It's been revealed an almost 100-year-old Kent railway needs £30million pounds over the next 10 years to upgrade its facilities.
Bosses at Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway have set out their financial situation as they prepare to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026.
Also on today's podcast, the KentOnline Podcast has discovered there's been a large jump in reports of racism at Kent schools.
Data provided voluntarily by schools shows more than 900 racist incidents were believed to have happened last year.
The highest number, 473, were from primaries; some 332 came from secondary schools and 108 from special schools. We've got reaction from Carol Stewart from the Medway African and Caribbean Association.
A Kent MP is calling for more openness following the closure of a leisure centre.
Bosses at Folkestone Sports Centre took the decision after costs increased by a quarter of a million pounds over the last few years.
A new bike patrol has been set up by Dover Street Pastors in the hope to extend their services to the town's outskirts.
The group was set-up 13 years ago to act as a peaceful presence in Dover. We've been along to meet them.
And in sport, Kent's newest Olympic champion says he's already thinking about defending his title.
Nathan Hales from Medway won the men's trap shooting on Tuesday.
10 – Kent Online News News you can trust This is the Kent Online Podcast. Nicola Everett Hello, hope you're okay. Thanks ever so much for downloading today's episode. It's Thursday the 1st of August, and our top story today is that the Kent Online Podcast has discovered there's been a large jump in reports of racism at Kent's schools. Now data provided voluntarily by schools across the county shows that more than 900 racist incidents were believed to have happened last year. The highest number 473 were from primaries, some 332 came from secondary schools, and then 108 from special schools in the county. Name calling and verbal abuse were the most common incidents with 669 involving children aged 11 to 14. Now that data is up from 586 incidents during the previous year, but why were we getting reaction from Carol Stewart? She's chair of the Medway African and Caribbean Association. I think there's many different reasons. I think we've seen sadly, we've seen an increase in far-right activity, particularly, you know, well, all over the world. And I think, you know, when you've got certain political parties that are promoting sort of segregation and hates and sadly, people are picking up on that, you know, because nobody is born with any prejudice or hatred in their hearts. It's nurtured either within the home environment or the community environment. I think social media as well, we're seeing an increase in cyberbullying with the growth of social media that I think certainly I think the political climate has increased that, you know, some of the rhetoric that is around, particularly around, you know, people who are fleeing trauma and people's perceptions about that, that they're seeing England as a soft touch. So children are hearing those conversations at home and it's like, well, you know, what are you doing here? You're not from this country. And I think education has a key role to play in terms of not reinforcing some of those myths and stereotypes and educating all children about the rich diversity of England and that, you know, our story doesn't begin an ending slavery. Our story doesn't begin an ending in October in Black History Month that we were and our kings and queens. In fact, one of the first inhabitants of Great Britain was a Black man. You know, Queen Charlotte Sophia was the first sort of mixed race queen of England. Buckingham Palace was her home, you know, so, so I think it's about ensuring that we've got a more broader, more accurate picture of history, one that tells a narrative that shows that, you know, we are as equal as anybody. Now we have been in touch with Kent County Council. They've sent us a statement. It says since 2020, there has been a rise in the number of racial incidents being reported, whilst there's no specific reason to explain the increase. It is clear in recent years awareness of the issue and access to support has increased, giving people more confidence to report incidents. KCC provides direct support to schools and settings to offer training on a wealth of issues, including duties under the Equality Act, well-being and inclusion, promoting race equality and diversity, including unconscious bias. Now, the Prevent Service also engages with schools where necessary and signposts to free resources to help widen understanding around key issues. Kent online news are the top stories for you today, and a young dad who died in a crash in Sissinghurst has been described as beautiful and kind. 19-year-old Archie Robertson died when the bike he was riding collided with a tractor on Common Road just over a week ago. The former homeward pupil was doing an apprenticeship and traveling home from work when the crash happened. A 14-year-old girl's been arrested on suspicion of assault after violence broke out in a parking broad stairs. One boy was reportedly attacked and two others kicked during the disturbance on Sunday night. A 48-hour disperse lord is currently in place, covering the town and its beaches after further trouble on Tuesday. A man has been arrested on suspicion of drink driving after a car crashed into four-part vehicles and overturned in Chillingham. Police were called to Richmond Road in the early hours of this morning. The driver was also taken to hospital. Now, a Kent MP is calling for more transparency following the closure of a Kent leisure centre. Bosses at Folkston Sports Centre took the decision after costs increased by a quarter of a million pounds over the last few years, while Labour MP for Folkston and Hyth Tony Vaughn has been speaking with Abby Hook from our colleagues at KMTV. I was completely shocked. I hadn't been consulted in advance and I'm the shock to everyone else in the community here. I can't quite believe in a place where my kids learn to swim, everyone else's kids learn to swim, where there's a swimming cloud. There's so many aspects of the community that are totally centred around that sport centre are not going to be able to meet there and I sincerely hope we can find a way to keep it open but at the moment, it has come as a surprise and we're just looking at what I want to see. I would like to see is the details that are underpinning the financial position of that trust because obviously unless the council knows that, unless relevant stakeholders know why it was not viable, has a going concern, we're not going to be able to find a way of sorting this out. And what was your initial sort of next steps? What did you do? I imagine, did you pick up the phone? What have you been doing since and what are those next steps? Well, I was in touch immediately with the chair of the CEO of the Folkston High District Council and as many people know, Folkston High District Council has been providing a grant to the trust to help run that sport centre. The building, as I understand it, is owned by the Ravna Estate. The charity Trust has been running it for some time. I know from their accounts from just having a quick look on the end of 2022, they've been in financial trouble for some time, they've been debts, there's been loans, they've been in a difficult position, I think particularly after COVID, the user numbers have not returned to the way they were before the pandemic. And they've been ongoing, they've been a rescue plan, there was a strategy to bring the sport centre back to a balanced budget. I haven't seen that document, I don't know how that handout, it was referenced in the 2022 accounts. And so that's why I'm saying it would be very useful for anyone who is able to contribute to sorting this out, to see those numbers, to see whether there's any way that this as a business can keep going. But I've had useful conversations with Labor Councillors, with the CEO of the Council this morning who are rightly very concerned and anxious to attend to the needs of those staff who lost their jobs. It's understood more than 140 people have lost their jobs as a result of the closure. More than 4,000 people meantime have signed a petition calling for the facility to be saved. Kent Online reports. Five fire engines have been called to tackle a field fire near Favisham. It broke out in an area of cut grass on Monkshill Road in Hernhill yesterday evening. No one was hurt, but crews are reminding us to be careful with barbecues and smoking materials during the hot weather. Meantime, two men have been taken to hospital after a huge field fire near Swanley. Nearly 45 fighters were called to tackle the blaze of Crockenhill Road last night. It spread to 10 acres of land and damaged a tractor, as well as two electricity pylons. A new report is found Kent is one of the worst affected counties in England when it comes to rural crime. It costs farmers more than £1.8 million last year, the fifth highest figure in the country. Insurance company NFU Mutual says thieves are becoming more organized and stealing high value equipment and machinery. Elsewhere new CCTV cameras have been installed at fly tipping hot spots in Swale in a bid to catch offenders. The tech's been placed in parts of Sheerness and sitting born and will be monitored by staff in the council's control room. It's part of a £33,000 pound campaign to tackle waste-related crime in the area, which has some of the highest rates of fly tipping in Kent. And people living in parts of Romney Marsh have accused the council of neglecting them after weeds were left to grow three feet tall. Residents in St Mary's Bay say undergrowth hasn't been cleared for months. They've also been forced to do it themselves. When the KCC spokesperson explained there's been a lot of weed growth this year due to all the wet weather, they've confirmed teams will be revisiting the area. Now this is one of our most read stories on the website today. It's been revealed in almost 100 year old Kent railway needs £30 million over the next 10 years to upgrade its facilities. Lucy has been taking a look at the details for the podcast. Bosses at Romney Hyth and Dim Church Railway have set out their financial situation as they prepare to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026. The site has one-third full-size steam and diesel locomotives and was commended by the War Department during the Second World War. The railway formed parts of the coastal defence network in preparation for a German invasion and was used to transport troops and munitions to rural outposts. It's since become one of Kent's top tourist attractions. So what are the concerns as we go forward Lucy? Well General Manager Danny Martin says they've been looking at ways to upgrade the aging facilities. He's worked out they need to raise £30 million so for the next 10 years to carry out all the repairs and work they have planned. The two main projects they're working on are buying new carriages and improving station facilities, particularly in Hyth and New Romney. Despite setting out the target figure to shareholders, bosses insist they're not at risk of closure if they don't raise the money. Lucy thank you ever so much. Ken's online reports. A dog owner has been left with a £900 vet bill after his pet ate some cannabis while out for a walk on a Kent beach. Oscar the West Highland Terrier started acting strangely after consuming the class B drug in Sheerness. He had to be put on a drip overnight but is now recovering or we've put details of the symptoms to look out for within the story today at Kent Online. The podcast meantime has been told an animal centering Kent is likely to be facing its busiest day of the year amid rising cases of cruelty. Stats reveal more welfare concerns are reported to the RSPCA on August the 1st than any other day over the summer months. Staff are currently caring for dozens of animals at their centre in Leiborne that have been rescued. A new bike patrol has been set up by Dover Street Pastors in the hope to extend their services to the town's outskirts. The group was set up 13 years ago to act as a peaceful presence in Dover. They'll now be able to reach as far as a cliff and Whitfield. Finn McDermott has been speaking with the patrols senior pastor Alan Boxle. Street Pastors are there to be seen on the to be seen. Now we're there to be seen in case of any trouble we we find that if there's trouble around it for there people see us it calms things down. The other thing the other thing is the side of the thing is we're there to care and if anybody needs help they might have had too much to drink or they've had a fall or you know falling out of somebody we're there we're happy to talk to them and we're also there these days for their homeless as well. We'll give them a hot drink during the cold snap and biscuits and something like that and we also give people bottles of water and we have been known to give ladies flip flops when they've been wearing high-heeled shoes that have been too painful for them. If you talk to me about this new initiative with the bikes. Yeah the idea of the bike patrol is at the moment the street pastors are concentrate on the town center so everything we do is is around that area. What we're doing now is we're going to go beyond those areas to the outer parts of Dover like Whitfield, River, Elmsrall, Acliff, possibly even the sea front so that we have a wider a wider scope for what we do do exactly the same things we'll be there to see people to make sure you know if we're needed we're there. We would also like people to come and talk to us and just say hello and we will over some games I suspect with us that anybody wants to join in with us for some games and things in the parks we will be able to do that. We're there to have a bit of fun as well. Workers started to transform an historic derelict pavilion overlooking Margate seafront. The building owned by local artist Dame Tracey Emin is thought to have been built in 1910 plans for its revival include a community bathers club with a cafe hot showers and a sauna. It's been announced a new Tesco Express store is to open at a controversial development near Canterbury. The Woodlands in Surrey faced a strong backlash when it was unveiled three years ago. People argued against the loss of biodiversity and raised concerns about how the urbanization of the area would detract from its farmland origins. However, residents have been telling us the new 1500 square foot store is likely to be better received. And finally we're being told to expect thunderstorms today a yellow weather warning is in force. The alert covers most of England with the Met Office predicting heavy showers with the chance of some disruption. It'll remain in place until midnight tonight. Ken's online sport. Ken's newest Olympic champion says he's already thinking about defending his title. Nathan Hales from Medway won the men's trap shooting on Tuesday and he's been chatting to Abbey Hook from our colleagues at KMTV. Just a huge, huge thank you. The support, you know, means the world to, you know, to every athlete. So to have, you have that from your home county, from your friends and family in the area and obviously friends and family that have been out here supporting me as well has just been absolutely unreal. And what about your experience of shooting and learning your craft and your sport here in Kent? Are there any clubs, schools, anybody that's made what's happened, your achievement possible? Yeah, there's, you know, there's lots of grounds in the area that I started on as a youngster like JJ's in Dartford. There's Dartford Gun Club that I shot at and West Kent, all in Kent that I shot at. And, yeah, used to, used to shoot some practice out with family just for fun. All of those grounds growing up. And, of course, we spoke about your two children watching you, but your partner, of course, in the same, in the same line of work as you. Do you think you've got two youngsters that can follow in your footsteps here? Is it a family affair this sport? We'll see. I'd like to think so. Hattie's only 16 months, I'd say. We've got a long, a long way to go to. She's able to have her first shots, but Hudson's six. He's, he's not too keen at the moment, but it may come with a bit of age. He may, yeah, he may decide he wants to give it a go and, yeah, follow in our footsteps and maybe give it a try. The opportunity is always there for him. So, we'll see. He's not going to be pushed. So, we'll see what he wants to take up. Tennis now and Emma Radikanu's through to her fourth quarter final of the year after progressing to the last eight of the Washington Open. The 21-year-old from Orpington got past American Peyton Stearns in straight sets. She says it feels like she's building momentum. I'm most pleased with my game development and the work I'm doing off the match court in practice. And I think that for that to show a little bit in matches in the last few months, I'm very pleased with and I just have to keep trusting the work I'm doing. An ex-game takes place tomorrow onto cricket and Kent have won their latest match in the one day cup. They beat Hampshire by four wickets with 57 balls left after boiling them out for just 168 at Beckenham. That makes it two wins in a row for the Spitfires who are back in action on Sunday. And in football, drilling them have been holding an open training session at Pricefield. Fans are able to go along and have photos taken with the players and get merch signed ahead of the new season. Well, that's all from us for today. Thanks ever so much for listening. Don't forget, you can follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and Threads. You can also get details on the top stories, direct your email each morning via the briefing to sign up to that you just need to head to kentonline.co.uk. And whilst you're on the site today, don't forget to check out our latest Eat My Words food review. News you can trust. This is the Kent Online podcast.
