On Friday evening last week I joined the Kent Police response team for
their late evening patrol in Folkestone, between 9pm and midnight. The
team are the first respond to emergencies and also have the
responsibility of policing the town centre and harbour area.
Fortunately, whilst I was with them, it was a relatively quiet evening
with people just enjoying a night out. I know how much people value
seeing the police out on the streets and in the community. I hope that
in the police reforms being considered by the Government that we can
take some of the bureaucratic pressure off the police, which gives
them a huge amount of paperwork and forms to fill in. This can mean
that too much of their time is spent writing about what they have
done, rather than being out on the streets doing it. This is of course
what the public wants, but also what the police officers themselves
joined the force to do. It was a privilege to be able to spend some
time with them.
Earlier that morning I had joined David Wimble on the breakfast show
on Romney Marsh FM. The station is broadcasting throughout June on its
community radio license from their studio in New Romney. David told me
that when it is on air, they have a greater audience in Romney Marsh
than Radio 2. It is an impressive achievement to be able to beat the
station with the highest number of listeners in the country. I think
that community radio plays an important role in bringing people closer
together, and letting people know what’s on in their area, and I wish
Romney Marsh FM every success for the future. It is also good news
that Folkestone is to have a community radio station, to be broadcast
from the Academy school.
Following that I visited the store team at B&Q in Folkestone to hear
about their work and the support they give to local groups. All
businesses have to respond to changing customer demands and I was
interested to hear that they will shortly be opening a new area within
the store specialising in energy saving and eco products. They have
also seen the growing demand for people to grow their own fruit and
vegetables at home and on allotments.
I then met with Colin Taylor at the Rainbow Centre in Folkestone. The
Centre provides support and counselling for vulnerable people in the
area, and particularly families and the homeless. The centre is a
charity that receives some support from the local councils but also
raises a great deal of its own money through local fundraising. They
provide an invaluable service not only to the people they help, but
our community as a whole.
On Sunday I popped in to the craft fair at the Dungeness RNLI Lifeboat
Station. I have been to this event before, and it was great to be able
to support it again and the fundraising for the lifeboats.