On Thursday 7 September, Kent Community Foundation had the pleasure of naming a boat, at a ceremony held at the Medway Watersports Centre in Gillingham. The three Medway Watersports boats had all initially been given number identification but the trust decided that their power boats deserved names. They asked Kent Community Foundation if they might like the honour of naming one of their boats in recognition of all the financial support Medway Watersports Trust had been given from the grant makers.
The Kent Community Foundation team were all in agreement that the boat should be named Liz, after Liz Tredget, their greatly missed colleague who died in February 2021. Nine members of the team attended the event and cheered as Kent Community Foundation’s Chief Executive Josephine McCartney followed tradition by christening the boat with champagne.
Josephine McCartney, Chief Executive, Kent Community Foundation said, “Liz worked for Kent Community Foundation from 2016 to 2020. She was our office manager and was really passionate about improving our IT and moving us into the 21st century. She was fun and always got involved in all of our activities. It was extremely sad to see how motor neurone disease affected her physically and we stayed in touch right up until the end. The boat naming ceremony formed another very important way of keeping her memory alive.”
Pete Snowdon, Central Principle and Fundraiser for Medway Watersports Trust said, “We asked Kent Community Foundation to name one of our boats as a thank you for all the support they have given to us over the years. Our newly named power boat Liz is used at the centre for power boat training and as a safety boat when children are sailing. We are thrilled with the choice of name and more especially because of the special story behind it.”
Kent Community Foundation has been regularly supporting Medway Watersports Trust since 2017 with grants totalling just under £48,000. The Trust works with children and young people aged between 6 and 16 and provides low cost sailing, canoeing and kayaking sessions on the river Medway.
To contact Kent Community Foundation about funding for charities and community groups visit www.kentcf.org.uk/funding
About Medway Watersports Trust
Medway Watersports Trust is a volunteer run organisation staffed entirely by volunteers, Their mission statement is “Access to the water for all” and they run low-cost sailing, canoeing and kayaking sessions on the river Medway. Focussing mainly on local children and young people between the ages of 6 and 16, skilled and experienced instructors take groups out onto the water and provide land-based activities.
About Kent Community Foundation
Grant-maker Kent Community Foundation has been finding, funding, and supporting some of the smallest voluntary organisations in the county for over twenty one years. In this time, it has distributed almost £60 million to support thousands of small charities and deserving causes where a modest sum of money can make a significant impact.
They are part of a UK wide accredited network of forty-seven Community Foundations who are committed to improving the lives of local people and communities, particularly the most vulnerable, isolated, and disadvantaged by matching those who want to help, with those who need the help.
Responsible for more than ninety philanthropic funds, Kent Community Foundation is unrivalled in its knowledge of local causes and assists individuals, families, and businesses, who want to help, to establish and administer their own charitable funds.
