NEWS
COOLINGS GARDEN CENTRE GROUP RAISES VITAL FUNDS FOR AIR AMBULANCE KENT SURREY SUSSEX
Coolings , the award-winning garden centre group with branches in Kent and East Sussex , has raised over £ 9,500 so far this year for life-saving charity Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex ( KSS ), having chosen to support KSS during 2021 and 2022 .
Since January , each time a Coolings Family Member makes a purchase at one of the company ’ s four garden centres , 10p is donated to KSS . In addition , during June the family business introduced a special range of locally-grown ‘ Flying High ’ plants , making a £ 1 donation to KSS each time a plant was purchased .
As well as fundraising , Coolings has donated two planters for KSS ’ s offices in Rochester and Redhill to be enjoyed by members of Team KSS .
Commenting , Helene Poursain , director of fundraising and events at KSS , said :
“ We are extremely grateful to Coolings and to its Family Members and customers who have already raised such an incredible amount of money for our charity over the past six months .”
“ It costs £ 15M each year to deliver our life-saving service 24 / 7 to people of Kent , Surrey and East and West Sussex , and 88 % of this comes from public donations and fundraising . We are reliant upon the support of the communities we serve to make sure we are there to help the most critically ill patients across our region in their hour of need – and the generosity of the Coolings community is an inspiration . On behalf of Team KSS , I thank you all .”
LIFESAVING AWARD FOR KENT POLICE HANDLER AND HER YOUNG DOG
KINGS HILL COMMUNITY INSPIRES ARTIST YINKA ILORI , MB
PC Megan West , from Stockbury , Kent and her young German Shepherd PD Calli – who was bred to join the unit – have been awarded for their work in saving the life of a vulnerable man .
Megan and Calli , who turns two in November , hit the ground running having joined the dog unit , helping to track suspects during chases , or find weapons and stolen items as possible evidence , as well as responding to missing persons reports . It was the quick thinking in the latter that led to the award .
Having little information about a man who needed urgent mental health support and a large rural area to search , Megan and Calli began their search of dense woodland with Calli eventually pinpointing the man ’ s location enabling Megan to provide immediate assistance and first aid .
Megan said : “ I would never have found him that day if Calli hadn ’ t been with me and I feel really proud of her . I am so elated that I ’ m her handler ; she ’ s my crewmate and I trust in her abilities and loyalty to me . That day really showed that all of her training and hard work had paid off .”
The young officer was reunited with the man a few weeks later and he thanked her – and Calli – for saving his life .
Megan and Calli ’ s lifesaving efforts saw them selected as the winner of the lifesaver category at the inaugural Thin Blue Paw Foundation Awards – supported by Animal Friends insurance .
Members of the community have joined renowned designer Yinka Ilori , MBE , in a series of interactive workshops that will culminate in a new public art installation in Kings Hill .
The Patterns in the Park event saw residents take part in two workshops , a smell walk that explored the different scents to be found in Kings Hill , and stitch school .
Ilori , a multi-disciplinary artist who was recently appointed Artist in Residence in Kings Hill , drew on the day to help inform the public artwork he has been commissioned to create by Kings Hill development partners Liberty Property Trust and Kent County Council .
Ilori said : “ It was really great to engage with families and children from the Kings Hill community and to explore with them my apple inspired concept for the public art commission .
“ These interactions during my residency are helping to influence my design process as I develop my ideas further and I ’ m looking forward to the next workshops .”
The artwork being commissioned is being curated by Turner Contemporary and academic partner the University for the Creative Arts ( UCA ). It will be installed in the garden village ’ s new park in Spring 2022 .
Liberty Property Trust ’ s Caroline Binns added : “ This will be the last significant public art commission for Kings Hill and it was wonderful to see the community so closely involved with its conception , alongside students from UCA .”
Further workshops are planned for later this year – regular updates as to how the Kings Hill community can participate will be posted at www . kings-hill . com / uca-turner-contemporarypublic-art .
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