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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV.
00:29I'm Abbey Hook, here are your top stories on Friday the 13th of September.
00:34From Kent's streets to the wrestling mats, hear how one gym is grappling with anti-social
00:40behaviour and unemployment.
00:41And I'm changing the mind to stop doing that. Stop dealing. Stop taking that stuff. There
00:48is a different way. Not as easy.
00:51A terrible accident. Police revealed details after a teenager died on Canterbury train
00:57tracks.
01:00Top scorers. As Ronaldo reaches a billion followers, how are Kent's influencers riding
01:06the social media wave?
01:08With the continued rise of platforms like TikTok and even new ones like Threads, the
01:13role of the social media influencer is becoming ever more common.
01:27Thousands of young people in Kent are unemployed and in the county the number is higher than
01:32the national average.
01:34In Rochester, one martial arts gym is working on their own unique solution to the problem,
01:40amateur wrestling.
01:41They say it gives young people discipline and structure and can hopefully stop anti-social
01:46behaviour. Finn McDermid has more.
01:50From January to March 2024, there were around 580,000 young people in Kent aged 16 to 24
01:58who were not in full-time education, employment or training.
02:01Known as NEETs, the number of these people in Kent from ages 16 to 24 is higher than
02:07the national average and is increasing year on year.
02:10One coach at a gym in Rochester wants to get more young people off the streets and
02:14onto the mat.
02:15Well, wrestling isn't the only practice they teach here, with coach John placing special
02:20emphasis on life advice and wisdom that they can use outside of the ring.
02:25John has been coaching since 1994 and has been doing sessions at Evolution Gym in Rochester
02:30since it opened 14 months ago. He also coaches at a gym in Tunbridge Wells, where the youngest
02:36wrestler is only five.
02:38A lot of young people in some areas, like this area, get involved in misbehaving, either
02:45drugs, carrying knives, because they don't respect themselves. They're like a little
02:51growly dog on the street. And I'm changing their mind to stop doing that. Stop dealing.
02:58Stop taking that stuff. There is a different way. Not it's easy, but in life, if it's easy,
03:04it ain't worth having.
03:06Coach John is a former national wrestler and has competed in places like the United States,
03:10Macedonia and Sweden. But his hopes now lie in giving young people the confidence to attack
03:15life with what they have.
03:17From a poor background, John started wrestling in a local park, eventually joining a wrestling
03:21club where he was able to compete around the world.
03:24He thinks young people are constantly comparing themselves to other people through social
03:28media and wants to use wrestling as a way to build them up, mentally and physically.
03:32I feel like the biggest impact it's had is in terms of pushing myself. Everyone always
03:38says they're going to push themselves for a test, they're going to push themselves in
03:40the gym or something like that. But when you're actually having to physically exhaust yourself
03:44and you're at your breaking point, and then you've got John shouting down your ear,
03:47one more, one more, push a little bit more. It's just that extra bit of motivation in
03:50life, which is kind of, it has a great carryover into everything else that I do now. And yeah,
03:55it's a great coach as well.
03:57Well, their coach will hope that wrestling can give young people the tools to both suplex
04:01and to succeed. Finn McDermott for KMTV in Rochester.
04:06Well, Finn joins me in the studio now. Finn, some really interesting numbers you had in
04:11your piece there right at the beginning. Take us through those statistics.
04:14Sure thing. The first thing you really have to understand about these numbers, I think
04:18we have to go through a bit of sort of political jargon because the government uses this term
04:22NEET, N-E-E-T, which stands for not in education, employment or training. And that's especially
04:28important when you want to measure how many jobs are in an area and how easy they are
04:32to get. As Coach John said, young people that are in this NEET statistic, they're not going
04:38to be in work or school and are extra likely to be engaging in anti-social behaviour. And
04:43the reason this affects Kent is because there are around 500,000, just over 500,000 young
04:49people in Kent who are part of this NEET group. And I mean, it's just higher than the national
04:56average. So there's definitely some interesting investigation that can be done there.
05:00OK, Finn, thank you very much for those details.
05:03Now, elsewhere in sports news, Gillingham boss Mark Bonners has been named League 2
05:07Manager of the Month for August. Bonners, Gillingham's side, ended the opening month
05:11of the season sitting top of the table with three wins and a draw. They've since slipped
05:15back to fourth after losing at Doncaster last week. The Gilles are back in action at Priestfield
05:20this weekend, ahead of Tranmere, against Tranmere Rovers, sorry, who are just two
05:24points back in 10th place.
05:30Next tonight, an inquest found that a private ambulance driver from Sheerness died after
05:35drifting into the path of a lorry. Kevin Goldsmith, who was in his 50s, was killed on the 29th
05:41of February last year after a crash on the A251 near the M2 junction. Officers were called
05:47to the scene at around 2.30 in the afternoon after the Ford Transit van, driven by Mr Goldsmith,
05:52collided with a white lorry travelling on the opposite side of the road. The coroner
05:56could not find a reason for why the van drifted and found no fault from the driver of the lorry.
06:02Now, the family of an 18-year-old boy from Folkestone say they've been left with holes
06:07in their hearts after his death. Tom Watson died after falling onto the railway tracks
06:12at Canterbury East Station. Initial reports suggested his death was being treated as suspicious,
06:18but investigators at the British Transport Police say Tom fell accidentally after a night
06:23out with friends. Well, Mahima Abedin joins us live from Canterbury East Station now.
06:28Mahima, what can you tell us?
06:38I think we've lost Mahima on the line there. We'll try and get her back later in the programme
06:42if that signal stays with us for that story. But next night, we'll bring you in our next item in
06:48the show. A new report says that nearly two-thirds of children who are living in care in Medway
06:53aren't actually from the area. Well, experts say it's because young people need to be moved away
06:58from their original homes as they're at greater risk of antisocial behaviour and drug and alcohol
07:04abuse. Meanwhile, fostering agency Diagramma Foundation say there's a huge shortage of foster
07:11carers right across the county. I spoke to Kate Patel earlier and asked about the impact on
07:17children in care in Medway. I would imagine that social workers are working really hard to try to
07:24keep children as close to the area where they grew up as possible so that would allow them to
07:31have regular contact with their birth families, etc. But there is a desperate need for foster
07:38carers across England but also in Kent and Medway. And so it may not be possible to find
07:47suitable placements in the Medway and Kent area and children have to move further afield,
07:53which is why at Diagramma we're a not-for-profit fostering agency and we are recruiting for new
08:01foster carers across the Kent and Medway area because we understand there's a desperate need
08:10to have good, high-quality foster carers in this area who can look after Kent and Medway children.
08:18And why are you seeing that demand for foster carers? Is it because not enough people are
08:23coming forward to take on the role, to take on what is a huge responsibility,
08:28or there are just more children in Kent that need fostering, or is it a mixture of both?
08:33It will be a mixture of both, but fostering is, you know, it's a challenging role, it's a busy
08:40role, it takes an awful lot of commitment and only the right people can do that. If it's something
08:49that you think you could consider and you want to find more out about it, please, please get in
08:55touch. You know, there's lots that we can do to support and help people who think that they could
09:01take on this really important task, but there is a need, there's a huge need for more foster carers
09:07and it's hugely rewarding. We can put you in touch with many of our foster carers who will speak so
09:15positively about what they have done and the impact they've had on children and young people,
09:20so it's something you would like to find out more about, please do get in touch.
09:25And Medway Council have said that children from outside the area coming into Medway were at a
09:30greater risk of anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol use, poor standards of care and
09:35unsuitable accommodation, but Medway isn't without all those issues too, so where do all those
09:42children go? Why is Medway seen as a better area, I suppose, for all these children?
09:50I don't know, I can't comment to that if I'm absolutely honest, but what I do know is that
09:56the foster carers that we have in the Kent area are brilliant. We offer them very good support
10:05and they are excellent at knowing what children need, at knowing how to guide and protect and
10:12look after children to keep them out of harm's way, to keep them out of anti-social behaviour
10:18and to keep them, you know, accessing education and thriving and reaching their potential in life
10:25and that's what we are at Diagramma about, is about giving young people and children that
10:33opportunity that every young person should have to grow up with safety, grow up and to reach their
10:39potential.
10:43Next this evening, Kent's very first allergy clinics opened up this week. The NHS's facility
10:50called the Adults Allergy Clinic is available for sufferers of conditions such as asthma and
10:56food intolerances. Based at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, the new service is being supported by
11:02Charity Allergy UK and the Sadie Bristow Foundation. From this week, patients over
11:07the age of 16 can be referred to the clinic by GPs from right across the county. And now take a
11:15look at this really, really cute dog that we've all been looking at all day. I'll tell you why,
11:19this could be perhaps a miracle on the world's unluckiest day, you'd probably call that Friday
11:25the 13th, pretty notorious for being unlucky but we have a very, very sweet story to bring you just
11:31after this very short break. I'll see you in just a few minutes time with that story and plenty more
11:36from right across the county. See you in a few minutes.
14:36you
15:06Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight live on KMTV. Now, as Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first
15:19person to ever reach one billion followers online, the dream of becoming an influencer here in Kent
15:25is growing. Almost one in five children say they'd like to pursue a career on social media.
15:31But as some of Kent's micro celebrities have been telling us, it's not what it cracks up to be.
15:37Bartholomew Hall has more. Alessia Russo 863,000 Orlando Bloom 7.1 million. These are just two of
15:47Kent celebrities who haven't found it hard to gain a following online thanks to their stardom.
15:53Cristiano Ronaldo has long been hailed as one of the most successful footballers but now can be
15:57labelled as one of the most successful influencers too after he reached a billion followers across
16:03all his social media pages. That's more than 500 times the population of Kent.
16:09Even after scoring 900 goals and taking home 33 trophies, Cristiano Ronaldo is clearly still
16:15ready to make some career records even in the online space. It's hard to imagine what a billion
16:20followers really looks like but perhaps not so surprising as with the continued rise of platforms
16:26like TikTok and even new ones like Threads, the role of the social media influencer is becoming
16:31ever more common and there's even a fair few that have been popping up here in Kent.
16:43You might not have heard of Dover's Aaron Kraskal but he's been making people laugh
16:46online for more than a decade with a combined follower tally of three million. Whilst Aaron
16:52calls himself an idiot with a camera, other online celebrities like Tasha Newcombe from
16:57Chatham take the lifestyle approach, showing off their lavish routines and promoting brand
17:02products for a profit to her almost 60,000 Instagram fans. So it's clear to see why the
17:08influencer life might be appealing and the data proves it with 17% of young people choosing it as their dream career.
17:17Hey guys my name is Joy, I'm an entertainment social video journalist. I think kids and young
17:22people are inspired by what they see, like when I was younger I would look at TV presenters and
17:27think oh my god I want to be like that and influencers are now part of the people who
17:32young people are exposed to so I think it looks nice I guess to be an influencer. Granted a lot
17:37of it can be fake you know, our DGT was revealed this week that these LA influencers who have these
17:43nice apartments they are renting a space like that's not their house like they've rented that
17:47space. I think for social media like from what we see it does make it look super attractive.
17:52And it's not just individuals becoming more popular online, social media itself has this week
17:57overtaken television for the first time as the number one place to keep up to date with news
18:02here in the UK. So next time you're online why not give us a follow for all the latest.
18:08Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.
18:10Well interesting there, we'll see if Bartholomew goes viral with that report.
18:13Well let's take a look at the weather forecast now.
18:22Tonight clear skies right across the county, lows of 8 degrees, highs of 11 down in Dover.
18:28By the morning those clear skies continuing bright and sunny for your Saturday morning.
18:33Highs of 15 over in Margate. By the afternoon much of the same, warming up slightly as we go.
18:39As well a nice sunny September Saturday afternoon.
18:43And here's the outlook for Kent. Sunday a bit of cloud,
18:46Monday much the same, Tuesday highs of 19.
18:59Now don't forget you can keep up to date with all your latest stories across Kent by logging
19:03onto our website kmtv.co.uk or as Bartholomew showed you over on our socials.
19:09You'll find all our reports including this one about a couple from Tenham
19:12who are giving away teddy bears to help grieving families.
19:16Many of us have memories of a favourite teddy from when we were younger,
19:20but some here in Kent are clinging on a little tighter.
19:23Kimberley and her husband Nicholas lost their baby boy Rupert in March last year.
19:28He was born prematurely at 20 weeks.
19:30To help with her loss she was given a bear to hold onto and now she's passed the favour forward
19:35by donating several teddies, hats and blankets to Medway Maritime Hospital
19:40to support other families through bereavement.
19:42I actually got my own teddy when I was in hospital with Rupert.
19:47I lost him at 20 weeks, cussation.
19:50And it was just there to cuddle when I had to say goodbye to him.
19:53It was just nice to have something there.
19:55And now I have him at home as well in his ashes in the teddy bear as well.
19:59They're just so important to loads of families.
20:03And just having that teddy to cuddle when you're in hospital just means so much.
20:07It took me a long time to process everything.
20:10He was born in March and I didn't really understand anything until September time.
20:17And just don't judge yourself for how you feel.
20:19Just feel what you need to feel and reach out and get support as well.
20:23Now this is one of the 15 teddies that Kimberley and her husband Nicholas
20:27kindly donated to the hospital here.
20:29Now these teddies are really special because if I turn it around
20:32there's a little zip at the back here which you can open up.
20:34And it's for families to put any memories of the ashes of their babies
20:38that they may have lost prematurely.
20:40The bears were purchased from the charity Making Miracles
20:43and funded by friends and family donating to a Just Giving page
20:46that was set up by the couple in memory of Rupert.
20:49Now these cuddly bears will be helping several other families.
20:53Kimberley donating these teddy bears is so wonderful for all our families.
20:57They are such a comfort.
20:59It's something they can hold and cuddle and actually have that tactile
21:04connection with their baby.
21:06All grief is individual.
21:08Everything we do and everything we offer is done on an individual basis
21:12for the parents and for the families because we support the extended family as well.
21:17For families going through this or have been through this
21:20because they will continue to go through it for their entire lives
21:23is to make sure that you lean out and ask us,
21:25you know, get all the support you can need from us,
21:28charities, friends and family.
21:30We've only got one chance to get it right
21:32and we need to do that right from the very beginning.
21:34As Kimberley holds on tight,
21:36she asks for anyone going through bereavement to reach out and seek support
21:39and to remember grieving can look different for everyone.
21:42Mahima Abedin for KMTV in Medway.
21:47Now just before we go, as usual,
21:49it's of course been a busy week for Kent's politicians
21:52and this week with it bringing another episode of the Kent Politics Show.
21:55We were joined by Leader of Maidstone Borough Council Stuart Jeffrey
21:58and former Government Advisor Claire Pearsall.
22:01The programme covered everything from the NHS hit to unrest in the US.
22:05Well, our Politics Producer Oliver Leader de Sacks joins me now.
22:09Seemed like a pretty feisty episode from where I was sat in the gallery, Oliver.
22:13Absolutely, Abby.
22:14I mean, it's been a hell of a week in politics
22:16and a hell of a Kent Politics Show.
22:18Claire Pearsall and Stuart Jeffrey seem to disagree as much
22:21as they agreed on a range of different issues.
22:24That was when Stuart actually got to the studio that Friday the 13th
22:28cursed coming in there to go stuck in traffic at the beginning.
22:32But we actually have a clip from some of their fiery debates around the NHS.
22:36Let's take a little look at it now.
22:38So absolutely, the NHS needs funding.
22:41It needs funding properly.
22:42It doesn't need the private sector coming in and taking loads of cash away from it.
22:47I've witnessed it.
22:48Claire's never worked in the NHS as far as I'm aware.
22:51I've spent my entire life in the NHS.
22:54Then you will know that the productivity rates within hospitals,
22:57there are an awful lot of people employed whose jobs aren't actually necessary.
23:01And I agree that we need more clinicians.
23:02Oh, no, no, come off it.
23:04You please cannot tell me that there are so many pen pushes
23:07and middle managers and diversity officers.
23:10Why does the NHS need so many of those?
23:13And we're transported back to the live studio just like that.
23:16An interesting one.
23:18Very feisty.
23:19Very feisty indeed.
23:20Obviously, they're both very passionate.
23:22Claire was a government adviser for the Conservative Party
23:27and still works within Parliament.
23:28Obviously, Stuart Jeffrey is one of Kent's newest council leaders.
23:32He was only put in charge of the council back in May
23:35after forming a coalition with the Liberal Democrats
23:39after a pretty indecisive set of local elections.
23:43So pretty interesting on that front.
23:45And actually, we spoke to Stuart about that
23:47because what he wants in terms of house building
23:50doesn't always align with what the government wants.
23:52The government set out some new housing targets earlier this year.
23:56And I put it to him that given he's a Green councillor,
24:00he's going to have to build houses on Greenfield sites.
24:03And here's what he said in response to that question.
24:07Will that mean there'll be no building on Greenfield sites
24:10under your coalition administration?
24:13Will we see any Greenfield sites being built on for houses
24:17given there's been a 10% increase in number of houses
24:19that Maidstone has to build?
24:21Yes, you will see houses being built on Greenfield sites.
24:24As I said, we've inherited a local plan.
24:27We cannot stop that local plan.
24:29We can't refuse it.
24:32It's in train.
24:33It's a train we cannot stop.
24:35We are working on a new local plan
24:36that will have a much better balance, we believe.
24:40But as it stands, it takes five years to write one of those.
24:44Definitely an interesting point of view
24:46from a Green councillor, a council leader there.
24:49What else has been going on in politics this week?
24:52Where to even start?
24:54From the winter fuel cuts that have been dominating Westminster
24:58and which almost all of our Ken MPs,
25:01Barbara Duffield and Ashaba Khan voted on,
25:04all the way over to changes in care charges at KCC.
25:10We're at a meeting yesterday.
25:12There were tonnes of protesters with placards
25:15protesting changes that could cost families with disabled loved ones more money.
25:22It's been a big, big week.
25:24And of course, you find out about some of these headlines on our website
25:28and on our social media, as Bartholomew said earlier in the programme.
25:32And as always, Kent Politics Show,
25:34you can catch it all on the website if you want to watch the programme.
25:38Lovely.
25:38So a great politics show, a fiery one.
25:41Bit of an unlucky Friday the 13th for Stuart Jeffery.
25:44But I tell you who's had a really lucky day today.
25:47On Friday the 13th, this Cocker Spaniel Belle.
25:50Let's have a look at her.
25:52How sweet.
25:53Well, she's finally been reunited with her owners in Sturry
25:56after being missing for more than three years.
25:59Josh Burns and partner Shelley started to lose hope
26:02after years of hitting dead ends in their search.
26:04Look how sweet she is.
26:06It's suspected she was actually taken from their back garden.
26:09But after an unexpected phone call from a dog warden in Paddock Wood,
26:14Belle had been found running loose in the area.
26:16She was identified using her microchip
26:18and she's now happily back with her family in Canterbury,
26:21who still can't quite believe it.
26:232021, she was gone.
26:25Ollie, do you think you'd find your way home after three years?
26:28I can barely get home from the studio sometimes, Abby.
26:30So I think I probably wouldn't be in the best position that she was in.
26:34But it's an incredible story.
26:35And it's one bit of good news we've had today, I think.
26:38I wonder why you always stay so late, because you can't find your way home, Oliver.
26:42Thank you very much.
26:43Have a lovely weekend, everybody.
26:44Bye-bye.