusal.” The committee backed the application unanimously.
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