NEWS
DIGITAL FESTIVAL SECURES ARTS COUNCIL FUNDING
ANNA PHOEBE © Rob Blackham
KENT ST JOHN AMBULANCE VOLUNTEER FRONTS NATIONWIDE ‘ ASK ME ’ CAMPAIGN
St John volunteer , Logan Chatfield , is sharing his reallife story as part of a new campaign by health and first aid charity , St John Ambulance .
Logan , 13 , is featured in advertising across the country alongside his grandfather , whose life he saved , in the Ask Me campaign , which is designed to make the public stop and think about all of the vital roles St John plays in people ’ s everyday lives .
Dover Arts Development Ltd ( DAD ) has been awarded £ 42,773 of funding from Arts Council England to develop a six-month Digital Festival of sound and visual content promoting Dover to the world as a place for culture .
Starting in July and running till the end of the year , the DAD Digital Festival will provide opportunities for the growing number of artists living and working in Dover , as well as opportunities for community participation . The festival will feature sound , music , writing , photography , and video work ; including a major new commission from Anna Phoebe and Richard Bundy , both internationally renowned musicians based in the Dover region .
Artist and writer Simon Bill , who has recently come to live in Dover , will be the festival writer in residence and , as well as writing a regular project blog , he will work with Dover ’ s writers , poets and historians and lead exploratory walks enabling fellow walkers to engage with Dover ’ s hidden treasures .
Joanna Jones , who co-founded DAD with Clare Smith , said " We are absolutely delighted and greatly looking forward to developing DAD ’ s digital offer and helping to build greater creative resilience in Dover ’ s community .”
Logan , who joined St John Ambulance as a Badger and was just 10 years old when he saved his grandfather ’ s life , just one week after learning how to deal with a heart attack through St John , will feature alongside other volunteers who are sharing their real life stories .
Over 2,000 posters and billboards will feature stunning portraits of volunteers and patients with provocative quotes inviting the public to ask them about their real-life St John experiences including : “ Ask me how my grandson saved my life ”; “ Ask me how I brought someone back to life ”; and “ Ask me how first aid changed my life ”.
Martin Houghton-Brown , CEO , St John Ambulance , said : “ Despite thousands of people interacting with St John Ambulance , millions don ’ t completely understand all that we do ; many don ’ t even know that we have ten thousand young people as a vital part of our charity ’ s work , for example .
“ We are well known for our presence at events but , even then , the fact that we are volunteers is often missed . There are so many ways in which St John serves communities , from training and education to homeless outreach services meeting the needs of the most vulnerable .
“ It ’ s time to tell the world what we do , and who better to tell the world than our own incredible St John people , saying , Ask me .”
‘ Ask Me ’ aims to share more real-life stories throughout the year .
Members of the public can find out more about St John Ambulance and how to get involved at www . sja . org . uk .
QUEEN ' S BIRTHDAY HONOURS RECOGNITION FOR HOMEWOOD TEACHER ’ S PPE WORK
Homewood science teacher Chloe Newman ( Mrs Falder ) has been awarded a BEM ( British Empire Medal ) in the Queen ' s Birthday honours for her role in setting up and running PPE Team Tenterden , which produced thousands of pieces of free PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic .
It all began in March 2020 at the start of the first lockdown , when Chloe converted some pillowcases to drawstring uniform kit bags for nurses at her kitchen table . She then posted a message on social media asking for donations of material to make more . Within hours she had dozens of offers of both material and sewing help and within weeks she was managing a team of over 40 volunteers who , together , made more than 23,000 pieces of non-medical PPE for frontline workers during 2020 .
As the first wave of the pandemic eased , Chloe additionally organised fundraising activities which provided £ 1,200 worth of goods for local food banks and donated over £ 400 worth of toys to the town ’ s Christmas present appeal .
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