Club News

Faversham has seen the first installation of potentially lifesaving emergency medical equipment in the county.

In a joint project, The Friends of Faversham Cottage Hospital and Community Medical Centres and The Rotary Club of Faversham have together funded a Bleed Control Kit and a Defibrillator which is available to the public 24/7.

The kits, which are situated outside the Faversham Urgent Treatment Centre in Bank Street, were unveiled on Friday 25th October.

Bleed Control Kits, supplied by Project Youth, have been installed in other areas of the country but these are believed to be the first of their kind in Kent.

Project Youth was founded by co-managers Carl Scott and Karla Loft a year ago but have been working in the youth field for five years.

Previously, Carl had been involved with gangs since the age of thirteen and struggled with addiction to mask past traumas. He has been stabbed three times and has lost friends to knife crime. Together with Karla, they devote their time to giving young people a voice and helping to give them opportunities to improve their lives.

The Bleed Control Kit contains essential equipment including Haemostatic Gauze to stem bleeding, a tourniquet and a foil blanket which could all help to treat a patient in the vital minutes before an ambulance or professional medical help arrives. 

Alison Reynolds, Chair of the Friends of Faversham Cottage Hospital & Community Medical Centres, and David Kirsch-Mills, President of Faversham Rotary Club, said:

“We are delighted to provide a Bleed Kit for the benefit of the local community. It can be used for all types of traumatic blood injuries, falls, cuts and knife wounds and, since it is available 24 hours a day, can be accessed when the Urgent Treatment Centre and surgeries are closed. The second piece of potentially life-saving equipment is a Defibrillator.

“We would like to thank Faversham Medical Practice and NHS Property Services for their help in installing the kits.”

Carl Scott, from Project Youth, said: “Due to the high rate of deaths from knife crime our work in the community is just as important now as it was five years ago.

“The rates of knife crime have risen to the highest it has ever been and so many families are losing their children which is devastating, not only to them, but on the wider community, which makes installing kits like these even more vital.

“These kits have the equipment that can help to save a life or control a severe bleed until the ambulance service arrives.

“In the time we have been installing these across the UK our kits alone have saved three people’s lives which proves that they work. We believe that more needs to be out there so victims have the extra chance of survival if they ever become a victim to not only knife crime but any sort of accident which resulted in a catastrophic bleed.”

For further information about Project Youth visit https://projectyouth.co.uk

In a first for Faversham Rotary, members participated in some tai chi warm-up exercises led by Clemency Schofield who was the speaker at the club’s October meeting.

Clemency is a wild water swimmer, tennis player and tai chi practitioner, training under a tai chi master.

She explained that there are several different styles of tai chi. The style she practises is Wu tai chi founded on Taoist principles, which strive for balance in all aspects of life.

The slow deep breaths and deliberate flowing movements of Wu tai chi are meditative, a reflection of Yin which is cool, soft, flowing and contemplative.

Clemency’s presentation was a first introduction to tai chi for many of the members. While the exercises required concentration, they were also relaxing.

All members found the talk interesting and absorbing, with some members expressing an interest to find out more.

The Mayor of Faversham, Cllr Josh Rowlands, was the guest speaker at a Rotary Club evening meeting in October.

Josh represents Abbey Ward on the town council and in May 2024 at the age of 33 he became the youngest Mayor in the history of Faversham Town Council.

His involvement with political activity goes back to his childhood, when he helped his grandfather delivering leaflets. While at college in Canterbury, he was active in the students union both locally and nationally.

In his role as Mayor, Josh is non-political which he says gives him opportunities to work with everyone to make Faversham a better town. He gets the chance to meet lots of people in Faversham, many of whom are volunteers in the town’s various groups, clubs, charities etc.

There is a lot of need in the town as shown by the calls on the Food Bank, to name just one organisation that provides help & support.

Josh talked about his chosen charities, which this year are the Abbey Physic Garden and Keep Talking Services. Both these charities provide befriending and support services to help with mental health and wellbeing, and to try to reduce social isolation. Men’s mental health, and encouraging men to talk about this, is an issue of particular interest to Josh.

Josh also emphasised the importance of communication, in listening to the town’s residents and engaging with them to create “One Town, One Community”.

https://www.abbeyphysic.org/

https://www.keeptalkingservices.com/