Stories

In Faversham there are 76 Young Carers, young people aged from 5 – 17 years who help to look after a relative or member of their household. The family member will have a disability or long-term illness, a mental health condition, or a drug or alcohol problem.

Faversham Rotary Club wanted to acknowledge the important role played by these young people in helping their families. Club members and friends collected and wrapped scarves and other gifts, which were distributed recently outside the Coffee Shop at Faversham Recreation Ground. To respect the privacy of the youngsters and their families, Club President Dave Darby gave the gifts to Beccy Goddard and Elise Monks from Kent Young Carers (KYC).

Many of the Young Carers, some with their parents, were at the Coffee Shop to collect their gifts. Other youngsters will receive their presents from Beccy and the KYC team over the coming days.  Beccy said “these young people all do an amazing job in their caring roles.”

Faversham Rotary Club provided Christmas gifts to the Young Carers last year and also chocolate eggs at Easter. The Club is keen to continue its support for this group of young people whose important role is not always widely known outside their immediate families.

Young Carers provide all sorts of help and support for their family. They might help with practical tasks, like cooking, housework and shopping. They might collect prescriptions. They might need to help someone get out of bed or get dressed.

Some young carers enjoy being trusted with these responsibilities and they like to feel needed. They will also often have a good understanding of and show kindness to other people who have an illness or disability.

However the caring responsibilities mean that these young people can often be tired in school and may struggle to keep up with their studies. Young carers may be bullied for being “different” and they can feel isolated and anxious.

Kent Young Carers is part of the Imago Community and the aim of KYC is to reduce the negative and highlight the positive aspects of being a carer. KYC provides information, advice, support and social activities for young carers. The chance to meet up with other young people in a similar situation can be particularly valuable.

More information about Kent Young Carers can be found at www.imago.community

Submitted by David Kirsch-Mills on Wed, 22nd Dec 2021

On Monday the 29th November 2021 the Rotary Club of Faversham hosted a meeting of the Cinque Port Rotary Clubs and guests from Sittingbourne Invicta Rotary Club. Paul Harris Fellow and Past President John Blackford gave a presentation entitled 'The King's Little Town', following six historical characters from the Cinque Port town of Faversham.

A video of the presentation is available below for those who were unable to attend.

The King's Little Town

Submitted by David Kirsch-Mills on Tue, 30th Nov 2021

Cakes for Carers

The staff at St Mary of Charity Primary School have come up with a delicious way to boost their morale in these challenging times and raise money for charity at the same time – “Cakie Friday”.

To give everyone something to look forward to at the end of the week one member of staff, Helen Parrett, brings cakes that she’s baked for staff to enjoy. Rather than take any money for the ingredients, she said “make a donation to charity”.

Recently, the staff chose to support Young Carers via Faversham Rotary Club. They donated £60, a very welcome contribution which the Club will put towards its next project for Faversham’s Young Carers.

Waistlines might be expanding but it’s all in a good cause, so it’s a big “Thank You” to the staff of St Mary’s for their generosity.

Submitted by Ruth Goldfinch on Mon, 24th May 2021

Kent Young Carers supports almost 600 young people in the Swale area and in Faversham there are almost 60 Young Carers. They are aged from 5-18 and they provide a care-giving role for another member of their household who may have a long term condition, disability or illness.

To acknowledge the important part that these young people play in helping their families, Faversham Rotary Club has donated Easter Eggs to be given to Faversham’s Young Carers.

The Rotary Club thanks Morrisons for their support.

The picture shows Rotarian Sue Hoey handing over a trolley load of Easter eggs to Grainne from Kent Young Carers.

Submitted by Ruth Goldfinch on Mon, 29th Mar 2021

Did you spot us at Faversham Medical Centre when you had your Covid jab?

Rotary Clubs across the country are providing volunteers for vaccination centres and members of the Rotary Club of Faversham have been helping to keep things running smoothly at Bank Street.

Many other organisations and individuals are also volunteering and will be doing so for some time to come.

Submitted by Ruth Goldfinch on Thu, 11th Mar 2021

Lendwithcare is a micro finance charity which enables people in the UK to make small loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries around the world. Rotary clubs across the UK have been raising funds since 2011 and Faversham Rotary has been involved since 2016.

The club has contributed to the national landmark total of £1 million, by raising and lending a total of £1645 to 62 entrepreneurs in 11 countries. They include farmers, tailors, market stall holders & food producers. The recipients of the loans use the funds to help them earn a living, often employing family and neighbours. They pay the loans back and the money can then be re-lent to person after person.

Mrs Bui Thi Hinh has been helped by a loan from Faversham Rotary. She is a pig farmer in Vietnam and she used her loan to buy more pigs for her business. This meant she could provide local employment and feed her family as the business prospered.

Anyone can make a loan through Lendwithcare or buy a voucher as a gift. Loans start from £15 and are typically repaid in 6-12 months. 
Visit www.lendwithcare.org to make a loan and change a life.

Submitted by Ruth Goldfinch on Fri, 29th Jan 2021

The first Club meeting of 2021 had an international flavour when our European contact clubs joined us for an on-line get together. It was lovely to see so many familiar friendly faces on screen and it was interesting to find out how other clubs are adapting to cope with these challenging times.

Faversham Rotary has four contact clubs – Harderwijk in the Netherlands, Bogense in Denmark, Vadstena in Sweden and Soest-Lippstadt in Germany.

We keep in touch with each other regularly, sometimes collaborating on projects but mainly we meet up at least once a year for a weekend of fun and fellowship. We take it in turn to host visits, sometimes just a couple of clubs getting together, sometimes all five clubs meeting up for a long weekend.

Last year’s visit had to be cancelled and at the moment this year’s is also in doubt, but we’ll be catching up with each other in person as soon as we can.

In the meantime there’s always another zoom…….!

Submitted by Ruth Goldfinch on Wed, 13th Jan 2021

We recently had a very informative talk via zoom from Phil Godfrey, a Rotarian from Solihull, and an ambassador for APS Support UK. APS is antiphospholipid syndrome, a life-threatening condition, which is treatable if recognised early.

Phil became involved with APS following the death of his wife from the condition. He decided to raise awareness and funds with a long distance walk from the Sicily Isles to Shetland, but fog and horizontal rain delayed the start. He got as far as Preston, Lancs in the summer of 2017 before a knee injury put paid to any more long walks.

Undeterred, Phil decided to use the train instead and he has travelled from coast to coast, west to east and south to north, using a total of 650 trains. En route, he took every opportunity to speak to as many people as possible about APS, including Rotary and Inner Wheel Clubs.

To date, Phil’s efforts have raised £159,000, some of which has funded an e-learning module for GPs to increase their awareness of the syndrome.

To find out more or to make a donation to support research into antiphospholipid syndrome, please go to aps-support.org.uk

Submitted by Ruth Goldfinch on Sun, 13th Dec 2020

Just in time for Halloween we received an excellent presentation over zoom from Trevor Sayer who is a volunteer at SERV Kent “Service by Emergency Response Volunteers” also known as Bloodrunners.

Bloodrunners is a charity that provides emergency courier services transporting blood products, baby milk for premature baby units, samples and other patient essential items for the major hospitals and hospices in Kent outside normal working hours. In addition, they provide and maintain the blood supply for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulances enabling them to carry blood on board therefore saving the lives of many patients.

SERV volunteers provide their services free of charge including fuel and phone expenses and for the most part use their own vehicles, consequently saving the NHS thousands of pounds a year.

With the advent of Covid-19 they have stepped up their volunteering to provide a 24/7 service, thus freeing up more much-needed NHS resources. Since March this has resulted in them being asked to assist an extra 1,000 times. Although the volunteers give their services for free, there are still some operating costs to cover (insurance and running costs on the few vehicles they do have, upkeep of a small HQ at the Medway services etc.) Although their call outs have gone up, the opportunities to fund raise have diminished and they are reliant on donations.

Anybody who would like to know more, to volunteer their services or make a donation can find the details at www.servkent.co.uk

Submitted by Dave Darby on Thu, 12th Nov 2020

On Monday this week we were treated to a lively presentation by Michael Hoey on the history of beer at the Red Sails Restaurant. Over 35 people attended to learn about the fascinating role beer has played in our lives over the centuries. Eight beers were tasted accompanied with matched taster plates.

The proceeds of the evening, which came to a magnificent £415, will go to support a Literacy Box - which in short is a classroom in a box which will be sent to a developing country in Africa to provide much needed literary skills to school pupils.

Submitted by David Kirsch-Mills on Mon, 2nd Nov 2020