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Wednesday December 21 | 2022
Thousands left without water
WATER BOSS David Hinton CEO of South East Water with Greg Clark
MP GREG CLARK has met with the boss of South East Water after 15,000 residents across Kent and Sussex, including thousands of residents and businesses in Tunbridge Wells, have been left without water for almost a week. Water supplies affecting homes and businesses ran dry last Thursday (December 15) with South East Water blaming the icy weather for causing burst pipes. Following the thaw at the weekend, further reports of water shortages have inundated the utilities company, with many residents and businesses telling the Times the issues have been occuring all year long. For the full story see page 3.
Tunbridge Wells digs deep to help thousands during season of giving By Victoria Roberts
SAT 10 – SAT 31 DEC assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk
Tunbridge Wells
THE spirit of giving is alive and well in Tunbridge Wells, with residents donating thousands of toys, money, tonnes of food as well as other aid to charities across the town. At the end of November, the Times publicised some of the season’s many appeals, and despite the cost-of-living crisis, residents have given generously to a wide range of causes covering thousands of people. The Mayor’s Toy Appeal this year has managed to make Christmas special for nearly 800 children who would otherwise have gone without – a new record for the charity in its 35-year history. Karen Collins, the outgoing organiser for the massive local campaign, said: “We had 560 children last year, but this year we are up to just under 790 children. “People have been extraordinarily generous, so that we have had enough to give all the children something. Each child receives five to seven gifts each, depending on the size of the gifts, which is a huge amount.”
And as her final year of organising the Toy Appeal drew to a close, Ms Collins added: “I would just like to say a great big thank you to everybody.” Now in operation for ten years, Nourish Community Foodbank has seen an over 150 per cent increase in demand following the pandemic, while food donations have fallen to their lowest levels for six years.
‘We are just blown away by the generosity of our community over the past seven days and nights’ Operations director Dawn Stanford said: “For Christmas this year, we are acutely aware that for many of us this is a time when we have to tighten our belts, so we have focused largely on the Round Table’s Santa Sleigh to encourage food donations from the community.” The drive with Santa Claus and the Round Table brought in over 4,000 kilograms of food donations for
Christmas dinners this year. Dawn added: “We are just blown away by the generosity of our community over the past seven days and nights. “We didn’t know if we would have enough food to help everyone who needs our help over Christmas. Thanks to the Round Table’s Santa Sleigh we’ve collected over four tonnes of food, which is just amazing.” The Pickering Cancer Drop-in Centre has capped its year with two Saturday carol concerts in The Pantiles, under the baton of Michele Roszak, raising £330. The co-founder of the charity, Polly Taylor, said: “We want to thank everyone in the community for all their support this year.” Meanwhile, the Ukraine Relief Group (URG) has sent tonnes of aid out to Ukraine from the people of Tunbridge Wells and surrounding areas, since Russian forces invaded the country on February 24. “We have sent just shy of 60 tonnes of aid so far this year,” organiser Rich Akehurst told the Times, adding: “The last truck was filled from floor to ceiling.”