Get the latest property market news straight to your inbox Thank you for subscribing!We have more newsletters Sittingbourne town centre may see a new multi-flat development following the auction sale of a former doctors' surgery on a main road in the town The large detached building is based on London Road in Sittingbourne has been granted planning permission for a conversion alongside a new development at the back of the property which will together provide a total of ten flats Auction Appraiser Jon Rimmer said: "This is a large detached property in the town centre close to local amenities and railway station." "It has good access to the A249 leading to the M2 The property and a parcel of land to the rear have both been granted planning permission for ten flats with thirteen parking spaces." "Works to convert the former surgery into three two-bedroom and two one-bedroom flats - which includes two maisonettes - is partially complete." "It is understood there may be potential to amend the current permission to provide more flats subject to all necessary consents being obtainable." the 31 London Road property is also based just a ten minute walk from Sittingbourne's train station as well as a stroll just over ten minutes to the nearest Morrisons supermarket Works on the former surgery building on London Road already been "partially completed" The building is set to be developed into three two-bedroom The land to the rear of the property has had planning permission granted for a total of five flats as well as six parking spaces and bicycle storage which is on a separate Title; is set to see the development of three one-bedroom flats one two-bedroom flat and one three-bedroom maisonette Some of the proposed flats on both developments will feature a two-storey design with all ten of the planned flats featuring a combined kitchen and dining room area Planning permission for the conversion of the former surgery and developments on the rear of the site were granted by Swale Borough Council in May 2017 With further amendments receiving planning permission in January 2018 Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right Sign up to our What's On newsletter for a weekly email covering the best of Kent's food Kent's first ever 'Wingers' chicken restaurant is to open in Sittingbourne The only recently started restaurant franchise brand welcomed it's first customers to its first ever Kent franchise on April 28 and the shops' manager hopes it can become a "vibrant welcoming community space" for the town in the midlands by brothers Amran and Dylan Sunner and their father Bill Wingers offers customers the choice of either eating-in take away or have delivered to their door and has the "gained popularity quickly" since being launched as a franchise in the Autumn of 2022 the new Kent location promises to delight local families with a menu featuring "mouth-watering wings The restaurant chain now boasts 15 franchises across the country with a big portion of these coming in the Midlands; where the brand first launched Winger's is "rapidly" growing a space for itself in the fast-serve industry with the franchise announcing recently that it hit its monthly sales record during March 2025 which was more than double their net sales taken during March last year This rapid expansion is also seemingly accompanied by ambition co-founder and operations director of Wingers saying that they plan on having 50 stores open in the UK by the end of 2027 The new Sittingbourne restaurant on Saffron Way and will be run by franchisee Reefadh Rasheed an "experienced fast food professional" and former regional manager of a house-hold name quick service restaurant brand for 20 years Reefadh Rasheed explained: "I'm excited to announce my new venture with Wingers I was attracted to the dynamic and emerging Wingers’ brand because of the fabulous food simplicity of the business model and the experienced support team who are as committed as I am It’s a concept I know will go down well with customers." "With my passion for quality and community engagement my aim is now to elevate the casual dining experience for the Kent Sittingbourne neighbourhood I am now thrilled to partner with a brand that shares my vision for fresh food and creating a vibrant Reefadh Rasheed's partnership with Wingers has also included securing financing through NatWest Bank the funding secured from NatWest is Reefahd's "foundation for his success" the franchisee has an optimistic outlook on his new venture saying he is: "Eager to bring the Wingers brand to life in Kent Sittingbourne creating a destination where families can enjoy fabulous food and make lasting memories." Wingers is currently inviting applications for experienced QSR professionals in all parts of the country including Northern Ireland allowing those interested to run their own thriving Wingers restaurant just like Kent's Reefahd the franchise package includes "full turn-key opening a great menu and low cost of entry with potential for excellent returns" Sign up to our daily newsletter for all the latest Kent stories and breaking news delivered straight to your inbox The Isle of Sheppey and Sittingbourne turned turquoise as Reform UK claimed five of the seven Swale divisions at Kent County Council Of the seven counted at Swallows Leisure Centre only Faversham and Swale East elected members to County Hall not from the party Recounts were initially expected earlier in proceedings but in all divisions Maxwell Harrison’s majority of 3,435 votes over the next non-Reform candidate in Sheppey and his colleague Isabella Kemp’s lead of 2,980 demonstrated the party’s dominace on the island Mike Baldock from the Swale Independents Against Excessive Housing was unseated by Reform’s Richard Palmer Cllr Palmer had put out a statement criticising Mr Baldock for remarks he is alleged to have made about Cllr Palmer standing for Reform but Mr Baldock said he did not recognise the accusations made against him Reform supporters cheered but soon after booed after Cllr Baldock appeared to refuse to shake his opponent’s hand Cllr Baldock said he had fallen foul of the public using the local elections as a “referendum on the Starmer government” and was a victim of people’s anger towards the Prime Minister He said: “This has been turned into a referendum on Starmer; nobody wanted to know about local issues: ‘We’ve got to get Starmer out got to give him a kicking.’ That’s what I was getting on the doorstep “They don’t care that this is Kent County Council “People have made a rash decision they’ll feel good about but they will find out they’ve elected some hard-right economic policies which will destroy our services.” Paul Webb was elected to Sittingbourne South under the Reform banner and said across Kent and the wider country voters were making it known they were not happy with the status quo He said: “I think people voted for a change They were fed up with being lied to by a variety of politicians make some common sense cuts to things and show we are on the side of the people “We will show we’re thinking of them first not some of the vanity projects we’ve seen KCC do recently.” retained his seat in Faversham and said it had rejected Reform’s divisive campaigning He said: “I think we’ve held on because of the hard work we do and also Faversham has a really strong sense of community but Faversham is a community that can’t really be divided He added while he sympathised with ousted Tory leader Roger Gough on a personal level the Conservatives’ poor governance nationally had caused the loss so I’m sorry for him personally that he’s lost his seat “But the Conservatives have been moving in a populist hard-right direction themselves for 10 years since Brexit and that has legitimised the kind of populist agenda that Reform is offering the Truss government weren’t able to deliver because a lot of those populist right-wing promises are empty and can never be delivered.” Rich Lehmann was the other non-Reform winner at the Swale count retaining his role as a Green councillor at KCC for Swale East He said he managed to be returned because the two main parties were drawing most ire from the public while Green councillors serve communities well He said: “My feeling is we’re going to see a pattern of Labour and Conservatives hugely down on vote-share but Green councillors work incredibly hard and we’re respected in our communities because of that “I’m very concerned about Reform forming the majority at KCC and we’ll have a strong Green group there to scrutinise the actions they take.” Full results for Swale borough are listed below: Sittingbourne North - REFORM GAIN FROM CON Swale West - REFORM GAIN FROM SWALE INDEPENDENT For a full list of results from across Kent click here: Kent Local Election results full list For detailed results from the other 11 Kent County Council areas Ashford Canterbury Dartford Dover Folkestone and Hythe Gravesham Maidstone Sevenoaks Thanet Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Sorry, this product is unavailable. Please choose a different combination. Aldershot Town reached the semi-final stage of the Isuzu FA Trophy for just the third time since reformation, avoiding upset by ending eighth-tier Sittingbourne FC’s historic run in the competition. A sell-out Staxson Stadium was in great voice from the off, in what was inarguably the biggest game in Sittingbourne’s 139-year history. Despite the divisional disparity, Tommy Widdrington ensured to give the hosts his utmost respect, with just one change to the eleven that started Tuesday’s National League win against Solihull Moors, Theo Widdrington coming in for Olly Scott. The Shots controlled possession early on, with the host’s pragmatic game plan evident from the outset. Jack Barham produced the first shot in anger towards the ten minute mark, collecting an audacious long ball from Josh Barrett, cutting in from the left to fire over the bar. The Brickies would respond quickly, however, as a determined drive into a congested Shots penalty area resulted in a speculative cross-cum-shot that failed to trouble Marcus Dewhurst. Aldershot continued to dominate attacking output, an impressive left-footed cross from Tyler Frost asked serious questions of the opposition defenders, who did well to deal with the danger. The Shots would receive a scare on the 25-minute mark as forward Joe Boachie looked destined to find the target. A turning volley was blocked at close range, prompting cries of handball from the surrounding home support, to no avail. A procession of home corners would signify Aldershot’s initial control was waning. With the home ground growing more excitable by the minute, the hosts would have been in on the break if not for a fantastic last-ditch tackle from Will Armitage. It would be the side from Kent who would produce the best chance of the first forty minutes, breaking down the right-wing, a driven low ball drifted across the six-yard-box, with Boachie failing to get a toe to it. With half-time beckoning, the visitors would eventually break the deadlock. A tremendous display of hold-up play allowed Jack Barham to drive in the penalty area via the left-channel, squaring the ball to a late-arriving Ryan Jones, who took a composed touch before firing into the roof of Roco Rees’ net for an exceedingly hard-earned 1-0 lead. The second-half started much like the first, as Aldershot looked comfortable in possession once more. Ryan Jones avoided several Brickies challenges on the right before chipping the ball into Theo Widdrington, whose cushioned header allowed Josh Barrett to strike from the edge of the box, deflected wide. A flurry of free-kicks in the Shots’ favour would raise the decibel level of a frustrated home crowd, as the fixture was beginning to be contested almost exclusively in Sittingbourne’s half. Will Armitage and Christian Maghoma’s assuredness at the back would largely quell a Brickies resurgence towards the hour-mark. However, Sittingbourne’s resolve would grow thereafter, entering the Shot’s penalty area thrice in quick succession, though failing to produce an effort on either occasion. With the wind beginning to set in, a Richie Hamill corner almost went all the way in to Max Dewhurst’s goal, forcing a save from the Shots’ number 28. Sittingbourne would put the ball in the back of the net, though an expertly timed offside-trap rendered Troy Howard’s dinked finish redundant. With the home side now in full belief that an upset could be salvaged, Aldershot would double the lead with imperative timing. Josh Barrett’s corner found the head of Will Armitage from extremely close range, nodding home to compound the hosts’ misery. The goal was befitting of a standout performance from the Southampton loanee. The Brickies would continue fighting, as match-management became the task at hand. However, the result was secured on the 88th minute, as Tyler Frost found space on the edge of the box, his low drive finding the bottom left corner, and securing the Shots’ place in the hat for the final-four. Sittingbourne lineup: 1. Roco Rees, 2. Donvieve Jones, 3. Bagasan Graham, 4. Richie Hamill, 5. Liam Smith, 6. Chris Arthur, 7. Troy Howard, 8. Ayman El-Mogharbel (17. Mitch May 81′), 9. Joe Boachie, 10. Ryan Kingsford (12. Jay Beckford 85′), 11. Henry Lukombo (16. Ade Azeez 81′). Subs not used: 14. Codey Cosgrove, 15. Henry Sinai, 18. Jack Steventon. Shots lineup: 28. Marcus Dewhurst, 5. Christian Maghoma, 6. Theo Widdrington, 7. Cameron Hargreaves, 8. Tyler Frost, 10. Josh Barrett (24. Maxwell Mullins 77′), 11. Ryan Jones (19. Brad Dologhan 90′), 17. Aaron Jones (C), 22. Jack Barham (9. Kai Corbett 90′), 33. Luca Woodhouse, 36. Will Armitage. Subs not used: 1. Jordi van Stappershoef, 3. Ollie Harfield, 35. Dan Ellison, 40. Zion Nditi. Get the latest news from the Shots delivered for FREE to your inbox. © Copyright 2025 Aldershot Town Football Club. All Rights Reserved. Company Registration Number: 08362929 Website Design, Development & Support by Akiko Design. Privacy PolicyTerms Of UseAccessibilityCompany DetailsContact Us Copyright Southend United FC 2024 The Shrimpers\' Isuzu FA Trophy Fifth Round tie against Sittingbourne will take place on Saturday 1st February The Foxhie East Stand and Solopress North Bank will be open for this fixture Home supporters will be situated in the East Stand and blocks NA with away supporters in block NF and NE of the North Bank.  Season ticket and half-season ticket holders will have a priority period to purchase tickets for the game which is open now Tickets go on general sale at midday on Monday 13th January disabled): £10Junior (9-16): £58 and under*: £3 *8 and under can only be purchased with an adult or concession ticket BUY HERE The following hospitality will be available for this game from midday on Monday Aldershot Town visit the Staxson Stadium for the very first time on Saturday as they are welcomed by eighth-tier Sittingbourne FC in a highly anticipated FA Trophy quarter final The Shots will be attempting to reach the competition’s final-four for just the third time since reformation in 1992 while the hosts have already far exceeded their club best having only once previously reached as far as the second round (1998-99) the fixture will commence at an earlier time of 12:30pm in what will be a 40-mile journey to deepest Kent either fan base will be desperate to emerge victorious It’s certainly been a season to remember for the hosts they have only lost once in the league all season the Brickies will feel incredibly unlucky to be sitting in second in the Isthmian League South East While Aldershot will understandably come into the game as favourites against the lowest ranked side left in the competition players and staff certainly won’t be underestimating a side that have already claimed a National League scalp in the form of Southend United in the previous round Starting their FA Trophy campaign all the way back in September this weekend’s tie will mark their ninth outing in the competition this season Having already defeated six clubs from higher divisions the Brickies’ eighth-tier status will be anecdotal on the day Former Northern Ireland youth international Ryan Maxwell can take a huge amount of credit for the hosts’ recent successes Belfast-born Maxwell has already gained experience as a player-manager with Walthamstow as well as a two-year spell at then-National League South side Braintree Town a tenure that saw him steer the club from relegation in trying circumstances an 11th placed finish in 2022-23 was improved upon the following year though play-off heartbreak saw a 1-0 home lead turned around late on Kentish rivals Ramsgate may be too tough to catch in the single automatic spot though Maxwell’s men will be comfortable favourites in this year’s play-offs The ex-Chelsea schoolboy is an extremely talented young manager whose unlikely exploits will be catching the eye of many this will be the first ever meeting between the two Sittingbourne were among the club’s first ever regular rivals having both been members of the Southern League East between 1927 and 1930 The Brickies voluntarily dropped into the Kent league in 1930-31 while Aldershot proceeded to climb up the pyramid leading to a near-95-year wait between meetings that will end this weekend Chris Arthur – The versatile left-flanker enjoyed a brief spell at the EBB in 2017-18 Having played every minute of the Brickies’ FA Trophy campaign thus far including scoring against Enfield Town in the third round Jake Goodman – On loan in Kent last year the Millwall academy graduate played 26 times for Aldershot in 2013-14 James Thompson – Before becoming the scout credited with discovering Jimmy Greaves at Chelsea the Surrey-born striker had brief spells at both Sittingbourne and the Shots in the 1930s All tickets for this fixture are sold out and there will be no further sales made Please do not travel if you do not already have a ticket Live updates will be available from our social media platforms X (@OfficialShots), Instagram (@aldershottownfcofficial), and Facebook. After the game, highlights will be available on our YouTube channel. We are also delighted to offer a live stream of the match in the EBB Lounge doors will open at 11am and the EBB Lounge Bar will be open with hot food and snacks on offer There will be no tickets or entry fee for this event so for those who have been unfortunate not to get a ticket in the ballot or weren’t able to travel come along and watch the Shots in action at the EBB Stadium If you would like to purchase a stream pass to watch yourself, this can be done online by clicking HERE however there is an option to have a Match Programme sent to you alongside the stream for £12.99 and a further option for both the stream and the Match Programme and to make a £2 donation to Mummy’s Star Charity for £14.99 There will be live commentary of the game provided by BBC Radio Surrey – listen online HERE Southend United exited the Isuzu FA Trophy at the fifth round stage as Anthony Church scored a 96th-minute winner for Isthmian South East side Sittingbourne at Roots Hall With the Shrimpers missing a plethora of chances to beat their visitors Church deflected in an attempted clearance from Macaulay Bonne in front of Sittingbourne’s travelling fans to advance to the last eight of the competition Having dispatched Brentwood and Southport in the previous rounds and coming into today’s tie with Sittingbourne off the back of five wins in their last six Southend were in confident mood going into the tie against opponents from three divisions below despite they themselves being on a long unbeaten run Kevin Maher made four changes to the side that dispatched AFC Fylde in the league in midweek as a bout of sickness in the Southend camp meant Blues were short on numbers even having to name goalkeeping coach Anssi Jaakkola on the bench Keenan Appiah-Forson forced two smart saves out of Sittingbourne’s debuting goalkeeper Roco Rees early in the first half The Shrimpers midfielder first saw a volley from outside the box well held by Rees before the goalkeeper tipped a low strike around the post a few minutes later Sittingbourne came into this game full of confidence having not lost in the league since August and by winning seven matches just to reach this round and they created half a chance when a cutback fell kindly to Ryan Kingsford but his miskick wasn’t troubling Nathan Harness in goal The home side were the more threatening of the two sides and moments after heading a James Morton corner over the bar Gus Scott-Morriss caused a goalmouth scramble when his deflected effort was saved by Rees and neither Tom Hopper nor Charley Kendall could bundle in the rebound Less than a minute later Sittingbourne carved out their best chance of the half when Joe Boachie got on the end of a cross from Codey Cosgrave Boachie managed to get his head to the left-wing cross but could only send the header wide as it remained goalless at the break Kevin Maher’s side looked for a quick breakthrough in the second half and went close twice within five minutes of the restart as Hopper headed a Nathan Ralph cross over from close range before seeing another effort from outside the box held by goalkeeper Rees Josh Walker then whistled a strike wide as the Shrimpers pushed for an opener but they were almost caught out up the other end as Troy Howard found some space inside the Southend box only for him to slice his effort harmlessly wide The side from the eighth tier were keeping Blues at bay despite a string of chances for the home side with Danny Waldron heading wide Scott-Morriss seeing an effort blocked on the line and Joe Gubbins drilling a shot from distance narrowly wide Rees made two great saves to keep Sittingbourne in it scooping Ben Goodliffe’s header wide before clawing a Waldron near-post effort around the post as he continued to frustrate the hosts.  All the visitors needed was a chance and in the sixth minute of stoppage time Macauley Bonne’s clearance struck sub Anthony Church and ricocheted in off the inside of the post to send the visitors through Referee: Andrew HumphriesAssistants: Daniel Cook & Alex MathiesonFourth Official: Tolu Sangowawa Scorers: Southend United: NoneSittingbourne: Anthony Church 90+6’ Yellow Cards:Southend United: NoneSittingbourne: Joe Boachie 2’ The Staxson Stadium’s capacity has been limited to 1300 and we can now confirm that we have been given an allocation of 195 tickets for our Isuzu FA Trophy Quarter-Final at Sittingbourne We would like to thank Sittingbourne for their communication and support in conjunction with their local Police Constabulary This allocation will undoubtedly result in a number of our supporters missing out on a ticket and has of course left the club with a difficult decision on how to ensure our supporters are given a fair chance of following us for this fixture In order to ensure all Season Ticket Holders who would get a priority window under normal circumstances receive a fair opportunity of getting a ticket Season Ticket Holders will be entered into a ballot and drawn at random We are extremely grateful to all those who follow the Shots up and down the country each week and are aware that some of those may end up missing out through this system As away tickets for Vanarama National League games are sold by the home side we can have no record of Shots supporters that have followed us away from home and therefore this would not be possible to include as a priority the Shots Away Travel Group does provide us with a small list of supporters who travel regularly to every away game and therefore they have been given a small allocation of tickets for their regular Season Ticket Members The date of the ballot will be confirmed in due course ticket prices) for the fixture have been fully arranged we will be contacting those drawn from the initial ballot to secure their tickets We advise all Season Ticket Holders to regularly check their email inbox and spam inbox for messages from the Club supporters will have 48 hours to secure their ticket which can be done either at the club shop (Mon-Fri Tickets that are not secured will be released for further ballots Please note that the chosen Season Ticket Holders will only be able to purchase one ticket We’d like to thank all supporters for their continued support and patience and recognise that there will be many disappointed fans we would like to reassure supporters that Club staff have been in deep conversation for several days on how to make this process as fair as possible We also need to reiterate that there will be no tickets available to buy on the day and supporters without a ticket should not travel Get the latest news from the Shots delivered for FREE to your inbox © Copyright 2025 Aldershot Town Football Club Once again there were plenty of milestones to celebrate at the weekend with yet more new people trying Sittingbourne parkrun for the first time You can't underestimate how special it is bringing up a milestone number - whether that be your 10th parkrun as a junior we had lots to celebrate this Saturday just gone as the sun shone once again with there being six running and one volunteering milestone for us all to cheer Claudia made it to her 10th parkrun as a junior whilst Stewart Melvin can now order his green 250 top having made it to the landmark number There was also three cheers in the assembled crowd for both Stuart Kemsley and Rick Wade as they were with us for their 300th parkruns - well done one and all who many will get used to seeing at Bernard's Spot on the course was volunteering for the 50th time - thanks Sue for all you do for us the numbers were strong again with 223 people taking part 34 were either first timers at Sittingbourne or tourists with ten of those doing their first ever parkrun - welcome if you were one of those and we hope to see you all again soon we did lose one token at the weekend - number 145 grew some legs and wandered off somewhere Do please return it this weekend if you happen to have it - we don't judge anyone for accidentally having taken one home With the sun beating down and the temperature quite pleasant for running our 28 hi-vis heroes were the stars of the show once again and with it being Easter this coming weekend we appreciate those of you giving up a small part of your Easter weekend to ensure we can go ahead as planned For those that love to see how wonderful they look whilst running we have over 2000 photos of you all to see here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/AMzFmynE9A5NArqo6  Why not get involved and volunteer © parkrun Limited (Company Number: 07289574) No part of this site may be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner as I drive up to my friend Susan's house to head towards Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is my NENDY & I've been saving it for a day I absolutely need to be able to get home earlier in the day than 2pm I've been on a 2024 challenge to complete 56 parkruns in 56 different locations all without breaking my tourist streak I've never been so pleased to have kept Sittingbourne for such a day as this Susan & I follow the parkrun webpage postcode & find a beautiful church & a park which looks like a good place for a parkrun The entrance to the park does rather require one to be slightly smaller than I felt today but I did manage to slide through the gate so we braved the wet grass to walk over to the core team & stood talking whilst hopping from leg to leg to keep warm; an activity that felt wasted in such cold temperatures Definitely the coldest parkrun this end of the year & we followed the lovely marshal & today's parkwalker for a great first timer & visitor briefing She made it quite clear that the course was several laps long & that when we reached the teletubby hill that we would be tempted to sprint can guarantee sprinting is not something I'm likely to do Well done everyone that continues to turn out to these events We also had a reminder to say happy birthday to the marshal on the corner she looked like she'd said thank you a million times I laughed as I told her we all knew it was her birthday because of the briefing & headed down to where there was a crossing or a really cool something which had lights Clearly playing Pokemon Go wasn't distracting at all The marshals around the course were so enthusiastic & friendly. These events really don't happen without volunteers & if you are able to put your name down Please consider looking at the roster for future weeks We came up to the playpark & around again even though it was 5k AND easy to access to a loo that I suddenly needed at around 3.45k the parkrun still felt like a good workout & there's an element of fun in dodging the stones poking up from the ground or the muddy puddles that collect around the more trodden down parts I hope you are OK after taking a tumble on one such stone but one of the scanner marshals said you'd done it Well done for completing the parkrun after such a shocking fall The second time around the small loop felt longer & round towards the mound of teletubby hill & although there was still no urge to sprint which all of a sudden caught the chill that reminded us it was 1°C out there Well done to every participant that completed this today from token #1 right through to the tailwalkers with tokens #213 & #214 It would have been so easy to pull the duvet up & that makes us all completely brilliant Thanks Catherine for an awesome run report - it's truly appreciated by the core team when someone steps in to save us a job 32 of those were new to Sittingbourne parkrun and 8 of those were brand new to parkrun - welcome one and all we still had an awesome 19 personal bests - well done if that was you There were also a number of milestones to celebrate as well - six in fact Mike Rannard and Alicia Munoz all completed their 25th parkruns Shayne Fletcher his 100th and Bob Fursey his 200th - well done all and don't forget to order your milestone t-shirts if you're due one A few other mentions from us - Bourne Again - 2 visits in 2 weeks - you must be doing something right Thanks for a friendly fun filled few hours full of post festive frolics Look forward to seeing you all again in 2025 no doubt The photos are up for this event and you can find them here: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNFccnGVpY7oKjPNrlxJSpyh0dNYc5qBSj6_RweUSAm2m1RxYfxs7PzdYdDyZ_bOA?key=NTkyYXNRdTJwZm8tSVhSZjBfYmtiOGphcS1HNk9R we couldn't stage parkrun without our wonderful volunteers and we will all be back in the park on New Year's Day (Wednesday for those of you that have lost what day we are on) for a bonus parkrun - see you there JavaScript is disabled. For this site to function correctly, please enable JavaScript. Visit the Swale Borough Council support page People learnt how to make paper at free workshops funded by Swale Borough Council’s Town Centre Action Grant (TAG) AMTeC Heritage Science CIC is offering skills building workshops out of unit 21 - The Making Space - in The Forum Shopping Centre to celebrate Sittingbourne’s rich history this week The town was once home to one of the largest papermaking mills in the world and last year marked the centenary of Kemsley Mill producing paper People of all ages were welcome to get involved and everyone had the opportunity to make a piece of paper out of recycled cotton fabric and take it away on the day The paper making workshops received £5,000 from Swale Borough Council’s Town Centre Action Grant to purchase the equipment needed to run the workshops The workshops took place on the first day of the “Hands on the Past: Make it Last - Swale Wassail Festival” The festival runs from 15 February to 22 February and aims to celebrate Sittingbourne’s heritage and the people who lived and worked there in the past and continue the tradition of Wassailing by wishing prosperity to those here now Other free drop-in demonstrations and workshops include Roman hair dressing These will all be taking place in the Forum throughout the week culminating in the Wassail Parade and Swale Wassail Day on 22 February AMTeC CIC provide people of all ages the opportunity tools and guidance to help conserve archaeological sites They also give support to people suffering from loneliness and help and support other organisations put on their own heritage community projects chair of the Property and Regeneration Committee “Our Town Action Grant is working towards improving our Town Centres and funding community events which will draw people to our High Streets and help create a sense of pride in our towns and heritage “This event perfectly aligns with these goals; The Forum is very central and the workshops themselves are highlighting an important piece of Sittingbourne’s history “There are loads of free family activities throughout the week so please come a long and flex your creative muscles through ancient crafts.” “We offer a wide variety of creative and skills building workshops and demonstrations relating to heritage and other festival events and activities woven into our town’s fabric “We pride ourselves on giving opportunities to people who might not otherwise have a chance to encounter these specialist heritage activities “We also love to grab moments to chat about how our ancestors lived skills and inventiveness available to them For more information on free workshops and activities see: https://www.facebook.com/SwaleWassail/ The project also received £10,000 from the UK Government to deliver the Hands on the Past: Make it Last - Swale Wassail Festival. 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Win HappyPremiumSearch Rayogreatest hitskentnewsPhone fraudsters target residents in Sittingbourne and FavershamThey’ve been pretending to be police officers Police in Kent say there have been 13 recent incidents where people have pretended to be police officers The reports of attempted fraud in Sittingbourne and Faversham saw offenders claiming there had been criminal activity linked to their victims bank accounts They then instructed them to withdraw large amounts of cash telling them it'd be collected by a courier Inspector Julia Bassindale said: ‘While most of those who received these calls suspected they were bogus one of the victims had around £7,000 in cash stolen and an investigation is underway to establish the full circumstances ‘These criminals can be very persuasive and will often target pensioners and other vulnerable people in our communities a police officer would never ask a member of the public for their bank details or money over the phone the advice is to hang up immediately and report it to Kent Police.' • If you are not confident a person who calls you claiming to be a police officer is genuine ask to take their details and end the call • Wait for at least five minutes for the call to clear and then contact 101 A call handler will be able to verify whether your caller was genuine to a courier after receiving this type of call Anybody with information relating to these incidents is urged to call the appeals line on 01795 419119 You can also contact Action Fraud on 0300 1232040 or report suspicious activity online by visiting their website Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app. Company number 01176085; Bauer Radio Limited Company number: 1394141Registered office: Media House Peterborough PE2 6EA and H Bauer Publishing Company number: LP003328; Registered office: The Lantern London NW1 2PL All registered in England and Wales VAT no 918 5617 01H Bauer Publishing are authorised and regulated for credit broking by the FCA (Ref No: 845898)