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Newington December 2020
This newsletter is compiled and edited by David Cowell who is totally responsible for content. If you do not wish to receive these newsletters please email UNSUBSCRIBE to him at david@thesentinel.org.uk
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Kent Together HELPLINE The Kent Together helpline is being coordinated by Kent County Council, working alongside Kent’s district and borough councils, fire, health and police services.
NHS COVID-19 APP FEATURES Helping us all to support the NHS by reducing the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Protect your loved ones. Download the app.
View area risk level
Trace
Alert
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Get alerted if you’ve been near other app users who have tested positive for coronavirus
Lets you know the level of coronavirus risk in your postcode district
Get alerted if you have recently visited a venue where you may have come into contact with coronavirus
Symptoms
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Check if you have coronavirus symptoms and see if you need to order a free test
Helps you book a test and get your result quickly
Keep track of your self-isolation countdown and access relevant advice
To download the NHS COVID-19 app, search for “NHSCOVID-19” in the App Store / Google Play Store on your phone
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NEWINGTON VILLAGE HALL Important Notice Your Village Hall will close permanently on 31st December 2020 unless volunteers are found for the following management committee positions: • Letting Secretary • Treasurer • Secretary If you are interested in joining this fascinating aspect of village life, then please contact either of the following committee members: Kirsty Howard – Mobile 07974472428 Bob Laslett – Mobile 07767 698543 Jenny Laslett – Telephone 01303 271369 The hall has been fortunate enough to secure a substantial government grant from Folkestone and Hythe Council to ensure that the hall re-opens once the Covid restrictions are lifted.
Folkestone and Hythe Cats Protection shop in Hythe is now open: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10am - 3pm. New measures in place to protect customers and volunteers. Stringent cleaning regime and quarantining system to further protect customers and volunteers and only 2 customers in the shop at any one time. Many bargains from ÂŁ1. Contact shop on 01303 264285 and general enquiries on 0345 260 1253
Report from your County Councillor for Newington
I was very pleased to attend the Zoom meeting of Newington Parish Council on 16 November. It was good to see new parish councillors Jill Sage and Cleo Smith BEM. (I wrote last month about Cleo’s award of the British Empire Medal for her work at the community hub during lockdown and there’s clearly no limit on her appetite to serve her community!) My District Council colleague David Godfrey was also there. One of the items I was asked about was potholes. Some had been reported and fixed but there were others that people weren’t sure had been reported which had not yet been done. If you go online to report a pothole (or faulty streetlight, blocked drain etc.) at www.kent.gov.uk and go to the Highways section you can see on the map where reports have already been made and click on the icon for more information. When you report a problem (either online 24/7 or 03000 41 81 81 in normal office hours or 03000 41 91 91 for anything urgent out of office hours) you should always be given a reference number. Do keep a copy of your reference number in case something needs chasing. Kent’s Plan Bee conference also took place on 16 November and was attended online by nearly 200 people ranging from beekeepers to landowners, parish clerks and members of the public. We intend to make a recording of the event available on the KCC website for those who couldn’t attend. The feedback on the day was good and many said they were pleased to discover how much was being done to help our pollinators. I was looking at my newsletter entry for this time last year and 8
see we were gearing up for potential problems on Kent’s roads when we left the EU. One year on and we’re doing the same for the end of the transition period. KCC continues to work with Kent Police, Highways England, the NHS and other partners to prepare for what the winter might bring, be it the ‘normal’ problems caused by bad weather or further lockdowns, test and trace or potential disruption to road traffic at the end of the Brexit transition period as well gearing up for a mass vaccination programme when a vaccine becomes available. We can’t predict what will happen but we are as prepared as we can be. www.kent.gov.uk remains the best place to check for the latest information on KCC services and I promise we will do our best to keep services operating whatever the winter throws at us. I also keep ‘The Elham Valley’ Facebook group updated with traffic notices and other information for my County Council area. I wish you all a peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you to those who serve on the parish council, run the church, those who write for, edit or distribute this newsletter and those of you involved with the village organisations. This year above all, thank you to all the volunteers and all the good neighbours. Susan Carey Member for Elham Valley Kent County Council
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All now available in paperback and on Kindle Set in Folkestone in the heady days of the late 60s. They say if you can remember it, you weren't there!
Two plays. One an imaginary meeting between Dylan Thomas and Brendan Behan in a Fitzrovia pub. The other is Caitlin Thomas reminiscing after the untimely death of her husband.
This is the tale of Hana, a young girl who moves from where she was born in London, to the Kent coast. They discover a wonderful area called Prince's Parade which is full of amazing animals, has a beautiful canal and is right next to the sea too! By buying this book you will be helping to protect it. All profits from it will be donated to the Save Prince's Parade campaign which aims to halt plans to develop the area into a housing estate. Very funny, and surreal story about a man and a woman on their first date: Bolton Brady and Veda, set in London, November 2001. Bolton is forty, not into assets, has never lived with a woman and looked into the future and seen loneliness. So he decides to do something about it. He advertises in a lonely-hearts column, and receives six replies, but after experiencing one disaster after another only Veda remains between him and his sanity. As the day unfolds the line between reality and fantasy becomes blurred, building to a surreal, yet poignant, conclusion. 10
This walk through the history of Sandgate to the present day was first performed at the Chichester Hall a decade ago on Wednesday, 9th June. It is now available on Kindle or in paperback.
Coming soon. The prequel to Seaside Stories. Get an understanding of how it all started
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SANDGATE FARMERS MARKET
REAL F D. REAL CL SE.
Shop Local. www.sandgatebusiness.org.uk
Friends of St Nicholas Church Newington Restoring and maintaining this historic building and its grounds
Charity number: 1122652
N E P S U S
D E D
The editor of The Sentinel is also responsible for sending Hythe, Newington and Sandgate related event information to the Folkestone Herald. If you have an event you wish to publicise it is needed by Tuesday at 17:00. The information should appear in the edition two weeks later although it is not guaranteed. 13
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To advertise in all three of The Sentinels with circa 3000 targetted readers and growing please email me at: david@thesentinel.org.uk for a rate card. Thank you. We are a small family run business, trading for over 30 years in the heart of Hythe High Street at number 51 (CT21 5AD) and we pride ourselves on customer service and of a range of products with high quality produce. We cater for all needs, whether it's a small treat for your pet, tapioca to make your favourite nostalgic pudding, or some of our delicious, local, free range eggs, perfect for cooking, baking and breakfasting! At U-Weigh we have more than 400 items in store, ranging from cupboard essentials to sweet treats and snacks. We have a large selection of herbs, spices and seasonings to take your meal plans to every corner of the world, and to cater for the home bakers and amateur chefs, some cupboard staples; flours, sugars, cake mixes, pastas and rices. As dried food specialists, we all have a wide knowledge and will not hesitate to help with any queries or questions you may have. Take a look at our many products, write your list and pop into the shop. We're also doing our bit for the planet by introducing paper bags, and don't forget, if you are trying to be more green, you can bring your own tubs, jars and containers to fill up. www.u-weigh.co.uk
www.facebook.com/uweigh/ From the cutting-edge London design agency Here Design - writer and poet Philip Cowell, and award-winning designer Caz Hildebrand, author of The Herbarium, this playful, original, beautifully designed book brings to life the punctuation marks we use every day, including: The dashing dash So-called "quotation marks" The colon: and on and on. The shouty exclamation! Kindle edition The three dots of... ÂŁ9.99 (Not forgetting the brackets) Hardback And even more 15
ÂŁ14.99 Great gift
Report from your District Councillor for Newington
As much as we all prefer to meet up in person where would we be if it were not for communication platforms such as Zoom which has enabled us to keep things moving at Council, Business and indeed family levels.
Second Covid Lockdown. We should pride ourselves on the fact that we have one of the lowest infection rates in the Country and by continuing to act prudently we can remain in the lower tier. Obviously, we are all very excited about recent vaccine news and fingers crossed we will see life slowly returning to normal although we may find that it is a “new normal” with different perspectives on working life, The Council, together with Three Hills Sports Park, Age UK Hythe & Lyminge and Romney Marsh Day Centre prudently kept the three Community Hub structures in place and quickly brought them back into service. In addition, as with the first lockdown our Officers have moved quickly to sift through the details of new funding being provided by Government and make them available to eligible business’s and organisations; not an easy task.
Council Housing A crucial event under my Portfolio was the successful transition to us of the management of our Council owned housing stock from the dissolved East Kent Housing. A huge amount of work was involved in the transition and new teams and structures have been developed to provide an exemplary service to our tenants and leaseholders. There is still much to 16
bene done but over the next few months, irrespective of the setbacks of Covid 19, we will be fine tuning the service and carrying out an extensive stock survey. This will enable us to introduce environmentally friendly energy saving improvements to existing properties and of course we will continue to pursue our new build targets.
Recovery The Pandemic has come at a significant cost to us all and we are working on a recovery programme for when the full effects on the Council finances become clearer however through prudent budgeting over the past few years I am confident we will continue to maintain essential services and get our ambitious plans to improve the District moving forward again. Closing on a brighter note, subject to any restrictions on movement due COVID-19 we shall be waiving parking charges in our car parks and on street bays on the three Saturdays before Christmas to encourage residents to use our local traders and bring them some Christmas cheer, David Godfrey Cabinet Member for Housing, Transport and Special Projects
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Support
Light lunches available local in church after lunchtime concerts
WOW Design-led gifts and interiors 76 High Street Hythe Kent CT21 5AL
01303 265340 www.facebook.com/wowhythe
Now open Safe distancing observed 18
In the Church this December 2020 Holy Communion at 9.30am on December 13 We are hoping to open the church on Wednesdays for private prayer starting in December and for a service some time in the week leading up to Christmas day so do look at the church notice board. Talking of which, we are trying to raise money to erect a new notice board with a door to protect the notices as the existing one is rotten and doorless.Since Covid-19 we have had to put the notices outside. If anyone feels able to make a contribution we would be very grateful. This can be done by using the QR code shown or handing the contribution to any Church member.
For any further Church information please call 01303 270604
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If you would like to submit an article or letter please ensure it is emailed to me by the 20th of each month. I will print almost anything as long as it’s not libellous, racist or unkind. Name must be supplied but can be withheld if requested. Please put your articles etc in plain text or Word and images should be in .jpg, .tiff or .png. My contact details are: Address: Clyme House, Hillside Street, Hythe, Kent CT21 5DJ Mobile: 07771 796 446 email: david@thesentinel.org.uk