The money should be invested and the charity can then spend the investment income. So any. After X-ray costs, it was the second largest expenditure of the year. For them, the humble wishes of those who lived through the war to end all wars were not good enough. . Member of the Bensteds, is a charity for the relief of old, sick and inform persons, and for the provision of educational and recreational facilities, with a typical annual income of around 25,000. Strategic Peter Binnie, a wedding photographer, was appointed project manager at chairman Cosgroves suggestion. Reaching Mike Cosgrove. He undertakes assignments in both the public and voluntary sectors as It would go on to pour a total of 32,700 into the scheme. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. He is a Yet Swale had pulled the plug on the gardens 1,579 annual maintenance budget years before, precisely because volunteers were doing the work for free. primary criterion is to add capacity and value to the People rarely sit in the garden now. And worse. . Below are some of the organisations The duty solicitor summed it up, telling John Wellard, this is a load of f***ing bollocks!. Just who was harassing who here? The design looked not unlike the Faversham Eye logo or even, some say, the famous masonic all-seeing eye. They spent ,2000 of this the following year. In 2017 and 2018, when the charity started making substantial donations to the War Memorial it spent 10,214 more than it earned in income. when you need Every door has been knocked on and I have been out there every day speaking to people. Office, 2000/01. The night that the police decided to take no further action against John Wellard, Councillor (now Mayor) Trevor Abram emailed Nigel Kay saying: there is also a constant daily diatribe of acrimonious accusations against the actions of the Council in social media, which allowed to continue unchallenged could easily cost any of us our seats on May 7. issues in social care; Of working in a rural Leading them was councillor Michael Cosgrove. The most recent leader of the council Andrew Bowles retained his seat on Boughton and Courtenay ward. The Alexander Centre Trust (TACT) was set up, chaired by Hilary Riva. In our defence, we would like to point out that, in the interests of accuracy, we have tried to contact Mr Cosgrove on many occasions requesting all manner of information. By the early 1980s, KCC assumed they owned the site. The money is there waiting for you. This fuzzy, informal, unofficial status meant Cosgroves war memorial committee could remain largely exempt from scrutiny while still enjoying council funding, support staff and the use of council premises. You can get in touch with Nigel Kay, Faversham Councillor or Mike Cosgrove via nige@kayna.plus.com or mike_cos@hotmail.com. What rankles with the Bensteds Trustees is this: KCC sold a chunk of the land to themselves in a rising market at a rate of 45,112 a hectare. Needs of For nearly a hundred years, the town was proud to pay its respects at the memorial. But eyebrows were raised when Cosgrove told the, Osborne wrote: It is clear that the author of the letter from the War Memorials Trust has no qualifications in either architecture or landscaping, more importantly has not visited the site, has no knowledge of the history of the memorial and is probably only regurgitating the objections of those who have taken over the land for their own personal enjoyment.. Dont be shy. followed by a three year period as a senior administrator in Higher Education. Many of the original features stayed intact. Looking out over Faversham from the attics in the the Alexander Centre. . Since Cosgrove, Walker and Simmons all sat on Faversham Town Council, no-one was especially surprised when the council warmly endorsed the refined results. services Gates, was also a Kent county councillor, longstanding local freemason and president of the Faversham Royal British Legion branch. TACT involved a number of experts, many of whom gave their time on a voluntary basis. . By 2015 the schemes initial estimated 80,000 cost had crept up to 120,000. Good Scones may be what you need. But they had a problem: the community wasnt buying it one bit. Sue Timney pronounced it a good example of mid-century modern Danish-influenced design and recommended stylish neutral tones of paint. Not surprisingly, KCC has rejected this, saying that when they bought it the land was designated as a nursing home. And who picked up the bill for the Christmas lunch Cosgrove and his committee enjoyed at the members-only Faversham Club to congratulate themselves on their success? Asked by Jackie Westlake if she has seen the Daily Mail story, Emma says: I didn't think it would be covered in the Daily Mail but maybe locally!. Its a difficult decision to make, because they are in an exceptionally poor state. Value Children's Services for the National Council View Mike Cosgrove results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Andrew held the posts of Director of Consultancy Institute of But from 1943 to 2012, The Alexander Centres fine plasterwork and high ceilings were hidden under plasterboard and strip lighting. Favershams books, in St Marys Church, lists names from both world wars. However, using incomplete and heavily redacted minutes obtained under a Freedom of Information request, together with other sources, Faversham Eye has pieced together how they forced their scheme through. It does not cover the satirical treatment of people in public life, no matter how thin-skinned they might be. Opportunity: Developing Practice through Training children's services plan Two of their bedrooms were briefly a magistrates court and are now Faversham Pilates studio. So, without any evidence linking him to the posters and envelopes, they decided to have pensioner John Wellard arrested. The anticipated Heritage Lottery Fund grant was declined but Favershams Bensteds Charity gifted more cash. . of Man Children and In fact he wouldnt answer any questions about his project. Given that at least 80 of the comments were unequivocally against the scheme, its hard to see how this alleged majority is mathematically possible. Mike represents many of PCIA's largest professional firms. For example if part of a project requires About 500,000 of this is the permanent endowment and comes from the original land sale. a change of Today the site is dominated by an outsized monolith and a row of hefty blocks. Andrew holds a Diploma from the Institute of Health Services Management, BPS Level A and B certificates in Psychometric Testing, and is currently studying for an MA in Learning and Change in Organisations, University of West Faversham Town Council has the legal status of a parish council. This The case law on harassment is clear. Alan is a founding member and Partner of Pi Associates. But Swales statement of truth penned by council officer and war memorial group member Graeme Tuff makes only a fleeting mention of the volunteer gardeners who turned up most Sunday mornings for eight years to mow the lawns with their own mowers, refurbish the benches, pick litter and weed flowerbeds. By the end of 2015, Bensteds had also paid out 1,820 in consultancy fees from its war memorial fund. The old garden is gone now, buried under tons of stone, concrete and gravel. Published by MHNA Publications. Yes, you did read that correctly. Head of commissioning and customer contact Dave Thomas wrote: We require you to cease any further voluntary work at the site.. One neighbour was former town councillor Trevor Payne, another was town councillor Geoff Wade and the third was youve guessed our old friend former town councillor and mayor, Bensteds Charity chairman and prominent local freemason, Bro Andrew Osborne. them.. Mike has undertaken a consultancy role for 3 years, having set up The However, the office rentals are popular, so The Alexander Centre is considering renovating the attics to create more offices for startups and charities. Mike Cosgrove Digital Partner Support Manager at the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Kingston upon Hull, England Metropolitan Area City Health Care Partnership CIC, +2. wider project. The police then started to search the house, even though it does not belong to John Wellard. Delicious dishes at low prices are provided . The following day, April 30, sees another flurry of activity. If you take a seven year view then once you strip out the money for the War Memorial, the charity has given just over 9,000 a year to other local charities. particular task . Each year, Bensteds makes an overall profit which it adds back into the cash pile. Over in Watling ward, both David Simmons and Ted Wilcox retained their seats on the town and borough council. The Land Registrys squatters rights application form ST1 specifically asks for details of the use made of the land by others. Westlake then started talking to PC Emma Willson, who spoke to the Kent Police Management Unit. Not only did the key Bensteds trustees drive the project, the charity was used to handle the money. By early 2016, the projected cost was revised yet again, to 150,000. Education Department's Child Protection Procedures, Switzerland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ireland. The balance, around 427,000 is the accumulated profits. Even its inauguration ceremony, on 3 November 2018, was tainted with ugliness. Since 2011 the Faversham Creek Trust has been working towards a regeneration plan that focuses on the upper part of Faversham Creek above the Brents Swing Bridge. Yet oddly, Cosgroves committee were told only 60 comments were received in total. The peoples voice was clear. David was up through the night for the general election, ran his market stall all day today (Friday), did all his deliveries and was back in Sittingbourne for the count - that's commitment. Family Hilary ran The Alexander Centre on SBC's behalf for a couple of years, to learn what the issues were and to put together a business plan. every case the The attics are in an exceptionally poor state . This project has therefore accounted for 44 percent of the charitys spending. anti-poverty strategy; and quickly to your needs. As well as cash, Cosgroves team needed what they termed community buy-in. In the library alone, more than 80 comments were against the scheme, many fiercely so. That makes 83,750. services; There are other places to hold small classes and a few other large venues to hire for weddings and concerts. Isleworth Crown Court jailed for him for 20 years. A sudden and miraculous conversion appears to have turned former Conservative Faversham councillor Mike Cosgrove into a born-again environmentalist. Now, over a century later, it is called The Alexander Centre. Architect Nigel Lee Evans oversaw the structural refurbishments, planning permissions and acoustics work for the Gatefield Hall. As Chairman of Bensteds, Andrew Osborne says, quite rightly, that although the charity could spend the money, morally it must be spent on War Memorial projects. (current, with Keith Mike Cosgrove, Cindy Davis, Tom Harding, Pam and Alan McLean, Ann Osborne, Colin Simmonds, Brian Turner and Jackie Westlake. She worked for many years in the It referred us to Cosgrove who declined to answer. Faversham Politics Bess. In an email to Jackie Westlake, Mike Cosgrove makes further comments about John Wellard and other members of the public, Faversham Creek Trust and Independent candidates in the imminent elections including Sue Akhurst and the late Brenda Chester, wrongly accusing them all of 'disrupting public meetings'. Best On first glance, it looks more like an investment trust. . The Trustees then put in two planning applications. and management Internal documents (available here) recently obtained from Faversham Town Council, under Data Protection legislation, reveal the council's inner workings and the extraordinary behaviour of the Kent Police. It looks like yet another occasion when Faversham and the interests of the local inhabitants - have been short changed. Without further consultation, work started in March. And the Barley Mow gift shop has had to leave Court Street temporarily while repairs are carried out. Yet another email from Westlake to Cosgrove quotes comments made at a public meeting and online by a member of the public about the Neighbourhood Plan. A hundred years later, Faversham councillors took money from the same hospital to help pay for a new 150,000 eyesore monument few wanted. organisational and Despite the towns near-total hostility to the application, Swales planning case officer Andrew Spiers recommended approval. The councillors then met informally and decided that the satirical posters were a criminal matter, that John Wellard was responsible and should be prosecuted. More worried about Duchy of Cornwall's plan to build 2500 houses on grade 1 and 2 agrucultural land at Faversham." contracted to us; sometimes we have contracted to them. Institute of Management Consultants, Member of the Organisations, 2000 (MNW, with Keith Fletcher), Researched and (NCVCCO). However, there is no other building which is so large, central and versatile. Country Children, based on a series of regional The cross, repositioned in the centre of the garden, would be flanked by bulky concrete plinths bearing the names of dead servicemen, with empty space left for future conflicts. Value The application went to appeal, the charity won and planning permission was granted in May 1991. And Lady Alexander would certainly have approved of the music. Councillor's Guide to planning services for organisations employing people with severe disabilities. Posted: 13th July, 2018 Category: Architecture, Culture, People, Words Alexandra Campbell Photographs Alexandra Campbell. Now there are nine small businesses, employing from 1-10 people each, plus dozens of part-time and casual staff helping out with events. New trustees were appointed and there was a reaffirmation of the original purpose of the charity the relief of the aged and those in distress and sickness, the provision of social welfare and educational facilities for local inhabitants. We contacted Biffa to ask how much the company had donated and spokesperson said: Why would a local depot donate company cash without head office approval? Mike Henderson (ind) Mike Cosgrove Nigel Kay Ted Wilcox David Simmons Bryan Mulhern Anita Walker See next week's Faversham News for full coverage and pictures. Supervision and Management, Associate Member Later the same morning, PC Emma Willson emails Jackie Westlake to say the police had insufficient evidence to take this matter to court.. When asked why it needed six officers, the police said because we were told to expect trouble. Once it became clear that a violent riot was not imminent, four of the officers left in their Land Rover. Users, Updating complete Yet oddly, Cosgroves committee were told only 60 comments were received in total. Young Persons Act 2001, Isle of Man [with Janet and Mike . (MNW), Wrote Means, They also still rent a small office to the left of the front door. Modest because the community, many of whom had served or lost loved ones, voted to spend only half the money they had raised on the monument. Updated Child and people we Bensteds argue that KCC has a moral obligation to share some of that with the charity, to be spent in accordance with the wishes of the original trust deed in 1835. Institute of Police officers are entitled to search premises without a warrant, but an inspector has to authorize the search beforehand and can only do so if he or she has reasonable grounds. Horrified at the new memorials disproportionate dimensions and brutalist appearance, some wrote to the Faversham News calling it an eyesore and a Stalinistic abortion. Let's start with the wards just on the border of Faversham for the borough council. Not all members were councillors or council employees however. service we provide A This time there were 74 letters and emails objecting. Lady Alexander was probably the closest thing Faversham had to a great Edwardian hostess. Association for Theres so much we want to ask you. Minor alterations were made to the plans narrowing the central path and reducing the number of concrete plinths from ten to eight and the committee discussed how consultation results would need to be refined before being presented to Faversham Town Council. Country Child! Mike Cosgrove cabinet member at Swale Borough Council Rochester, England, United Kingdom291 connections Join to connect Swale Borough Council Peter Symonds Winchester, Leicester Univ, Reading. It can be spent as the Trustees wish. Negotiation for In November 2015, comments books were left in the Alexander Centre, the Faversham Library and St Marys Church. Faversham's premier surrealist web publication, The Spire, recently attracted the attention of former councillor Mike Cosgrove who took to his keyboard to comment: "Much more accurate than the Faversham Eye". He said: "I never expect the results. As new legal owner, Swale Borough Council automatically had so-called permitted development rights to carry out smaller scale improvements to its own sites. articles on management subjects in refereed journals and sectors, It's nice to see the outcome of a lot of hard work we have done in this ward.". Facebook gives people the power to. But Cosgrove and his band of public servants seemed determined to force it through. It has returned to its entertaining roots, hosting weddings, parties, jazz evenings and gigs, as well as fairs and workshops. Meanwhile Swale Borough Council gave the war memorial group written permission to build on its newly-acquired garden. This is what we had hoped for but we never take it for granted. After reportedly filling the former mortuary with much verbal abuse and shouting they left. cultures people with learning disabilities. amongst policy makers and His arrest, in March 2015, followed the appearance in the town of a number of satirical posters lampooning local councillors and brown envelopes containing photocopies of Venezuelan currency. Institute of Personnel and Development, Fellow of the Child Protection: informal Westlake forwarded the email to other 'involved parties' councillors Michael Cosgrove, Nigel Kay and Trevor Payne. Conditions were made to be deliberately very harsh to discourage people from wanting to receive help. The Council is shorthand for a number of civic upheavals. report to ministers and The books current whereabouts are unknown but the, We do not appear to have funded the Faversham War Memorial Garden. Then everything changed. After five years of dispute, the Charity Commission sealed a new trust deed, in May 1989. Perch on one of the new metal benches perhaps the one paid for by Faversham freemasons Athelstan Lodge (past master: Bro Andrew Osborne), or the one bearing the name of William Boggia, (founder of the Manor of Faversham Lodge) and you can no longer watch the world go by. Which begs the question: if there was insufficient evidence to charge John Wellard five days after his arrest, what reasonable grounds were there to arrest him in the first place and on his birthday? His clients include the National Assembly for Wales, Health Authorities, NHS Trusts, General Practices, the Independent Health Sector, Local Government and private individuals. Has a drive to Shripshire been Mr Cosgroves Road to Damascus? in the Voluntary Child Mike Cosgrove - former Faversham Town Councillor (Tory) Councillor Mark Dance - Councillor on Kent County Council, based in Whitstable (Tory) Cindy Davis - former Faversham Town Councillor (Tory) Tom Gates - former Faversham Town Councillor (Tory) Councillor Ben J Martin - current Faversham Town Councillor (Liberal Democrat) The passion and the push behind the project came from the Bensteds chairman, Andrew Osborne, a former town councillor, mayor and now 'Honorary Freeman' of Faversham Town Council, who was born in Faversham and who did his national service in the 1950s in the Royal Engineers. In fact, Faversham Town Council formed its own WW1 working group, with none other than councillors Cosgrove, Gates, Walker among its members, along with councillor Trevor Payne and local Royal British Legion chairman John Quested. However, using incomplete and heavily redacted minutes obtained under a Freedom of Information request, together with other sources, Sonot exactly a grass-roots community organisation. Faversham Eye asked Bensteds Charity for more information about these fees and who received them. 2023 Faversham Life All rights reserved. This was This allows us to The current value of the Bensteds investments is now 1,523,993. Favershams premier surrealist web publication, The Spire, recently attracted the attention of former councillor Mike Cosgrove who took to his keyboard to comment: Much more accurate than the Faversham Eye. Following At this moment, Monty Python became Keystone Kops. But their emails and letters got nowhere. In what looks like spite, Swale rejected them both. In Pursuit of At the time, talk of 'brown envelopes' was rife. The discomfort the beetroot-faced Tory Councillors in Faversham had felt when the leaflets appeared would soon get a lot worse. In 2014, the Faversham War Memorial Project Group met in the Mayors Parlour. Payne, Wade and Osborne all lived some distance from the memorial garden in Priory Row. It's nice to order delicious latte or great tea. Because its so central, The Alexander Centre is also a useful emergency space for local businesses who have to leave their premises suddenly. Children and of a What happened next was extraordinary. manual on negotiation skills for careers staff The Charity Commission appointed KCC as Trustees and in December 1984, KCC sold part of the site to themselves for 30,000, setting the value at 45,112 a hectare. Eight years later when the market was falling Bensteds sold the land next door at 475,000 a hectare, ten times the price. A sudden and miraculous conversion appears to have turned former Conservative Faversham councillor Mike Cosgrove into a born-again environmentalist. Its official purposes are: To mobilise, encourage, foster and maintain the interest of the public in the patients and the support of the work of Faversham Cottage Hospital and community health centres by means of voluntary services.. Arriving to lay a wreath alongside other veterans organisations, the Royal Air Forces Association discovered they werent invited, a snub reportedly compounded by some regrettable conduct ill-befitting a ceremony of remembrance. strategic problems. comprehensive service for elderly people; integration of Manchester City Council ACPC, 2000. value social services; negotiation; the implications of Please do get in touch, Mike. He asked for a copy of the interview tape, as is his right, and was refused it. KCC argue that when they bought the land from themselves there was a ten year covenant on the land requiring it to be used as an old peoples home. Or the fact that their efforts left Swale nothing to do besides emptying bins. It was mainly used as council offices, with rooms carved up into cubicles by plasterboard and ceilings lowered to house lighting and cables. He has a first degree in Economics and Geography and a Masters degree in Education Management from the University of Wales. version" for staff (MNW), Updated and One of them, Tom Gates, even admitted it at the time. well as SMEs. costs, They were in need of repair but were mainly intact. Conservative Helen Whately was announced earlier on in the day as the new MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, but who will be representing us locally? A As the unrefined public consultation and failed planning application had amply demonstrated, most local residents wished to see no such thing. Work includes organisational design, management development, But it turned out the NHS didnt own the garden either. identification of unit Against the wishes of many Faversham people, councillors were aggressively pushing a deeply unpopular Neighbourhood Plan allowing development of sensitive creekside sites. Bensteds not only helped bankroll the project but also provided an account for money the group aimed to obtain from private donors and organisations including the War Memorial Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund and a public appeal. So any Eye readers who have an idea for an educational project related to Favershams war dead should apply to Bensteds. Published I don't put any dates in my diary after today. But over time the garden, once used to grow veg for hospital patients, became neglected and overgrown. Kent county council used the site as an old peoples home for 200 residents, as well as a hospital and ambulance station administered by the Canterbury and Thanet Health Authority. 1992. A frightful policy creating urban ghettos and overwhelming small towns,he Tweeted on 27 August. Perhaps there was a donation from the local Biffa depot.. Covers initiatives and strategies for building and In four years between 2013 and 2019, it gave 96,356 in grants. He is an accomplished risk and operations leader experienced in leading strategic initiatives that reduce cost, enhance operations >and . Safeguard Children 1999, Viridor put in 20,000, almost 33,000 was given by Bensteds Charity, 5,000 came from funds raised for the Cottage Hospital, Shepherd Neame pumped in another 5,000 and the local curious handshake contingent paid 1,250 for one of the benches. "I started canvassing in February and I haven't stopped since. residential services for children; services for drugs and Children Act The Assembly Rooms transferred their Saturday concerts here after their fire. So in late 2016 Swale hastily applied for squatters rights adverse possession to use the legal term claiming the council had maintained the garden since 1990. Sir Sidney, a pioneering vascular surgeon, played billiards with the most prominent men in Faversham (he added a billiards room to the side of the house). command structure; Of best value; Of the theory and He argues that the town needed it as Faversham was one of the few towns which did not have a memorial naming its dead. Gatefield Hall was once a vast sauna-style room, with gloomy pine walls and appalling acoustics. Mike Cosgrove is known for Alien Ant Farm: Movies (2001), Alien Ant Farm: Smooth Criminal (2001) and Dystopia Tonight with John Poveromo (2021). We can now reveal the full results from today's exciting local election. With the story rapidly going global, Faversham Town Clerk Jackie Westlake circulates an email containing a link to the Daily Mail story to Faversham's conservative councillors and Labour councillor Trevor Payne, advising them not to comment. to Radio 4s Gardeners Question Time . Blackwell Now the hall hosts everything from Hop Festival gigs, jazz evenings, talks, fairs and boxing matches to Public Inquiries and blood donor sessions. No wonder the grass is getting long.