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Catch up on all the latest news from across the county with Chloe Brewster
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00:21Hello and welcome to Kent and I, live here on KMTV.
00:25I'm Chloe Brewster and here are your top stories on Tuesday 2nd June.
00:30Under pressure, Kent water problems continue as southeast water faces burst pipes.
00:36I'm here at a water bottle station in Maidstone to give you the latest update about what's
00:40been happening.
00:41Say no to solar. Campaigners push back against country's biggest solar farm.
00:47The marsh has been good to me. We've got to look out for the next generation.
00:51And it takes a village. Foster carer of 25 years fundraisers for a new caravan.
00:57Come home and I said to my husband, I've just bought a caravan.
01:10But first tonight, some breaking news to bring you. The two alleged killers of a teenager in
01:15Whitstable have denied his murder. Young dad Ashton Harrington was found stabbed to death
01:21on Good Friday and floral tributes covered fences near to the area that he died.
01:26And today, the two charged with his murder, Kieran Barnes and Tobias Agbaje, pleaded not
01:31guilty to the first of three charges relating to his death. Having denied the 19-year-old's
01:36murder, the pair also pleaded not guilty to separate offences of having a belated article.
01:41Judge James remanded the defendants back into custody until a pre-trial review hearing on
01:46October 2.
01:50It's now the 11th day of disruption for some communities in Kent after ongoing water supply
01:55problems linked to southeast water. With residents still relying on bottled water stations,
02:01Kristen Hawthorne joins me now from Maidstone to bring us the latest on the impact on households
02:06and the response so far. Now, Kristen, we've been covering this story a lot since it began.
02:11What is the latest update today?
02:15Well, Chloe, it finally seems that things are starting to wind down as a lot of the water
02:19bottle stations have been closing across the county. The worst of it seems to be over as
02:24well as just last week there was 22,000 customers, southeast water customers, who were left with
02:30supply issues. Southeast Water sent us a statement today at a quarter to three and it was very,
02:35very long. So here's a quick summary of the top of it, which is the most relevant to your
02:40audience. So the Southeast Water's incident manager, Mike Court, said drinking water supplies
02:45have returned for all customers impacted by the water supply interruptions in Kent caused
02:50by exceptionally high demand following the period of hot weather. Across Kent, however,
02:55there are small isolated areas experiencing intermittent supplies while we continue to
03:00stabilize the network. There is also, however, a burst water main in Whitstable, which has caused
03:05a small number of customers in the immediate area to lose supply or have low water pressure.
03:09And they are continuing to have these customers in supply as quickly as possible. They say
03:14although their network is continuing to recover, levels of drinking water in their storage tanks
03:18across Kent are still low. And they're asking customers to use water for essential purposes only,
03:23such as drinking, cooking and hygiene. So, you know, it has to be said that although they're
03:28saying that supply is back across the county due to the rain that we've had and things like that,
03:34there are also burst water mains in Whitstable. So whether or not it's fully back is up to question.
03:41And what has the atmosphere been like at the water stations you've seen today?
03:47So, I'm in Maidstone at the moment. Earlier today I was in Whitstable and I was just on the road
03:52where
03:52the website said that there was a burst water main. Dogs Trust is on that road, the Rand Fall Road.
03:58And they said that they were okay today because South East supplied them with a huge water tank,
04:02but they have had to supply their own water before. There was also another customer who had low water pressure
04:10and she was relying on her own tanker. Now, I've also spoken to Paul Thomas here at Maidstone.
04:17He's a resident here and he gave us his perception of how it's been affecting him.
04:21I've been like everybody else. I've checked with my wife. I can now have a shower this evening
04:25because we're up to about 80-90% pressure again, which means now we can shower.
04:31So, Febreze is what I've been using to try and stay a little bit cleaner.
04:36But no, seriously though, we have been getting buckets out, boiling the kettle up,
04:42because if you've got low pressure, you can't get it through the system to actually shower with
04:46so that we can actually, the old-fashioned way, you pour a bucket over your head,
04:51you shave yourself down, then you rinse yourself off for hygiene things.
04:55It's just not good enough.
04:59Now, if you're someone who is still experiencing difficulties with getting water,
05:03there are a few water stations left open.
05:06This one I'm at now at the YMCA in Maidstone is open until 6pm.
05:11Now, it's only been used twice this evening, but as you can see, they're starting to shut up shop now.
05:17But yeah, I mean, Southeast Waters say the problems aren't going to continue into the summer,
05:21but whether or not that will happen is a wait and see.
05:24I see. Thank you so much, Kristen.
05:27Now, the consequences of cuts to the availability of fertility treatment in Kent and Medway
05:32is set to be considered by Kent County Council tomorrow.
05:36The cuts saw women over 38 years old stop from getting IVF treatment,
05:40treatment which had originally been offered to women up to the age of 40,
05:43before the 1st of April this year.
05:46There's also been a reduction of the number of IVF cycles and embryo transfers offered to patients.
05:51Green Party Councillor Stuart Jeffery says the decision to cut the treatments has a potentially devastating consequence.
05:59Looking at the consultation they've done, a very small number of people responded.
06:05So clearly not a lot of engagement with the public.
06:08And frankly, this is a massive change.
06:11It has huge impacts upon people's lives and they've tried to slip it under the radar.
06:15So it basically halves the amount of IVF and cuts out a few years of people's ability to access the
06:27IVF.
06:28And yes, clearly, fertility, as can be shown, drops down once I think you get past 34 and tails off
06:39quite quickly.
06:40But it is a it is a huge shift.
06:43And let's remember that whilst they're reducing this down to one from two cycles of IVF,
06:51the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, NICE, recommends or their guidelines say these should be three, three cycles.
06:59So it was already lower than the NICE recommends.
07:02And now it's going to be even worse.
07:05An inquest has heard that a woman from Dill died after being dragged along a country lane by a horse
07:10that bolted after being spooked by barking dogs.
07:13Ewa Larson suffered major injuries when a horse she was walking back to a riding school became terrified and ran
07:20off as she attempted to hold on.
07:21Our reporter Maisie Walker joins me now in the studio to tell us more.
07:25Now, Maisie, what happened here?
07:27So Ewa Larson, who lived in Chillingham, which is a village near Ashford and Canterbury,
07:33between those two, was seriously injured in a horse riding incident on the 27th of August last year.
07:40It was thought that she may have been trampled or kicked while holding onto her horse,
07:45but she was airlifted to the hospital with severe internal injuries.
07:49And we can see her on the screen right now.
07:51She had an emergency surgery and briefly showed signs of recovery,
07:56but later developed organ failure and an infection.
07:58So died on October the 13th.
08:03And what were the events leading up to that incident?
08:06So Ewa was riding with an experienced instructor named Sally Deverell from a riding school when she first fell from
08:14the horse during a hack in the field.
08:16Sally said Ewa got up straight away, laughed and appeared uninjured.
08:20So they moved onto the road where she tried unsuccessfully to get back on her horse, which was named Davey.
08:27She then chose to chose to walk the horse back to the riding school.
08:31And that's when dogs barking from a nearby garden in Beacon Hill caused panic within the horses.
08:37So they ran off to escape the dogs.
08:39And Sally said that when she got back on, she could see Ava and Davey, the horse, moving sideways down
08:45the road where she was pulling strongly on the reins.
08:48Sorry, Ava then tripped and fell.
08:51And it's thought that then she maybe would have been dragged.
08:54So she was taken to the hospital where doctors found extensive internal injuries and internal bleeding.
08:59Her partner, Nigel, said she suffered a cardiac arrest while being airlifted to the hospital when she was taken into
09:05emergency surgery.
09:06She later showed some improvement, came off the ventilator and stopped needing blood pressure medication.
09:14However, her condition did worsen and she developed an infection which spread through her body.
09:20And doctors were unable to stop it.
09:22So leading ultimately to her death.
09:24Amazing.
09:25Thank you so much, Mady.
09:28The NHS say it will stop the steep decline in learning disability nurses in the south east.
09:34Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust are creating a new task force to protect the future supply of specialist
09:41staff with no local university training routes in Kent.
09:44People with a learning disability can experience poorer mental health outcomes and in many cases died 19 to 20 years
09:51earlier than the general population.
09:53So the trust says they want to stop this gap in care from growing.
09:58Learning disability nursing in Kent and Medway had a dwindling pipeline.
10:03So that would be our future nurses.
10:05We were having less and less.
10:07And that's because we only had one local university.
10:09That's currently closed its course.
10:11So we ran an event in February inviting nurses from social care, from health care, from all the different sectors
10:18who were learning disability trained and asked them what we should be doing.
10:23And one of the things that they suggested was they didn't feel that they had a voice in our most
10:27senior and without most senior nurses.
10:30And so we proposed the shared decision making council and we're looking to start recruiting and standing up during learning
10:38disability week, which is on the 15th of this month.
10:41So one nurse has a huge impact on an organization and a service.
10:45So actually, we've had to change.
10:48There are less of us.
10:49So 20 years ago in England, there was 26,000 learning disability nurses.
10:54Today in England, there are only 16,000.
10:59A three year old boy who was hit by a car in Gillingham remains in hospital.
11:04Emergency services were called to Third Avenue on Sunday evening.
11:08The air ambulance were also called to the scene, which was close to the Robert Napier School.
11:12It comes after police received reports of a collision involving a car and a child.
11:16The child was taken to a London hospital to be treated for his injuries where he remains.
11:22Now, it looks like we're running out of time for the first part of our show, but don't go anywhere
11:26as there's more to come.
11:27We'll hear from farmers from Romney Marsh who are campaigning against a plan for a solar farm the size of
11:32a thousand football pitches,
11:33which is due to be signed off for approval by the government.
11:36We'll also take a look at building criticism against Kent County Council after a resident spotted potholes being filled during
11:42the rain.
11:43All that and more after this very short break.
11:45See you in a bit.
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15:10Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live here on KMTV.
15:14Kent's largest ever solar farm is one step closer to going ahead, now needing to be signed off by Ed
15:20Miliband himself.
15:22It could power 140,000 homes with green energy, yet campaign groups are wary it might not be all sunshine
15:29and rainbows.
15:30They're concerned it could take over the marsh and ruin valuable farmland, as Megan Shaw has been finding out.
15:36Kent's biggest ever solar farm is one step closer to catching some rays.
15:40Now that the developers are seeking permission from the government, the plant will occupy multiple sites stretching along Lyd and
15:49up towards Romney Marsh and could power 140,000 homes with clean energy.
15:56Now I'll give it that, it is a lovely view, but in just a few years this entire section behind
16:02me could be part of what's shaping up to be one of the UK's largest solar farms.
16:08This section behind me is a small part of the 1600 in-hot. It comes at a time when the
16:15UK's energy security is at risk and therefore could help strengthen it.
16:20But campaigners are saying this could be much worse than just a nice solar.
16:2484% of the scheme, which is, this one is four and a half square miles total, just for Southbrook,
16:34so 84% of four and a half square miles is grade one agricultural land being used.
16:42It should be used for growing food.
16:43For Mike, who runs Westbrook Farm, the proposals include running cables under his farmland that will connect the sites and
16:52Dungeoners' power station together.
16:54These could be disastrous.
16:57If they do as they say and leave us and not put solar panels on, we're going to be in
17:02the middle.
17:03There'll be no way of expanding because we're going to be surrounded by solar panels.
17:10And the two of the boys have had their first child, so, you know, grandfather.
17:17And when you look in their eyes and you think, well, the marsh has been good to me, we've got
17:23to look after for the next generation.
17:25Ed Miliband, the head of energy security and net zero, will have the final say over whether the Southbrook's project
17:32will get the green light.
17:34But even if campaigners manage to scare off EDF Power Solutions, the battle isn't over, with other potential projects set
17:43to swamp the marsh.
17:45But EDF Power Solutions said,
17:47We are currently at a very early stage in developing our proposals for Southbrook's solar farm and look forward to
17:53hearing the views of the local community.
17:56Consultation is a vital part of our design process and we encourage everyone to get involved in our upcoming consultation
18:03and comment on our plans.
18:05Residents will be able to make their feelings known in September.
18:09But until then, for campaigners like Mike and Alan, they've got no choice but to plough ahead.
18:15Megan Shaw, Kane TV, in Romney Marsh.
18:20Kent County councillors faced criticism after potholes in Lennon were filled in during the rain.
18:25Before the recent heatwave, one resident filmed a crew contracted by Kent Highways filling in two potholes outside his house
18:32in the rain.
18:33The villager later confronted the crew but they claimed they had been instructed to carry on and to mark their
18:38worksheet as laid in poor conditions.
18:41A Kent County councillor spokesperson said that while they recognise these are not ideal circumstances,
18:47crews will often take the opportunity to do what they safely can while on site to address any risks.
18:54A catapult attack at the fleet in Sheerness has left two ducks dead and two ducklings injured,
19:01prompting outrage from residents and officials.
19:04Sheerness Town Council called the incident sickening and condemns the deliberate targeting of wildlife.
19:11Kent police are investigating and want to speak to two boys, aged 12 to 14, seen nearby at the time.
19:17CCTV is also being installed and authorities are urging witnesses to come forward.
19:22The RSPB and the RSPCA stressed that harming wild birds is a criminal offence and appealed for information.
19:31And now it's time to take a look at the weather.
19:39This evening we'll be seeing partly cloudy skies across the county of 13 degrees in Tunbridge and Ashford, 15 degrees
19:45in Dartford.
19:46Going into tomorrow morning, it's looking like 16 degrees in Medway, 16 degrees on the coast also, looking a bit
19:51cloudy there.
19:52Going into tomorrow afternoon, you can expect to see rain all across the county of temperatures largely staying the same.
19:59And then the outlook for the coming days is sun and showers on Thursday, average of 9 degrees, 18 degrees
20:04on Friday and 18 degrees on Saturday.
20:07It's not quite as good as last weekend.
20:15And now a foster carer in Medway is fundraising to buy another caravan so she can take more foster kids
20:21in Medway on a little holiday to the Isle of Sheppey.
20:24Her dream is to make sure that every foster child in Medway gets a change of scenery from their daily
20:29lives, but believes it takes a village to make that happen.
20:33Naila Mohamed has a story for us now.
20:36Everyone loves a trip to the seaside.
20:38And one foster carer in Medway wants to make these trips more common for children in foster care.
20:45Claire Bird owns the Lady Bird Hub, a small charity providing short breaks for foster kids in Medway.
20:51And she does it all from a caravan in Sheppey.
20:54One day I came home and I said to my husband, I've just bought a caravan and I'm going to
20:59fill it full of children and I'm going to give them little holidays.
21:03And he said, why?
21:04And I said, because they need them.
21:05They need these little short breaks.
21:07And even if they just come down on park for a day, they can have these little mini adventures.
21:12Now, Claire has been a foster carer for 25 years, but has had this caravan for one year and she
21:18brings the kids here almost every single weekend.
21:21But now she's fundraising for another caravan because she wants to build a village, a community to stick with the
21:27Mockingbird ethos that it takes a village to raise a child.
21:30So this is just some of the comments that the children have put in the visitor's book.
21:37Now, Claire wants another caravan so she can build a community and take more foster kids on little holidays, with
21:45the aim for every foster child in Medway to have this experience.
21:49While on their short break, the foster kids take part in multiple activities, painting, pottery, swimming, even football by the
21:58River Thames.
21:59This is a kitchen.
22:00Kids are more than welcome to do their own cooking.
22:03So we've got some children's cooking equipment.
22:06We've got some children's cooking utensils.
22:09We've got a variety of plastic cups, plates and bowls.
22:13We also get the children to make their own cup or glass when they come here.
22:18So I buy them plain acrylic paints and they can decorate their own glass and they can take that home
22:24as a little memento.
22:25But the caravan acts as more than just a holiday.
22:29For many foster children, the caravan is a much needed space.
22:33He was quite angry, getting a little bit volatile.
22:37So I took him and did activities with him for a couple of days.
22:41And I put the carers and the birth children here to have a break.
22:45Sometimes the child will think, well, I will reject you before you reject me.
22:50And that becomes a vicious cycle.
22:53So by doing this, it improves placement stability.
22:59With the fostering system in Medway facing growing demands, will Claire be able to fund the village she believes the
23:05kids need?
23:07Naila Mohamed for KMTV in Sheppie.
23:10A Thanet choir director led by a West End music icon is on the lookout for men.
23:14We spoke to them earlier.
23:16Tell me a little bit more about this choir.
23:19The Thanet Big Sing Community Choir started exactly 15 years ago.
23:25We were set up in connection with Turner Contemporary Opening, where we performed the world premiere of a new piece
23:34called The Red Volcano.
23:35After we'd done that, the choir decided that they wanted to keep going.
23:41And we have kept going ever since.
23:4415 years later, we're still singing.
23:47Many of the original choir is still in it.
23:49We've grown in strength.
23:50We're now about 70 or strong, something like that.
23:55And they're doing really well.
23:57We rehearse out of Westgate on Sea on a Tuesday night during term time.
24:02Yeah, so we're doing very well.
24:05And I'm aware that you're now on the lookout for men.
24:08Why do you need men?
24:10Why do we need them?
24:11There's a phenomenon that's been going on for years and years and years, which is that men don't sing.
24:18Men don't like to sing.
24:20Men have been told from certainly I remember back to my school days, when your voice breaks, it's a tricky
24:27period.
24:28It's very embarrassing.
24:29You feel very vulnerable.
24:30And if somebody who runs the choir says you can't sing or stop singing or anything like that, it undermines
24:39your confidence and you give it up.
24:41So I think that's part of the issue.
24:43And yet most men who go to, say, a football stadium, you stop them at the door and say, do
24:50you sing?
24:51They said no.
24:52And then you go and listen to what they do inside and they just sing with such freedom and abandon.
25:02And that is something that is something that actually we try and get back in choirs all the time.
25:07That sense of just the sheer joy.
25:09How important is it to have a range of voices as part of a choir?
25:15The kind of choir we are is what's called an SATB mixed.
25:20So soprano, alto, tenor, basses.
25:22And even though sometimes we maybe only work in two parts, so the sopranos and tenors would sing together and
25:29the altos and the basses would sing together.
25:31What Phanet Big Sing like to do is four part harmonies, like you'd expect a sort of full choir sound.
25:40They like the challenge that that brings with it.
25:44And I like arranging things for SATB, a full choir.
25:50It's such a fantastic sound when everybody's going for it.
25:56Yeah, that's why we that's why we need the full range of four voices.
26:01You know, there might be some men watching this that are thinking, you know what, I'll sing at the football,
26:05but not sure about being in a choir.
26:07What is your message to them and why should they join Phanet Big Sing?
26:11Our priority every week is to have fun and enjoy ourselves.
26:16And I feel that if we haven't done that, that's my responsibility.
26:22We do do challenging stuff.
26:24We sing a lot of material, a lot of songs that are familiar, sort of standard pop songs.
26:30Some, you know, early pop songs, 60s, 70s, stuff like that.
26:34Come and give it a go.
26:36So many people in our choir have made very long term friendships out of just having the nerve to turn
26:43up.
26:43You lose nothing by giving it a go.
26:46See you after the break.
26:48You lose nothing by giving it a go.
26:50You lose it.
26:51You lose nothing by giving it a go.
26:54Okay.
26:58Take us.
27:06Bye.
27:06Bye.
27:06Bye.
27:06Bye.
27:07Bye.
27:07Bye.
27:09Bye.
38:52You know, it's a special medication.
38:53However, her condition later on did worsen and she developed an infection which spread
38:57through her body and the doctors were unable to stop it.
39:00So ultimately causing her death.
39:02Thank you so much for joining us Maisie.
39:04Clearly a really really upsetting story there.
39:08Now the NHS say they'll tackle the steep decline in learning disability nurses in the
39:13Southeast.
39:14Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust are creating a new taskforce to help protect the
39:19future supply of specialist staff with no local university training route in Kent people with a
39:24learning disability can experience poorer health outcomes and in many cases die 19 to 20 years
39:30earlier than the general population so the trust says they want to stop this gap in care from
39:35growing learning disability nursing in Kent and Medway had a dwindling pipeline so that would be
39:43our future nurses we were having less and less and that's because we only had one local university
39:48that's currently closed this course so we ran an event in February inviting nurses from social care
39:54from health care from all the different sectors who are learning disability trained and asked them
40:00what we should be doing and one of the things that they suggested was they didn't feel that they had
40:05a voice in our most senior and without most senior nurses and so we proposed the shared decision making
40:11council and we're looking to start um recruiting and standing that up during learning disability week
40:18which is on the 15th of this month so one nurse has a huge impact on an organisation and a
40:23service
40:24so actually we've had to change there are less of us so 20 years ago in England there was 26
40:31,000
40:32learning disability nurses today in England there are only 16,000 a three-year-old boy who was hit by
40:39a car
40:40in gillingham remains in hospital emergency services were called to third avenue on sunday evening the air
40:47ambulance were also called to the scene which was close to the robert napier school it comes after
40:52police received reports of a collision involved involving a car and a child the child was then taken to a
40:59london hospital to be treated for his injuries he unfortunately remains
41:06now we're running out of time but don't go anywhere as there is much more to come we'll hear
41:12from farmers from romney marsh who are campaigning against a plan for a solar farm the size of a
41:17thousand football pitches which is due to be signed off for approval by the government and ed milliband
41:23we'll also take a look at criticism building against kent county council after potholes were filled up
41:29during the rain we're also joined by a west end icon who is on the lookout for local men to
41:35join
41:36fanit's big singh social group to help combat loneliness and to help with their sound all that
41:41and more after this very very short break
42:41so we're going to do so i'll see you guys and i i will see you guys thank you so
42:41much for the
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45:09Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight, live here on KMTV.
45:14Now, Kent's largest ever solar farm is one step closer to going ahead,
45:18now needing to be signed off by Ed Miliband himself.
45:22It could power 140,000 homes with green energy,
45:26yet campaign groups are wary it might not all be sunshine and rainbows.
45:29They're concerned it could take over the marsh and ruin valuable farmland,
45:34as Megan Shaw has been finding out.
45:36Kent's biggest ever solar farm is one step closer to catching some rays,
45:41now that the developers are seeking permission from the government.
45:45The plant will occupy multiple sites stretching along Lyd and up towards Romney Marsh
45:51and could power 140,000 homes with clean energy.
45:57Now, I'll give it that, it is a lovely view,
46:00but in just a few years, this entire section behind me
46:03could be part of what's shaping up to be one of the UK's largest solar farms.
46:08This section behind me is a small part of the 1608 lot.
46:14It comes at a time when the UK's energy security is at risk
46:18and therefore could help strengthen it.
46:20But campaigners are saying this could be much worse than just an ISO.
46:2584% of the scheme, which is, this one is 4.5 square miles total,
46:33just for Southbrooke.
46:35So 84% of 4.5 square miles is Grade 1 agricultural land being used.
46:42It should be used for growing food.
46:44For Mike, who runs Westbrooke Farm,
46:47the proposals include running cables under his farmland
46:50that will connect the sites and Dungeoners' power station together.
46:55These could be disastrous.
46:57If they do as they say and leave us and not put solar panels on,
47:02we're going to be in the middle.
47:03There'll be no way of expanding because we're going to be surrounded by solar panels.
47:12And two of the boys have had their first child, so, you know, grandfather.
47:18And when you look in their eyes and you think,
47:20well, the marsh has been good to me,
47:23we've got to look after for the next generation.
47:26Ed Miliband, the head of energy security and net zero,
47:29will have the final say over whether the Southbrooke's project will get the green light.
47:34But even if campaigners manage to scare off EDF Power Solutions,
47:39the battle isn't over,
47:41with other potential projects set to swamp the marsh.
47:45But EDF Power Solutions said,
47:48we are currently at a very early stage
47:49in developing our proposals for Southbrooke's solar farm
47:53and look forward to hearing the views of the local community.
47:56Consultation is a vital part of our design process
47:59and we encourage everyone to get involved in our upcoming consultation
48:03and comment on our plans.
48:06Residents will be able to make their feelings known in September.
48:09But until then, for campaigners like Mike and Alan,
48:13they've got no choice but to plough ahead.
48:16Megan Shaw, Kane TV, in Romney Marsh.
48:20Kent County Council faced criticism
48:22after potholes in Lennon were filled in the rain.
48:25Before the recent heatwave,
48:27one resident filmed a crew contracted by Kent Highways
48:31filling in two potholes outside his house in the rain.
48:34We can see that on the screen now.
48:36And after this, the villager later confronted the crew,
48:39but they claimed they had been instructed to carry on
48:41and to mark their worksheets laid in poor conditions.
48:45A Kent County Council spokesperson said that
48:48while they recognise these are not the ideal circumstances
48:51to lay a pothole,
48:52crews will often take the opportunity to do what they safely can
48:55while on site to address the immediate risks.
48:59And now it's time for the weather.
49:06This evening, we'll be seeing partly cloudy skies across the county,
49:0913 degrees in Tunbridge and Ashford and 15 degrees in Dartford.
49:13Tomorrow, we will see overcast skies in Medway and Canterbury,
49:16partly cloudy skies in Margate and Dover
49:18and sun and showers in Maidstone.
49:20You can expect to see highs across the county
49:22except for 15 in Tunbridge.
49:23Into the afternoon, you'll be able to see rain across the county
49:26of temperatures largely staying the same.
49:28The outlook for the coming days, it'll be rainy on Thursday,
49:31but at 19 degrees, 18 degrees on Friday
49:33and again 18 degrees on Saturday.
49:35A bit cloudy, it's not as good as the last weekend.
49:42And now, a foster carer in Medway is fundraising
49:46to buy another caravan so she can take more foster kids
49:49on a little holiday to the Isle of Sheppey.
49:51Her dream is to make sure that every foster child in Medway
49:55gets a change of scenery from their daily lives,
49:57but believes it takes a village to make that happen.
50:01Nina Mohamed has a story for us now.
50:03Everyone loves a trip to the seaside,
50:06and one foster carer in Medway
50:08wants to make these trips more common
50:10for children in foster care.
50:13Claire Bird owns the Lady Bird Hub,
50:15a small charity providing short breaks
50:17for foster kids in Medway.
50:19And she does it all from a caravan in Sheppey.
50:22One day, I came home and I said to my husband,
50:25I've just bought a caravan,
50:26and I'm going to fill it full of children,
50:28and I'm going to give them little holidays.
50:30And he said, why?
50:31And I said, because they need them.
50:33They need these little short breaks.
50:35And even if they just come down on park for a day,
50:38they can have these little mini adventures.
50:41Now, Claire has been a foster carer for 25 years,
50:43but has had this caravan for one year,
50:45and she brings the kids here almost every single weekend.
50:49But now she's fundraising for another caravan
50:51because she wants to build a village,
50:53a community, to stick with the Mockingbird ethos
50:55that it takes a village to raise a child.
50:58So this is just some of the comments
51:00that the children have put in the visitor's book.
51:05Now, Claire wants another caravan
51:07so she can build a community
51:09and take more foster kids on little holidays,
51:12with the aim for every foster child in Medway
51:15to have this experience.
51:17While on their short break,
51:18the foster kids take part in multiple activities,
51:21painting, pottery, swimming,
51:24even football by the River Thames.
51:27This is the kitchen.
51:28Kids are more than welcome to do their own cooking.
51:31So we've got some children's cooking equipment.
51:34We've got some children's cooking utensils.
51:37We've got a variety of plastic cups, plates and bowls.
51:41We also get the children to make their own cup or glass
51:45when they come here.
51:46So I buy them plain acrylic paints
51:48and they can decorate their own glass
51:50and they can take that home as a little memento.
51:53But the caravan acts as more than just a holiday.
51:56For many foster children,
51:58the caravan is a much-needed space.
52:00He was quite angry, getting a little bit volatile.
52:04So I took him and did activities with him
52:08for a couple of days
52:08and I put the carers and the birth children here
52:12to have a break.
52:13Sometimes the child will think,
52:15well, I will reject you before you reject me
52:18and that becomes a vicious cycle.
52:20So by doing this,
52:23it improves placement stability.
52:26With the fostering system in Medway
52:28facing growing demands,
52:30will Claire be able to fund the village
52:32she believes the kids need?
52:34Nayla Mohamed for KMTV in Sheppie.
52:38Now, a Fanet choir led by a West End music icon
52:41is on the lookout for men.
52:43The Fanet Big Sing is a multi-generational choir
52:45and social group directed by Tony Castro,
52:48a former teacher of stars like Adele and Kate Nash.
52:51They say they need to recruit more local men
52:54to balance the sound
52:55and hopefully help combat male loneliness in Fanet.
52:58Earlier, I was joined by Tony
52:59to tell me more about why men should get involved.
53:02Tell me a little bit more about this choir.
53:06The Fanet Big Sing Community Choir
53:08started exactly 15 years ago.
53:12We were set up in connection
53:15with Turner Contemporary opening
53:18where we performed the world premiere
53:19of a new piece called The Red Volcano.
53:21After we'd done that, the choir decided
53:24that they wanted to keep going
53:27and we have kept going ever since.
53:3115 years later, we're still singing.
53:33Many of the original choir is still in it.
53:35We've grown in strength.
53:37We're now about 70-odd strong,
53:40something like that.
53:42And they're doing really well.
53:44We rehearse out of Westgate on Sea
53:46on a Tuesday night during term time.
53:49Yeah.
53:50So we're doing very well.
53:52And I'm aware that you're now
53:54on the lookout for men.
53:55Why do you need men?
53:56Why do we need them?
53:57There's a phenomenon
54:00that's been going on for years
54:02and years and years,
54:03which is that men don't sing.
54:05Men don't like to sing.
54:06Men have been told from,
54:08certainly I remember back to my school days,
54:11when your voice breaks,
54:13it's a tricky period.
54:14It's very embarrassing.
54:16You feel very vulnerable.
54:17And if somebody who runs the choir
54:19says you can't sing
54:21or stop singing or anything like that,
54:24it undermines your confidence
54:26and you give it up.
54:27So I think that's part of the issue.
54:29And yet, most men who go to,
54:32say, a football stadium,
54:35you stop them at the door and say,
54:37do you sing?
54:38They say no.
54:39And then you go and listen
54:40to what they do inside.
54:42And they just sing with such freedom
54:47and abandon that is something
54:50that actually we try and get back
54:51in choirs all the time,
54:53that sense of just the sheer joy.
54:55How important is it to have a range of voices
54:58as part of a choir?
55:01The kind of choir we are
55:03is what's called an SATB mixed.
55:06So soprano, alto, tenor, basses.
55:09And even though sometimes we maybe only work in two parts,
55:13so the sopranos and tenors would sing together
55:15and the altos and the basses would sing together,
55:18what Fanit Big Sing like to do
55:20is four-part harmonies,
55:23like you'd expect a sort of full choir sound.
55:26They like the challenge that that brings with it.
55:30And I like arranging things for SATB, a full choir.
55:36It's just such a fantastic sound
55:39when everybody's going for it.
55:42Yeah, that's why we need the full range of four voices.
55:47You know, there might be some men watching this
55:50that are thinking, you know what,
55:51I'll sing at the football,
55:52but not sure about being in a choir.
55:53What is your message to them
55:55and why should they join Fanit Big Sing?
55:58Our priority every week is to have fun
56:01and enjoy ourselves.
56:03And I feel that if we haven't done that,
56:06that's my responsibility.
56:09We do do challenging stuff.
56:11We sing a lot of material,
56:12a lot of songs that are familiar,
56:15sort of standard pop songs,
56:17some early pop songs,
56:1960s, 70s, stuff like that.
56:21Come and give it a go.
56:22So many people in our choir
56:24have made very long-term friendships
56:27out of just having the nerve to turn up.
56:30You lose nothing by giving it a go.
56:34That's right.
56:34So when you're in the pub next week
56:35and you hear someone who's a good singer,
56:37make sure to send them Fanit Big Sing's way.
56:39Thank you so much for watching
56:40and good night.
56:45Thank you so much for watching.
56:50Thank you so much for watching.
56:52Thank you so much for watching.
56:58Thank you so much for watching.
56:58Thank you so much for watching.
56:58Thank you so much for watching.
56:59Thank you so much for watching.
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