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Catch up with all the latest news in the county with Kristin Hawthorne.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kentonite Live on KMTV.
00:26I'm Kristen Hawthorne and here are your top stories on Monday the 17th of November.
00:31Daily danger. Sitting Bourne Road with no pavement puts school children's safety at risk.
00:37My children walk along here to school every day. Friends children walk along here and they've all told me near misses that they've witnessed where people have nearly been hit by cars.
00:46And Hotel in One. London Golf Club in Sevenoaks reveals their plans for 240 room hotel and resort.
00:53We as a venue currently hold 400 events a year. You know those events run from weddings, party nights, golf days, car launches, board meetings. We're just looking to upscale that.
01:05And give a gift. KMFM launches their Christmas campaign to donate gifts to children.
01:11So to be able to support an organisation like that where you know that those toys are going to have a real positive impact is amazing.
01:21But first, our top story tonight. Sitting Bourne residents are campaigning for a footpath on a busy road near three schools.
01:38Highstead Road is a popular route for school children. And according to resident Dan Thomas, it's been the site of several near misses each day.
01:47With a new build estate on the horizon, a section 106 agreement has allocated funding towards highway improvements.
01:54But this could be as long as two years away. Megan Shaw went down to find out more.
02:00It's a perilous walk to period one for school children in Sitting Bourne, whose twice daily commute along Highstead Road has been described as risky and dangerous.
02:12The stretch of road between Farm Crescent and Swan Street Avenue is without a footpath, despite years of campaigning and earmarked funding.
02:20So children are forced to walk on the road as cars have to swerve to go past.
02:25Father of two Dan Thomas is the latest resident alongside his father-in-law Martin Pankhurst to launch a petition urging Kent County Council to hurry along with building a pavement.
02:37And the pressure is on as planning permission for a new housing estate round the corner has been granted.
02:43Yeah, absolutely. My children walk along here to school every day. Friends, children walk along here.
02:48And they've all told me near misses that they've witnessed where people have nearly been hit by cars.
02:53I've walked along here. I've driven along here many times. I've seen it myself. Lots of people.
02:58It's not a very wide road. Children have to walk in the road. So there's every chance that someone's going to get hit at some stage.
03:05The 150 metres of road without a footpath, although frequented by all residents, is in the vicinity of three schools.
03:13One of which being where Dan's children, Harry and Matilda, attend.
03:17But this isn't just a recent issue. Campaigners have been urging councillors and stakeholders for the past two decades to build a pavement.
03:26I got involved in this about four years ago now when the Heisted School was having an extension.
03:34And we were asking if we could have the footpath extended along Heisted Road so that the school children could walk safely while they were going to and from school.
03:45Nothing has happened since then.
03:49In the new estate of Swan Street Avenue, a Section 106 contribution includes over £180,000 for the Highstead Road pedestrian footway and safety scheme, of which Dan has enquired about.
04:02Although money has been allocated, Kent County Council are yet to draw up plans.
04:06They have said funding for highway improvements in the area, including a new pavement, have been secured through a Section 106 agreement.
04:14This funding will be released once the first new homes on Swan Street Avenue are occupied.
04:19Progress on the scheme has faced challenges due to land constraints, but we are working closely with landowners to resolve these issues and deliver a safe, continuous pedestrian route.
04:30But whether the residents' pleas will push the Council to go the extra mile, however, seems to be stuck at a crossroads.
04:38Megan Short for KNTV in Sittingbourne.
04:42Now, Gina I know, a mother from Folkestone, has bravely spoken out after her ex-partner, Richard Murray, was convicted for 27 months after assaulting her last year.
04:55On November 7th, at Canterbury Crown Court, Murray was sentenced following the brutal attack at the pair's shared flat in December last year, which left Miss I know convinced she had taken her last breath.
05:08The court heard that Murray has 12 previous convictions for 23 different offences.
05:15Miss I know expressed her fear for any future partners of Murray, saying that she believes he will continue his history of abuse.
05:22Regarding his sentence, I know said, I don't think it's enough, it doesn't match the harm he's done.
05:27Next, brothers who marked the anniversary of their mother's death by brawling in a Sheppey supermarket have been spared jail.
05:35Connor, Bryn and Tyler Graham assaulted fellow siblings Brian and Cain Kensett inside the co-op store in Minster on Christmas Eve 2022.
05:45At Maidstone Crown Court on November 5th, Connor Graham was handed a 21-month jail term suspended for two years, with 30 rehabilitation activity requirements and 200 hours of unpaid work.
05:58Bryn is subject to the same order, but told to carry out 60 hours of RAR and 150 hours of unpaid work.
06:04Tyler was handed a two-year suspended sentence with 140 hours of unpaid work.
06:11And now, a Sevenoaks golf club are hoping to host a future Ryder Cup with plans for a 240-room, five-star hotel and resort to help their appeal.
06:23The multi-million pound development at London Golf Club would also see a spa, sports pavilion and luxury lodges built, making it the latest addition to a sports corridor along the M20 with the bronze hatch.
06:36Phil McDermott went down to find out more.
06:38Kent is set to have a new five-star resort combining a 240-room hotel, spa, wedding venue, lodges and a driving range at the London Golf Club.
06:48This all comes after confirming it with councils, and the project is estimated to cost hundreds of millions of pounds.
06:55The idea was started with the Sevenoaks club's bid for the 2035 Ryder Cup, and while the course has already hosted European Opens and world match plays,
07:03the resort would make the course and venue more suited for the international tournament and for other large events.
07:08It's a venue potentially of national significance, but it's of Kentish significance as well.
07:13So, as you said, from weddings to – we as a venue currently hold 400 events a year.
07:18You know, those events run from weddings, party nights, golf days, car launches, board meetings.
07:25We're just looking to upscale that to become a venue that would then add international to that.
07:30So at the moment we're almost a day-to-day facility.
07:33We'd like to extend ourselves into becoming more of a, you know, a longer-stay venue, a meeting venue, a conference venue,
07:40an international – somewhere that could stage international events.
07:43Right now I'm at hole three of the heritage course, and just behind me is where the hotel will be built.
07:48240 rooms complete with a spa, lodges, a sports pavilion and a driving range.
07:54But how are we going to get from a picturesque par three to a premier golfing destination?
07:59The hotel is on this lovely slope of the land. It's got a spectacular view of the golf course.
08:04And we thought rather than blocking a building on there, if we could simply sort of terrace the landscape
08:09and use the building to sort of fold over the roof, and that informed the architecture.
08:13So then it could age like a landscape would age rather than a building.
08:17And then that kind of set the narrative for the other buildings across the site that maybe they could feel like a family of buildings
08:24rather than just a series of plonked buildings.
08:27This all comes alongside recent developments in the area as the course is near Brands Hatch
08:32and Millwall's training ground in West Kingsdown, creating a strategic sports corridor along the M20.
08:38The site also contains a Grade II star-listed building that will be converted into a wedding venue for the development.
08:44There's also plans for a sports pavilion, including paddle courts, a gym, a restaurant and an open water swimming lake.
08:50The club hope they can welcome the community of customers by 2028, by which point both golfers and holidaymakers can enjoy the resort,
08:57whether they're there for rest and relaxation or for a round on the range.
09:01Finn McDermid for KMTV in Sevenoaks.
09:04And Joe Crosley from Kent Online joined me earlier to discuss Swale councillors who've been banned from a local pub.
09:11OK, so Joe, why did the pub bomb the councillors?
09:14So it came after the decision to bring in parking charges at six car parts across Swale.
09:21The pub basically said that it was to raise awareness of the damage that they would do, these charges.
09:28At the moment in Queenborough, all parking is free.
09:31So they say that it would put visitors off and would actually see people go elsewhere.
09:37The pub landlord, Matthew Nicholas, told me that he actually thought that the reason so many pubs had survived in that area,
09:46there's actually four pubs in Queenborough High Street.
09:49I don't know many other high streets that can say the same for such a small area, had actually survived was because of the free parking.
09:57And he fears that it will be an hour in the coffin for them.
10:01And what was the councillor's reactions?
10:03Yeah, so I contacted all the councillors.
10:06So there was ten in total who had been barred from the Flying Dutchman.
10:09I contacted them all to see what they all said.
10:12Some didn't come back to me, some did.
10:14One was Councillor Dan Gibson, who is a Faversham councillor.
10:19And he said that while he was very sorry that the pub had barred him,
10:24that he would actually go to the bear in Faversham where people had been paying for a long time for their parking.
10:32So apologetic, but also kind of standing their ground on the vote that they made on Thursday.
10:39And why did the committee vote for the measures in the first place?
10:42Yeah, so it's all about bringing in revenue.
10:44The council is cash-strapped.
10:47In February, it had to plug a hole of £1.7 million from its reserves.
10:54So it needs the extra cash where it can find it.
10:57And car parking is one of the only ways that it can actually bring in new revenue.
11:03So it was about bringing in revenue.
11:05They reckon across the six car parks, it would bring in about £36,000 every year to its coffers.
11:12Although it would have to pay £50,000 initially to get these car parks up and running in terms of bringing in fees.
11:19And so does this mean Kent residents should prepare for charges in the area?
11:24They should and they shouldn't.
11:27It's got to go to a public consultation first.
11:30So the public will actually get to have a say on the matter.
11:33Whether that will influence the final vote, which will come at a different council meeting later in the year, we don't know.
11:42But maybe get your wallets ready to pay for them.
11:47All right. Thank you, Joe.
11:49More after this short break.
12:03Hang on.
12:05Go to Beadaholique.com
12:15台湾-1.
24:09I know.
24:14I know I know.
24:15I know, honestly, last weekend, it was rain for all of us. It was a yellow weather warning,
24:16but the yellow weather warnings haven't stopped.
24:17It is not a yellow, только yellow weather warning. Except this time we're going to be seeing cold and not as much rain, hopefully.
24:21and not as much rain, hopefully.
24:23And do you reckon people should be getting out their woolly hats?
24:26I reckon they should be.
24:27Towards the end of the week, it is going to get colder.
24:30That's because of Arctic hair that's blowing from the north,
24:32from Scotland, down across the UK.
24:36Yeah, so Thursday and Friday,
24:37it's looking like we're going to be getting close to freezing,
24:39if not freezing.
24:41So make sure you're wrapping up at night,
24:42but also getting that woolly hat out and getting your scarf.
24:45And how can people look after their health and wellbeing
24:48ahead of the cold?
24:49I can imagine some of the elderly might be struggling,
24:51some of the younger people.
24:53What's the best way around this?
24:54So it's always good to look out for your neighbour.
24:57We should be looking at trying to keep our houses
24:59at around 18 degrees.
25:00That's especially important if you live with an elderly relative.
25:04Another thing would be if you are commuting a lot for work
25:06or if you're in the car a lot, getting a driving kit.
25:09So that includes having a torch, having warm clothing
25:11and having some food and drink, just in case you get a bit stuck.
25:14It might seem a tad dramatic,
25:16but also it's good to look into the free flu jab
25:19that's available on the NHS.
25:20You can check out that eligibility online.
25:24Yeah, definitely.
25:25And I'm sure shoes with maybe good grip on the bottom of them as well.
25:28We don't want anybody slipping and falling either.
25:30Sure, we don't.
25:30No, you've been framed for us.
25:32No.
25:32All right.
25:33Well, coming up after the break, we will be looking at lots more.
25:37We'll be going back to the weather, in case you missed it in the first time.
25:41Sitting Bourne residents will be campaigning for a designated footpath
25:45on a busy road for schoolchildren to safely get out of school.
25:50And you can find out more with Megan Shaw.
25:52Our reporter, Nayla Farah, has been following the progressions
25:56in plastic pollution washing up on the shores of beaches
25:59in Kent and East Sussex.
26:01I'm sure you've seen that all across Facebook this weekend.
26:04It was quite a big story, that one.
26:06And we will also have all our latest sports news from across the county,
26:10including Sheppie Sports hitting eight goals over the weekend,
26:14including a goal scored by the manager,
26:17Bradley Dack, scoring his fourth goal of the season for Gillingham FC.
26:22And much more later tonight.
26:24We'll be covering much more about that later tonight.
26:26So remain seated for the upcoming update on the weather as well on this week.
26:31But don't forget, you can always keep up to date.
26:34I'm losing my breath here with all the latest news across the county
26:37by logging on to kmtv.co.uk.
26:41And you can keep us on your social channel lines by liking us on X and TikTok.
26:46See you after the break.
26:56Let's see you after the break.
34:02Now, Sitting Borne residents are campaigning for a footpath on a busy road near three schools.
34:06Highstead Road is a popular route for school children and according to resident Dan Thomas,
34:11It has been the sight of several near misses each day.
34:15With the new-build estate on the horizon, a Section 106 agreement has allocated funding towards highway improvements.
34:21But this could be as long as two years away.
34:24Megan Shaw went down to find out more.
34:27It's a perilous walk to period one for school children in Sittingbourne,
34:33whose twice daily commute along Highstead Road has been described as risky and dangerous.
34:39The stretch of road between Farm Crescent and Swan Street Avenue is without a footpath,
34:44despite years of campaigning and earmarked funding.
34:48So children are forced to walk on the road as cars have to swerve to go past.
34:52The father of two Dan Thomas is the latest resident alongside his father-in-law Martin Pankhurst
34:59to launch a petition urging Kent County Council to hurry along with building a pavement.
35:05And the pressure is on, as planning permission for a new housing estate round the corner has been granted.
35:11Yeah, absolutely. My children walk along here to school every day.
35:14Friends' children walk along here.
35:16They've all told me they're near misses that they've witnessed where people have nearly been hit by cars.
35:20I've walked along here, I've driven along here many times, I've seen it myself, lots of people.
35:25It's not a very wide road.
35:27Children have to walk in the road, so there's every chance that someone's going to get hit at some stage.
35:32The 150 metres of road without a footpath, although frequented by all residents,
35:38is in the vicinity of three schools, one of which being where Dan's children, Harry and Matilda, attend.
35:44But this isn't just a recent issue.
35:47Campaigners have been urging councillors and stakeholders for the past two decades to build a pavement.
35:53I got involved in this about four years ago now, when the High Stead School was having an extension.
36:01And we were asking if we could have the footpath extended along High Stead Road
36:07so that the school children could walk safely while they were going to and from school.
36:14Nothing has happened since then.
36:16In the new estate of Swan Street Avenue, a Section 106 contribution includes over £180,000
36:23for the High Stead Road Pedestrian Footway and Safety Scheme, of which Dan has enquired about.
36:29Although money has been allocated, Kent County Council are yet to draw up plans.
36:33They have said funding for highway improvements in the area, including a new pavement,
36:38have been secured through a Section 106 agreement.
36:42This funding will be released once the first new homes on Swan Street Avenue are occupied.
36:47Progress on the scheme has faced challenges due to land constraints,
36:51but we are working closely with landowners to resolve these issues
36:54and deliver a safe, continuous pedestrian route.
36:58But whether the residents' pleas will push the council to go the extra mile, however,
37:02seems to be stuck at a crossroads.
37:05Megan Shaw, for KNTV in Sittingbourne.
37:09Families have told us how they were disappointed after a firework display in Tunbridge Wells was moved last minute.
37:17Thousands of people had turned up to see the Christmas kick-off in the town on Saturday,
37:22but some visitors were upset that they weren't able to see much of the parade
37:26or the fireworks display afterwards.
37:28The free event is run by the Royal Tunbridge Wells Together Business Improvement District.
37:34Alex Green, who is the chief executive of the group, apologised today.
37:38He said the fireworks display had unexpected complications,
37:41which meant that they had to move locations.
37:44And now it's time to take a look at the sport from across the county.
37:49Over to Priestfield, as Gillingham's Bradley Dak scored his fourth goal of the season last Saturday.
38:03This is his 43rd goal for the club.
38:05The goal came in a 2-2 draw against Crawley,
38:07which saw Dak convert a cleanly placed shot from a corner routine.
38:10This sees Dak become Gillingham's top scorer this season.
38:13The 31-year-old midfielder is once again becoming a regular after his return in the summer,
38:17with Gilles' manager Ainsworth stating,
38:20he's definitely in my plans going forward.
38:22Sticking to the football now,
38:23as Sheppie Sports hit eight goals at the weekend,
38:25with even their manager getting in on the act.
38:27It's been a tough start to the season for the home park side,
38:29but they swept the sideline to make it back-to-back league wins.
38:32Goals from Joe Giniwa, Jamal Hector Ingram and David Latunde
38:35had the host 7-1 up before manager Ian Batten was called upon.
38:38Moments after the introduction,
38:40he'd complete the route from the penalty spot in the 97th minute.
38:43Over to the rugby now,
38:44as Canterbury has ended a free-match losing streak
38:46after a victory against London Welsh.
38:48The City side made a confident start after Aidan Moss,
38:50Owen Hewitt, Frank Reynolds and Tyler Oliver
38:52put Canterbury 19 points up before the half-time.
38:55Ten minutes after the break,
38:56they looked to continue their dominance
38:57as Reynolds combined with Presley Farrant
38:59and converted his half-back partners
39:01tried to open a 31-5-a-party.
39:03With a 26-point lead,
39:05Canterbury would have thought that the victory was secured,
39:06however, Welsh would pounce on their complacency
39:08and claw their way back into the game.
39:10But their efforts weren't enough,
39:11as the game ended 31-24 in Canterbury's favour.
39:14This win takes them to 8th in the National League 2 East table.
39:18And to the world of motorsport now,
39:19as things are picking up speed
39:20for the 16-year-old William Sparrow from Marden,
39:23as he is set to take place
39:24in the FAT Karting League World Final
39:27in Willow Springs, California.
39:28The final is set to take place
39:30from December the 12th to the 14th.
39:31FAT have announced that they are giving away
39:33a fully-funded seat in the British Formula 4 Championship,
39:36with assessments being held in the UK and Spain next February.
39:39With only four assessment places up for grabs,
39:41this is a huge opportunity for 16-year-old Sparrow,
39:44who dreams of competing in Formula 1.
39:46But he says it's important to try and not think about the prize
39:49and just focus on the race.
39:50That's all for your Sports Bulletin this week.
39:53Zach Smith, KMTV.
39:54Now, as the Climate Change Conference, COP30, continues,
40:08Mid-Kent College has been telling us
40:10how its multi-million pound work
40:12to reduce its carbon footprint
40:14has landed it an award.
40:16The college scooped the Green Gown 2030 Climate Action Award
40:20at a ceremony in the Library of Birmingham on Thursday.
40:24The £15.6 million Zero Decarbonisation and Retrofit Initiative
40:30is eliminating gas use across its Gilliam and Maidstone campuses
40:35and is targeting a 70% reduction in carbon emissions.
40:40Mark Pate from Mid-Kent College has been telling us more.
40:43So what we're trying to do is to reduce our carbon footprint
40:47by 2030 to net zero.
40:49Something that's really, really interesting about our two sites.
40:51So the Medway campers, we have underneath our car park,
40:55we have HMS wildfire,
40:57which was used to listen for the bombs coming across in the wall.
41:00So therefore, that prevented us being able
41:01to deke a ground source heat pump.
41:03So we've had to use only air source.
41:05So therefore, we've put a very large bore field underneath there.
41:08So we have 59 boreholes,
41:10each going down 152 metres on average.
41:13So that's 18 kilometres worth of heat pipes
41:16that go under the car park,
41:18which you'll never know they're there.
41:20And they will generate heat from the earth
41:22that then goes into our energy centre
41:24and gets converted to provide the hot water
41:25and the heating for both of the buildings.
41:29My apologies.
41:30That was actually Martin Pate, not Mark Pate.
41:32I read, even when I was practising that,
41:33I read it over as Mark, I don't know why.
41:35But we have more coming up after the break,
41:37which is going to be happening in just a few seconds.
41:40But we'll be talking about sports ground rejuvenation
41:43in Ramsgate and taking another look at the weather.
41:45See you then.
45:52And don't forget you can keep up to date with all our latest stories
45:54across Kent by logging on to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
45:58There you'll find all the reports, including this one,
46:01about a Maidstone bin lorry having a prehistoric makeover.
46:05Meet the binasaurus rex, the carbon friendly apex predator of Maidstone's waste collection, silently moving through the undergrowth of Mopark.
46:24You know, we want the children to think about recycling, thinking about litter.
46:29They see this driving along, they're excited and if we can get them excited about recycling, excited about using litter bins,
46:36then we're doing our job because we're keeping the waste from being sent for disposal, we're keeping stuff from being dropped on the floor.
46:43You know, these parks are beautiful.
46:45We don't want litter.
46:46The binasaurus rex is an expensive beast.
46:48It costs the council around £170,000.
46:52But because it's a herbivore, because it doesn't guzzle those fossil fuels every other bin lorry does here in Kent,
47:00it also makes it cost effective and potentially the future for waste collection here in Maidstone.
47:09I'm sure that people want to reduce their council tax, so this is more expensive to buy,
47:15but over the lifetime of a refuge vehicle, it can be 20 years, we will definitely save money.
47:21I mean, 300 litres of diesel a day, we're not using.
47:24That's a lot of diesel.
47:25But what difference does any of this make?
47:29They go faster than that.
47:30Behind the wheel.
47:32Can you hear that?
47:33There's absolutely no roar on the binasaurus rex as it's trundling along here in Mopark.
47:40That's because it's all electric, so it won't be keeping you up in the morning as it's collecting your street waste.
47:48That's right, yeah.
47:49They'll be amazed because by the time they keep the collection, we'll be in and out without them noticing we're there.
47:58But do passers-by believe the new addition is a dino-soaring success?
48:05Fantastic.
48:06Good fun.
48:07Brightens up your day when you see something like that.
48:10Let's hope people are attracted by it and take notice of it.
48:14I like the design, but I'm anti-electric.
48:18Maidstone Borough Council's 2013 net zero target means many of the existing diesel lorries are heading for extinction.
48:28Love it or hate it, the binasaurus is here to stay.
48:33Olly Leader in Mopark.
48:35Now, will the weather be roaring over the next few days?
48:40Let's take a final look to see what it's going to be like.
48:45Tonight, we're looking at a chilly one with most areas getting down to three degrees and all of Kent should be experiencing a partly cloudy night sky.
48:57Into tomorrow morning, temperatures will rise ever so slightly with highs of three or four degrees across the county, but the clouds will remain.
49:04Into the afternoon, we should expect to see upwards of seven degrees with wind speeds making their way to the east at around seven miles per hour.
49:11Wednesday, 70 degrees, rain.
49:14Thursday, cloudy skies, five.
49:16And Friday, partly cloudy skies, six degrees.
49:21And then in Hyde, a 70-year-old news agent has been closed after being deemed unsuitable by its owner, has reopened as a vintage pop-up.
49:36Neil Sampson, the owner of the old news agents, found it difficult to operate, saying doing nothing on a high street, doing anything on a high street is a small scale.
49:46I'm just messing this up.
49:47Doing anything on a high street on a small scale is hard work.
49:51Much like saying that sentence.
49:53After taking ownership in 2021, he stepped down in the spring at the age of 52, allowing new management to take over.
50:00Landlord Mr Sampson said he rejected outside offers, elaborating that he wanted the premises to remain in familiar hands as part of the community.
50:11The new owner, Miss Delfros, plans to run the new establishment until Christmas, possibly extending it if it proves successful.
50:20And then in the spirit of Christmas, some believe in family, other believe in giving, but not all are fortunate enough to receive.
50:29We spoke with fundraising manager Millie Moore for the Calicut Foundation, the UK's oldest and largest children's charity.
50:37My name's Millie and I'm the fundraising manager here at the Calicut Foundation.
50:41The Calicut Foundation is a children's charity.
50:44It's one of the UK's largest and oldest children's charity.
50:49We support some of the most vulnerable young people in the UK.
50:53The KMFM Give a Gift campaign has supported Calicut now for a number of years because for many of the children, Christmas has never been a happy or a magical time.
51:03Some of these children have grown up where Christmas Day meant arguments, fighting or chaos.
51:09It means so much for them to be able to experience a truly magical Christmas.
51:15These presents, they're not just toys or items.
51:18It also shows the children that somebody cares for them.
51:21Last year, one young person that lived with us in one of our homes told us that it was the first Christmas that they'd ever woken up to peace, presents and people who genuinely cared about them.
51:33And that is the difference that your donations make to the children here at Calicut.
51:38Rob and Noomi, join me earlier to tell us more.
51:41Thanks so much for joining us, Rob and Noomi.
51:43Can you start us off by telling what is the Give a Gift campaign?
51:47So, Give a Gift has been running on KMFM now for, what, five years?
51:52Where we go out to all of our amazing listeners, local businesses, friends of the station and ask them to contribute to a huge donation of toys to children right here in Kent.
52:06Yeah, so these will go to hospitals in Kent for children in care and different organisations and charities that are helping children in less fortunate circumstances.
52:15So, it's a really wonderful campaign to be involved in.
52:19No gift is too small and it is just the power of community coming together and spreading a little bit of magic at Christmas.
52:25And last year you broke the record in terms of how many toys were delivered. How did you actually manage that?
52:32With big arms.
52:35It was a big task. It was a very big task. It was 16,200 toys in the end, wasn't it?
52:43Yeah. So, one of the things that was amazing last year was for the first time we paired and partnered with Smith's Toys in Gillingham.
52:52Their amazing team allowed us to go in. We hit a record amount of money on our Just Giving page last year.
52:59So, we were able to go in with over 10 grand and just go wild in a toy shop, which was incredible.
53:05Which is honestly the most amazing experience of any adult life. I mean, if you're a child, it was like, oh, it was great. It was great. And they helped. They added some more money into the pot as well.
53:15And what was the kind of response like? I'm sure it was very positive when you were given those gifts to all the different charities and children.
53:21Yeah. I mean, we don't get to see everybody. Yeah. And obviously, with some cases, we're not allowed to like meet the children.
53:30So, you're not you're not meeting them directly. But the staff are always so wonderful.
53:34It's amazing going into places like the William Harvey Hospital and QEQM and meeting the teams there.
53:41They're always so happy to see us. And then going into smaller charities as well.
53:48So, places like My Shining Star in Raynham, which is a tiny charity. Their offices are so small in Raynham.
53:55And to be able to go in with sackfuls of toys, they're helping support families and children with cancer.
54:02So, to be able to support an organization like that, where you know that those toys are going to have a real positive impact, is amazing.
54:12I was actually there at My Shining Star last year and the office, the small office, was filled with toys.
54:18I mean, we could barely even move around. It was it was incredible.
54:21Do you have a goal this year to do even more than last year?
54:24It's difficult.
54:26You can't. Yeah, I don't think you can. You can't go into it with that.
54:29I think the interesting will tell a story really quickly about Orla.
54:33Yeah.
54:34Who was a young child who received a bear from us the year before the year before last.
54:39And that one bear ends up in her hands that her little brother has now because Orla sadly lost her life.
54:46And it was it really kind of kind of brought it home to me that as much as we would love to chase that 16,200 toys again this year or try and beat it.
54:56Actually, just getting the one toy in the right place tends to that should be our target.
55:03Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, of course, we would absolutely love to.
55:07If we could just even match last year's target, then that would be amazing.
55:12And we know that however many toys we do, getting them in the right place.
55:17Yeah, that's going to make a difference.
55:18That makes a difference.
55:19Fabulous. And then just again, how can people get involved?
55:22Is that through the campaign itself?
55:25Do they have to donate their money to a certain place?
55:28Number one.
55:29So you can come visit us at KMFM HQ.
55:32So you could go buy the toys wherever you want to get them.
55:35Come in. We would love to meet you and thank you in person.
55:38So also, if you want to do a large collection within a school or a business and then bring those donations in,
55:44you can come in person.
55:46Number two.
55:47You can order a shop to be delivered, whether that's like Amazon or like maybe Tesco's or whatever,
55:52wherever you want to buy your toys from, Smith's Toys maybe, and then have it delivered to KMFM HQ.
55:57Number three, you can donate via our Just Giving page.
56:01If you go to kmfm.co.uk forward slash give, you'll find the link there.
56:06So you can donate money towards the Just Giving and we will work with Smith's Toys to buy toys on your behalf.
56:12Number four.
56:13The last way is we've teamed up this year with Stoner Motor Company here, an incredible family based car dealership here in Kent.
56:20They've been going for 50 years.
56:22Dean was on the show with us on Monday morning to launch it.
56:25They've got 12 foot Christmas trees in their showrooms.
56:29And they're welcoming people in to either buy a gift there and pop it under the tree or bring one with them.
56:35All of this information is at kmfm.co.uk forward slash give.
56:40Amazing.
56:41Thank you so much, guys.
56:42Invicta Sport coming up after the break.
56:45See you then.
56:46Bye-bye.
56:47Bye-bye.
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