Local voluntary community groups are welcome to place their details on this page. Details should be sent to the parish office at Beechen Hall, Wildfell Close, Chatham, Kent ME5 9RU. Telephone 01634 861237 e-mail Bowdery@boxleyparishcouncil.co.uk
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AN EYES AND EARS NETWORK FOR A CLEANER, SAFER KENT
If you have a keen interest in the cleanliness and safety of your local
area this could be a volunteering opportunity for you.
We are recruiting volunteers to the Clean Kent Watch as part of
Neighbourhood Watch Kent, to help observe and report illegal environmental
activities.
'Eyes and ears' reporting plays a valuable role for the Clean Kent
Campaign, which seeks to improve and enhance the quality of the local street
scene by reducing fly tipping, abandoned vehicles and associated fires.
As a Clean Kent Watch volunteer you will be provided with an information
pack which includes a unique identification number, enabling you to report
information to trained staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Your reporting will be used to inform clean-up activity through to
enforcement action and help prevent and deter these environmental offences.
To find out more and to register log onto www.cleankent.co.uk/cleankentwatch.html
or e-mail clean.kent@kent.gov.uk
Your help is very much appreciated in order to make Kent clean and
beautiful.
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Your
NHS ambulance service and how you can help us!
Your
local ambulance service - South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SECAmb)
- is aiming to become an NHS Foundation Trust in 2010. Foundation
trusts (FTs) have been around since 2004, although ambulance trusts were only
able to start to apply for foundation trust status from April 2009, and the
authorisation process takes at least a year!
Foundation
trusts are still NHS organisations, providing free care and treatment to
patients. They still have to meet national targets and are regularly
inspected. The main difference is that foundation trusts are run locally,
and are accountable to patients, local people and staff rather than to
Government, by way of the ‘membership’ they establish.
We
believe FT status will be good for everyone because our members, and the Council
of Governors they elect, can have direct influence on the way we develop.
As an FT we’ll be able to respond to people’s needs much more immediately
because we’ll be working with them as members. We will also have more
say over how and what we invest our money in - training, new ambulances,
adopting the latest clinical technologies and techniques, etc - meaning our
public, patients and staff will get the ambulance service they want and need.
Becoming
a member of our NHS Trust is simple, free and it’ll mean you’re supporting
us as well as having your say about how we can make our services even better.
Membership doesn’t need to take up your time
– you can just receive our free quarterly newsletter, with details of the
latest developments in life-saving treatments and technology, useful tips,
interesting public health information - but it will also give you the chance to
get more involved if you want to.
Please join us today or visit our website for more information and where you can join online: www.secamb.nhs.uk For membership forms contact Izzy Allen on 01273 897840 or ftmembership@secamb.nhs.uk. Thank you very much for your support.
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For information about the local scout group visit:
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Girl Guides - Call 0800 1 69 59 01
or visit
and be put in touch with your local co-ordinator.
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Citizens
Advice Service in Maidstone
The
need has never been greater for sound, practical advice to help people through
these difficult times. As the
recession bites, Bureaux in Kent have been experiencing an unprecedented
increase in demand for employment, welfare benefits and debt advice. Falling
interest rates, banks calling in their loans, companies having to make
redundancies and businesses folding seem to be in the news every day. Good
quality advice is a key element in helping people, who are finding themselves
without work, needing help with debt and other money issues, to get back on
their feet.
Maidstone
Bureau opened on 1st January 1940. Maidstone Borough Council funds
the Bureau’s core services, which allows the organisation to provide advice
and assistance to the community of Maidstone with the help of volunteers. The
Bureau is one of busiest in
the County and in 2008/9
our advisers dealt with 8,000 new people, raised 27,000 contacts on behalf of
their clients and dealt with 58,365 issues. Evidence shows that this
year Bureaux in the South East have dealt with 27% more debt issues, 26% more
welfare benefits issues and 24% more employment issues than last year.
The
Bureau employs 23 paid staff and has 50 volunteer advisers, 7 trainee advisers,
and 13 volunteer admin workers. The five major areas of our work are Welfare
Benefits—28%, Debt—34%, Employment—9%, Relationship—7% and Housing—7%.
Other areas of work are Education, Finance, Health, Immigration, Tax, Legal,
Travel, Utilities and Signposting.
The
Bureau is also able to provide specialist advice in Debt, Housing, Benefits,
Employment and Family Law to clients who are Legally Aidable. This work is
funded through a contract with the Legal Services Commission. For clients who
need advice in basic legal problems we are able to offer 15 minutes free
appointments with Legal Advisers every Wednesday. These sessions are supported
and run by local Solicitor firms. Local Accountants also offer similar once a
month free appointments for clients with accounting problems.
In
addition to all the various local authority and government departments in
Maidstone, the Bureau has very good working relationships with a large number of
local charities and other organisations, which can be a source of additional
specialist help and advice for our clients.
The
amount of Debt matters dealt with by our advisers increased from £7 million in
2007/08 to £9.6 million in 2008/09. The average debt of each client was £20,403.
93 clients with a total of £147,492 rent arrears and 53 clients with £167,887
mortgage arrears. 63 clients were prevented from becoming homeless. The figures
for the current year show that there is a 37% increase of debt within the space
of the last 4 months.
The
CAB service is Free; there is no charge or cost to our clients. It is Independent
and although we are funded by MBC we are empowered to dispute their decisions or
policies fairly where necessary. Our advice service is Confidential and
we do not contact any person or organisation without our client’s
authorisation and consent. It is also Impartial
as we do not take sides but will negotiate with third parties on behalf of our
clients. The CAB service aims to make this service available to everyone, no
matter who or what they are.
Advice
and assistance is provided to our clients every Monday to Friday, 10am till 4pm
from 2 venues. Our main office is at 2 Bower Terrace on Tonbridge Road and the
second venue is at the Maidstone Gateway in King Street. Advice is also provided
to clients who contact us by phone, letter or e-mail. Outreach sessions are held
on a monthly basis in Parkwood, Shepway, Lenham, Headcorn, Staplehurst and
Marden so that local people have the benefit of our service without having to
travel into town. Clients do not need to make appointments at any venue, as we
operate an open door system whereby they are given as much time as the matter
requires.
Our
Advisers are trained to take an holistic view of advice giving and not deal with
problems in isolation – e.g we do not deal with debts individually, if there
are mortgage arrears with other debts we will deal with all of them as well. Our
experienced advisers will investigate their client’s problem and look at the
root cause of each situation. They will then review the options available to the
client and the likely outcomes of each option. Clients are then presented with a
set of options and empowered to make their own decisions on which option to
take. Our advisers have been very successful in securing additional financial
support for many of our clients from various trusts and charities. Information and advice is given to all our
clients using an Information system called AdviserNet, which is on the Citizens
Advice intranet and kept up-to-date by our national association. A very brief
version is available to the public on www.adviceguide.org.uk.
All
our Volunteers work on a one-or-two days per week basis and some who are unable
to do a whole day can give us half days instead.
Advisers are trained to competence level through an adult learning based
initial training programme, which takes 6-8 months. Active training support is
available every day. This training is mostly completed in the Bureau although
some of the training packs can be taken home. Advisers are also able to research
some of the information on our website from home. In order to complete their
learning the final 4days external training is taken at venues either in London
or around the county. Once this programme is completed advisers are then fully
supported and supervised to see their clients in order to help them with their
problems.
If
you are interested in joining a successful and committed team of volunteer
advisers and you have one or two days a week available please ring 01622 750770
and speak to Maurice, our Guidance Tutor who will be glad to discuss and decide
a training programme for you.
The
CAB is not where you go to find out where to go, it is where you go for advice.
The CAB can and does advise on all legal aspects of daily life.
Bonny Malhotra
Chief Executive
Citizens
Advice Maidstone
The parish council would welcome the views of the younger parishioners of the parish. This can be via e-mail, letter or telephone. If you wonder what work the parish council does have a look at the minutes page and the information on the parish.
The parish council holds a large range of records that are generally available for public consultation. If the parish office does not have the records they may know which agency or organisation does. If you are undertaking a project it may be worth a phone call to see what reports, papers, maps or consultation documents there are. Arrangements can be made to view the documents in the evening or at weekends.
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Weavering Parent & Toddler Group
Located in the Village Hall,
behind the Fox & Goose Public House, Weavering Street
Come along and join us every Tuesday (term time)
From 2pm until 3.30pm. New term starts 4th September.
Children’s free play with full use of toys & craft table activities
3.10pm – Pack away
3.15pm – Sing along to favourite nursery rhymes & songs
Separate soft padded play area also available for babies
Admission £1.50
(Subsequent children 50p each)
Refreshments (tea/coffee) for adults 20p
(Contact Yve 01622 738328 or Carol 01622 738815 for more information)
PS: Always looking for helpers and volunteers!!!
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Maidstone Citizens Advice Bureau
Meet at Grove Green Community Centre
Details displayed on the local noticeboards
St.
John's Church, Grove Green
A Partnership Of The Anglican, Baptist, Methodist & United Reformed Churches
All Sunday Services Held
At St. John's School
Provender Way, Grove Green
10.30 a.m. Morning Worship
with creche and children's activities in "The Light Club"
Holy Communion 1st Sunday of every month
Family Service 3rd Sunday
www.stjohnsgg.co.uk
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St. Mary and All Saints, Boxley
Welcome to the Parish of Boxley
The ecclesiastical parish of Boxley covers the village of Boxley itself and the areas of Grove Green and Weavering and we are the Church of England parish church for that area.
If you are able to visit the church you will find a beautiful Norman building that has been the home of worship for in excess of 900 years. It is in an area of outstanding natural beauty nestling at the foot of the North Downs and visitors are welcome to come into the church which is open every day.
Our Sunday services are 8.00 am, said Holy Communion and 9.00 am Sung Eucharist. On the second Sunday of the month at 9.00 am we have a Family Service within the church and the children often take an active part. Besides the regular services all the festivals are celebrated and these are advertised in the local press and in our Parish Magazine. We have a choir which has members of all ages, a thriving Sunday School for children 3 years and above, and an active
Brownie pack and all the children are encouraged to participate in church activities. For the older members of the community there is a History Group, a Sewing Group, a
Women's Group and the Social Committee also arranges events at different times during the year and we are currently looking at other activities which may be of interest. There is also plenty of opportunity to get involved on all sorts of occasions. Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals can be arranged through the Vicar, the
Rev'd. Susan Hollins whose telephone number is 01622 - 758606. You can be assured of a very warm welcome should you wish to join us.
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