Wednesday December 12 | 2018
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Times OF TONBRIDGE
PHOTO: Maurice Gilham
Mixed spirits as Dame Kelly raises a toast to her new hub
FAIRYTALE ENDING: The gremlins and the senior chorus in the Tonbridge Community Pantomime’s Snow White. Turn to page 4
Free Christmas lunches for families in financial trouble By Andy Tong andy@timesoftonbridge.co.uk TWO of the leading lights behind support groups for parents with school age children are hosting free Christmas meals for families in the town who are struggling to make ends meet. Essie Andrews and Sarah Hardcastle are founders of FEAST – which stands for ‘families eating and sharing together’. It served more than 150 meals in the summer holidays, when parents do not have access to free school meals. They have teamed up again to offer two more free feasts over the festive season, with a Christmas dinner at Tonbridge Methodist Church on Darenth Avenue on
December 27 and then a ‘pizza and treats’ lunch at St Philip’s Church on Salisbury Road the following day. They are expecting around 100 people to join them. Ms Andrews says they were motivated to repeat the offering after the success of the project in the summer.
‘We’re proud of the growth of a new project, yet so sad that it needs to exist at all’ She told the Times: “It’s a strange position to find yourself in – to be so proud of the birth and growth of a new project, yet so sad that it needs to exist at all. “FEAST evolved from a series of conver-
DAME Kelly Holmes has written a new book about how to ‘transform your overall wellbeing’. But she will be raising spirits of a different kind when she opens her revamped venue in Hildenborough, now known as The 1809 Hub, on Friday [December 14]. The double Olympic gold medallist closed her café 1809 on London Road on November 25 to pursue ‘other ambitions’ in the space which would ‘bring new energy into my life and the village’. She begins that quest with the Mini Kent Spirit Festival, which will feature several local manufacturers of gin, vodka, whisky and rum.
Energy
sations that reinforced our thoughts that school holidays can be a daunting time for parents. “They provide a constant stream of food and entertainment – it gets expensive and that can be a huge worry.” Families received one meal per week – but Ms Andrews stresses that it’s not just about putting food on the table, but also offering companionship and advice through an accessible support network. “Everyone ate, chatted and laughed together, all enjoying each other’s company,” she said. “That’s what FEAST is all about. Ms Andrews believes ‘there is a need, and it’s growing’. She cites the advent of
They include Greensand Ridge Distillery from Shipbourne and Anno from Marden as well as Copper Rivet from Chatham. The hub promises ‘events, parties, fitness, wellbeing, hospitality, corporate away days, networking events and more’. “We will still do a pop-up café here and there, and I hope that it would be something that just brings different people in, a different energy, more people can utilise the space and it’s just a new time,” Dame Kelly said. Her Twitter feed shows a video clip of her cleaning the lavatory at Old Florence Place, and she says: “So one night I am at an audience with Michelle Obama, the next I am scrubbing toilets. Nothing should be beneath you! New ventures need a lot of work.”
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