Join Isabelle Miller and Cameron Tucker with all the latest news for Kent, in the morning!
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00:00First, council tax, energy bills, water, stamps, car tax, TV licence, broadband, prices, for
00:26all of these have gone up.
00:28Yeah, it's been called Awful April. Millions of us here in Kent and across the country
00:33face sharp rises in pretty much everything across the board.
00:37The exact amount extra that consumers will pay will depend on where they live and their
00:42personal circumstances.
00:44Despite some respite, including an increase in the minimum wage and a modest rise in most
00:49benefits, budgets are expected to be squeezed.
00:52Phil McDonough has more.
00:55They're calling it Awful April, and with it comes price rises across the board, from
00:59energy and water to car tax and even the TV licence.
01:03So in Gravesend, are people feeling the sting of the simultaneous price hike, or has it
01:07just become something we're getting used to?
01:09Well certainly at the moment having received the annual water bill for this coming year
01:15where it's gone up virtually 50%, I understand the reasons why but it doesn't make it very palatable.
01:21I think food, it's gone up such a lot already before obviously April started so that is
01:28my biggest outlay.
01:29My wife died like 10 years ago, you know 12 years ago so yeah, everything's on my own
01:34now you know so all the bills that come in, you know, is quite a lot really.
01:41I think it's practically everything really these days, you know, I can only, my heart
01:44goes out to sort of people with young families and elderly mainly but I mean, you know, it's
01:49terrible for everyone.
01:50Now energy bills are some of the biggest expenses for households in the country and it's set
01:54to have its cap on costs go up by 6.4% to £111, bringing the average annual bill to
02:02£1,849 for the average household.
02:06But this isn't just for heating up homes, business owners also have to worry about keeping
02:10the lights on in their shops, and that bigger bills mean less chance of people spending
02:14their money in the high street.
02:16So like this kind of shops, home decoration, they have less money to spend in that because
02:22they don't have enough money.
02:23When you have enough money you can spend extra things to make your home beautiful.
02:28Now many businesses in Kent and here in Gravesend are worried about how these price rises, whether
02:33it's bills or food, will affect how many customers come through their doors, while
02:37others are saying that at this point they're just used to prices going up and up.
02:41I haven't seen a decrease in sales recently, I'm not expecting there to be a decrease
02:46in sales in April.
02:48People didn't have any money in the first quarter of the year, they're not going to
02:51have any money in the second quarter of the year, I don't think things are going to
02:53get noticeably worse.
02:55I'm just expecting business as usual in a cost of living crisis, which is people have
02:59got no money so they're not going to spend a lot, they're just going to spend what
03:02they can afford.
03:03Financial experts say that for businesses the natural solution to higher costs could
03:07be to increase prices, but not every business has that option.
03:11It is a challenge because everybody's experiencing rises in costs and therefore they still want
03:17to remain competitive.
03:19We might see some organisations having to make redundancies for instance, or even worst
03:24case scenario considering the future of the business.
03:29Whether it's to keep your shop front well lit or making sure you're caught up on your
03:32car tax, many people in Gravesend, Kent and the country will hope awful April can pass
03:37quickly into a more manageable May.
03:39Finn McDermott for KMTV in Gravesend.
03:43In less than a month, Kent once again returns to the polls for the last ever Kent County
03:48Council elections.
03:49Yeah, but why do they matter and how can you have your say?
03:53Well, our politics producer has been breaking down what a county council actually is and
03:58what you need to bring with you to the polls on the 1st of May.
04:03Roads and potholes, libraries and schools, these are just some parts of our lives defined
04:11by Kent County Council.
04:14If you live outside Medway, the upper tier authority is responsible for the big things,
04:20from the local tip to getting support from social services.
04:25In other words, they are a huge part of your life, like it or not.
04:32Now you get to decide who runs it, with local elections set for May 1st.
04:40There are 81 council seats up for grabs and currently the Conservatives have the most,
04:47with 57 Tories currently in place.
04:51But that could all change come polling day and if you want to have your say, just head
04:58to the government website.
05:00But don't wait too long.
05:02The deadline to register is Friday the 11th of April.
05:07That's not all you'll need though.
05:09Without a photo ID, your local polling station will turn you away, so make sure to bring
05:16a passport, driving licence or something similar.
05:20Whatever the result, it will be historic.
05:24Kent County Council is set to be dismantled in the coming years to pave the way for a
05:30handful of new local authorities.
05:33These will be the last ever KCC elections.
05:37No one knows which way it could go.
05:42Larkfield knew him as Mr Christmas, the man who lit up his house every festive season
05:49to bring joy to everyone in the area and raise money for important charities.
05:54But he was also a man who loved a game of darts.
05:58Following his passing, his old darts team, alongside family and friends, gathered at
06:04the Old Rectory pub in Leybourne to carry on his legacy.
06:09He was the last existing member from when I joined.
06:12So ever since I came, all of the other lot have turned up.
06:16But yeah, he was the longest serving member and probably the biggest character we had
06:21I reckon.
06:23Kevin was an avid member of the team and he loved the darts, he always turned up, even
06:29after his operation, he turned up for his team and the team supported him really well
06:35through his illness and they've been brilliant since.
06:38And putting this together for the men and after Kevin is absolutely spectacular.
06:44They do an amazing job.
06:45Even a rival darts team came, who admired Kevin for all the work he did over the years.
06:52Well, Kev obviously is famous for his house, decorations at Oak Drive, something I grew
06:59up with, living in Denton all my life.
07:02And the charity work that they did with him and Pam, leaving the buckets on the driveway
07:07for various charities over the years.
07:10So it was a meaningful thing for me to come do and put back into something that Kev and
07:15Pam have done for a long, long time.
07:17And it deserves recognition.
07:19The event raised roughly £1,700, with a target of £2,000.
07:26This, alongside an online fundraiser, means everyone involved definitely hit a bullseye.
07:33But can I do the same?
07:34Well, let's see what my darts skills are like.
07:37I'm Henry the Hawk Luck.
07:50Well, I'm not quite at the level of Luke Littler, but I don't think I did too bad.
07:55But this event isn't about being a darts throwing champion, but rather honouring the
08:01life of an amazing man in the Larkfield community and our collective battle against cancer.
08:07Henry Luck for KMTV in Leybourne.
08:12And Henry joins us now.
08:16Henry, good morning.
08:17Tell us a little bit more about autism and what it means to you.
08:21Well, neurodivergence, this is something that my mum recognised when I was two years
08:26old.
08:27We got it diagnosed and now I have high-functioning autism because she could tell the signs were
08:34sort of there from when I was young, like really struggling with communication when
08:39I was just a toddler.
08:41So she got that diagnosed.
08:42And now here I am, got the diagnosis and it's really helped me through school, helped
08:50me through university.
08:52Just having that support makes all the difference.
08:54And tell us a bit about those experiences of school, of university, of working here
08:59at KMTV and that kind of the role of neurodiversity in that.
09:06What have been your experiences across all those places?
09:10Of course, with neurodivergence and, of course, being in often neurotypical environments,
09:15it can often be quite challenging to adapt.
09:19So that's why, with the help I've got from like, say, mentors in university and school,
09:27a support of teaching assistants, they've helped to really keep me happy, keep me aware,
09:34know everything that's going on.
09:37And that's just made all the difference when getting through those stages of my life.
09:44Yeah, and so you're starting to post your work as the self-proclaimed ASD reporter.
09:49So tell us about this and what you're doing on social media and reporting.
09:54This is something that me and Andy came up with.
09:56We thought it'd be a really unique pathway to show how I work alongside neurodivergence,
10:04not against it.
10:05And this is where I'm going to start posting YouTube and TikTok videos about my daily life
10:13as a journalist and, of course, all the challenges and also benefits that it brings.
10:19Because it's not all drawbacks, because with high-functioning autism,
10:25I tend to have like greater focus and more and greater attention to detail.
10:30So it would be really good to chronicle, to show these parts of my life and just show
10:38people that you can function and you can have a good life even with autism.
10:44And I think that's a really important thing to get across.
10:47I mean, we see weekly the pieces that you do for us at KMTV and across a range of topics.
10:55It's one of the photos of us you did as well.
10:57Yes, absolutely.
10:59So what are the kind of myths that you want to bust for people about neurodiversity and autism,
11:09especially in the workplace?
11:10What are some of those myths that, through your work, that you want to show, bust them?
11:16I think a common myth is that autistic people tend to be seen as loners.
11:23They don't want to socialise.
11:25But actually, a lot of them do want to socialise.
11:30It's just some have barriers.
11:32Some have really struggled to cope in neurotypical environments.
11:37And I want to show that autistic people aren't loners.
11:43And they're just the same as everyone else.
11:48And they can thrive in workplaces like this if they have the right support.