CHAMBERNEWS
From humble beginnings Almost thirty years ago, on the morning of that very first soup run nobody turned up for the sandwiches and hot drinks that had been carefully prepared by teachers Patricia McCabe and Mary Harvey and pupils from Maidstone Girls’ Grammar School. Undaunted, they came back again and again and each week the numbers of people waiting in the churchyard and in the parks grew. In 1986 the charity Maidstone Christian Care was founded to support homeless and vulnerable people and as well as the soup runs, volunteers cooked hot meals each week at the United Reformed Church in Week Street. The first Maidstone Day Centre was opened in 1995 in a ground floor flat at Lenworth House and in 2004 we moved into our present home at 15 Knightrider Street. Goodsell House is a hostel for ten people that in 1976 was set up as trust by the founder of the local building firm to provide accommodation for those in need. Over the years many residents have been grateful for respite from the streets and a chance to turn their lives around. Just launched…. Homeless Care Homeless Care is the exciting new charity that joins the town’s leading homeless organisation, Maidstone Christian Care, with Goodsell House Hostel in a bid to offer an even better service to people whose lives have been affected by the economic downturn and the loss of jobs and homes. Initially little will change from the outside because Maidstone Day Centre for homeless and vulnerable people, Food for Thought, our community food share programme, Goodsell House and, Maidstone Christian Care will continue to operate as before but now under the banner of Homeless Care.
Homeless Care Chairman, Mike FitzGerald said, “this merger has been a long time coming. We have arrived here from humble beginnings but the strong support we have received from the local community over the years has made all this possible.” Working together… Maidstone Day Centre opens weekdays and Saturday mornings to provide hot showers, clean clothes and good home cooked food to those in need as well as referrals for health problems and help with benefit applications and housing applications. Food for Thought collects surplus food items from local traders and redistributes them to school breakfast clubs, hostels, clubs for elderly men and women and individuals and families in crisis. Goodsell House gives homeless people respite and a roof over their head while they prepare to move into independent living and a better future. Maidstone Christian Care continues to be our link with the churches who from the start have given us much support. We are always grateful for even the smallest donation and if you would like to help, please call our treasurer on 01622 202239 for details of how to give or see our newsletter online at www.maidstonedaycentre.org.uk. The new branding bringing all our services under one name - Homeless Care.
First World War database unveiled A unique database of information on 42,000 soldiers, nurses and others who passed through Folkestone on their way to war between 1915 and 1919 has gone live. The educational and community charity Step Short has uploaded every page of eight visitors’ books that were kept at the Harbour Canteen and were signed by some of the millions of troops who passed through the port on their way into, or out of, the country. After Kent County Council funded the scanning of the hand-written pages, volunteers transcribed the details they contain – mainly name, rank and corps or unit – to create an online database at www.stepshort.co.uk. Those who signed the books included Major General Hugh Trenchard, war artist John Lavery, VC recipient
If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur - Red Adair How hard can it be to put together an advert, design a logo or create a leaflet? It’s easy to design your own website, we’ve all seen the television ads. ‘Doing-it-yourself’, or getting a mate to have a go can be very tempting - so why hire a professional? When a professional studio designs something for a client, whatever it is, they get an overview of the company first, its aims and expectations and they design for function - to do the job (and some!) It will look great too, but more importantly it will WORK. When you take a car to a garage for a service you don’t want it delivered back shiny and beautiful, it needs to work, not just for 5 minutes but for way into the future. That’s what designers are trained for years to do, they are not just creatives with fluffy ideas. They become an invaluable asset to your team. They will also come to workable solution infinitely quicker than any novice. If you have ever tried to fit carpet yourself you will understand this concept. Another very important point is that your customers are very discerning. The moment we open up a web page any one of us can tell if it was designed by the boss’ nephew who happens to be studying IT at college, or if it was built using one of the off-the-shelf templates - full of posed stock imagery, dragand-drop logos and limited colour schemes. How important is your public image to you? The question you should ask yourself is not “Can I afford to hire a professional?” but “Can I afford not to?”
George Sanders and Winston Churchill, at that time a Major. While the famous names are interesting, the value of the new resource lies in the thousands of ordinary men and women who left their mark on history while enjoying a last cuppa on the way to an uncertain future.
Oak Creative Advertising and Design Royal Oak Building, Hythe, Kent CT21 4JF
Their legacy will be invaluable to historians, family researchers and anyone with an interest in those who played a part in the First World War.
Tel: 01303 812848
The scanned pages will be free to access, while visitors will be able to pay a small fee to access the index and the transcript of the hand-written entries.
caroline@oakcreative.net
www.oakcreative.net
April-May 2014 ThinkingBUSINESS
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