Kent Kids

Summer News

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:00:00 +0000

MUSIC IN THE GARDEN - 20th July 2008
On Sunday the 20th of July the weather was beautiful for our big music festival & BBQ, and the release of the balloons for our Annual Balloon Race in the gardens of Redwalls! The gates opened at 2pm with the first band going on stage at around 3pm, the lineup consisted of great local bands: Moss, Jimmie Bone, 2Outspoken, Face to Face, The Ladyboys & Counterfeit Notes. Everyone we've spoken to had a great day (including all that were working!) and along with us are looking forward to next years event! After taking out expenditures and such we made a clear profit of around £1700 so many thanks to everyone that helped make the day a success - all the great bands that played, Pete Buckle for lending us the spitroast, Tilmanstone Salads for the salad, all the Kent Kids staff that helped, and Pino & Angela Mazzamutto and their staff who closed down their Italian Restaurant for the day to come and cook for us!

OARS FOR A CAUSE - Sunday 13th July 2008
Sunday 13th of July at The Hythe Festival we had 18 teams of rowers in fancy dress arriving in Hythe, after a Mammoth 25 mile row along the Royal Military Canal called "Oars For A Cause" There was a fancy dress parade to music to celebrate the end of the row! The 18 teams of rowers completed the full length of the Royal Military Canal from Iden to Sea Point (Seabrook) to raise funds for us - Kent Kids. Their aim is to raise around £10,000 for a bathroom conversion which will enable the children to occupy the upstairs rooms at Footprints!

If you would like to make a donation please see a member of OFAC or send a cheque made payable to All Souls Primary School to: OFAC, co. All Souls Primary School, Stanley Road, Cheriton, CT19 4LG

GOLF DAY
Thursday 26th of June we held our annual Golf Day at Sene Valley near Hythe, and despite a lack of teams this year everyone both playing and involved in organising the day had a great time! We didnt have enough teams for a "Shotgun Start" so started the day as normal instead, luckily the weather was fantastic and stayed that way until the evening when we had a wonderful meal that was thouroughly enjoyed by everyone! All in all the event ended up raising us over £1700! Many thanks to everyone who attended the day either to play or to help out and we look forward to seeing you all and hopefully a few more next year. Keep an eye on our events page for the location, dates and times for next year!

SCRAPALICIOUS
Saturday the 5th of April Kent Kids opened its doors to SCRAPALICIOUS, our very own scrapbooking & card making supply shop. We have turned one of our large store sheds into our new shop. You will find our prices much cheaper than your usual craft shops, and all of our profits go directly to Kent Kids Miles Of Smiles, so why not come along and give us a try. We had a reasonably good response on the opening day and had lots of interest in joining our Wednesday Night Group of Scrapbookers & Card Makers! As well as the shop and the wednesday night crop we also have cardmaking sessions and can hold childrens birthday parties! Shop opening hours are Mon-Fri 9-4pm. Any queries on the shop please give Liz a ring on the office number!

Spring News

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:30:00 +0000

OFSTED
Our inspector came unannounced on the 22nd January 2008 and stayed for 4-5 hours. During her time at Footprints she spoke with various members of staff, with some of the children and young people and had a good look at all sorts of paper work etc. I am pleased to say she gave us a good report. If you wish to read it you will find it in the rack by Footprints front door

New Child
In January we welcomed Bobby to Footprints. He is our first 3 year old and, as you can probably imagine, is thought the world of by all staff. I am not sure how many are broody but he certainly gets a lot of attention!

First Floor Access
The dream is now becoming a reality. In May we began having a platform lift installed to enable upstairs access for all wheelchair users as well as for the more mobile children. This has been made possible by an anonymous donation, for which we are extremely grateful! This only now leaves the alterations to the bathrooms and specialised equipment and the re-artworking of the stairway. Once complete there will then be no restrictions on which room a child can or cannot sleep over in.

Questionnaires
Questionnaires have been sent to a number of parents and social workers. Thanks for those who have already returned and we look forward to recieving those not yet returned. The information gained from these will enable us to improve upon all we do at Footprints, how we get information from you, how you can raise concerns and issues, to the care of each individual child. Please take full advantage of this oppurtunity to have your say.

Annual Holidays
The summer holidays for the children who live at Footprints have been booked. They and their carers will be going to a Haven holiday park near Hastings. Some of them went there last year and had such a great time it was decided to take them all to the same place this year. They will be in specially adapted luxury caravans with their carers. We wish them all a great holiday. Lets hope the weather is kind to them.

Spring News

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 09:30:00 +0000

REDWALLS
A representative from the Commission for Social Care Inspection visited on 5th October 2007. She congratulated us on establishing Redwalls. We've now heard back from CSCI and are delighted to tell you that we've been given the all clear and Redwalls is now officially open for our young adults to move into and we hope to have them in the house and settled by the beginning of November! Since November all of our young adults have settled really well into their new home, Redwalls, and are enjoying getting out and about to colleges and day centres. All of our young adults partake in numerous different activities and we are all looking forward to a great summer with BBQs a-plenty on the patio. We currently still have 2 beautiful respite rooms available at Redwalls 52 weeks of the year, for anything from a one night stay up to 2 weeks. These rooms are for young adults aged from 18 to 30 years. For more information or to make a booking please call Melissa on 01227 780796.

A New Resident
At the beginning of March 2008 all of us here at Redwalls welcomed a new young lady to the family. The young lady in question has always been a popular respite child at Footprints and we are very pleased to welcome her as a permanent, adult resident.

Volunteers
Yes please we still need you. Not only to help with the children and young people but to assist at both of the houses with gardening, driving, painting cleaning etc. We will be glad to see you anytime! A big thank you to the Community Payback Team who are currently making the land next to Redwalls into a beautiful garden landscape. Every week they come and work their fingers to the bone, and every week we see fantastic changes. Eventually the finished garden will hopefully include a vegetable patch and a sunbathing area as well as flowerbeds and wheelchair friendly paths.

Thank You!!
This year has been a tough year in one way or another and with the amount of post on my desk it seems as if it will continue to be so for a while. However, I would like to personally thank all members of staff, children and their families and everyone who has assisted in providing not only a good standard of care but a good quality of life to all the children and young people who stay at Footprints and soon to be Redwalls.