News
Cash for child victims of
sexual abuse RETIRING Police and Crime Com- missionerAnn Barnes has awarded almost £100,000 to three charities providing support for victims of child sexual assault in the county. Juvenile Justice International, Ru-
bicon Cares and Rising Sun Kent are the first groups in Kent to be al- located cash from a fund set aside specifically for child sexual assault victims. They will share £96,866 and are expected to help 1,000 victims this year. Mrs Barnes said: “I was very pleased when the Ministry of Jus- tice gave Kent £146,000 specifically to help victims of child sexual as- sault, because it’s a sickening crime with increasing numbers of victims coming forward to seek our help.” Rubicon Cares, based in Mar-
sham Street, Maidstone, was awarded £40,300 to provide coun- selling and therapeutic sessions for victims aged 13 to 18. The charity’s CEO Sandie Turner
said: “We are extremely pleased to receive this funding from the PCC’s fund for victims of child sexual as- sault.
“The work we have been doing
for the last two years has shown us that there is a high demand in this specialist area. This money will en- able us to ensure that the people across Kent and Medway who re- ally need this service get it quickly.” Juvenile Justice International,
based in Folkestone, received £39,900 to provide four clinics a month, plus an emergency out-of- hours service, for child victims and adult survivors of historical child sexual assault. Rising Sun Kent was awarded £16,666 to work with girls aged 11 to 17 in Canterbury, Ashford and Swale.
downsmail.co.uk
MP Whately wades in over our ‘woeful’ trains
MP HelenWhately has expressed surprise at claims that Southeastern is meeting performance and customer satisfaction targets.
The MP for Mid Kent and Faver-
sham wrote to the Department of Transport after passengers using Southeastern trains were hit by in- creased delays and cancellations to ask whether the train operatorwas breaking its franchise agreement. Rail Minister Claire Perry re- sponded saying that Southeastern was not currently in breach of any of its performance targets, despite continual complaints from passen- gers in the region. Mrs Whately, who uses the net-
work herself, said: “Service on Southeastern trains is woeful. I wrote to the Department of Trans- port to ask if the train operatorwas breaking its performance targets with endless delays and cancella- tions. “I’m disappointed and some-
what surprised to learn that South- eastern is not, apparently,
breaching its franchise agreement.” Southeastern repeatedly comes
close to the bottom of national cus- tomer satisfaction and perform- ance surveys. Mrs Whately said: “When the franchise comes up for renewal in 2018 I want to see much more ro- bust performance standards. “It’s particularly baffling that it’s meeting customer satisfaction tar- gets, as I hear so many complaints about Southeastern from my con- stituents.” There is some good news for
commuters, with news that addi- tional carriages are going to be added to some trains in the coming weeks and the rail minister has said she is working with South- eastern to introduce additional rolling stock to alleviate crowding on the network. The PPM (Public Performance figures) have just been released both for the last period of 2015/16 and the overall figures for last year. For period 13, the target for the Bearsted linewas 92.4% but the re- ality was 90.51%. The difference was -1.9% and year on year for this period is down 3.4%. For the year as a whole, the aver-
age target for the line was 90.18%, but the realitywas 86.91%. The dif- ference was -3.28%. The only SET line that had a pos-
itive annual figure was the line from Sittingbourne to Sheerness.
Golding’s repairs award PO to consult
MAIDSTONE-based Golding Homes won this year’s National Award for Outstanding Approach to Repairs and Maintenance at the 2016UKHousingAwards(UKHA). The association was presented
with the award at the Lancaster London Hotel at an event hosted by comedian Rory Bremner. Golding Homes is working in partnership with Mitie Property Services as part of a 10-year repairs and maintenance contract for the housing association’s 7,000 proper- ties across Kent, under the brand Golding Services.
The partnership delivered 66,000 repairs, improved customer satis- faction rates to 98.8%, and provided £2.6m of planned maintenance im- provements in its first three years. The partnership also achieved annual savings of over £240,000. Peter Stringer, chief executive of Golding Homes, said: “Our repairs service is vitally important to our customers and therefore to us all. “The partnership between Mitie,
our residents and our community partners is at the heart of our serv- ice delivery and it is great for that to be recognised.”
MAIDSTONE’S main Post Office may go theway of many across the country and become part of newsagentsWHSmith. Post Office management is considering a move to the retail chain’s Week Street store with staff moving across to the new premises. Similar moves in Kent – such as the one in Folke- stone – proved controversial. Users are being consulted on the proposal which would see offer five serving hatches and three self-service posi- tions in the new
store.The consul- tation ends on June 1 and submissions can be made to com-
ments@postoffice.co.uk
Workshops aim to boost your confidence
DO you suffer from glossophobia? You might not know what it means - but it’s highly likely you have if if you’re one of the world’s 75% who would prefer to do anything rather than stand up in public and speak. Academic, author and copywriter
Liz Norton will try to cure profession- als of their fears when she takes over the hospitality suite at Heart of Flavour in King Street, Maidstone. Heart of Flavour is Heart of Kent Hospice’s coffee shop and 100% of its profits go to help the charity. In a three-hour workshop, Liz (34)
believes she can help most people manage their anxiety and overcome their nerves, write an ear-catching
26 Maidstone South May 2016
speech – and produce a professional performance. She said: “Around 75% of people
suffer fromsome degree of fear when it comes to public speaking, frommild anxiety to full blown phobias. But whether you’re looking for a new job, want to grow your brand or simply stand out from the crowd, it’s essen- tial that you learn to present yourself, especially as video will make up more than70%of all online content within the next few years.” Liz, author of “Step Back,Move For-
ward:Howchanging your perspective can change your life”, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at six weeks old, but has gone on to professional and
personal success, She said: “Nerves aren’t a bad thing
– it’s about learning tomanage them. The way you present speaks volumes about your confidence – and there are simple trickswhich will make you appear full of confidence.” The workshops at Heart of Flavour
run from 8.45am to noon, with re- freshments provided by Scott FitzGer- ald and his team. Upcoming dates are Wednesday
May 18 and Wednesday June 8. Liz holds sessions around the region, but can also take her tuition into the workplace, for businesses who prefer to have their training on-site. For de- tails, visit
www.liznortonpresents.com.
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