Higham Parish Council - Special Announcements

Kent County Council have published their report into future developments within Kent. One vital aspect considered is transportation and links outside of Kent. The potential future need for another crossing over the River Thames is mentioned.

For more information on both the 21st Century reports and some local views on the impact of a lower Thames Crossing, please click here.

The owner of the Meadows Newsagent in Higham has just raised £342.16 for the club (which is absolutely fantastic and has helped towards the cost of a projector and screen that we will be able to use in many ways). The shop owner, Mr. Hariharan came along to our club to present the cheque on 24th February 2010. We are extremely grateful for this kind donation. Small shops like the Meadows really do serve the needs of local communities, especially in villages such as Higham, and in the present economic climate they are merely trying to survive day by day, therefore to be able to help us in this way is excellent.
photograph of Mr Hariharan presenting the cheque to Joanne Raff, Higham Youth Club Leader

photograph of Mr Hariharan presenting the cheque to Joanne Raff, Higham Youth Club Leader

Higham Youth Club runs on two nights - Mondays for the 14+ age group and Wednesdays for the 10+ age group. Both clubs have very enthusiastic young people enjoying themselves with their friends. We have a number of activities each week and lots of equipment including a pool table, table football, table tennis, basketball, swingball, Nintendo Wii (two consoles plus guitar hero complete band set, snowboarding, wii fit, dance mat and many other games), Playstation 2 (including Singstar), Karaoke, Scalextrics, Keyboard, Circus equipment, Board games..... We also have an iPod docking hi-fi so the young people can bring along their iPods if they want to listen to their own music... Often we run cookery evenings, circus skills, hair and beauty, arts and crafts plus many others..

Recently we have enjoyed a "Midnight to 3am ice skating" event, 10 pin bowling, and next month we are running a watersports (kayaking) session. We always welcome new members in our clubs... You can keep up with what's going on by looking at our website... www.highamyouthclub.btik.com

If anyone in the village would like to give up a couple of hours per week of their time and help us as a volunteer please contact Jo for more information on 07934 562085. All adult helpers are checked through the Criminal Records Bureau, and we do ask for 2 referees.. You will understand that this is purely to safeguard our young members. Working with the young people at these clubs is a very enjoyable experience and also gives you the opportunity to take part in exciting activities too!

Teenagers on the booze? Not always! Jamie, one of the Youth Club members speaks his mind about alcohol in a BBC2 'Revealed' interview. A short clip from the interview can be viewed here. [Opens in a new window]

Higham Youth Club arranged a village tidy up in October 2009. See photographs here.

The next Meeting of Higham Village History Group is on Thursday March 18th 2010 at 8.00pm in Higham Memorial Hall, School Lane, Higham, ME3 7JL. Our Speaker, Anne Carter will talk about "The Great Exhibition of 1851".

To be held at St. John's Church, Vestry Hall, Hermitage Road, Higham ME3 7DB. Come and have a chat with your local KENT COMMUNITY WARDEN STEVE GRAY on:

All villagers are invited to drop in for a cuppa and a chat with the Community Warden. For more information - Telephone 07811 271256.

The winners and runners-up of the Higham Gardens for Pleasure Competition 2009 have been announced. Our heartiest congratulations go to outright winners, Anne and Rob Miles of Highwoods Close. Prizes and celebrations were presented at the Parish Council meeting, Monday 14th September 2009.

The Kent Messenger Medway Band presented...“FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE PROMS”. A little light music coupled with glorious summer weather happened at Higham Recreation Ground on Friday 3rd July. For some photographs, please click here. Diary Date - 2nd July 2010 for the next Higham Proms.

The annual gathering in Lower Higham to sing Carols and other seasonal songs was on Sunday 20th December at 7.30pm. One of the people there sent in this report.

"We had our Lower Higham Christmas sing song the Sunday before the big day. It was very cold and icy, but we still had about 45 villagers. We all sang our socks off, with much mulled wine to keep the icy weather at bay.

This is a great time to catch up with the good people of Lower Higham with a few new faces coming for the first time. Rebecca and David kindly host this event very well, and we all feel this small but important event has really become something we look forward to.

We raised £35.00 for the Friends of St Marys. Afterwards, a few went to The Railway pub for a warm up afterwards - it looks so good in there, and a good atmosphere.

A few of us spent some time decorating the wall opposite the ex Chequers PH with greenery. Linda brought some sloe gin [homemade] and this went down very well!!

Another small but important event for us in Lower Higham. Soon we will be having the first meeting for the Scarecrow Festival due to be held in September 2010. So even, though it is cold now, we are plotting for the warmer weather!"

[Sent in by Fiona Spirals]

Lower Higham's Scarecrow Festival'09 happened on Sunday 13th September. More information, photographs and the winners, please click here. More details from Fiona 01634 711161 or Linda 01474 823129. Higham Parish Council was pleased to be able to financially assist this years Festival.

The Partners and Community Together (PACT) Panel for Higham is a range of local people plus representatives from Parish Council, the Kent Police and the Community Warden. We meet quarterly to discuss any concerns about the quality of life or community safely issues within the village. Regular reports and liaison with the Parish Council, Police, Community Warden and other key partners allow free and frank examination of things that may be of concern. At our past meetings we have had officials from Gravesham Borough Council and Kent Highways who advised us and assisted in discovering solutions to local issues.

If you have a concern about your local neighbourhood or have ideas that would improve your quality of life in Higham then do either come to a PACT Panel meeting or a Parish Council meeting to speak your mind. For more information, please visit our website at www.higham-pact-panel.btik.com.

The Parade started at the top of the village, went down Forge Lane, School Lane and finished on the school playing field where villagers had a picnic. They brought their own food & drink and picnic blankets/chairs/tables. To see some photographs of the Parade please click here.

The Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP) is a forum for local authorities, national agencies, industry, voluntary bodies and local communities to work together for the good of the Thames Estuary. The Partnership is a charity which co-ordinates projects and holds events and workshops to provide information and to gather feedback.

The threat of climate change and increased flood risk is an ever present feature of the Estuary, yet many local people are not aware that plans are already being developed to help those responsible to adapt to these threats. More detailed information can be found on the TEP website, www.thamesweb.com

Viewable Thames Estuary & North Kent flood risk map - click here.

format, needs

The Parish Council is sponsoring the new Walking Bus at Higham Primary School which launched after Easter 2008. This new initiative is to get children to and from school and to reduce the amount of traffic congestion on the village roads in the vicinity

The Walking Bus is an organised column of children who are escorted to and from school along a set route. All involved wear high-visibility tabards for safety and routes are approved by council traffic engineers.

To find out more about this initiative or to become a volunteer helper on the Walking Bus please contact Higham Primary School.

Hi Kent is the country of Kent's deaf and hard of hearing registered charity, established in 1986 and last year we were the only Kent organisation to win the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service. We provide free advice on how to cope with hearing loss and can provide a wide range of assistive equipment to help deaf and hard of hearing people.

In Higham we run a monthly hearing aid aftercare clinic at Highcliffe Medical Practice in Hermitage Road on the second Tuesday of each month from 2.30 to 3.30pm, where people can come along to get their hearing aids cleaned and retubed, and pick up free replacement batteries.

Volunteers Sought for Higham Youth Club

The Club is appealing for voluntary helpers to offer a couple of hours on a Wednesday evening (between 7.30 and 9.30) to enable it to expand for the village youngsters to have a dedicated place to meet and enjoy organised activities.

You do not have to have experience or a degree in 'youth work' just a respect for young people (dependent on an Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure).

Maybe you have skill or hobby that you would like to share with them? All offers of time, help and skills will be greatly appreciated.

Please speak to or telephone Jo 07934 562 085, HYC Leader. Website, click here. Email, click here.

kentcarshare is a free, simple, secure, internet-based service that enables you to register your car journey on-line and match drivers and passengers with those who do similar journeys, sharing driving costs and reducing congestion.

Over 1,750 are now members of kentcarshare since the launch by Kent County Council in September 2005 and more and more people are discovering the benefits of carsharing. New members join by registering for free on the site www.kentcarshare.com and record their journeys. The system matches those traveling similar journeys and members then make the arrangements to start car sharing.

More than 1700 people countywide have already joined the scheme. As a result they have reduced the number of miles traveled on Kent's roads by over a million miles a year. Kent has one of the largest road networks in the country and the volume of traffic creates a high demand for road maintenance.

Every user who signs up to the scheme will be entered into a free prize draw for a year's car tax.

To find out more, or register visit www.kentcarshare.com

Allotments are small plots of land set aside for local people to rent and grow plants, vegetables, fruit, etc. Allotment size can vary or be divided up to provide variety of produce for your own requirements. Click here to go to the informative BBC allotment web page.

Last season the Parish Allotments showed an increase in the number of plots rented for cultivation. This was most encouraging and the Parish Council decided to undertake a survey of the condition of all the plots. The survey was completed in November 2004 and showed that there were a number of overgrown plots. The Parish Council has cleared the top vegetation from some of these plots which are now available for cultivation.

Water stand-pipes are within reach of all the allotments, so if you are interested in finding out more, please contact the Higham Parish Clerk on 01474 822642 or email enquiries@higham-kent-pc.gov.uk.

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