Project’s good work to aid disadvantaged youngsters

Whilst sitting in the doctor’s waiting room the other day, I picked up a leaflet headed Ashford Health Newsletter.

Under the heading, ran the words ‘Young people in Ashford with poor mental health will benefit from emotional and wellbeing support thanks to a new project which combines counselling with exercise’.

The gist of the thing is that Sk8side will be running a project for up to 10 youngsters between the ages of 13 and 19. The idea is to deal with problems including relationships, substance misuse, self-esteem and self-harming.

The project is funded by the Ashford Clinical Commissioning Group and Ashford Borough Council. Hooray, I thought; here is something the council is doing for some of the disadvantaged youngsters.

What a change from all the selfaggrandising hype about this and that multimillion pound scheme.

Sk8side has been going for a few years now under its caring and imaginative director, Simon Woods; he can be contacted on 01233 643056 or email (simon@sk8side.org).

On Saturday, Mrs B and I went to Tenterden to sample the delights of their annual folk festival.

Among the treats on offer were some fine bands and some excellent impromptu musical sessions.

Never have I seen so many fiddlers’ elbows pumping more or less in time and tune with each other. There was also some interesting folk dancing going on but, alas and alack, there was such a preponderance of jingling, cavorting, hankie waving and stick bashing morris dancing that I could hardly wait to get home.

Indeed, there were so many of them that it was at times difficult even to make our way from one end of the High Street to the other without risking life and limb by walking in the road.

On Sunday, Mrs B. and I wandered down to have a browse around the so-called Farmers’ Market in the Lower High Street.

We could have bought chutney, fudge, olives and fairy cakes among other non-farmers’ stalls.

Chatting to one of the genuine farmers, I commented on the fact that there seemed to be far fewer stalls with a farmerish flavour than others of a more general, turn-up-atany-street-market kind. My farmer morosely agreed.

‘What a change from all the self-aggrandising hype about this and that multimillion pound scheme’