CELEBRATING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF KENT’S YOUTH
- PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

MARKING a series of significant wartime and youth-related anniversaries and celebrating the achievements of Kent’s young people is the Lieutenancy of Kent’s main theme for 2010.

At the Lieutenancy’s annual meeting on Saturday (16 January) the Lord Lieutenant, Allan Willett CMG, The Queen’s representative in the County, said 2010 marked the Cadet Movement’s 150th anniversary and the Centenary of Guiding.

It was also the 70th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation and the Battle of Britain – both heavily involving Kent, the Frontline County – and many of the young men involved were the same age as the Cadets and Guides of today.

“So I believe this year’s theme – Celebrating the Achievements of Youth in Kent, Past, Present and Future – is entirely relevant,” he said. The main themed event will be at the County Showground, Detling, on 15 May.

The Lord Lieutenant said: “It is of great importance that the young people of today understand and appreciate the sacrifices of earlier generations. It is equally important that the older generations do not write off today’s young people as soft, uncaring and troublesome, but instead hear about the positive things they are achieving, not only in uniformed youth organisations, but in clubs, as young carers and the like.”

He added: “It is our aim that this Lieutenancy will leave a legacy of pride in Kent to future generations that will sustain them in their future.”

Sixty serving and retired Deputy Lieutenants from across the County attended the annual meeting at the Royal School of Military Engineering, Chatham.

They heard that during the past year members of the Lieutenancy performed more than 700 significant duties around the County, ranging from welcoming Royal visitors to presenting awards and supporting voluntary groups as part of its Celebrating Community Involvement initiative.

SPIRIT OF KENT AWARDS PRESENTED TO BOTH LORD
AND LADY KINGSDOWN FOR CONSPICUOUS SERVICE TO KENT

CONSPICUOUS service to the County and its people was acknowledged on Saturday (16 January) with the presentation of individual Spirit of Kent Awards to both Lord and Lady Kingsdown.

The presentation took place at a lunch at the Royal School of Military Engineering, Chatham, during the Lieutenancy of Kent’s annual meeting.

The Lord Lieutenant, Allan Willett CMG, said the award had been created to acknowledge conspicuous service to the County of Kent and its people by an individual over a long period. “It is a Lieutenancy initiative in line with our aim to celebrate Kent, its unique history and culture, serve its communities – and contribute positively to its future,” he said.

Recipients are chosen by a distinguished independent panel of both elected and appointed representatives.

The Lord Lieutenant emphasised that, exceptionally, two awards were being made this year – entirely in each recipient’s own right.

He praised Lady Kingsdown for the part she played as President of Kent Red Cross in the aftermath of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster and her many other valuable voluntary services underpinning Kent’s communities.

Many organisations, from the Kent Federation of Horticultural Societies, the Mental Health Foundation, the Children’s Society, Council on Addiction, Demelza House, Age Concern, the Guides, St John, and schools of which she had been a governor, had benefited not only from her support but from her great skills as an administrator.
He told her: “This award is for the marvellous contribution you have made over many years to the well-being of Kent’s communities – and towards keeping the spirit of our great County alive.”

Of Lord Kingsdown, he said: “His contribution to our County has been extraordinary. His whole life is one of great achievement. He won the Sword of Honour at Sandhurst, served with the Grenadiers in Palestine, was called to the Bar – and then embarked on a business career which led him first to his chairmanship of NatWest, and then Governor of the Bank of England itself.”

Lord Kingsdown had been a Deputy Lieutenant for two years, Vice Lord Lieutenant for a further 10, and Lord Lieutenant for 19 years, presiding over more than 200 Royal visits including the opening by The Queen of the QE II Bridge and the Channel Tunnel.

He had been Leader and Chairman of Kent County Council, and his presidencies, patronages and memberships included a host of the County’s voluntary and community organisations and institutions.

The Lord Lieutenant told him: “We are proud of you and thank you for the marvellous contribution you have made over so many years.”

Fact File

• The unique Spirit of Kent Award is awarded at most annually, on behalf of the people of Kent – and only to someone whose service to the County has been truly outstanding.
  
  
• Previous recipients were HRH The Duke of Kent, Kent Messenger Group President Edwin Boorman and the late Lord Sandy Bruce-Lockhart.
  
  
• Recipients are chosen by panel of people holding significant positions, both elected and appointed.
  
  
• In recommending recipients the panel look for: excellence in their personal field; an exceptional level of service to the County and its varied communities; personal integrity and uncontroversial merit; no current involvement in party politics; and the likelihood that the nomination will gain wide approval across the County as a recipient of the Award.
  
  
• The award, of capstan form, is made of hallmarked sterling silver, plated in gold, ebony and coloured enamels, and is five inches (125mm) in diameter.
  
  
• It incorporates a replica of the Amherst Brooch, an ancient jewel of national importance made in Kent in the early 7th Century, and the Invicta – ‘unconquered’ – white horse badge of the County. It is the recipient’s to keep.
  
  
• The unique design has been produced by Nigel Cousins, of Kent jewellers and silversmiths T & B Cousins & Sons Ltd., of Sun Street, Canterbury.
  
  
• The Civic Service and The Spirit of Kent Award and associated presentation ceremony will be funded in perpetuity by the Allan Willett Foundation and there will be no cost whatsoever to public funds.

SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE TO THE KENT MAGISTRACY

LONG and distinguished service to the Kent Magistracy by Mrs Ann West MBE JP DL, of Chatham, has been acknowledged on her retirement with a special award from the Lord Lieutenant, Allan Willett CMG.

Lady Clarke, the link Deputy Lieutenant with the Magistracy, said Mrs
West was nominated by the Chairman of the North Kent Bench for the Lord Lieutenant’s Award which acknowledges exceptional service in performing public duty as a magistrate.

Mrs West, who is also a Deputy Lieutenant, received the commendation from the Lord Lieutenant following the Lieutenancy’s annual meeting at Chatham on Saturday (16 January). Mr Willett, The Queen’s representative in the County, chairs Kent’s Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace and their appointment.

She was first appointed as a JP on the Medway Bench in 1979 while working locally as a teacher. During the following 30 years she served on the Youth Court, the Fines Enforcement Court and the Family Panel, which she chaired before becoming the first woman chairman of the Medway Bench, which was at that time the largest Bench in Kent.

As a result of the restructuring of benches in Kent she became Chairman of the enlarged North Kent Bench, on which she served for eight years. She was on the Kent Branch of the Magistrates’ Association for 15 years and represented the South East on the National Bench Chairman’s Forum, for two years as Vice Chairman.
She has been a member of the Medway and North Kent Domestic Abuse Forums and Community Safety Partnerships.

Lady Clarke said that because of her passion for education, Mrs West was on the Steering Committee for the highly successful Schools’ Mock Trial Competition, which has involved more than 350 schools, and ran the competition at Medway.

Mrs West has been a member and former Chairman of the Independent Monitoring Board at Cookham Wood Prison.

Lady Clarke said all of this has been outside Mrs West’s day job – as teacher and Deputy Head at Cobham Hall School. She had also served on the governing bodies of two local schools and has organised overseas projects for senior students in 72 schools throughout the world who are members of Round Square.

Presenting the framed commendation, the Lord Lieutenant congratulated Mrs West on her exceptional service to the Magistracy and to Kent, and said he was proud to number her among his Deputy Lieutenants.