Local News

Following the death of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh earlier today (Friday 9th April), a Statement has been released by Cllr Paul Stephen, The Mayor of the Borough of Swale.

The Worshipful Mayor said: "It is with enormous sadness that we learned of the death of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, and I would like to express our sincere condolences on behalf of Swale Borough Council and the people of the Borough of Swale to Her Majesty The Queen, and the entire Royal Family. For so many people here in Swale, across the United Kingdom and around the world, it is impossible to imagine the Royal Family without His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. To us, he has been The Queen’s constant companion since the middle of the last century, but in reality, he was much more than that".

"He was a husband, a father, a grandfather and a great-grandfather. Our own sadness at his death is nothing compared to the sense of loss felt by his loved ones. As a mark of respect, flags are being flown at half-mast across all council buildings, and arrangements are being made for people to share their condolence messages to allow them to pay their respects."

Books of Condolence

There is an online book of condolence if you wish to pay your respects, which can be found at www.royal.uk.

Alternatively, you can write to Swale Borough Council with your condolences to: Book of Condolence, Swale Borough Council, Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne ME10 3HT.

A book of condolence is being opened at Swale Borough Council's offices at Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne between 10am and 2pm Monday to Friday.

They will close for archiving at 5pm on the day after the funeral.

The condolence books will be archived at the Kent History and Library Centre, once they have closed.

Tributes

Tributes can be laid at:

• War Memorial, Central Avenue Sittingbourne
• War Memorial, Bridge Street, Sheerness
• Under the Guildhall, Market Place, Faversham

Tributes will be removed on the day after the state funeral. Any written cards or messages will be added to the official books of condolence and flowers will be recycled.

Other items, including soft toys, photographs and artificial candles will unfortunately have to be disposed of. If people want to keep them they should collect them by the end of the day of the funeral.

Flag Flying

As a mark of respect, flags are being flown at half-mast across all council buildings during the period of mourning before the state funeral , when they will be returned to full mast for 1 day after the state funeral.

Swale Borough Council flags are located at Swale House, Sheppey Gateway, Queenborough Town Hall, Queenborough Park and on Swale Borough Council's Blue Flag beaches.

Sittingbourne has been rated as the country's third 'most resilient small town' during the pandemic, in new research by London-based retail consultancy CWM.

222 towns were analysed in the study by retail consultancy CWM, with Yate (near Bristol) scoring the highest rating followed by Spalding (in Lincolnshire) and then Sittingbourne closely followed by Tonbridge here in Kent.

Jonathan De Mello, who leads CWM's retail consultancy team said Sittingbourne had come out well in the research as it had "lots of professionals nearby" and "more essential retail than most and was less exposed to decline".

All retail centres had suffered during 2020, with the worst annual sales performances on record, more than 16,000 store closures and nearly 180,000 retail jobs lost in the UK over the past year.

The Leader of Swale Borough Council, Cllr Roger Truelove, told SFM News: "It is always welcome to see one of our towns near the top of a league table. Nobody would suggest all is wonderful but this is us compared with 221 other small towns, all suffering from the economic impact of the pandemic. I am not surprised that we are in a more resilient state than most. It is nothing to do with the Spirit of Sittingbourne project. More relevant is the strong concentration of supermarkets in Sittingbourne and the fact they have been well used over the last year. An added factor, too, is the fact that so many people are working from home and likely to spend more in the town than when they were travelling to London to work. In this there is great opportunity for the future with people working from home and buying their lunch in town and using the improved opportunities for leisure".

A drug dealer who supplied class A substances in Chatham has been jailed for three years and nine months.

Christopher Tregunno supplied heroin and crack cocaine on behalf of a county line named ‘Trigger’ and was twice arrested by Kent Police officers in 2020. 

The 30-year-old, of Tonge Road in Sittingbourne, admitted four drug supply offences and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday (9th March).

Tregunno first came to Kent Police’s attention on Monday 16th March 2020, when officers, on a routine patrol of Manor Road, observed him selling drugs to a known user.

The constables approached Tregunno and requested he open his clenched fist. He refused to do so and instead moved his hand behind his back, dropping two plastic cases in the process.

He then opened his hand to reveal two wraps of a class A substance, with the plastic cases later found to contain further wraps of heroin and crack cocaine.

Due to the need to carry out additional enquiries, including a forensic analysis of the substances seized, Tregunno was initially released under investigation. Despite being under investigation, he continued to offend and was arrested for a second time on Wednesday 16th September 2020, after officers carried out a warrant at his home.

A mobile phone was seized and the handset’s data revealed it was being used to coordinate the supply of drugs for a county line called ‘Trigger,’ which was active between July and September. Numerous communications which discussed drug supply were sent during this time period.

Tregunno was charged with possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply and being concerned in the supply of both drugs.  He has been held on remand since the arrest.  

Detective Constable Stuart Clayton, from Kent Police’s County Line and Gang Team, told SFM News: "Tregunno first came to our attention thanks to the vigilance of our patrols, who are continually attending areas known for drug supply, gathering intelligence and acting upon it. His determination to make money from supplying illicit substances is shown by his willingness to continue supplying drugs despite knowing he was already under investigation. I am pleased that a custodial sentence has now been imposed."

A £20,000 project, to support bereaved children and set up by two Kent charities with the aim of providing bereaved children the help they need, has started locally.

Demelza Hospice Care for Children, based here in Sittingbourne, has brought Rochester-based Holding On Letting Go (HOLG) on-board to provide pre and post bereavement care to their families.

Whilst Demelza will continue to provide the specialist care and emotional support for families of children with terminal or serious conditions with their medical and wellbeing needs, HOLG will work with staff to offer them guidance and training specific to bereavement care, plus support children ahead of a death, after the death or both.

By drawing upon HOLG's vast and specialist knowledge, the collaboration will help to implement the new Demelza Bereavement Model, to support their current bereavement offering to families and also to increase the skills and knowledge of the volunteer Bereavement Team within Demelza.

HOLG currently supports many families across Kent with individual, currently remote support due to the pandemic, but has also been allowed to continue with their flagship bereavement support weekends where children are invited to come and talk about their loved one who died, learn how to express their emotions, and find out it's OK to feel the way they do.

A big part of the weekend for the children is making memory boxes and items for it, which they take home and can continue to add to. While the children are with the HOLG staff, their parents can meet each other at a support group too. Demelza is one of the venues HOLG hosts the weekend events from and their families will be offered similar support.

The 12-month project will include working alongside families across Kent and providing training for Demelza staff at their three locations in Kent, South East London and East Sussex. The two charities share a 22-year history since they were both founded in 1998 and it's this special link that has brought them together for this collaboration. 

HOLG will partner with Demelza to offer:

• Bereavement training for Demelza's staff and volunteers who support families at the hospice
• One-to-one bereavement care for Demelza's families, offered alongside all of their other services
• Bereaved children and parent support programme
• The development of online and face-to-face parent/carer support groups.
• Resource packs full of useful bereavement information
• Creative memory-making packs for families to create and add to memory boxes - a huge part of bereavement care

The collaboration will be led at HOLG by Debbie McSwiney, who until three years ago worked at Demelza and had been a trustee of HOLG for many years alongside her role; so she knows both organisations well. Debbie told SFM News: "Both Demelza and HOLG have a focus on children, plus our long history together makes this a wonderful partnership. I'm really looking forward to working together with Demelza to support their bereaved families because I have seen what a difference the right support makes to so many of the families we have supported over the years and continue to keep in touch with. It's an amazing opportunity for two such knowledgeable organisations to pool their skills and resources to help build resilience within those families requiring our specialist help and support."

Jo Burton, Demelza's Therapeutic and Bereavement Lead, told SFM News: "The opportunity to collaborate with HOLG could not have come at a better time and I am looking forward to developing the partnership between our organisations, building on our strengths and sharing experiences. With the new Demelza Bereavement Model in place, and the volunteer team on board and currently engaged in training, HOLG has been able to share its invaluable knowledge and expertise in running groups, supporting families in pre and post bereavement work as well as offering us training in specific areas of specialist support for families. This is enabling us to open our new services confidently, knowing that good practice, based on years of experience, is being offered to Demelza families, ensuring a smooth transition and a positive step to the future."