News

Healthier You for New Year

30 December 2017 0 Comments

Is your New Year’s Resolution about a healthier lifestyle?

Are you planning to lose weight, exercise more, quit smoking?

Before signing up for that expensive diet plan or gym membership call at the One You shop in Park Mall for free advice and support.

ONE YOU delivers a variety of free health services, support and advice including:

  • Support for quitting smoking
  • Healthy weight management for adults and children
  • Blood pressure checks
  • Support and advice on a range of lifestyle issues

With the right support and motivation you can make small changes to improve your health right away and double your chances of staying healthy as you get older.

Offering a friendly and unintimidating environment, people visit ONE YOU to ask questions and take advantage of the free health services on offer. You can drop in unannounced or arrange a scheduled appointment.

You can also get advice online at https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou

Cancelling a subscription or gym membership

If you do decide to try a diet plan or gym membership check the terms and conditions before signing and know your rights on cancelling payments:

Stopping a future payment on your debit or credit card
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/banking/stopping-a-future-payment-on-your-debit-or-credit-card/

Cancelling a gym membership
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/changed-your-mind/cancelling-a-gym-membership/

Consumer, Finance, Health, News

Can you return unwanted gifts?

27 December 2017 0 Comments

Legally you have the right to return goods that are faulty or mis-described but you don’t have the right to return unwanted goods.  Ask about the returns policy 
When buying gifts this Christmas ask the seller about their returns policy before you pay. Some sellers may have specific conditions before they will accept goods back like returning goods within a set time period, in their original container or with the tags and labels attached.

Not all sellers will offer a refund some may only offer an exchange or store credit.

Make sure you’re happy with the sellers return policy before you buy.

Your rights explained
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer

Kent County Council 15 December 2017
http://mailchi.mp/bab4ab365891/how-to-spot-fake-electrical-goods-puppy-buying-tips-and-more

Consumer, Kent County Council, News

Christmas recycling & refuse collections 2017/18

23 December 2017 0 Comments

During the festive period, your recycling and refuse collections may take place on different days. Check our calendar below – and read on for tips on how to recycle more this Christmas!

Week Normal collection day Revised collection day
Recycling Mon 25 Dec Wed 27 Dec
Tues 26 Dec Thurs 28 Dec
Wed 27 Dec Fri 29 Dec
Thurs 28 Dec Sat 30 Dec
Fri 29 Dec Tues 2 Jan
Refuse Mon 1 Jan Wed 3 Jan
Tue 2 Jan Thurs 4 Jan
Wed 3 Jan Fri 5 Jan
Thurs 4 Jan Sat 6 Jan
Fri 5 Jan Mon 8 Jan
Recycling Mon 8 Jan Tues 9 Jan
Tues 9 Jan Wed 10 Jan
Wed 10 Jan Thurs 11 Jan
Thurs 11 Jan Fri 12 Jan
Fri 12 Jan Sat 13 Jan

 

Collections will resume normal service on Monday 15 January 2018.

All refuse and recycling should be out for collection by 6am over  Christmas and New Year. Please note collections may take place up to one day later than shown.

There will be NO garden or bulk collections for two weeks; week commencing 25/12/17 and week commencing 01/01/18. Check when your garden waste will be collected over the festive period:

Recycling at Christmas and New Year!

Not sure which bin festive items go into? Check our handy guide below:

Green recycling bin

  • Christmas cards
  • Tin foil and foil serving trays
  • Champagne, wine, beer and alcohol bottles/cans
  • Paper wrapping paper
  • Christmas crackers
  • Cardboard boxes
  • Soft drink containers
  • Sweet/biscuit tins

Grey refuse bin

  • Tinsel
  • Polystyrene
  • Broken decorations
  • Foil wrapping paper
  • Bubble wrap, plastic packaging
  • Champagne and wine corks

Food caddy*

  • Leftovers
  • Turkey carcass

*Visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for handy recipes for those festive leftovers!

Don’t forget!

Put those broken Christmas lights or any electrical decorations or items in a plastic carrier bag on top of your refuse bin, and we will take them away!

Ashford’s Household Waste and Recycling Centre in Brunswick Road, Cobbs Wood Industrial Estate wil be open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Christmas tree recycling

Support Pilgrims Hospices by signing up to their Tree Recycling fundraising campaign?

Their service will cover the whole borough on 13 and 14 January, when residents can have their tree collected in return for a donation of their choice. What better way to support your local hospice this festive season!

To register, visit www.pilgrimshospices.org/treecycling or call 01233 504111.

Garden recycling and bulky item collections

Please note, as stated on your garden recycling collection calendars there will be NO garden waste or bulky item collections over the festive period; week commencing 25 December 2017 and 1 January 2018.

These collections will resume on Monday 8 January 2018.

Clinical collections

During the festive period, your clinical collections will take place on different days.

Please refer to the calendar.

Normal collection Revise collection
Mon 25 Dec Wed 27 Dec
Mon 1 Jan Wed 3 Jan
Mon 8 Jan Tues 9 Jan

 

Ashford Borough Council
www.ashford.gov.uk/the-environment/recycling-and-refuse-service/christmas-collection-dates-201718/

Ashford Borough Council, Environment, News

Top 10 Tips to Beat the Burglar this Christmas

21 December 2017 0 Comments

home_security_1

The weeks leading up to Christmas are the biggest shopping weeks of the year and for many retailers often accounts for 70% of their annual revenue. Stocking our homes with the latest electronic gadgets, computers, jewellery and must-have accessories is the norm, unfortunately though it provides thieves with the perfect incentive to commit burglaries.

Christmas; A time for giving, receiving… and taking!
Please read these tips on ensuring your home is secure over Christmas and the New Year period.

  1. Deterring would-be criminals is one of the most effective forms of crime prevention.

    Invest in a motion sensor flood-light or even some outdoor Christmas lights to highlight your home’s exterior. This will hopefully make approaching your home too conspicuous for a burglar. Highlighting the fact your possessions are security marked and registered on Immobilise using window decals provides a further warning that your goods are marked, traceable and not worth the risk of stealing!

  2. Festive lighting – be secure.

    A common mistake of many festive decorators is to feed extension cables through partially open windows, criminals know to look for this vulnerability. When it comes to outdoor lighting, opt for solar or battery operated lights or install outdoor electrical outlets.

  3. Dispose of gift packaging carefully.

    Refuse collections over the Christmas / New Year period are normally at different times. If you can’t take packaging to a recycling point, make sure you only put your rubbish out just before the collection and do your best to fold boxes so that they do not advertise your new contents of your home to thieves!

  4. Protect your Identity.

    It is good practice never to dispose of receipts and personal paperwork without first shredding it. Christmas is a time when this is especially important! Be careful though not to shred any important warranty details, make sure documents you keep are stored somewhere secure.

  5. Check doors and windows for weak spots

    Government statistics show that 30% of burglaries happen through windows. Installing a few dead-bolts and new window hinges could increase the security of your home exponentially.

  6. Keep your curtains, drapes and window blinds closed at night,

    making sure valuable items are out of sight. When going out for the evening make use of inexpensive timers to give the illusion of occupancy.

  7. Away over Christmas – plan ahead.

    If you’re going away at Christmas be sure to cancel any newspaper or milk subscriptions. Arrange for a neighbour to park on the driveway to help create the impression someone is home. Do not to leave descriptive telephone answering machine messages like “we’re away skiing for the Christmas holidays” etc and again make use of light timers.

  8. Secure garages & sheds.

    Make sure that garden tools or ladders that could be used to force entry into your home are not left lying around or accessible from an unlocked garden shed. Garages are often targets for burglars looking for tools, bikes and gardening equipment – make sure the garage is secure and your possessions are secured too in the case of bikes and tools. Naturally make sure anything portable / valuable is recorded on immobilise.

  9. Don’t hide keys & use alarms if you have them.

    Burglars know to look for hidden door keys so don’t hide spare keys under rocks, in flowerpots, or above door ledges. Instead give the spare key to family or trusted neighbour. Many houses these days have alarms, many though are rarely set, make sure yours is on and protecting your home.

  10. Register your property for FREE on Immobilise


    at http://www.immobilise.com . This is a national property database that the Police can access and search if we recover suspected stolen property. We regularly search houses of suspected criminals, we check second hand dealers, and visit car boot sales and we have a device that can identify stolen property if the bar code is registered. Don’t let them get away with your gear. Get it logged. Get it back.Most mobile phones have a unique identifier such as a serial number or an IMEI number (International Mobile Equipment Identity) which can found easily by pressing the following keys on your mobile handset: * # 0 6 # . If your gift doesn’t have a unique identifier there are several affordable marking kits available (i.e. Smart Water / untra-violet pens). Contact your local PCSO for further advice.Hopefully your property will not be targeted by burglars but we do hope some of the advice provided helps to keep your home safe over the seasonal period and into the new year.

Lucas Fire & Security Ltd
http://www.lucasfireandsecurity.co.uk/news/christmas-home-security-10-tips-beat-burglar/

Crime, News, Security

Enjoy the festive season safely…

21 December 2017 0 Comments

Christmas message
How safe will your family be over the Christmas holidays?

This festive season, Kent Fire and Rescue Service would like people across Kent and Medway to have fun, but to make ‘family fire safety’ top of their Christmas lists.

For many people, like our very own Byrnes family, the festive period is an opportunity to spend more time at home, use candles and fairy lights and have a few drinks, but all of these activities can increase the risk of fire.

And while fire safety is important throughout the year, added distractions of Christmas make it especially important to be vigilant during the festive season.

Make Christmas memorable for the right reasons

Too many electrical items plugged into the same socket can cause a fire

Electrics and Christmas lights

Removing batteries from smoke alarms for toys or gadgets could put your family at risk

Smoke alarms and escape plans

Allowing a cigarette to burn on its own could cause a fire

Smoking

 Place candles away from anything that could catch fire

Christmas trees and decorations

Make sure flames are out before you leave the room

Open fires and log burners

Its easy to get distracted - keep looking while your cooking

Cooking

 

Kent Fire and Rescue Service 20 December 2017
www.kent.fire-uk.org/news/campaigns/christmas-safety/

News, Safety

Health watchdog consults on future aims

18 December 2017 0 Comments

Shaping our Future

Healthwatch

Opens: 08 November 2017
Closes: 03 January 2018

Healthwatch the independent national champion for people who use health and social care services, launched in 2012. Since then, in partnership with local Healthwatch, they have worked hard to understand what people want from care services and make sure that those who run services hear these views.

They are now developing their strategy for 2018 – 2023.

Between June and September 2017, they asked the public, professionals and local Healthwatch a number of questions to help shape their future focus. They invite you to take part in the next phase of their strategy.

They asked people where they should focus their efforts to have the biggest impact.

The ideas people shared largely focussed on the following areas:

  • Working to improve existing care, particularly the access people have to support, and the avoidable differences in people’s experience of health and social care across the population.
  • Mental health and care for older people were also common issues where people wanted to see improvements.
  • Making it easier for more people to have an equal say in decisions that affect them by tackling barriers, such as public awareness and professional attitudes.
  • Ensuring that communities are involved in shaping future health and social care services.
  • Supporting a stronger, more consistent Healthwatch network – from the service the public receives, to the way the network works together to achieve change.
  • Maintaining the independence of the network and working in partnership with others to improve health and social care services.

What this means for their work

People’s feedback has helped inform the development of three aims for their future.

  1. Empowering you and your community to have your say

    We want to make sure people can access the information they need to take control of their health and care, make informed decisions and shape the services that support them.

  2. Providing a high quality Healthwatch service for you

    We want to support a consistently high quality Healthwatch service for people who want to share their views or find information about health and social care. We also want to help local Healthwatch to champion people’s views effectively and make sure that local health and social care services truly reflect people’s needs.

  3. Making sure your views help improve health and social care

    We want people’s views to drive health and social care – ensuring you get access, on an equal basis with others, to support that works for you, as well as helping to shape future services for your community.

Download “Shaping our Future”
www.healthwatch.co.uk/sites/healthwatch.co.uk/files/20171107_-_shaping_our_future.pdf

They would like to hear your views on these aims.

Have your say via the Healthwatch website
www.healthwatch.co.uk/resource/shaping-our-future

Consultation, Consumer, Health, News

ABC Property Company to invest in Travis site

18 December 2017 0 Comments

Ashford Borough Council has announced that its property company ‘A Better Choice for Property’, is to buy apartments to be built on the Travis Perkins site on Victoria Crescent.

The purchase, the company’s biggest yet, represents a multimillion-pound investment in the town.

Tracey Kerly, Ashford Borough Council’s Chief Executive, said: “The property company demonstrates another innovative way that the Council is supporting the complex and various housing needs of a growing population.”

She added: “We are delighted to be working with Leath Park Developments on this exciting development which will be built to the council’s lifetime homes and strict space standards that go further than national prescribed space standards. We look forward to growing the business further in the coming years, with the aim of generating more revenue to maintain and enhance overall service provision.”

Darren Welch, Managing Director of Leath Park Developments (a Jenner Group Company) said: “This is another example of Ashford Borough Council’s proactive approach to providing local housing in the area and we look forward to working closely with the development team to deliver 28 high quality apartments at Victoria Crescent.”

A Better Choice for Property effectively operates as a buy-to-let investment company, targeting people in work in Ashford who can afford to rent. They are given one-year tenancies that can then be extended by further yearly increments or on a monthly rolling contract, affording flexibility to the tenants, while enabling communities to develop. The emphasis is on providing a high-quality customer experience to tenants from start to finish.

The property company has carefully grown a portfolio of 24 two, three and four-bedroom properties in the borough, ranging from flats to detached houses. The company paid interest to the council of £129,000 in the 2016-17 financial year. This money has been put towards the provision of services across the borough.

It is anticipated that in the next three years the company’s portfolio will grow to around 400-500 properties that are either in its ownership or that it is committed to owning off-plan.

Ashford Borough Council 18 December 2017
www.ashford.gov.uk/whats-on/news/property-company-expands-with-off-plan-purchase-18th-dec/

Details of the planning application can be found in our post of 6 July 2016
https://southashford.org.uk/index.php/2016/07/06/former-travis-perkins-trading-co-ltd-victoria-crescent-tn23-7hp/

Ashford Borough Council, Housing, News, Planning and Development

Christmas tree fire destroys a living room in under a minute

18 December 2017 0 Comments


A house fire, most likely sparked by faulty Christmas tree lights, envelopes a living room in a shocking 46 seconds. Fire Kills wants everyone to enjoy their Christmas. Check your Christmas tree lights are in good condition, turn them off before you go to bed and be safe at home over the festive season. Keeping your tree well watered can also prevent fire from taking hold. Fire kills – you can prevent it.

Fire Kills 10 December 2010
http://www.direct.gov.uk/firekills

News, Safety