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community
Rochester’s litter pickers…
cleaning with meaning
Lauren Clark tells us about Cleaning With Meaning – the litter
picking group she has formed to clean up the streets of Rochester
I started the litter pick days a few
months ago after I saw a lady
picking up rubbish with a picker
whilst I was walking along the
Rochester esplanade. The river
can be such a calming place
to live on but so many people
spoil the view by littering. I went
straight home, ordered my litter
picker and went out by myself. My
pledge of an hour turned into two
very quickly.
I posted my efforts onto the
Medway community group and
had such a brilliant response.
I have now set up a group litter
pick event each month to build
awareness of what’s happening to
Rochester and the Medway towns
if we don’t play our part.
This Sunday we had some
lovely people join in, it was a
good opportunity to meet new
people within the local area; we
had a couple who recently moved
from London into Chatham who
joined us as an opportunity to be
part of the community and help
keep Rochester tidy. We had so
many lovely comments from local
people, thanking us and giving
smiles of admiration.
We covered the vines park,
Rochester Castle grounds,
the park by the marina , the
esplanade car park and parts of
the High Street.
David Luck, one of the partners
of Chuck and Blade
Burgers In Rochester
High Street, offered to
provide refreshments and a
generous discount on a signature
burger after we finished. They
were delicious! David is also
very passionate about keeping
Rochester tidy, we will continue to
build on awareness and with time
we could have groups all over
the Medway towns litter picking
every weekend.
LAUREN CLARK
Pictures show myself, Tom, Lauren, Steve,
Chris, Emese, Kate, George and Jenn
If you’d like to take part in future litter picks, search Facebook for the Cleaning With Meaning group
WHAT’S THE MOST COMMON
LITTER ON OUR STREETS?
Data on the most commonly
found types of litter was recorded
as part of Keep Britain Tidy’s
Litter in England survey. In 2018,
smoking-related litter was the
most commonly found type of
litter (79% of sites), followed by
confectionery packs (60%), non-
alcoholic drinks-related (52%) and
fast food-related (33%).
WHERE CAN I GET HOLD OF
LITTER PICKING EQUIPMENT?
Keep Britain Tidy recommend
the Helping Hand Company, who
provide a range of pickers and
hoops. You can find out more at
www.hhenvironmental.co.uk
n Keep Britain Tidy was founded
in 1954. They educate, innovate
and inspire, to eliminate litter now
and for future generations.
www.keepbritaintidy.org
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PICK ME UP! Could your premises be a pick-up point for the
magazine? If you have room to be a stockist, please get in touch.
Medway Asthma Self-Help,
or MASH, is a charity that
supports Medway people with
managing their asthma.
One of our volunteers is
determined to raise £1,000
for the charity by Christmas –
and she is well on the way to
achieving that. Our volunteer,
Wendy Palmer, set herself the
challenge in order to support
MASH during the dicult time
of lockdown, when the charity's
services are needed more
than ever for Medway people
with asthma. She has planned
a series of online quizzes to
raise the money and they are
attracting quizzers from across
the country.
Wendy, who loves a poem,
wrote:
Medway Asthma Self-Help
Volunteer in £1,000 Challenge
Wendy’s quizzes of pictures and words,
Could be about bees, could be about birds.
Ten rounds of ten to tax your brain,
Family and friends online once again.
Zooming in to help raise some cash,
For the wonderful charity that is called MASH.
Medway Asthma gives support and advice,
Do I hear you ask the price?
MASH’s services are free to all,
Donations are accepted however small.
Wendy has challenged herself to raise a grand,
In aid of MASH and for everything it stands.
Please join us for her November quiz,
For £5 why not give it a whizz?
Angela Stokes, MASH’s
coordinator, said, ‘We have
worked hard since lockdown to
keep our services for Medway
people with asthma available.
We are continuing with
telephone consultations and
our outreach online. Wendy’s
fundraising for MASH is a fun
way of ensuring we are able to
keep up our services which are
much needed.’
Wendy’s next quiz will be on Friday 20th November at 7pm.
If you would like to join the quiz then please call 01634 855844,
email medwayasthmaselfhelp@btconnect.com, or message
MASH via their website: www.medwayasthmaselfhelp.co.uk.
You can also keep up to date on MASH’s events and activities
Facebook: @medway.selfhelp and Twitter: @MedwayAsthma.
If you’d like to donate to Wendy’s challenge, her fundraising
page is: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/WendyPalmer7
Inhaler recycling
scheme scrapped
Asthma patients will be
familiar with the various
plastic dispensers and
pressurised containers
which dispense their
life-saving
medication.
73 million
respiratory inhalers are prescribed
every year in the UK, which
cannot be recycled via household
collections. The metered
dose inhalers (MDIs) contain
hydrouorocarbons and produce
an estimated carbon footprint
equal to 500g of CO
2
per dose.
In 2011, pharmaceutical rm
GSK launched their Complete
the Cycle scheme, which allowed
users to return their empty
inhalers for recycling, whether or
not they had been manufactured
by GSK. These used inhalers could
be dropped o at local chemists
such as Boots.
This scheme has recycled more
than two million inhalers and cut
carbon dioxide (CO
2
) emissions
equivalent to taking around 8,600
cars o UK roads. It was ended by
GSK at the end of September.
In a statement on their website,
GSK say: ” We remain committed
to inhaler recovery in the UK. In
order to support the ambitious
NHS environmental targets to
reduce inhaler carbon emissions
by 50% over the next ten years,
we believe there needs to be a
focus on a wider, joint-working
approach across industry, rather
than our own stand-alone
approach. We believe working
together will have a bigger
environmental impact.”
While it’s still possible return
inhalers to any pharmacy for
environmentally safe disposal, this
will be at the expense of the NHS
rather than private enterprise.
25
The BIG Sing has now grown
to become a family for all
ages. The choirs are open to
everyone. You don’t need to
have a fantastic singing voice
– just bring your enthusiasm.
There are no auditions. The
weekly rehearsals are very
relaxed but most of all fun!
The members are people from
the local community who have
a desire to sing. The BIG Sing
gives them the opportunity
to be taught by expert tutors,
turning the choir into an amazing
sound and giving them unique
performance opportunities.
The songs taught are pop,
Motown, contemporary,
inspirational, soul, and gospel
songs. All with upli ing and
motivating lyrics.
As The BIG Sing grows, we
are continuing to reach out to
more people of all ages and
backgrounds. We aim to unite
people with music and have
seen the choir members grow in
confidence, experience the thrill
of performing on stage, make
new friends and belong to a new
choir family.
Meeting every Monday at St
Peter’s Church Parish Centre,
Delce Road, Rochester, Kent
ME1 2EH, 7-9pm – only £7 per
week, pay as you go.
Also at Swanley Christ Church
URC and Dartford St Edmunds
Living Well Centre – find out
more at www.big-sing.com
Introducing our
brand new charity:
The BIG Sing Soul.
Music is great for the soul
and we want to share our
upli ing songs with people
who can’t come to us! We are
raising money to start choirs
in hospitals, schools, and with
disabled groups.
The BIG Sing is the dream that
we have created together.
Uniting communities with
upli ing and motivating
music. The BIG Sing is more
than a choir; we are a “family”.
So many members have
found that the choir helps
them through loneliness,
depression, grief, illness
and we have been growing
from strength to strength in
number and ability. Together
we CAN achieve greatness.
Now we are sharing our
music with as many people as
possible – and the Charity will
help us fund choirs for people
who need the music the most.
Available to perform at
local events – email requests
to info@big-sing.com
The BIG Sing Community
Choir are working hard
to show community
singing at its best!
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FREE FOR NON-PROFIT
Every edition of It’s The Biz
features listings for local non-
profit groups, clubs and charities.
In addition, feature stories
tell readers more about their
activities. These include:
n Medway Foodbank
n Medway Asthma Self-Help
n Parkinson’s UK in Medway
n Friends of Broomhill
n The Family Mile
n FoRCE
n The Hygiene Bank
n Motor Neurone Disease
n Just Add a Picnic
n Samaritans
n Emmaus Medway
n Medway Culture Club
n Abigail’s Footsteps
it’s the
We have closed eight foodbank
centres and set up a new delivery
system to reduce all the risks.
Food parcel requests are sent
to us by 150+ agencies that we
work with across Medway, eg
social services, schools, churches,
housing agencies etc. Agencies
are aware of those in need from
their day-to-day work and are
also able to offer support to
clients around underlying issues.
We then organise deliveries of
food parcels to go out to those in
need. Our parcels include three
meals a day for three days, but we
only give out pre-packaged food
as we have to store it. We also
give out cleaning products and
toiletries, as well as nappies and
baby milk.
As difficult as this period has
been for so many, it has been
incredible to see the community
support. We have had help with
deliveries and stock from other
brilliant local organisations and
companies including British
Gas, Graham’s Office Furniture
- Chatham, MHS Homes,
Paramount Foundation, churches,
the mosque, The Hygiene Banks
and the local council. We are
currently being brilliantly assisted
by Citizens Advice Medway who
have hired a van to help every day
with deliveries – just amazing!
Our team of volunteers are also
just amazing and we couldn’t do
any of this without them.
We have heard many difficult
stories and more recently we
have been supporting many
people who have never used
a foodbank before, but have
found themselves struggling
due to losing jobs. This number
Medway Foodbank
implements delivery
system at time of
increased need
What a strange time it has been and sadly we have
seen so many more people needing our services.
community
Above: the Medway
Foodbank warehouse
Below: a typical food parcel
the mosque, The Hygiene Banks
and the local council. We are
currently being brilliantly assisted
by Citizens Advice Medway who
have hired a van to help every day
with deliveries – just amazing!
Our team of volunteers are also
just amazing and we couldn’t do
We have heard many difficult
Organize a food collection in
your street – we can then pick
up from you or you can deliver
to our warehouse
Shop for and donate items that
we need at large Tesco and Asda
stores in Medway, plus Morrisons
Strood and Co-op Walderslade
Use the Spareable app where
you can shop online for items
that we need which are then
delivered to us at no cost to us
Donate funds – since
lockdown we have been
spending approx £800 a week
on food to keep up with the
increased demand. Prior to
lockdown all food was donated
to us. Use the Facebook Learn
More or our website Donate
buttons to reach our giving
platform, Golden Giving.
Follow us on Facebook and
Twitter – or see our website
for further information
www.medway.foodbank.org.uk
Here are some ways you could help…
Between
April 2019 and
March 2020, a record
1.9m of food bank
parcels were given out
by UK Trussell Trust
foodbanks
.net
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community
July ‘20 Shopping List
• Instant mash
• Cup-a-soup
• Squash/soft drinks
• Packet desserts e.g. Angel Delight
• Tinned rice pudding
• Custard - tinned/ready made
• Sponge Puddings (tinned)
• Biscuits
• Savoury treats/snacks
(cheesy biscuits, peanuts, crisps)
• Hot chocolate/drinking chocolate
• Ketchup or brown sauce
• Powdered/dried milk
• Toothbrushes
• Washing-up liquid
• Deodorant (male and female)
• Razors
may well be set to increase. Our
figures continue to be way above
last year’s figures. Last year
2019 we supported around 7000
people in Medway. This year to
date we have already supported
6500 people with nearly 3000 of
these being children. In April our
figures were 155% higher than
April 2019. We want to see an end
to foodbanks – we believe that
everyone should have the dignity
to be able to buy their own food.
We are so grateful for the
support offered by kind
individuals and businesses in
Medway during this time.
Lorraine Schulze
Project Manager
01634 757057
info@medway.foodbank.org.uk
Registered Charity No: 1166505
The shopping list below shows the
items we are currently short of.
Your help in meeting the needs of
others is very much appreciated.
(Please note: all donations are
gratefully received, but we DO NOT
currently need more: baked beans,
tinned soup, pet food or UHT Milk.)
Call 01634 855844
email medwayasthmaselfhelp@btconnect.com
or send a message via our website
www.medwayasthmaselfhelp.co.uk
PROMOTE YOUR COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
List your non-profit club, group, charity or event for free. Send in your
news, articles, pictures and spread the word about your activities.
Please email: neil@itsthebiz.net by 18 Sept for inclusion next issue.
DON’T FORGET the Rochester
Cathedral Bells Centenary Project
as featured last issue.
The project aims to raise
£100,000 to fund essential work
required to maintain the bells.
There are lots of ways to
contribute, from a small donation
to sponsoring a bell (three new
ones will be purchased). It is
hoped the new bells will ring for
the first time in 2021 to celebrate
the centenary of the casting of the
current ring.
Search for Rochester Cathedral
Bells at www.justgiving.com.
Don’t forget
the bells!
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When someone joins Emmaus
Medway, they become a
‘companion’. We have space at
our community in Chatham
for 24 companions, men and
women, from 18 to 65. We’re
not a hostel or a night shelter
though, people can stay with us
for as short or long a period of
time as they need.
The community
provides a safe
environment in
which to examine
their choices,
address issues such as addiction,
mental health challenges or
broken relationships, and get
back on their feet. Some stay
Emmaus Medway – helping to
get lives back on track
with us for a short period, while
others need time to re-adjust or
learn new skills before moving on.
As far as we’re concerned, both
outcomes constitute a success.
One of the biggest
obstacles many
companions face is
a loss of self-esteem.
One way we help
them with this is
by providing meaningful daily
activity, either in the community
or in our shop on Chatham
High Street, where we sell pre-
Emmaus Medway is a local charity that provides a
stable place to live, a sense of purpose and tailored
support for people who’ve been sleeping rough or
sofa surng. Since 2012 we’ve helped over 400 local
people get their lives back on track.
loved furniture that has been
kindly donated to us. A lot of
companions who’ve been with us
a while have told us that having
something to do every day is the
best part of the experience. Here’s
what one companion had to say
about this recently…
“When I came to live with
Emmaus Medway I’d been
sleeping rough. As soon as I
arrived, I was straight into it; I’d
never worked in retail before, but
I loved working with the other
companions, interacting with
the customers, and before long
The community
provides a safe
environment
Parkinson’s Medway
celebrate Nigerian
Independence Day
I had regained a lot of my lost
condence. I am now able to lead
on all aspects of the activity at the
social enterprise”
The shop generates income
to keep the community going.
Without it we couldn’t provide the
support we do now, for example,
counselling for anyone who wants
it, access to healthy food, and free
broadband.
2020 has been a tough year for
everyone, and as the eviction ban
ends and unemployment rises,
more and more people will be at
risk of homelessness. It’s Emmaus
Medway’s mission to make sure
that at least some of them have
a somewhere to stay, a sense of
purpose, and the support they
need to get through it.
e
Emmaus Medway’s
Chatham shop can be found at
243 High Street, ME4 4BQ.
To donate furniture visit
www.emmaus.org.uk/
medway/donate goods
The Mayor of Medway opened
the online celebration, which
was organised and hosted by
Medway Parkinson’s Lead Co-
ordinator Phil Bungay.
Nigerian snacks were eaten
at Jasper’s Community Café
(where Phil and Oluseyi
Obadare, President of the
Nigerian Association, were
based). A team from KMTV
were also on site and they
interviewed Simba, one of the
managers at Jasper’s.
While the main purpose
was to celebrate Nigeria@60
with the Nigerian Association,
attention was also drawn to
www.parkinsonsafrica.com.
Attendees watched the video
Seven Reasons and the founder
of the African charity, Omotola
Thomas, who is from Nigeria
but currently lives in Surrey,
spoke about her ten year
journey with Parkinson’s.
Other speakers included
Dr Abiola from Parkinson’s
Nigeria as well as Oluseyi
from the Association and
another Medway resident
with Nigerian heritage, Cllr
Omolola Oyewusi, the Founder
of Magdalene Ministries (a
value driven ministry and
charity seeking to make a
real dierence to the lives of
individuals they support).
The event nished with a
YouTube clip of It’s a Wonderful
World by the Isolation Choir,
taken from Canterbury Cantata
Trust’s Sing to Beat Parkinson’s
programme.
At the beginning of October, Parkinson’s
Medway celebrated 60 years of Nigerian
Independence with friends from the Nigerian
Community Association of Kent and Medway.
The Centenary Bells Project
aims to raise £100,000 to fund
essential work required to
maintain the bells, which were
cast in 1921. There are lots
of ways to contribute, from a
small donation to sponsoring
a bell (three new ones will be
purchased). It is hoped the new
bells will ring for the rst time in
2021 to celebrate the centenary
of the casting of the current ring.
Search for Rochester Cathedral
Bells at www.justgiving.com.
Rochester Cathedral Centenary Bells Project
23
Hygiene and personal care
products for those in need
I’m Emma Thomas,
project coordinator
for The Hygiene Bank
Strood & Hoo Peninsula,
a project I run from my
home in Cliffe Woods.
The Hygiene Bank Strood & Hoo
Peninsula are a Medway based
project of a national grassroots
charity, like a foodbank but
for hygiene products, trying to
meet the need locally for those
in poverty or crisis. Our ethos is
give local, help local. We want
to bring communities together
to tackle hygiene poverty by
providing essential donated
products to the vulnerable across
the Medway towns in conjunction
with our network of charity
partners and schools.
Many people living in poverty
or those who find themselves in
times of a major life crisis often
have to make the distressing
decision to eat or stay
clean because they
can’t afford to do both. This is
about dignity. We aim to break
the stigma of hygiene poverty.
It is shaming, humiliating
and excluding and can result
in social isolation. Hygiene
poverty leads to a crippling lack
of confidence and negatively
affects good health and mental
well-being. These can impact
early childhood development,
learning, employability and
social interaction.
The Hygiene Bank Strood
& Hoo Peninsula Hygiene
Bank encourages people and
businesses in Medway to donate
essential toiletries, hygiene,
beauty and grooming products
via drop off points and collector
schemes. Our 15 drop off points
include local shops, sports
centres, community groups
and schools or we can accept
donations via our online Wishlist.
All these products are collected,
sorted and given out to a network
of organisations and services that
support vulnerable and struggling
people. The Hygiene Bank doesn’t
give products to individuals
directly - we partner with local
schools and existing charities
such as foodbanks, supported
housing schemes, refuges, hostels
and social services who then
distribute the products to the
people they are working with.
This means everything donated
locally stays in the area and is
given out to local families and
individuals living in crisis.
I support right across Medway.
During coronavirus,
communities have
never needed
each other more
and we have seen
how we can all
play our part. In
March, due to the coronavirus
and Government restrictions,
all my 15 drop off points are
closed almost overnight or were
inaccessible. This meant that
our much-needed donations
of hygiene products from the
public had completely dried up.
Unfortunately, due to the current
tough economic environment,
the demand for our services
from our beneficiary partners
significantly increased, with
many more demands from new
and vulnerable individuals and
families. But the community
came together, and we adapted
by offering a Just Giving Page
to enable us to purchase the
essentials and an online Wishlist
where items were delivered
directly to me. It really is heart
warming that thanks to local
people’s generosity we have
coped with increased demand,
but we can always do more.
it’s the
The Hygiene Bank Strood & Hoo Peninsula
q07940 329994 H www.thehygienebank.com f @thbStroodHooPeninsula
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