Sponsored weight loss - the target is in sight!



It's been a few weeks since I posted my weight loss on the blog, though I have been keeping a public record on Facebook. However, with seven weeks of my diet remaining, I am pleased to say I am almost hit my first target.

 

Yesterday (Saturday 5th April) I weighed-in at 18stone 6lb - a loss of 1lb on the week, following a great loss of 5lb the week previously. Since my sponsored diet commenced on NY Day I have lost 3 stone 4 pound, leaving me just 10lb to lose. Provided I hit target by the end of May, I will raise almost £3,000 for Party funds - which is ring-fenced to pay for the new Phone Bank we have installed at Paddock Wood!   

 

It's not too late to sponsor me if you would like to do so. Simply email me at westkentconservatives@gmail.com with either the amount per pound (remembering my target is to lose 56lb by end of May) or with a set figure (ie £10 / £20 etc) if I hit my target weight by 31 May 2014. Thank you.

  

 

Tom Tugendhat on ITVs 'The Last Word'

Strong and confident performance from Tonbridge, Edenbridge & Malling Parliamentary Candidate Tom Tugendhat on the latest edition of ITVs "Last Word".  Scroll to 2minutes 230 seconds.

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2014-04-03/the-last-word-climate-change-flooding-the-eu/

Greg Clark MP visits new West Kent Campaign HQ

Great to welcome Rt Hon Greg Clark MP to the new West Kent Campaign HQ in Paddock Wood ! 

Aren't we lucky Europeans

I was amused to hear today that the European Parliament has paid for (or, perhaps I should say the taxpayers have paid for) information cards for each EU Political Group, highlighting the Group's "achievements" in the European Parliament.

I cannot help but wonder if the MEPs in Greece and Spain go around the shanty towns and devastated communities caused by EU imposed austerity measures, handing out EU Achievement Cards to those who cannot afford to eat, but whose taxes have been used to print the cards informing them how grateful they should be. 

Tracey Crouch's latest newsletter in Chatham & Aylesford

Our latest constituency-wide newsletter just hot off the press is going out this weekend in Chatham & Aylesford. 

As usual we have shared the space between the local councillors and the Member of Parliament, ensuring everyone is featured, promoting the local Conservative team and spreading the print costs across several campaign budgets (obviously no tax payers money is used - the Conservative led coalition stopped this extravagance as soon as we came into office). 

The first page in the link is actually the back page of the leaflet - with the various ward-specific editions following. 

Shiny and new and smells of paint!

Well, we've arrived at the brand new West Kent Towers in Paddock Wood.

The concept of a West Kent Conservative Campaign HQ has been doing the rounds for decades, but bringing it together fell into my lap three years ago. And here we are! At times, everything has run too smoothly to be true. At other times it's been like pulling hens' teeth. But we've arrived - on time and all to plan. The lease is signed. The decorators have been and gone. The furniture has arrived. The IT and phones have been installed - and they're even working - and from Friday our 10 line phone bank will be up and running, finding pledges, recruiting members and identifying new helpers. 

Our 'mission statement' printed on every letterhead, compliments slip and internal memo, is simple:

"Working together for a Conservative majority"

Here are a few photographs to whet your appetite. 

Banner at the front door



Reception desk, staffed by Mandy Hopkins, who will be meeting and greeting visitors
and also looking after membership and branch services



In two days time this area will house the phone bank


Our new Nespresso machine!


Jon Botten's desk - he's got the view.
All I get to look at is Jon. 


Doesn't take long for the To Do list to fill-up

And finally....

A certain reader of this blog will be pleased to see we are still using Coleshill coffee mugs!

A long and productive weekend in West Kent

As I have just blogged, the demands of moving office and all the usual IT problems have resulted in a prolonged silence on my blog. This doesn't mean I have lost interest or focus, or indeed that nothing has been happening. Far from it !   So, to bring you up to speed since the last post on Thursday last week, here is a brief summary!

Thursday evening saw the Chatham & Aylesford AGM. I have blogged before that this tiny Association of 150 members constantly punches above it's weight, both politically and in terms of fundraising. C&A have more pledges, deliver more leaflets and pro-rata (per member) raise more money than any other Association in Kent. They are a great group of people, devoid of the tiresome splits, spats and egos which bedevil many voluntary organisations.  They are a delightful Association, and I am proud to have worked alongside them for over ten years.

NO, It's not the waiting room for flu jabs at the local GP clinic!
Standing room only at the C&A AGM last week.

Friday was the Maidstone & The Weald AGM, my first as their Agent. The new Maidstone Chairman, Cllr John Wilson, and his team (all of whom found themselves in jobs they were not expecting when the entire previous Management Committee resigned last year) have done a wonderful job turning the Association around, disposing of their "totally unfit for purpose" building and steering the Association into the West Kent Group. The AGM was, shall we say, challenging. Forty minutes spent debating the membership of the Executive Council compared with two minutes spent on campaigning.  At the end, Helen Grant MP invited me to say a few words as part of her presentation, and I used the opportunity to confirm my long held belief that the sole purpose of the Conservative Party is to fight and win elections, and how disappointing it was that members seemed happier arguing over sub clauses in the Party constitution. 

I added, "in my many years working for the Party, I have found that those who bring up points of order and complain about process at Annual Meetings are almost always the people you seldom see on the doorsteps or tramping the streets when there are doors to knock or leaflets to deliver."  There was an audible "hear, hear" and an equally audible sucking of teeth - but these things need saying. And let's be honest; if they are the type of association who prefer arguing over points of procedure than campaigning and winning elections, then the chances are we will never work well together, so let's be open about it from day one! 

Despite being half way through the office move, campaigning goes on as ever, and I was up at 7am on Saturday to attend the first campaign event of the day in Paddock Wood. Greg Clark MP and the local Borough and County councillors were signing a Flood Charter, calling for independent flood risk assessments prior to new development, improved draining and clearance of drainage ditches, improvements to existing flood defences and a dedicated response service from the EA and Southern Water. 

Greg Clark MP and local councillors sign the Flood Charter

From there we met with the usual Saturday Campaign team and we delivered over 4,000 newsletters to local homes. 

Having done that, it was time to move offices!  But that's the next blog!

Sorry for radio silence - back with a vengeance!

Sorry for the radio silence. 

It's lovely and thoughtful that so many have emailed or sent messages to ask if I am OK. I am pleased to say all is well. Moving five Associations in to one office has been a lot more difficult than I anticipated, both physically and technically. We've had no email or phones since Friday, resulting in two or three hours work clearing the email backlog when I returned home at 10pm! Once that was done the last thing I wanted to do was start writing a Blogpost!

Anyway - here we are, up and running - and raring to go. 

Andrew.

Afternoon Tea with Dan Hannan MEP

Chatham & Aylesford Conservative Association are pleased to be hosting Dan Hannan MEP for Afternoon Tea, just a week ahead of the European Elections. Last time Dan visited C&A (for a pub lunch) over 50% of attendees were non members! 

The Afternoon Tea will be held on Friday 16 May. Please contact me for the venue or to book tickets!

The most honest AGM minutes I have ever read!

I am just reading-through historic AGM minutes for one of the newer Associations in the West Kent Group. It's helpful to know a bit of the internal politics and history. I have just come across the following gem:

Not a lot I can add, really!