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00:30Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight Live on KMTV. I'm Kristen Hawthorne and here are your top stories on Tuesday the 20th of January.
00:39Lay's Down Beach murder trial. Three teens remain in court charged with the murder of electrician with new messages revealed. Six figure sum. Mid Kent College lecturer given payout after being forced out.
00:54And I thought my life was over. Meet the Sevenoaks counsellor getting his voice back using AI.
01:01And no one wants to sound like Stephen Hawking did. So it's incredible.
01:10Our top story tonight. Three teenagers stand charged of murder after the death of a man on the beach in Lay's Down in August last year.
01:28The court heard 49-year-old Alexander Cashford was lured to the beach by teens under the pretense he'd be meeting a 16-year-old girl.
01:36It was there he was attacked with a glass bottle while being dubbed a paedophile, shown in a video footage shown to the court.
01:43Reporter Chloe Brewster is here to tell us about what we learnt in court today.
01:48Chloe, for watchers who haven't seen much about this story, can you bring us up to speed?
01:54Yes, so three teenagers currently on trial at Woolwich Crown Court charged with murdering Alexander Cashford, an electrician.
02:01A 16-year-old pled guilty to manslaughter last week but he denies murder while a 16-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy have both pled not guilty to manslaughter or murder.
02:12The trio of teens who cannot be named due to their age allegedly lured Mr Cashford, as you said, to the beach after having exchanged more than 70 messages with the victim.
02:22He believed he was talking to a 16-year-old girl.
02:25Once at the beach expecting to meet the teen, video was shown to the court which had been taken off the eldest boy's phone of one of the teens attacking Mr Cashford with a glass bottle of the girl heard calling the victim a paedophile.
02:38Later on, eyewitnesses are said to have seen Mr Cashford lying in the mud while the 16-year-old boy allegedly threw rocks at his head and stomach.
02:47Mr Cashford was later declared dead that evening around an hour after he met up with Sienna, the 16-year-old girl that the teens were pretending to be.
02:56So yeah, that's where we are now.
03:00And of course the pictures on screen was of drone footage of the area but can you tell us what came out at trial?
03:07Yeah, so today messages between the group and the victim were read out.
03:12They told the court, the messages sorry, read that Mr Cashford had said he was not put off by the 16-year-old's age and said that he thought she was lovely.
03:24The jury heard that the victim started to try to arrange a date and time to meet Sienna again, the 16-year-old girl that the teens were posing as.
03:33Mr Cashford is said to have went on to say, I cannot believe you do not have a boyfriend.
03:38And here on screen at the moment you can see that moment of when the victim had been chased allegedly by those standing in court today.
03:50Further texts are exchanged including a message from Mr Cashford expressing a want for physical intimacy with the 16-year-old girl.
03:59The court was also shown a compilation of CCTV from August 10th which showed three teenagers playing on a basketball machine around 20 minutes before meeting Mr Cashford.
04:09And from now on, you know, there's still a lot more time left of this trial. It's a six week trial. So there'll be a lot more coming out of this.
04:19All right. Thank you so much, Chloe. We will hear more from you later in the show.
04:25Next, he thought he'd lost his voice forever, but through the power of AI, Sevenoaks counsellor Nick Varley has been given the ability to speak again like he used to.
04:36Varley was diagnosed with motor neuron disease nearly two years ago, the same degenerative condition that left Stephen Hawking bound to a wheelchair.
04:45But Varley swears he's going to continue to live life to the fullest, with our local democracy reporter, Ollie Leader, seeing him in action at a council meeting where the public heard his AI voice for the first time.
04:57I don't have a real voice anymore. So this phone is my voice.
05:01It may be a robotic voice, but this AI replica sounds just like Sevenoaks counsellor Nick Varley when he was first diagnosed with motor neuron disease back in 2024.
05:15When you get your time to diagnosis, part of you thinks my life is over.
05:25And being able to do the work, still talk, and most of us participate is amazing.
05:37Pioneered by the Motor Neuron Disease Association and London-based AI firm Eleven Labs, the app uses a sample Nick provided before the degenerative condition progressed to his mouth and throat, allowing him to speak clearly at meetings and continue to represent his constituents.
05:59This is the public debut of my new AI voice. So I hope that the technology works.
06:04It just gave me very emotional. Because your voice is such a big part of you. And no one wants a sound like Stephen Hawking did. So it's incredible.
06:25Motor Neuron Disease causes muscles to weaken, stiffen, and waste, affecting how sufferers walk, talk, and even breathe.
06:34About 5,000 adults in the UK are living with the life-shortening condition at any one time, and there is currently no cure.
06:45But for Nick, who has raised thousands for charity since his diagnosis, there was only one way to react.
06:53Total shock and fear. And then you have to get on with it.
07:02Oli Lida in Sevenoaks.
07:04And I'm also joined by a speech and language therapist who has joined us today to tell us a bit more about how revolutionary something like this could be.
07:15So that's Jennifer. Thank you so much for joining me, Jennifer.
07:18My pleasure.
07:19I have this figure here that says there's currently 1,728 people with motor neuron disease known to us in the South East.
07:28Can you explain a bit more about that and maybe how much this AI voice can change things for those people?
07:36And is that something that everybody can use?
07:39Yeah, it's definitely something that's becoming much more widely available for anybody living with MND in any area, really.
07:47So, yeah, one of the first things that can happen with motor neuron disease is that you can lose your voice really quite quickly and lose that ability to speak and communicate and need to find an alternative way to do that.
08:01So we always look at look at using communication aids with people, which can be on your phone or it can be a dedicated communication device.
08:10And we've been using voice banking technology for a number of years now to capture people's voices whilst they still have them before they lose them so that we can use that voice on a device and so that they continue to sound like themselves.
08:24The advantage of the AI technology is that the voices now sound much more natural than they used to do and much closer to that person's original sounding voice, which then has that benefit of them feeling like they've kept their voice and hearing them sound like themselves and everybody around them hearing that they sound like themselves.
08:45So it really is quite life changing, actually.
08:48And, I mean, can you explain a bit more about what the disease actually is and sort of at what stage maybe this can come in at?
08:57Is it the first thing people can do or is it something that then comes on later on as it progresses?
09:02So there are different ways of starting with MND.
09:07So sometimes people will start with loss of their speech and their swallowing as the first presenting part of the condition.
09:14Sometimes it can start more in your arms and your legs and then sometimes your speech will catch up with that progressive loss later on down the track.
09:22So it just depends on the type of MND that you have, really.
09:26So it's very easy for people to do this really as quickly after diagnosis or through that process of being diagnosed as possible.
09:37We tend to suggest that they do it as quickly as possible if we know that there's a chance they're going to lose their voices so that they capture that voice whilst it's still intact.
09:47Again, with the introduction of AI technology, it's becoming much more possible to record a voice even if you haven't captured that early recording because we can now use pre-existing recordings of people's voices on the AI technology.
10:05So if you've got something like voice notes or videos, for example, on your phone that many of us tend to have now, it's possible to upload those voice notes or videos to make a voice.
10:17So the technology is just becoming more and more widely accessible and available all the time.
10:22So capturing as many voices as we can do and being able to help people to keep their voices through the duration of their lifespan.
10:30And is there any challenges or limitations to the AI voice? I mean, would it be different for children? Would they have a child's voice or would they then have to have more of an adult's voice?
10:43So whatever voice you put into the technology is what comes back out, basically.
10:48So if it was a child that did the recording, then it would be a child's voice that came back out again.
10:54It's the AI technology specifically we tend to look at more using with adults just because of the the privacy and those kinds of things around that.
11:02But no, any kind of voice can go into into that technology and come out with a remarkably good likeness of that original voice, actually.
11:10So I guess the only probably limitations as such are people's ability to access the technology and to confidently use the technology.
11:17But the help and support is available to do that if that's more of a problem.
11:22All right. Yeah, it's very interesting. I mean, I suppose there's a lot to do with how this might emotionally affect people as well.
11:31But thank you so much for joining us, Jennifer, and certainly something that I'm sure will affect many people's lives.
11:37Thank you very much.
11:40Now, it's time for a short break, but coming up, we'll be bringing you all the latest sports news from across the county, covering everything from golf and football to rugby and cricket.
11:51All of that and more. We'll see in just a few minutes. Don't go anywhere.
11:55We'll see you then.
11:57Bye.
11:58Bye.
11:59Bye.
12:00Bye.
12:02Bye.
12:03Bye.
12:04Bye.
18:17Thanks for bringing us that story.
18:19And now for all your sports headlines.
20:09more, saying Mickey's character and determination through adversity has been exceptional. And
20:14he reports that Cohen has been training well and working closely with the club's medical
20:19team to ensure that he is ready to return to play the season in 2026.
20:25Next in the world of golf, Broadstairs North Forland Golf Club's Jack Swift will represent
20:32England this week after being named in a six-man squad for the Costa Ballerina Octangular
20:39in Cadiz, Spain. Swift joins Elliot Baker, Ben Bolton, Louis Hayward, Max Hopkins and Tom
20:46Osborne as England look to defend the title they won last year. The tournament runs from
20:52Wednesday to Saturday, with England chasing an eighth overall victory. Swift's selection
20:57follows an outstanding 2025 season, including a Darwin-Salver win and multiple international
21:04appearances. And finally, for Kent's rugby news, Medway suffered devastating loss after
21:11Huell Tring on the latter's home turf. Tring set the tone early, accumulating a strong lead
21:18and it quickly turned scrappy with Medway repeatedly forced back. Tring extended their advantage with
21:24Medway responding with termination. And Henry Kenny's conversation narrowed the gap to three
21:31points and swung Faith back towards the visitors. However, Tring responded in the turn, stretching
21:36the figures to 24-7. Medway continued to fight and brought back the score to 24-14. Tring then
21:44dominated the second half and the end score was 45-14. Medway's next lead game is on Saturday
21:5131st. That's all from sport. Moving on to international news. Trump's unrelenting fight to acquire Greenland
22:11is shaking the world leaders and economy. We were joined by Dr Rubrik Began, a lecturer on
22:16international relations at the University of Kent to give us an explanation on the situation.
22:22Can you first of all give us a summary of the situation in general?
22:28Well, this seems to be a case where the personal obsessions of Donald Trump have overtaken
22:33American foreign policy and you're in a situation now where the United States is making a quite
22:39deliberate play to try and essentially annex or take over the territory of Greenland.
22:47And this has caused all sorts of tensions and issues and controversies in the transatlantic
22:54relationship between the U.S. and its European allies. It's caused quite a lot of controversy
22:59politically at home for the Trump administration, including in Washington with lawmakers in Congress
23:06and so on. Why does Trump want Greenland so badly?
23:10I think there's two things to point out here. I think on the one hand, there's a strategic
23:14commitment on the part of the United States under the Trump administration to really dominate the
23:18Western Hemisphere and to really sort of deepen its hegemonic control over the Western Hemisphere.
23:24And this explains recent actions in Venezuela, for example. So on the one hand, this play for
23:29Greenland is consistent with broader attempts by the United States to reassert its dominance in its
23:37kind of its own backyard, as it would have it. But the way it's gone about doing this is, you know,
23:43very unusual and very kind of heavy handed. And it seems very much related to Trump's own kind of
23:50personal proclivities. And, you know, he sort of his perceived slight at not getting the Nobel Peace
23:57Prize, for example, seems to have played a role in this as well. So on the one hand, it is, you know,
24:02consistent with the administration's overall strategy, but there are some kind of peculiarities
24:07about how he's going about doing this. Greenland is important for geostrategic reasons because of
24:14its location in between the United States and Russia. It's also important because it has quite a lot of rare
24:20earth minerals that would be important economically. So there's this kind of resource angle to the U.S.'s
24:27drive to, you know, take over MX Greenland, as it were. And there's also this kind of geographical
24:32or geostrategic rationale as well. It kind of relates back to the U.S.'s drive to really reassert
24:39its supremacy in the Western Hemisphere. And what does it really mean? I mean, obviously,
24:45this would affect the U.K. and other countries, but what does what could it mean for Kent?
24:49Well, I think it impacts the U.K. in two ways, and it impacts people in Kent really in two ways
24:56as it relates back to national policy. I mean, I think on the geostrategic side of things,
25:03there is some speculation that this could lead to the collapse of NATO. I think that's unlikely
25:08at the moment. But certainly this will lead to increased tensions in NATO. You know, this could
25:14eventually lead to it could be one event in a series of events that leads to the U.K. really
25:18rethinking its overall approach to foreign and security policy. And this could be a major political
25:22issue in the coming years if NATO were to collapse or if there were to be even greater tensions within
25:29the NATO alliance. This creates all sorts of questions about Britain's role in the world. And
25:34this is something that voters in Kent will have to grapple with in the near future. On the economic
25:40front, it's entirely possible, again, if relatively unlikely at the moment, that this leads to a tariff
25:46war or trade war between the U.S. and its European allies, including the U.K., if this were to happen,
25:54it might have a negative effect on economic growth in the U.K. over the near term. It might contribute
26:01to inflation. I think a lot of economists sort of would argue that a kind of tariff war or a trade
26:07war between the U.S. and the U.K., for example, might lead to an increase in prices. And I think that's
26:12these are the two ways in which this would most directly impact people in Kent.
26:17And do you know at all how Kent MPs are responding to this?
26:21I haven't, to be honest, paid much attention to that. I don't think there's much, you know, that lawmakers
26:28can do in the U.K. I mean, a lot of this is being driven by Trump's relatively erratic behaviour in the
26:34United States. And it's really, you know, a kind of wait and see approach on the U.K. side. And I
26:41think, to be honest, there isn't going to be a lot of difference among, you know, different parties in
26:46terms of how the U.K. responds to this. It's a kind of wait and see at the moment, I think.
26:51All right. Thank you so much. That's all we have for now. But we will, of course, be back after this
26:56short break. So see you then.
30:27Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight Live on KMTV.
30:34I'm Kristen Hawthorne and here are your top stories on Tuesday the 20th of January.
30:39Laysdown Beach murder trial.
30:41Three teens remain in court charged with the murder of electrician with new messages revealed.
30:47Six-figure sum.
30:49Mid-Kent College lecturer given payout after being forced out.
30:54And I thought my life was over.
30:56Meet the Sevenoaks counsellor getting his voice back using AI.
31:01And no one wants to sound like a Stephen Hawking did.
31:07So it's incredible.
31:09But first our top story tonight.
31:22Three teenagers stand charged of the murder after a man was killed in the beach in Laysdown in August last year.
31:29The court heard 49-year-old Alexander Cashford was lured to the beach by the teens under the pretense he'd been meeting a 16-year-old girl.
31:38It was there he was attacked with a glass bottle while being dubbed a paedophile shown in a video footage shown to the court.
31:45Reporter Chloe Brewster is here to tell us more about what we learnt in court today.
31:49So for watchers who haven't been up or aren't up to speed on what happened here, can you explain it for us?
31:56Yeah, so three teenagers are currently on trial at Woolwich Crown Court accused of murdering Alexander Cashford an electrician.
32:02So a 16-year-old boy has pled guilty to manslaughter last week but denies the charge of murder,
32:08while a 16-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy have both pled not guilty to murder and manslaughter.
32:14The trio of teens who can't be named due to their age allegedly lured Mr Cashford to the beach after having exchanged more than 70 messages.
32:22You can see in this footage that was shown to the court Mr Cashford being allegedly chased by the teens.
32:29He's said to have exchanged messages with the victim who, no sorry, 70 messages between the victim and the teens.
32:39They were posing as a 16-year-old girl named Sienna.
32:42Once at the beach expecting to meet the teen, Mr Cashford was allegedly attacked with a glass bottle,
32:49with one of the teens allegedly calling the victim a paedophile.
32:53Later on, eyewitnesses are said to have seen Mr Cashford lying in the mud
32:56while the 16-year-old boy threw rocks at his head and stomach.
32:59That is all alleged and that is what the court has heard.
33:02Mr Cashford was later declared dead that evening, around an hour after he met up with Sienna.
33:08And what came out at today's trial?
33:11So today, messages between the group and the victim were read out.
33:14We know that there were 70 messages were exchanged.
33:17One of the messages included Mr Cashford saying he was not put off by the 16-year-old girl's age and said that he thought she was lovely.
33:26The jury heard that the victim started to try to arrange a date and time to meet Sienna as he was working nights,
33:31to which she replied, are you asking me out?
33:34This, you can see on screen now, is the area that the meeting took place between the teens and the victim.
33:39There were more texts exchanged.
33:43There was messages from Mr Cashford saying, I can't believe you don't have a boyfriend to the teenager.
33:49There were also more texts exchanged, including a message from Mr Cashford expressing a want for physical intimacy with Sienna.
33:55The court was also shown a compilation of CCTV from August 10th,
33:59which showed the three teenagers playing on a basketball machine around 20 minutes before meeting Mr Cashford.
34:04Now, this is not the end of this trial.
34:09There's six weeks in total, which this will go on for.
34:12So, it will be something that we're going to be covering, I think, just to see how the case wraps up.
34:19How it progresses, yeah.
34:21Thank you so much, Chloe, for bringing us those details.
34:24Next, a man in Ashford has been taken to hospital after a car crashed into a wall at Little Car Park.
34:30At about 10.30 today, emergency services were called to the reports of a single vehicle collision in New Street in Ashford.
34:38Officers attended alongside paramedics who treated the man before taking him to the William Harvey Hospital for further treatment.
34:45Two spaces in the Little Car Park have been closed off, while debris is currently being cleared,
34:49and recovery has since been arranged for the vehicle.
34:52GP practices across Kent were hit with an IT outage yesterday,
34:57with medical teams unable to access patient details, appointments, or telephone systems.
35:03While backup methods are being put in place, patients should expect disruption,
35:08as some practices are currently unable to be connected through their phone lines.
35:12An NHS and Medway spokesperson has said that GP practices are open as normal,
35:18and that the matter is being urgently investigated.
35:20Patients who can't contact their GP and are currently experiencing emergency health problems
35:26should use NHS 111 or attend an emergency treatment centre or A&E.
35:32And new bosses of the Folkestone Sports Centre have asked for the council
35:36for a £2.4 million capital grant towards a revamp.
35:41The Sports Trust took over the site last year and is hoping to raise money
35:45needed to reopen the swimming pool in time for the summer.
35:48The facility was forced to close in July 2024 after the previous charity running it
35:53couldn't afford to continue.
35:55There's hope that the funds would soon be used to refurbish the swimming pool,
36:00changing rooms and reception area, and also contribute towards the installation of solar panels.
36:07And as well as that, an inquest has been opened into the tragic death of a 13-year-old girl
36:12in a house fire near Ashford.
36:15Lily-Ann Childs was upstairs at her home in Ham Street on the 28th of December when the fire broke out,
36:22where she then became trapped.
36:24It was reported that neighbours first attempted to rescue the child,
36:27but the fires were too aggressive.
36:29A coroner told the inquest, firefighters tried to get upstairs,
36:33but the stairs collapsed and they could not get access.
36:37The coroner later gave Lily's medical cause of death is inhalation of fire fumes,
36:41pending further investigation.
36:44The inquest is set to continue on the 30th of March.
36:46But coming back to our story on Greenland,
36:52Trump's unpredictability and raising tariffs against anyone who opposes his Greenland plan
36:56is making it impossible for businesses to know what to expect next.
37:01We were joined earlier by Tudor Price, CEO of Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce,
37:06to discuss the potential rising of tariffs in the UK
37:09and what it could mean for the economy in Kent.
37:13Thanks so much for joining me, Tudor.
37:14Can you first of all give me a rundown of the situation
37:18and how it could potentially affect Kent?
37:22So, as everyone's probably been made aware of,
37:25obviously the President has decided that he's looking to implement a further 10% increase in tariffs
37:33for products exported and imported into the US.
37:37Now, what that actually means is, in the first instance, will it happen?
37:41So, we've got uncertainty.
37:43We've seen him do this before.
37:45We've seen him roll back at the last minute.
37:46So, really, until the 31st of January, none of us really know if this is going to come into play.
37:51We are then hoping that the government will play a part in perhaps trying to soften the blow for some exporters.
37:57But really, where Kent will suffer is in the supply chain because it's the large organizations like Jaguar, Land Rover and other large industrial companies
38:07who will have the immediate sort of freeze on sales potentially or the loss of revenue on sales.
38:12And it's how that then plays down the supply chain to smaller businesses that are operating in that space.
38:20Here in Kent in particular, we have a number of businesses supplied direct to the US.
38:25And they've already negotiated prices.
38:27But now they're not quite sure whether or not it's going to be enough.
38:29So, yeah, it's the uncertainty that is really causing the biggest challenge.
38:34And what sectors are particularly at risk in Kent?
38:37Is it those larger businesses like Land Rover that you mentioned?
38:40Yeah, so the large organizations will have the headlines, if you like, because obviously, you know, they don't lose a few thousand pounds a day.
38:50They lose millions.
38:51And so the government will be very keen to try and support those large organizations in particular to just try and cut down any potential job losses.
39:00But as we saw with some of the challenges the last time this happened, it's actually the smaller businesses that are then struggling.
39:08So what we're hoping is the government will play a part here in not just supporting the larger organizations, but also the smaller ones that play a part of that vital supply chain into large institutions.
39:19We are lucky that a lot of the businesses we have here in Kent are actually professional services, and that's exempt from these sort of tariffs.
39:26But we do have a number of manufacturers that supply direct, a roulette wheel manufacturer, for example.
39:32And how resilient is Kent's economy to the situation?
39:35You touched on it there, but give me a bit.
39:37Yeah.
39:39It's very hard to try and protect yourself from these sort of turbulent times, really.
39:46This is the chaos that the U.S. president is causing in global markets.
39:50It's not just investment side of things, but on a day-to-day basis, businesses don't know how much something's going to cost, either as an importer or as an exporter, whether they're going to get their money back on the things they've done.
40:01So it's really hard to try and protect yourself against this sort of thing.
40:05The best bet right now is for businesses is to certainly talk to those organizations that are in the know, like the Chamber.
40:13You know, we're keeping track of when these tariffs are going to come in, and if they do, what sort of government help is going to be available.
40:20But really, they need to sort of be looking at other markets.
40:22I think it's recognizing that whilst the U.S. has been a great partner and ally for decades, that maybe isn't the case anymore.
40:29And for the everyday resident in Kent, should they be worried?
40:34Will their shopping get more expensive?
40:36Will online orders be more difficult to come by?
40:38What sort of difficulties might residents in Kent see?
40:44So from a consumer perspective, yes, we're bound to see some increases in costs.
40:50You know, those tariff prices have to be sort of addressed.
40:52But what we will probably see in the short term isn't too much of a direct impact to sort of the general public and society.
41:02But what we will see is a shift away from the U.S. market, possibly companies choosing not to sell products into the U.S., but instead of going elsewhere, exporting products.
41:14You know, it'll get more expensive to put things across the water.
41:19So it's really the uncertainty is the big issue and the long-term investment plan and what that does to our economy as a whole.
41:27OK, thank you so much.
41:28Very interesting, Tudor.
41:31You're very welcome.
41:33Time for a short break now.
41:35But coming up, we'll be taking a look at Inando's employee from South Alesford.
41:38He won a creative burger competition and we'll be looking at the accomplishments of the women's team at Chatham Town FC as they continue to advance in the FA Cup competition, reaching new heights for the club.
41:51We'll also be speaking to an artist, so don't go anywhere.
45:08Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight Live here on KMTV.
45:21Now, a local Inando's employee has won a creative burger competition by beating nearly 100 colleagues from across the county, from across the country.
45:30Ilona Dapkay Vikutay from Alesford Branch wowed the judges with their tasty idea.
45:39The Nando Chat Burger features grilled chicken, melted cheese, rainbow coleslaw, pickles, churrasco perineas and mango and lime peri chutney.
45:52Very interesting.
45:53Ilona's special chutney is made with fresh mango and chilies that her mum grew using the seeds of Nando's very own African bird's eye chili.
46:04The burger launched today and is available for a limited time.
46:07Next, another member of Kent is set to join the ranks of 20 people in this year's The Apprentice.
46:16Rajan Gill runs Easy Mount with a business specialising in TV mounts and building media walls.
46:24The 30 year old hopes the experience will allow him to gain investment for fitting units in brand new homes.
46:30The pharmaceuticals specialist has already spent time on consultation sites.
46:35So he says he's used to the practical and brainstorming aspects of business.
46:40Jonathan Hever from Deal joined last year before being fired in week six.
46:46And we actually spoke to him last year.
46:48The Apprentice 2026 premieres on January 29th on BBC One.
46:53And after Chatham Town beat York City 3-0 in the Women's FA Cup, they've advanced to the last 16.
47:02The furthest that the club side has got in any FA Cup competition.
47:06In the televised draw last night, they were matched against Birmingham City at WSL 2 side on good form in the league.
47:14And their players, manager and fans were at the Bolville Stadium to hear the draw.
47:19Phil McDermott has that report.
47:21The Women's FA Cup has been around for 56 years.
47:24And during the last 20 of them, very select teams have dominated.
47:28Manchester City have won it three times.
47:30Chelsea, six.
47:31And Arsenal have a record 14 cups.
47:33And it's not just the WSL clubs.
47:36Chatham Town women's are also breaking records.
47:38It's the first time the club has ever gotten to the round of 16.
47:41And their manager, Keith Bonas, is a previous winner of the cup with Charlton Athletic.
47:45So to find out who their opponents would be in the next round, the players, manager, fans and youth teams gathered around.
47:51And there were a few favourites.
47:53What team do you want to go up against?
47:54Arsenal.
47:55Tottenham.
47:56Chelsea!
47:57They had brought down higher league opposition like Sutton United and York City to get to this stage.
48:04So the pressure was on.
48:05And when the result came through, opinions were split.
48:09They were hoping for a match right here at the Beauville, but instead they'll be travelling to Birmingham.
48:18Many of the fans said they wanted Arsenal, they wanted Chelsea, maybe even a sneaky bit of Spurs.
48:22But it was not to be.
48:23And they'll be hoping to see if they can punch their ticket to the quarter-finals against the Blues.
48:28But what did the players and the manager make of their last 16 fixture?
48:31Yeah, like I say, people I've been speaking to, they're like, who do you want?
48:35And I was like, oh, I'd love Arsenal or something like that.
48:38But, again, Birmingham's a big team.
48:40Like, we'll definitely go there and try and give it a go.
48:43So, yeah, we're happy with the draw.
48:45There was a few other choices we'd have preferred and we definitely would have preferred a home game, for sure.
48:50But it's a top-tier side and we knew we were going to get that in this round.
48:55And I'm aware of who's in the background of Birmingham.
48:59I know Hope helped quite well.
49:01My wife played under her for England.
49:03And I know the manager.
49:05So, yeah, we'll look forward to it.
49:07We'll work towards it.
49:08And we'll go up there and do our best.
49:09It feels good.
49:10I mean, I think mixed emotions when it first got read out.
49:12We wanted a big club, but I wanted Arsenal.
49:14We were so close to getting that ball drawn as well.
49:17But, no, mixed feelings.
49:19I'm really sort of pumped to get Birmingham as well.
49:22I think I've got friends, close friends, who plays there that I grew up with.
49:26So, it'd be good to see her again.
49:28So, yeah, I mean, it would have been nice to get a home draw as well.
49:32We obviously keep saying that after the attendance yesterday was incredible.
49:35We just wanted to build on that.
49:37But away it is.
49:38I'm sure our supporters will follow us.
49:39Yeah, I think the word that comes to mind first is just proud.
49:42Like, I'm just so proud of, like, all the girls and all the staff.
49:45We've just done so well to get here.
49:48We've, you know, we've grafted a lot.
49:50So, yeah, just so proud of everyone.
49:52No matter what, this cup run will go down in Kent's footballing legend
49:56as the giant killing Chats march to their next battlefield,
49:59the St Andrews Stadium in Birmingham.
50:01Finn McDermid for KMTV at the Beauville Stadium.
50:04Chats on three. One, two, three. Chats!
50:07And now it's time to take a quick look at the weather.
50:16Tonight will feel relatively mild across Kent
50:19with temperatures reaching around 9 degrees for most areas.
50:22Tunbridge will be slightly warmer at 12 degrees.
50:24However, conditions will be unsettled with heavy rain affecting most of the county.
50:29Indeed, tomorrow afternoon then, 9 degrees across most of the board,
50:34although 10 degrees into the east there in Canterbury and Dover.
50:37The outlook then, 10 degrees on Thursday, slight rain.
50:40Friday is cloudy, 9 degrees.
50:43And Saturday, 8 degrees, cloudy as well.
50:45And now, don't forget you can keep up to date with all our latest stories across Kemp
50:56by logging onto our website, KMTV.co.uk.
50:59There you'll find all our reports, including this one,
51:02about baby goats being rescued in Maidstone after they were abandoned in a bin.
51:07Baby goats in the bin.
51:10That's what Buttercup's sanctuary for goats near Maidstone had the misfortune of discovering
51:19after they were alerted on Monday afternoon after a member of the public found them.
51:27Veolia and Biffa were able to survive the ordeal thanks to the help of vets and a local sheep farm.
51:36The farmer was able to give them colostrum, milk that provides vital antibodies.
51:44This specifically, I've never heard of anything quite like this.
51:50Abuse and neglect cases do come around.
51:52They are, I would say, slightly less common than Once Upon a Time, maybe.
51:57But still far too common for anyone's liking.
52:01I mean, one case is far too many.
52:03And it's one of those things like, just when being in this sort of job,
52:08you see a lot of odd things.
52:10And just when you think you've seen it all, something like this will come along
52:13and you realise that, you know, you haven't.
52:15Biffa is currently experiencing lung problems
52:18and Veola is still trying to support her own weight.
52:22But the sanctuary says they're showing strong character.
52:27The public can support goats like Veolia and Biffa
52:31by donating to the sanctuary's website.
52:35Henry Luck for KMTV in Maidstone.
52:40And finally, when you think about Margate, you might think of the sun and the sea.
52:45But how about the Splat and Splash tour?
52:47Well, artist Graeme Koulis, who is on a mission to change that with his tour of the UK,
52:54showcasing his art stopping at Margate this week before moving on to Dover.
52:58Graeme's travelling project planned and delivered all out in a camper van
53:05and is an aid of mental health awareness
53:07and seeks to create artwork inspired by the locations that he visits.
53:11He joins me in the studio now.
53:13So, I mean, to start us off, just tell me a bit about this tour that you're on.
53:17First off, you almost got it right, it's Cullis.
53:20Cullis, see, I need to do it confidently, that's the thing.
53:23No worries, it's all good.
53:24Yeah, so basically, yeah, I'm travelling around the country
53:27creating a piece of art with each town that I go to.
53:30So, I hold like a holistic event where I get people to come along,
53:34I lead them in a meditation, we do a silent disco
53:37and then we splat a canvas, a blank canvas, so one for each town.
53:41So, this is what the South End one looked like from the last event.
53:45And then I paint something over the top.
53:47So, here's like the jellyfish from Croyde.
53:49That's the Western Supermare Swan.
53:51And then, yeah, so each town gets their own individual piece.
53:55But the main thing is that the community that have come along,
53:57that I've appealed across my social medias for people
54:00that might be struggling with mental health or loneliness,
54:02to come along and find love and connection through creativity,
54:05art, dance and singing and lots of hugs.
54:08It's really nice.
54:09So, yeah, basically there'll be 32 pieces created around the country
54:13for all the towns that I visit.
54:15And this is quite a project to do, really, especially on your own.
54:18What inspired you to do this?
54:20So, I have a CIC called Your Art Connect
54:23and we ran into some problems last year
54:26with the directors burning out, not having any funding.
54:29So, I was like, do you know what?
54:30Right, I'm going to do something.
54:32I'm going to go around the country.
54:34Basically, as like a bit of a PR stunt,
54:36I gather emails in each town that I go to
54:38from the people that come to the events.
54:39So, then we can use that as a data for our charity
54:43to be able to have for outreach.
54:44But also, I can then also raise money for each piece.
54:48So, I'm selling them for £1,000 each.
54:50Actually, these two have already sold.
54:51And, yeah, that'll raise about £32,000 in total
54:56after the tour, after when we do the exhibitions.
54:59But, more importantly, I'm going to raise a profile for the charity,
55:04for the CIC, sorry.
55:05And also, myself as an artist, it'll put my name to the next level
55:10in the art world.
55:12Yeah, definitely.
55:13And I suppose, people that want to come along and see you,
55:16where can they meet you and can they bring their own canvases
55:19to paint with you?
55:20Well, of course.
55:21Yeah, sometimes people have done that, actually.
55:23They've bought their own art supplies.
55:25But, yeah, like, literally, you don't have to come with anything.
55:27It doesn't cost anything.
55:29You can find me on my social medias,
55:31at Graham Cullis anywhere.
55:33I normally, like, will enter Facebook groups
55:35and then spam across, like, my WhatsApp number
55:38for people to get in touch.
55:39But, yeah, I utilise Facebook groups to put,
55:42just to do the digital marketing.
55:43So, each town, I'll make a flyer.
55:45So, you've got this one behind us, which is the Margate event,
55:48which I, basically, I don't have time to, like,
55:50I don't have much time to put the event together.
55:52I get into the town on a Sunday,
55:54I have no idea what I'm doing,
55:56and I just use my intuition to find where I'm going to be running it.
55:59So, opposite the Margate amusements on Saturday,
56:03the 12th, 24th of Jan, on the beach, literally just opposite.
56:08If you cross the road, I'll be there with my gazebo,
56:10waiting for you of 120 silent disco headsets.
56:13And, yeah, we're going to, I'll run a meditation,
56:16we'll do the dance, we'll do the splat.
56:19And, yeah, I also endeavour to help local mental health charities
56:23in each town as well.
56:24So, I've got Mental Health Matters charity,
56:27which operate in Fanit and in Ramsgate as well.
56:31Fabulous.
56:32Yeah, so I help each town.
56:34There's a local initiative that I also have with me,
56:37so I can help the people that come along and signpost them
56:41if they need it or people to help them.
56:43Excellent.
56:44So, hopefully lots of people go along this Saturday.
56:46That's this Saturday at the Margate Beach.
56:48That's all we have for this evening.
56:50Thank you so much for watching and bye-bye.
56:52Bye-bye.
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