Fundraising for Mental Health Foundation The Connor Mackay Cup 2024, 11 May 2024 In memory of Connor Mackay The Connor Mackay Cup is a charity football tournament dedicated to Connor Mackay, who lost his life in 2019 after a long battle with his own mental health, at the age of just 22. Connor was an incredible young man with the absolute world at his feet. He was a kind, intelligent, talented man (not to mention his witty and sometimes politically incorrect sense of humour!) For anyone that knew Conn, we can all say he truly was a one in a million. For someone with so much energy and talent, it was such a loss to all of us, especially that his life ended so early and the way it did. Our lives will never be the same again. Since Connor left us physically, it became very important to us as a family that we try to do whatever we possibly can to ensure that anyone else struggling with their mental health gets the support they need, so that no one ever has to go through the same feelings that Connor once did. Out of all of Conn’s various hobbies and interests throughout his life, one remained consistent - football - and his love for Barcelona and Lionel Messi! So it felt right that we chose to remember Connor and keep his memory alive through hosting an annual charity football tournament. Since our first tournament back in 2021, we have raised over £10,000 for mental health and for the Mental Health Foundation - these events also include Tough Mudders, a marathon, charity hair shaves - and this is all because of your kindness in willing to help the cause! However, building a sense of community and talking about mental health means so much more to us as a family - raising funds for charities is one thing, but actually taking action and breaking the stigma surrounding mental health is so important. We hope that by hosting this charity football tournament, this will give us all a chance to not only get together to remember Conn, but to also speak up and get talking to each other. Hope to see you all there. 😊 www.justgiving.com/page/connor-mackay4 The Mental Health Foundation is the UK’s charity for everyone’s mental health. With prevention at the heart of what they do, the Mental Health Foundation aim to find and address the sources of mental health problems so that people and communities can thrive. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk

Rochester Cathedral hosts magnificent photographic ‘portraits’ of all 42 English Anglican Cathedrals by the late Magnum photographer Peter Marlow, from 19 March to 3 April. Peter Marlow, Rochester Cathedral, 2010 © Peter Marlow Foundation/ Magnum Photos Rochester Cathedral, UK, England’s second oldest cathedral and home to Britain’s second oldest door dating back to 1080, will host the next stage of an ambitious tour of works by the late Magnum photographer, Peter Marlow. Peter Marlow: The English Cathedral is a free and exceptional photographic exhibition chronicling all 42 naves of England’s Anglican cathedrals in natural light with all modern artificial light turned off and is on show from 19 March - 3 April 2024. Organised by the Peter Marlow Foundation, the charity set up to continue Peter’s legacy, the aim is that this ethereal collection of images will exhibit at each of the 42 cathedrals he visited on his photographic pilgrimage across England. The exhibition at Rochester Cathedral will be on display in the South Transept during normal cathedral opening hours. The Cathedral website has details of when the site is closed for services and private events - www.rochestercathedral.org Founded in 604 AD with the present building dating back to 1080, Rochester Cathedral has numerous points of historic interest. It was a major place of pilgrimage in the 13th Century, its worn ‘Pilgrim Steps’ paying testament to the countless visitors’ footsteps, and Charles Dickens’ very last, unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, featured a cathedral in a city called Cloisterham which many believe to be Rochester Cathedral as the writer lived nearby. In hosting the exhibition, Peter Marlow: The English Cathedral, Rochester Cathedral invites its visitors to embark on a visual journey through the lens of Peter Marlow, capturing the essence of the Cathedral and its Gothic architecture in a play of natural light with all modern artificial lighting turned off. Peter’s portrayal of the cathedral evocatively transports the viewer back to the site’s medieval roots by inviting contemplation of its dramatic interior in the absence of artificial lighting. The Very Reverend Dr Philip Hesketh, AKC DL Dean of Rochester, says of the exhibition, “It is wonderful to have all the Cathedrals together in one place, to speak, and see their full glory alongside one another. Worth a visit!” As well as coinciding with Easter and Holy Week, Peter Marlow: The English Cathedral will also be on display alongside the Fenland Black Oak project - a spectacular 13 metre long table created from a 5000 year old Fenland Black Oak. On tour across the UK it acts as a unique ‘Table for the Nation’. Peter Marlow (b. UK, 1952 - 2016) was commissioned in 2008 by Royal Mail on the 300th year anniversary of the completion of St Paul’s Cathedral to photograph six Anglican Cathedrals that were issued as commemorative stamps. So taken was he by these initial magnificent interiors that he set out to photograph all 42, guided over the next three years by a copy of English Cathedrals (1989) by Edwin Smith and Olive Cook and a pack of Anglican Cathedrals of England Top Trumps Cards. “What I thought was going to be incredibly simple became intricate, complicated, and utterly absorbing. The journey was memorable and wonderfully hypnotic, a kind of reflective pilgrimage. My cathedral days involved hours of driving and thinking, with my reference Polaroids drying in the sun on the dashboard. England passed by.” Peter Marlow, The English Cathedral. The images appear deceptively simple in their composition and technical set-up. It was after much experimentation that Peter developed the perfect strategy to document these huge interior spaces and to highlight the many varied architectural nuances between the buildings. Shooting on large format film using only natural light, he set up in the same position at all but one of the cathedrals - looking east towards the nave and altar as the dawn light streamed through the main window. By ensuring all artificial lighting was turned off, a rarity in many of these buildings whose lights remain on constantly, he captured the cathedrals emerging from the darkness as if suspended in time and removed from the modern age. This end result can be regarded as a contemporary update to the long tradition of church photography in England, namely Frederik Evans’ late 19th century imagery and Edwin Smith’s mid-20th century work. Peter Marlow photogra phing St Edmunds bury Cathedral, Suffolk, by Peter’s assistant, Marcio Suster, 2012 © Peter Marlow Foundation/Magnum Photos Peter’s remarkable photographs bring into sharp relief the full splendour of the interiors of some of England’s most magnificent buildings, great symbols of spiritual and architectural power. “When immersed in Peter’s photographs we are metaphorically in some kind of contemplative enclosure, if not a sanctuary: one that confronts us with our own sense of being. The forms captured here are simultaneously concrete and abstract: containers of history, light and, above all, space. Despite of, and in parallel with, the undeniable structure of the architectural edifice, Peter captures the intangible essence of all form that is generated by creative force: the enduring mystery of space within space.” Martin Barnes, The English Cathedral. A sold-out monograph of Peter Marlow’s The English Cathedral was published by Merrell in 2012 with a second edition in 2015. Featuring texts by Martin Barnes, Senior Curator of Photographs at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) London, and John Goodall, architectural editor of Country Life magazine, it also includes Peter’s own account of his ‘cathedral days’ as well as his technical commentary of how he achieved these intensely detailed images. The initiation of The English Cathedral tour was generously funded by the Victoria and Albert Museum and their Photographs Acquisition Group. A full set of the prints are held in the V&A’s permanent collection. Following the exhibition at Rochester Cathedral, Peter Marlow: The English Cathedral will show in 2024 at the following cathedrals: • Peterborough Cathedral, 14th May - 13th June 2024 • Derby Cathedral, 18th June - 14th July 2024 • Chester Cathedral, 10th September - 1st October 2024 Peter Marlow: The English Cathedral has previously been hosted by Coventry Cathedral in 2016; Ely Cathedral in 2017; Portsmouth and Blackburn in 2019; Carlisle, Winchester, Ripon, Southwell, Bradford, St Albans, and St Paul’s in 2022; Hereford, Newcastle; St Edmundsbury; Wakefield;Lincoln; and Wells in 2023; and Manchester Cathedral at the start of 2024. Many more of the cathedrals featured in the series are lined up for the years to come. For more information about the Peter Marlow: The English Cathedral tour and the Peter Marlow Foundation contact: Sam Trenerry samtrenerry@yahoo.com/ +44 (0)7780 991 811 For more information on the programme at Rochester Cathedral contact: Rebecca Peachey, Commercial and Marketing Manager, rebecca.peachey@rochestercathedral.org

Neil here with a March update. It’s been a busy start to the year! Love Medway Magazine is back in print, and we continue to gradually deveolop the radio station. ASK ALEXA! You can now download a Love Medway Radio skill from Amazon and play the station on your Alexa device! FEELING ‘APPY Dedicated Love Medway Radio apps are incoming! The iOS one is nearly ready for launch, but we need help with Android. Please see here for more info. HERE IS THE NEWS You will now hear news bulletins on Love Medway Radio! Supplied by Radio News Hub, they appear at the top of the hour at certain times of day. There will also be sport, business, showbiz plus longer lunch and evening programmes on weekdays, as well as specials such as the recent Marie Curie Day of Reflection presented by Gaby Roslin. SCHEDULE NEWS Dan has a new ”proper“ job – one that pays money – so sadly we won’t hear as much of his raucous laughter on air for the time being. BUT! New recruits DJ Timmy G and Lee Everest bring a distinctly weekend dance flavour to the station. Tim’s mix can be heard on Saturday, and Lee hosts Ready For the Weekend on Fridays plus the Dance Party on Saturdays (replacing Dan’s Get Your Bangers Out). Together with Amy, Onyx, Kayleigh, and Liz, we have a growing team of volunteers. But we need more… YOUR STATION NEEDS YOU! We still have a long way to go before the daytime schedule is fully populated by live presenters. Breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, afternoon and drive are essential live slots for a radio station and currently we’ve only magaged one – that’s me doing breakfast. If you or anyone you know in Medway has any broadcast experience and would like to be involved in this new local station, please email neil@lovemedway.co.uk for more info. At the moment we have no income; we’re operating from home on a shoestring budget so we need volunteers. But the ambition is to create a local radio business. FEEDBACK Please tune in and give us some feedback. What do you want from a local radio station? Is there anything we could be doing differently? What would you like to hear?

WHAT’S ON IN MEDWAY See more events on our Facebook page Also see our Instagram stories Or join the Love Medway Facebook Group – 1.9k members and growing! Family Friendly Pub Quiz Nag’s Head, Rochester 20 April READ Vintage Clothing Fair The Moat House Hall 11 May READ Fenland Black Oak Table Rochester Cathedral Until 23 April READ 4 Paws at the Fort Fort Amherst 25 & 26 May READ Rochester Art Fair The Corn Exchange 3-5 May READ Concrete Castles Royal Engineers Museum Until 22 December READ The Connor Mackay Cup Sheppey United FC 11 May READ Theatre in Chatham Central Theatre Various dates READ

< Community Gifting Christmas wishlist to bring smiles to patients this Christmas Love Medway Team 30 Nov 2023 Could you spare a few pounds to buy a gift for someone in hospital this Christmas? The Medway Hospital Charity has set up an online gift wishlist to bring cheer to patients this festive season. Donating through the Amazon wishlist makes it easy for you to support patients from the comfort of your own home. Each item has been carefully picked by our hospital staff and all presents will be delivered directly to the hospital, with prices starting at just £2.59. Items on the wishlist include toys, books, puzzles, snuggly blankets and games. The most expensive item is a video projector at £339.99 and the cheapest are pencil sharpeners at £2.59. Donna Law, Charity and Fundraising Manager, said: “We are extremely grateful for all donations received. We know times are tough for many people at the moment but if you can spare a few extra pounds this Christmas our patients will really appreciate it. “Last year’s wishlist was a huge success with more than 100 items donated by our generous community and we were able to deliver your gifts to the children’s ward, children’s community and outreach team, maternity department and wards caring for older patients. “These presents make a huge difference to patients in hospital at Christmas because it’s always nice to know someone is thinking of you.” To browse and see if there is anything you’d like to gift, please visit https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3U07QJXT26GGF Gifts will be delivered directly to the hospital and delivered to patients during the Christmas period. If you don’t have an Amazon account and would like to buy a gift, you can buy Christmas activity packs for our young patients, colouring pens, word searches, board games and playing cards. Gifts can be posted to The Medway Hospital Charity, Office 2 ME.153, Main Reception, Medway Maritime Hospital, Windmill Road, Gillingham, Kent ME7 5NY or you can drop them off at the volunteer desk in the hospital’s main reception. For more information about The Medway Hospital Charity, and how to support their work, please visit www.medwayhospitalcharity.org.uk or find them on Facebook or email medwayft.charity@nhs.net .

< Back Dance Party Weekly Saturdays 4-7pm Dance music saw some of its finest hours a few decades ago. Like some of us, it grew up in the ‘80s but came of age in the ‘90s with that distinctive sound which became the soundtrack to some of the best (and not so best) times. Dance Party aims to keep having the best times by bringing a party to you every week featuring the hottest new tracks and the best of the classics that we all know & love. dan@lovemedway.co.uk 07405 394398