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downsmail.co.uk Nurse to tackle channel swim
A NURSE from West Malling is getting ready to take on a huge challenge by swimming across the Channel.
Claire Russell (pictured), the lead
nurse at ThornhillsMedical Practice in Larkfield,will be undertaking the challenge in July to raise funds for theHeart of KentHospice. The swim to France is likely to
take about 16 hours, and the 56- year-old is advancingwellwith her training. “At the back of my mind, it’s
something I’ve always wanted to do,” she said. “I’ve been involved in relay swims across the channel, but this is obviously something far bigger. “I’ve been doing lots of long
swims over the weekends and by the time it comes around, I will be ready for the challenge. “They say it’s 25 miles, but with
the tides and so on it can be fur- ther.” Mrs Russell wants to raise funds
for the hospice, where her mother Pat was treated before she died of bowel cancer. “They were great,” she said.
Hero award for allergy
suffererArlo WESTMalling’sArlo Gillard- Moss (pictured) has been named Child Allergy Hero of the year. The six-year-old, who has multiple life- t h r e a t e n i n g food allergies, received
the
public vote for his positive atti- tude
his condition. He was nominated by his
parents, who say he inspires themwith his courage in spite of his many hospital appoint- ments and admissions. Arlo received the award in
London from 106-year-old Dr William Frankland, who has dedicated his life to the treat- ment of allergic reactions. Speaking afterwards, Arlo
said: “Itwas the best day ofmy life; I felt famous! meeting Dr Franklandwas awesome.” About 21 million people in
theUKsuffer some formof al- lergic disease, and that num- ber is rising, particularly childrenwith food allergies.
4 Malling June 2018 towards FA award says thank you to football coach
A FOOTBALL coach is celebrating afterwinning a special award. TomM’Grady is the LarkfieldLadies
U9Girlsmanager, and has received a Thank you Award from the Kent FA after being nominated by some of the team’s parents. The 20-year-old began managing
TENDERS are to be invited to build an outdoor gym in Ley- bourne. It follows Tonbridge andMalling
Borough Council’s decision to ap- prove the details of the adult gym, close to the children’s play area. New arrangements to avoid a designated no-development zone
the sidewhen theywereU8s andwas one of just a handful of coaches to win the award. A club spokesman said: “Tom has
already completed the top level 250 volunteer hours in the Kent FA’s Foot- ball Futures initiative. “Hehas spentalotofhis spare time
Outdoor gymplan approved
to protect an underground fuel line to Gatwick that runs through the village have been accepted. The idea was born out of the UK
Olympics in 2012 and the drive to get more people to exercise. The project is being funded by Sport England and TaylorWimpey,with around £2,000 fromcouncil funds.
making the girls’ football experience a happy one. He is an inspirational rolemodel to his girls and to somany others in the club.” Anyone interestedinplayingfor the
club can email larkfieldfootball-
club@hotmail.com or
ladies@hotmail.com
Tyres slashed FOUR cars were damaged on one evening inWateringbury. All four had tyres slashed
just after 5.10pm on Tuesday, May 15. Two of the affected ve- hicles were parked in Leney Road, one was in Bow Road and onewas in The Brucks.
larkfield-
“They not only made my mum’s quality of life better before she passed away, but the after care they offered to my dad as well was fan- tastic. “I’ve worked in the NHS for 30
years, yet I didn’t realise that the hospice only gets 10% of its fund-
ing fromtheNHS. “I was staggered, and I really
wanted to do something to help themout.” Themother of two has been train-
ing in Leybourne andDover ahead of themammoth swim, and added: “I have had specialist tuition to
change my stroke and have been training hard through thewinter. “The cold doesn’t bother me be-
cause I’ve done a lot of open-water swimming over the years, nor do the jellyfish. The biggest problemis what is called ‘saltmouth’, because of the amount of seawater you take inwhen you are swimming.” KarenNewton, community part-
nerships fundraiser from Heart of Kent Hospice said: “As an inde- pendent charity, each yearwe have to raise £4 in every £5we spend on patient care. We can only do this with the loyal support of people like Claire and everyone who is sponsoring her so generously. “We are so grateful to Claire for
supporting us and wish her every success in her incredible challenge, made all the more amazing as she will be wearing just a swimming costume.” Claire can be sponsored at
https://hokh.charitycheckout.co.uk/ pf/claire-russell-channel-swim.
Pupils and staff outside the school in Ryarsh
School wins bid for safety strip
THE county council has agreed to reinstate a rumble strip outside Ryarsh School after coming under fire from parents concerned for pupils’ safety. The U-turn by Kent County
Council follows a report in Downs Mail about the loss of the red, high- friction strip either side of the school entrance, which effectively warned drivers of children cross- ing and had served to slowvehicles on Birling Road. The safety aid had been buried
beneath tarmac in October as part of highway improvements by KCC. But, while the highways author-
ity reinstated zig-zag no parking lines after the work, KCC main- tained the rumble strip would not be replaced, due to its cost and “aesthetic” nature. However, in a statement to
DownsMail, a spokesman forKCC confirmed this week that the rum- ble strip will be reinstated. He
added: “We have reviewed the sit- uation and agree that the high-fric- tion surfacing serves a useful purpose in highlighting to drivers the pointwhere people are likely to cross the road. We are now plan- ningworks to replace this.” He added: “We expect the work
to be completed within the next few months, in time for the new school year.” It has delighted parents, staff and
pupils at the school, who had turned to their parish council and localMP TomTugendhat for help. Head Ruth Austin told Downs
Mail at the time: “In the last two months we have had a number of near misses, where parents with children have only just avoided being hit by cars. We do not want there to be an accident simply to prove a need. The high-friction strip served a very useful purpose in alerting drivers and providing a recognised crossing point that par- ents and children used.”
Newmayor takes chain
MALLING’s new mayor Pam Bates has received her official chain of of- fice from her predecessor, Roger Dalton.
Cllr Bates (pic-
tured)was elected civic leader for Tonbridge and Malling on May 15. The 70-year-old borough council-
lor married husband Keith in 1977 and between them they have five children – four girls and a boy – and seven grandchildren. After losing Keith to cancer in
2008, Pam, who is now retired, spends much of her time helping others in the community. She was elected a borough councillor in 2011 representing Trench Ward in Tonbridge,where she has lived since
1976. Since that time, she has served onmany committees. Cllr Bates, who has served a year
as deputy mayor, said: “I’m really looking forward to continuing this work in my role as mayor. It will be an honour to raise awareness of all the fantasticwork carried out by vol- unteers, community groups, schools and businesses and to meet more residents on my travels around the borough.” During her term of office, Pam
has chosen to support the Tree of Hope charity, which helps children and young people with a disability or illness by supporting their fami- lies to raise the funds they need for specialist care. The deputymayor for the coming
year is Cllr Jill Anderson, who repre- sents Hadlow and East Peckham ward.
Mallling June 2018 5
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