Catch up with all the latest news from across the county with Oliver Leader de Saxe.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight Live here on KMTV.
00:28I'm Oliver, leader of the Saxton. Here are your top stories on Monday, the 21st of April.
00:34Left with nothing, Dover rallies together for families made homeless by Easter fire.
00:42Helping the hungry Herne Bay Food Bank opens new warehouse as demand surges.
00:49And Kent's women rugby clubs tackle swale fundraising goals together.
00:53But first tonight, dozens have been left homeless in Dover after a fire destroyed their blocker flats over the Easter weekend.
01:03Residents were evacuated in the early hours on Sunday morning and now staying in temporary accommodation.
01:10Daisy Page went down to the Working Man's Club, which has become a hub for donations for displaced families.
01:16At 1am on Saturday morning, Kent Fire and Rescue sent 12 fire engines to Crabble Hill in Dover,
01:23after reports of what has been described by residents as an explosion.
01:27Dozens of residents were evacuated from their homes on Easter morning as the blocker flats behind me were on fire.
01:34Dover District Council say they have liaised with families displaced,
01:38with some now placed in temporary accommodation and others deciding to stay with family and friends.
01:43The property landlords, Town and Country, said they are also arranging week-long hotel stays for those in need,
01:50and will be meeting with residents from Tuesday to discuss short and medium-term housing options.
01:55But when residents will be able to return home is still uncertain.
01:59We're just concentrating on making sure those families have got a roof over their head and food and clothing,
02:04because a number of those I met yesterday were literally sitting in pyjamas and dressing gowns,
02:09because that's what they were wearing when they left the building.
02:12So let's make sure they've got that.
02:14And then going forward, you know, making sure, because some of them have lost everything,
02:19that when they get some degree of permanency, we can get some of the charities to work together,
02:24and they've been fantastic up to now.
02:26You're offering support and equipment and clothing and furniture to actually provide some stuff for these people,
02:32because, you know, some of them have lost everything, they will have nothing at all.
02:36One local business has become a hub for all donations, from money, cleaning supplies, to clothing and hygiene products.
02:43And volunteers have been working to organise the donations, ready for distribution for those who have lost their belongings to the fire.
02:50The Dover community has banded together to help the families who have been impacted.
02:54It just shows that Dover people do come together.
02:58What has been donated has been everything that people could think of,
03:03and if it happened to them, what would they need?
03:06It has been very overwhelming.
03:09We've had our people come, they've been collecting, and it's been so overwhelming for them as well.
03:14We've only got to see by the amount of donations that we've got.
03:18I opened the doors at nine o'clock this morning, and it has been non-stop since then.
03:23Kent Fire and Rescue has said the fire and all its hotspots are now out.
03:28Two people have been treated for smoke inhalation.
03:31Nobody else was injured.
03:33A fire investigation team have been looking at the scene to see if they can determine the cause.
03:39Daisy Page for KMTV.
03:41Now, religious and spiritual leaders from across Kent and beyond have paid their respects to the head of the Catholic Church,
03:48Pope Francis, who the Vatican announced had died earlier today.
03:51The Bishop of Dover, King Charles III and Sir Keir Starmer, to a handful of those who have paid tribute,
03:57was the Archdeacon of Canterbury, Will Adams, who met the Pope on several occasions,
04:02remembering him as a warm presence with a warm smile.
04:06And there's a story that one of the other cardinals, at the point he was elected,
04:12whispered to him, remember the poor.
04:15And that was a theme that Pope Francis kept up throughout his papacy,
04:20a real concern for the poor, for the marginalised, for those on the edges of society.
04:26It was something that he threw his heart and soul into.
04:30Now, one woman in Herne Bay is going above and beyond to help people struggling with the cost of living,
04:37as our food bank has needed to expand due to the increasing demand in the county.
04:43Mayor Amanda Jaldiva, under the help of an army of volunteers,
04:47has transformed a warehouse in Herne Bay into a space offering free clothes, food and furniture.
04:53Our reporter, Kristen Hawthorne, went along to the opening event
04:57to see how it's already making a difference to the community.
05:02For years, Maya has been providing vital support for the community in Herne Bay.
05:06And today, that support has grown even bigger.
05:10With the help of her team of around 30 people,
05:13Maya was able to transform the warehouse in just six days,
05:17filling it with free clothes, food and furniture.
05:19Literally, our volunteers work day and night.
05:22We were here till 2, 3 a.m. every single night,
05:25just to make sure it's back up and running,
05:27because house fires, floods or homelessness or escaping domestic abuse,
05:32these things, they happen every single day.
05:34So we have to be up and running all the time.
05:37Our charity, in the last 12 months, fed 219,000 people.
05:42We saved 9,250 tonnes of CO2,
05:46and we've done 41,000 volunteering hours.
05:49We furnished 780 houses.
05:52I didn't have bed for my kids.
05:53I didn't have bread.
05:54I didn't have clothes.
05:55Now, this shop has 128 people visiting an hour,
05:59and they're all getting food, clothes, furniture,
06:03or anything they like, they need.
06:05That helps them to pay the bills.
06:08This new food bank has brought a fantastic atmosphere to Herne Bay today,
06:11with many coming along to celebrate its opening.
06:13By this time next year, Maya hopes to have helped provide around half a million meals
06:18to help support those in the community.
06:20We're very fortunate to be able to open a warehouse,
06:23bring everything under one roof,
06:25and you see from the number of people that have turned out today,
06:28the community really, really supports this and needs it.
06:32Maya's been working around the clock,
06:33and Maya works at incredible speed, incredible pace,
06:37but I've never seen anyone being able to dedicate that amount of time,
06:40but to turn this around in six days,
06:43working through the night, every day, whilst running the charity,
06:47it's incredible.
06:48But it's not just about handing out items,
06:50it's about offering a sense of community,
06:52and locals say it's already making a huge difference.
06:56It's really good.
06:56It's really packed in there,
06:58and they've got so much stuff.
06:59As the cost of living continues to affect the lives of many here in the county,
07:23this kind of support is a lifeline,
07:26and shows no signs of slowing down.
07:27Kristen Hawthorne, for KMTV.
07:35Heartwarming, that one, wasn't it?
07:37Now it's time for the weather.
07:44This evening, temperatures are lingering around 10 to 9 degrees,
07:48clear in the west of the county,
07:49clouds coming in over Ashford.
07:51It's going to be a clear day tomorrow, though,
07:53at least at the start of the day,
07:5511 degrees over in Dartford,
07:5712 in Canterbury.
07:58By the afternoon, it's going to be cloudy all over,
08:00some sun peaking through 70 degrees over in Maidstone as well.
08:05Wednesday, though, very, very rainy indeed,
08:08clearing up by Thursday.
08:10Friday, still cloudy, 70 degrees by the weekend.
08:13And finally, over the Easter weekend,
08:23five women's rugby sides from across Kent put aside their rivalries
08:27and became the Swale Ladies and Maidstone and Ellsford women's
08:30for an exhibition match at Sheppies Rugby Football Club.
08:34The match raised money for two good causes,
08:38Lupus UK and domestic abuse support charity, Satida.
08:42Phil at Dermott went down to the Isle of Sheppies to find out more.
08:44Well, it was a derby day like no other on the Easter weekend.
08:57Rivalries were put aside and new ones formed,
08:59with Aylesford Bulls ladies and Maidstone Rugby Club women's
09:02joining forces to take on Swale Ladies,
09:05made up of Sheppie, Sittingbourne and Favisham Ladies RUFC.
09:08As part of the Mayor of Swale's charity day
09:10at the Sheppie Rugby Football Club,
09:12the two sides were playing to fundraise for charities
09:14like Lupus UK and Satida,
09:16all while promoting women's rugby in the county.
09:19Women and girls rugby is becoming really big.
09:22You know, it's building.
09:23Of course, at the moment,
09:24we've got England Roses playing in the Six Nations at the moment.
09:29They're playing today as well.
09:30So, yeah, anything like this is brilliant
09:33to get women and girls rugby out there.
09:35Just helping our local two teams as well to do the same,
09:39build their numbers,
09:40so that, you know, you've got then extra local teams
09:44to then play and be involved as well.
09:47The Mayor selected the charities when he was elected
09:49and said he had the idea for the exhibition match
09:51at the club's end-of-year dinner.
09:52We came up with the idea of actually,
09:55we could put an event on, a Swale trophy.
09:58Initially, we were thinking of having the three sides
10:00take part against each other.
10:03And then we actually thought,
10:05well, no, hang on,
10:06Favisham and Sittingbourne are still developing,
10:07so why not have a combined Swale 15
10:10and have a game that way?
10:12And Sheppie have been fantastic
10:14in getting all this arranged with the other two clubs,
10:16bringing Maidstone and Aylesford over for the competition.
10:20And hopefully it's going to be a really good day
10:21and a really good game
10:22and we can raise lots of money for the two charities.
10:24And one of those charities, Cetada,
10:26who give advice and support to those struggling with domestic abuse,
10:29credit these kind of events
10:30with getting their name and their work out there.
10:33It's really important,
10:34especially a community event like this,
10:36for people to be aware of what we do.
10:39I think people just don't realise
10:41that domestic abuse is really prolific in our communities
10:44and with one in four women
10:46being a victim of domestic abuse across their lifetime,
10:49we know that our services are never more needed.
10:53In the end, the home advantage wasn't enough
10:55and despite leading by more than 20 points for the first half,
10:58Maidstone and Aylesford won by 42 to 35.
11:00One, two, three, rugby!
11:04Now, even though Maidstone and Aylesford women
11:06might have clutched the win here,
11:08it's also a wider victory
11:09for women's grassroots rugby here in Kent,
11:12with Faversham and Sittingbourne
11:14not often able to play these types of large games
11:16due to limited numbers.
11:18So even though it's been a day of tackling your opponent,
11:20they've also been tackling larger issues at the same time.
11:23Ben McDermid for KMTV in the Isle of Sheppey.
11:27Lots of good news this Easter Monday.
11:30That's everything tonight from Kent Tonight.
11:33There's more news made just for Kent throughout the evening.
11:36And don't forget to keep up to date
11:37with all the latest news from across your county
11:39by logging on to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
11:44We'll be back with the Kent Morning Show
11:45at 7am tomorrow, and I'll see you then.
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