This is aimed at On April 24, 2015, six police officers marched into the house where John Wellard lives. See next week's Faversham News for full coverage and pictures. Faversham Eye asked Bensteds Charity for more information about these fees and who received them. He is an accomplished risk and operations leader experienced in leading strategic initiatives that reduce cost, enhance operations >and . Before being shown the door by the electorate in Mays local elections, Mr Cosgrove was Swales Cabinet Member for Regeneration. The following day, April 30, sees another flurry of activity. The Faversham Union workhouse was erected in 1836, it had been demolished and replaced with houses by 1995. Tunstill), Hereford and Worcester SSD, 1997/98, Collated material The Alexander Centre Trust (TACT) was set up, chaired by Hilary Riva. Isleworth Crown Court jailed for him for 20 years. He asked for a copy of the interview tape, as is his right, and was refused it. Children Act Yes, you did read that correctly. In all, the War Memorial committee raised 206,000. 2001 (MNW), Wrote Think Swale didnt yet own the garden. Value Children's Services for the National Council Peter Binnie, a wedding photographer, was appointed project manager at chairman Cosgroves suggestion. voluntary child care sector [with Mike Williams] to Radio 4s Gardeners Question Time . Chair, Community Inspector, Social Services Inspectorate Wales. (Social Services Strategic Planning). As Chairman of Bensteds, Andrew Osborne says, quite rightly, that although the charity could spend the money, morally it must be spent on War Memorial projects. Payne, Wade and Osborne all lived some distance from the memorial garden in Priory Row. Strategic organisations employing people with severe disabilities. And its brought jobs into the town. Leading interior designer, Sue Timney, advised on colour schemes and materials. You can get in touch with Nigel Kay, Faversham Councillor or Mike Cosgrove via nige@kayna.plus.com or mike_cos@hotmail.com. Children and Association for contracted to us; sometimes we have contracted to them. When the brown envelopes first appeared, Jackie Westlake, then Town Clerk, contacted the local police inspector, Gavin Wade, who told her that no crime had been committed. It had remained unregistered for more than 40 years. 1990 - 1995. Plan meals, try new foods and explore cuisines with tested recipes from the country's top chefs. Bensteds argue that KCC has a moral obligation to share some of that with the charity, to be spent in accordance with the wishes of the original trust deed in 1835. Other members included local journalist Mark Gardner of the Faversham News. Faversham Consultancy Group following his departure from Kent Social Services where he We contacted Biffa to ask how much the company had donated and spokesperson said: Why would a local depot donate company cash without head office approval? followed by a three year period as a senior administrator in Higher Education. In an email to Jackie Westlake, Mike Cosgrove makes further comments about John Wellard and other members of the public, Faversham Creek Trust and Independent candidates in the imminent elections including Sue Akhurst and the late Brenda Chester, wrongly accusing them all of 'disrupting public meetings'. Rural Health Matters! wrote the guide Bensteds started life in 1835 as the Faversham workhouse, a particularly hateful Victorian institution founded on the belief that if people were poor it was their own fault because they were lazy, stupid or feckless or any combination of the three. Published And who picked up the bill for the Christmas lunch Cosgrove and his committee enjoyed at the members-only Faversham Club to congratulate themselves on their success? Published by MHNA It does not cover the satirical treatment of people in public life, no matter how thin-skinned they might be. has been extended for a further year to include a Yet oddly, Cosgroves committee were told only 60 comments were received in total. That is not the case. David said: "Very pleased with the result. A peace garden seemed a far better way to remember the fallen and look forward to a better future without war.. One neighbour was former town councillor Trevor Payne, another was town councillor Geoff Wade and the third was youve guessed our old friend former town councillor and mayor, Bensteds Charity chairman and prominent local freemason, Bro Andrew Osborne. 2023 Faversham Life All rights reserved. Just who was harassing who here? PC Willson's emails also refer to a report from councillor Mike Cosgrove of 'an incident regarding Mr Wellard approaching him in Court Street and waiving (sic) in his face'. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. practice of Mike Cosgrove - former Faversham Town Councillor (Tory) Councillor Mark Dance - Councillor on Kent County Council, based in Whitstable (Tory) Cindy Davis - former Faversham Town Councillor (Tory) Tom Gates - former Faversham Town Councillor (Tory) Councillor Ben J Martin - current Faversham Town Councillor (Liberal Democrat) Of professional We can now reveal the full results from today's exciting local election. He asked Hilary Riva and a number of others to get involved. Despite past assurances that no public money would be spent, Faversham Town Councils WW1 Working Group whose members included Cosgrove and Walker donated 8,040 for new garden gates and railings. Best Value: a recruitment and selection, performance management, together with serious incident enquiries. Significantly larger sums were given on a regular basis to what has been criticised by many in the town as an unwelcome vanity project. The 2.62 acres of land were owned by the charity. . The new trustees sold part of the land and this left the charity with around 500,000 as a permanent endowment. Many of the original features stayed intact. Good Scones may be what you need. Gatefield House, built in the 1860s, was at the heart of Favershams social life. contract A sudden and miraculous conversion appears to have turned former Conservative Faversham councillor Mike Cosgrove into a born-again environmentalist. Dont be shy. What rankles with the Bensteds Trustees is this: KCC sold a chunk of the land to themselves in a rising market at a rate of 45,112 a hectare. partner we can mobilise the necessary skills where and . Best Cosgrove, Gates, Walker and Andrew Bowles were also trustees of Bensteds, the long-established Faversham charity chaired by former town councillor, town mayor and prominent local freemason Bro Andrew Osborne. Colin Sharpe bought Ardens Cottage in Abbey Street. He had given evidence at the Inspector's public enquiry about Footpath ZF5 in 2014. . He said: "I never expect the results. in organisations. Member of every case the Each year since 2015, the set aside has grown. He was a Tutor and Tutor Counsellor for the Open University Business School from We asked David Simmons which of these objectives allowed the charity to subsidise the building of a war memorial. She worked for many years in the Fletcher). A when you need He was resident in the property and joined the Faversham Society. And worse. costs, He combines this with his role as Vice -Chair of a NHS Health Trust. That helps keeps its hire and rental fees affordable. This is what we had hoped for but we never take it for granted. Instead, the centerpiece of the new memorial garden would be a giant, grey vertical monolith. residential care policy for adults; financial management She was married to Sir Sidney Alexander, Mayor of Faversham from 1910-20. . The general feeling was that this project would go ahead anyway, said Ros Young. This is accounted for as money set aside to future projects. When we asked for missing minutes of their meetings under Freedom of Information rules, Swale Borough Council refused. 1992. management development handbook for middle and Congratulations to the Hop Festival organisers for their well developed sense of irony. Unpopular from the outset, the scheme was widely viewed as a vanity project. RT @PaulOnPolitics: Conservative MP Helen Whatley has been reselected as prospective candidate for Faversham and Mid Kent, seat she has held since 2015. Publishers). The design looked not unlike the, In the library alone, more than 80 comments were against the scheme, many fiercely so. About 500,000 of this is the permanent endowment and comes from the original land sale. We can only imagine what the Faversham community of 1922 who voted to give money raised for their war memorial to the hospital would have made of trustees doing the exact reverse a century later. co-editor of three Reviews: Every year, the Trustees have set aside money for future projects. Even its inauguration ceremony, on 3 November 2018, was tainted with ugliness. The money is there waiting for you. There is also a year-long exhibition called The Alexander Collection, in conjunction with Creek Creative, which showcases local artists. wider project. Both donated their time and expertise, as did Shepherd Neame (improvements to the bar) and Michael White (work on the garden courtyard). Until the War Memorial project came along, the focus was on the future not the present. Even as its contractors, Blenwood, were digging up remaining plants, Swale Borough Council purported to to be in the dark about the committees plans. Praised by Cosgrove for his first-rate excellent press liaison support, Gardners PR efforts resulted in favourable local newspaper coverage. Delicious dishes at low prices are provided . Office, 2000/01. adviser, 1999 - By the end of 2015, Bensteds had also paid out 1,820 in consultancy fees from its war memorial fund. Verified account Protected Tweets @; Suggested users Following suit from the general election's true blue wave across Kent, most seats on both Swale Borough Council and Faversham Town Council now belong to the Conservatives. You can reach The Alexander Centre by both train and bus, and its near to the town car parks. Every door has been knocked on and I have been out there every day speaking to people. Again, the response could not have been clearer. Hilary ran The Alexander Centre on SBCs behalf for a couple of years, to learn what the issues were and to put together a business plan. Numerous articles on Young However, using incomplete and heavily redacted minutes obtained under a Freedom of Information request, together with other sources, Sonot exactly a grass-roots community organisation. The discomfort the beetroot-faced Tory Councillors in Faversham had felt when the leaflets appeared would soon get a lot worse. Now the hall hosts everything from Hop Festival gigs, jazz evenings, talks, fairs and boxing matches to Public Inquiries and blood donor sessions. Its squatters rights application would not be decided for months. Below are some of the organisations benchmarking tool, the negotiation of a package from a When challenged, the officer said he did not need a search warrant as he had made an arrest. others. The Land Registrys squatters rights application form ST1 specifically asks for details of the use made of the land by others. In fact, Faversham Town Council formed its own WW1 working group, with none other than councillors Cosgrove, Gates, Walker among its members, along with councillor Trevor Payne and local Royal British Legion chairman John Quested. services View the profiles of people named Mike Cosgrove. But the people had spoken. By 2012, SBC no longer needed such a large presence in Faversham. More worried about Duchy of Cornwall's plan to build 2500 houses on grade 1 and 2 agrucultural land at Faversham." Social Services Professionals (Jessica Kingsley The patron of this years Alexander Collection is Pim Baxter, deputy director of the Royal Portrait Gallery, and the portraiture on the walls is outstanding. It would go on to pour a total of 32,700 into the scheme. Covers initiatives and strategies for building and In Until a group of local councillors decided they knew better. (MNW), Wrote Means, voluntary sector, including eight years as Assistant Director, Family Service Units. service we provide Its official purposes are: To mobilise, encourage, foster and maintain the interest of the public in the patients and the support of the work of Faversham Cottage Hospital and community health centres by means of voluntary services.. He has a first degree in Economics and Geography and a Masters degree in Education Management from the University of Wales. John Wellards quote, borrowed from the Pythons, No one expects the Spanish Inquisition! appears in print everywhere alongside the mocked-up satirical posters, one featuring notoriously publicity-friendly councillor Mike Cosgrove riding a toy donkey to his next photo opportunity. By 2015 the schemes initial estimated 80,000 cost had crept up to 120,000. Mike Cosgrove Digital Partner Support Manager at the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Kingston upon Hull, England Metropolitan Area City Health Care Partnership CIC, +2. particular task In 1948, the Poor Laws were finally abolished. Excluding the War Memorial, Bensteds has given an average of 21 percent of its annual income to other local applicants between 2013 and 2018. leadership development Safeguard Children 1999, In September, waste management company Viridor donated 20,000, which would pay for more than 500 names to be carved into the gardens stonework 377 from WW1 and 174 from WWII at a cost of 40 per name. The fire escape was originally set up to bring prisoners from the cell in the basement up to the court room. They had their reasons for choosing the memorial they did and their wishes should have been respected. Its maintenance budget for 2018/19 is just 31.59, according to Swale Borough Council. Between 2013 and 2018, it spent 46,744 on management fees to Lloyds to look after its cash and investments. It's nice to order delicious latte or great tea. Also cc'd in were: Jackie Westlake, Andy Culham, Anita Walker, Bryan Mulhern, Cindy Davis, Tom Gates, David Simmons, Jane Hawkins, John Coulter, Mick Gates and Shiel Campbell. NCVCCO, 1998/99 (JDW), Sure Start What is clear is that it completely distorted the activities of Bensteds as a local charity. This Sector, NCVCCO, 1996 (JDW) October, 2001. We can focus expertise on a . His clients include the National Assembly for Wales, Health Authorities, NHS Trusts, General Practices, the Independent Health Sector, Local Government and private individuals. have worked with during the past two years. Most all of, there are the 35,000 people a year who come into Faversham town centre for an event at The Alexander Centre. It was classed as income balance carried forward., In an answer to an email from the Faversham Eye, Sue Bayford, the Clerk to the Trustees explained that the Trustees only pay out charitable funds on receipt of a copy invoice from the organisation/individual to prove that the money is being spent correctly, and/or until they have been able to secure the balance of funds required to complete the project., When the charity prepares the end of year accounts these pledges for future spending are put into income balance carried forward. This also includes funds set aside for administration, portfolio management fees and other everyday expenses. They even threatened to withhold funding for the the long-promised creek bridge if their plan was voted out. designed and delivered many organisation, team and According to Simmons, the war memorial committee of which he was vice-chairman asked for more than 5,000. Yet more bizarre behaviour by the police, as defamation is a civil, not criminal, matter. The cost of building was 166,000, leaving a surplus of 40,000. Later the same morning, PC Emma Willson emails Jackie Westlake to say the police had insufficient evidence to take this matter to court.. The cost of building was 166,000, leaving a surplus of 40,000. When KCC briefly had control of Bensteds charity they sold a chunk of the Kiln Court land to themselves at what now looks suspiciously like a knock down price. They agreed that collectively a Crime Report for the offence of Harassment will be generated and investigated.. of the scheme. Child Protection: Janet's background is in social work with families and children. value social services; negotiation; the implications of Country Children, based on a series of regional With the story rapidly going global, Faversham Town Clerk Jackie Westlake circulates an email containing a link to the Daily Mail story to Faversham's conservative councillors and Labour councillor Trevor Payne, advising them not to comment. of But their emails and letters got nowhere. well as SMEs. I don't put any dates in my diary after today. Today the site is dominated by an outsized monolith and a row of hefty blocks. How a handful of councillors and council officers could spend public money doing this to a garden they didnt own, against the wishes of the community without revealing their plans or even needing planning permission has remained something of a mystery. No wonder the grass is getting long. Perch on one of the new metal benches perhaps the one paid for by Faversham freemasons Athelstan Lodge (past master: Bro Andrew Osborne), or the one bearing the name of William Boggia, (founder of the Manor of Faversham Lodge) and you can no longer watch the world go by. We know 9,000 came from Kent County Council, around 8,500 from Faversham Town Council and 7000 from Swale. He has also been a Protection best value, The irony is that they did not need to spend this money. Driving across England to Shripshire (sic), seeing the awful creep of new housing development across the countryside. within a Children's Services Plan; family conferences in Swale Borough Council contractors (and sometimes with the help of volunteers) are employed to maintain the garden in good condition, he wrote in the statement made on 21 October 2016. Faversham Politics Bess. of the North and management So in late 2016 Swale hastily applied for squatters rights adverse possession to use the legal term claiming the council had maintained the garden since 1990. entries in rural We asked Mike Cosgrove but he declined to answer. So said Vice Admiral Sir Hugh Evan-Thomas when he officially opened Favershams WW1 memorial on 3 November 1922. They had something grander and more military in mind, even if it meant tearing up the garden and moving the Grade II-listed cross. In 2018, this figure was 62,770 having grown from 28,443 in 2013. He has The Charity Commission appointed KCC as Trustees and in December 1984, KCC sold part of the site to themselves for 30,000, setting the value at 45,112 a hectare. primary criterion is to add capacity and value to the By Spring 2017, the volunteer gardeners too had discovered nobody owned the land. 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