Catch up with all the latest news from across the county with Abby Hook
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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 27th of December.
00:35Drought in December, strewed homes still without water five days after a pipe burst.
00:41Even to just go to the loo, it meant going up to my son's which fortunately is just up
00:47the road.
00:48Yeah, it's horrible.
00:49A goal for charity, Maidstone United Football Club kicking Christmas poverty with festive
00:57food donation.
00:58Food can be the big difference between a happy Christmas and a not so happy Christmas.
01:05And mosaics mark history, Medway School unveils artwork celebrating their 125th anniversary.
01:14Children stood in the same spot that they're standing in today, in a very different world.
01:21First this evening, for five days now, some homes in Strewd haven't had running water.
01:33Up to 1,000 properties lost the use of their taps, showers and toilets just before Christmas
01:38Eve.
01:39Southern Wards have been working to restore services in the Medway town since and have
01:43now found the leak.
01:44Finn McDermid has been speaking to those without running water over Christmas.
01:50Across the county, before the big day, many were making Christmas wishes.
01:54But in Strewd, some people's only Christmas wish was to have running water.
01:58Now the majority of the 1,000 properties in Strewd do have their water back after up to
02:02four days of disruption.
02:05But there are a few remaining without water around the area of the Gunn Lane and A2 intersection.
02:11Since 5am on December 23rd, there were 1,000 properties that weren't able to use their
02:15hose pipes, taps or even toilets.
02:18And now it's been whittled down to just 11 homes.
02:22But for them, they've had five days of disruption during what should be a time of celebration.
02:27And it wasn't just homes.
02:29Some businesses, like this independent pharmacy, were also affected, meaning they couldn't
02:32give out prescriptions or have normal hygienic practices.
02:35Thankfully, Southern Water and their team were able to find the source of the leak after
02:39working through the night and using workers from other sites, right outside Strewd's QuickFit,
02:44one of the remaining properties now on their fifth day without water.
02:48I actually came in on my day off, I'd come down with my girlfriend and I had one of my
02:51colleagues shouting, we've got no water!
02:53And that's when I found out.
02:55We've had to turn away a few customers just because of the busyness.
02:58We have to run everything kind of manually, not everything's done properly now or normal
03:02bits, running the background, all done.
03:04So we've had to turn around because we've got a bit more on our plate recently.
03:07Because of the potentially dangerous effects of motor fluids and the lack of water to clean
03:11or sanitise them, it's impacted the businesses' ability to serve their customers.
03:16But it's not just the people who still lack water that suffered over the past five days.
03:21Over nearly a three-day period, it was excruciating.
03:29Because my central heating had packed up, because of the loss of water pressure, I had
03:34no heating, obviously no water, even to just go to the loo, it meant going up to my son's,
03:44which fortunately is just up the road.
03:46Yeah, it's horrible.
03:49Michael's lived in Strood for 39 years and says he's never experienced disruption like this,
03:54but he was thankful that his water was restored on Christmas morning.
03:58A Southern Water spokesperson said we're very sorry that a small number of customers in
04:02Strood are experiencing ongoing disruption to their water supply.
04:06We've arranged further bottled water deliveries, are redirecting water around our network where
04:10possible and are working to fix this complex underground leak as quickly as possible.
04:15While many in Strood were able to celebrate their holidays in heated homes with running
04:18water, those still without the utility will undoubtedly have been disappointed over the
04:23Christmas period. Finn McDermid for CAME TV in Strood.
04:28Maidstone United Football Club pitched in to help stop the shells of a food bank this
04:32Christmas. Working with Maidstone Borough Council, the team brought food, drinks and
04:36supplies to Trinity Church Food Bank, which has seen its largest increase in users because
04:41of the festive season. Henry Lark went down to see how simply having enough food in the
04:46cupboards makes all the difference.
04:49From shooting goals to saving people from hunger, Maidstone United Football Club have
04:55raised money from their first home team game, all for one big donation of food, supplies
05:02and toys for families who are struggling during the cost of living crisis, especially
05:08with the festive season once again upon us.
05:12Obviously with it being Christmas, a lot of people are struggling and we wanted to make
05:17a difference in our community and try and help out anyone that possibly could not have
05:22a good Christmas. We're making it a little bit better by making sure they get plenty
05:26of food because obviously food can be the big difference between a happy Christmas and
05:33a not so happy Christmas.
05:35The Trinity Church Food Bank has seen more than 120 people booked for collection on the
05:42week of Christmas, when it usually sees around 90 to 95 users turn up at their doors.
05:51We've got about 120 people coming today who are desperately in need of food and the donation
05:57from Maidstone Stones in the community has just been incredible. All that vegetables
06:04and all the tin stuff and what's really good is we've got loads of festive gifts as well
06:10which we don't normally have nice gifts to give away so that's fantastic.
06:14Thanks to their fundraiser, Maidstone United Football Club managed to raise around £800.
06:22It's a tough time over Christmas so the more help that we could give the better it's going
06:28to be and like I say I'm very proud of the group, not only the academy but the football
06:33club plus our £125 managed to raise over £800 this weekend so very well done to everyone at the club.
06:42Thanks to Maidstone United's food drive, it's let families in the area get food and items
06:49that would have been otherwise too expensive like fresh fruit and vegetables like peppers.
06:55With more families making the choice between heating or eating, Maidstone United Football
07:02Club are letting the public know that they're in their corner. Henry Luck in Maidstone.
07:10One school in Medway is going back in time more than a century to show students what
07:15life was like for a Victorian school. The Gordon's Children Academy has been marking
07:19its 125th anniversary by dressing up and re-enacting what lessons would be like all those years
07:26ago. The students have been learning how the world has changed in those 125 years. Daisy
07:32Page captured their new plaque being unveiled marking a new point in history.
07:37With a standing tour instrued for 125 years, the Gordon's Children Academy celebrates
07:42its anniversary by taking a step back in time. The community was welcomed to look at the
07:46history and for some to reminisce their time there. With students and staff re-enacting
07:51what their school was like over a century ago, it demonstrated how learning has changed
07:55over the years. It's been a fantastic opportunity for the children to really connect with the
08:01history of our school, really thinking hard about the fact that 125 years ago children
08:06stood in the same spot that they're standing in today, in a very different world, and I
08:10think that's been quite a powerful experience for them. They've really enjoyed connecting
08:15with the heritage of this building and thinking about the ways in which our world and country
08:20and community have changed in the 125 years. And the teachers dressed and taught the part
08:25with etiquette lessons, Victorian outfits and some tricky maths questions.
08:30What's 2 times 3? 6. Good. You boy. 15 times 225.
08:38But what do the students make of the old methods? It gives us an opportunity to learn about
08:44what our school's past was like and I feel like that's important to every single student
08:50here. I feel like it was quite interesting learning about it because it was obviously
08:56normal to them but it's completely different to us now. With the halls filled with popular
09:00Victorian music, and artwork inspired by the late 1800s, each student has left their mark
09:12on the school for many more years to come. So for our 125 year anniversary we've got
09:17the children all to contribute to creating these mosaics. We've still got the work from
09:22the 100 year celebrations that we've displayed elsewhere in the school, but the children
09:26have all had a part in being part of these mosaics that will be part of the school for
09:31a long time and they've been really excited about the fact that they have all had the
09:35opportunity to lay a tile. They were created from a mixture of student drawings and three
09:40have been completed and are now part of the school. The last mosaic has been placed here
09:44so the community can come and be a part of the history by placing their own tile. Taking
09:48part, I placed my own tile. Once this mosaic has been completed, it will join the others
09:53and become a part of the school. And with the big reveal of the other three plaques,
09:57they hope they will remain there for more centuries to come. Daisy Page for KMTV. Now
10:03let's see what the weather's doing for the last few days of 2024.
10:12Tonight expect the misty conditions to continue, lows of 3 degrees in the south of the county
10:17with low winds too. Tomorrow morning staying much of the same. Temperatures rising to
10:21highs of 5 degrees, still rather misty too. And conditions aren't changing much over the
10:26course of the afternoon. Temperatures rising to highs of 6 in the far north and south.
10:31And here's your outlook for Kent. Expect to feel slightly warmer as 2024 sees itself out.
10:37Cloudy skies with highs of 10 on New Year's Eve.
10:48And finally this evening, were you as brave as this lot on Boxing Day? Hundreds took to
10:53Kent's coastlines for a festive cold water swim. Julie McIntosh captured this timed run
10:58into the sea at the Lees in Minster. The Boxing Day dip is usually done for charity where
11:03many swimmers put on fancy dress and go for a swim no matter the weather. There are several
11:08held around Europe too and many take on the water on New Year's Day as well. A very quick
11:12dip though this morning, many swiftly turning around. One lucky, sensible and warm paddle
11:17boarder and a boat keeping everyone safe there. I think they had the right idea. Would you
11:21rather be like Julie holding the camera or perhaps you've been inspired too? You want
11:25to take a cold water swim on New Year's Day and start the new year very fresh indeed.
11:31Well that's it from us this evening on KMTV but straight after the break we have a Kentonite
11:35special looking back at the key sporting moments from 2024 with Bartholomew Hall. I'll see
11:41you soon. Bye bye.