The Insider

Turner Contemporary Opens

After ten years of hard work and planning, this momentous day will happen on Saturday 16 April from 10am with Tracey Emin and Jools Holland opening the new Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate .

Don’t miss this chance to see how Margate has changed. Visit the eclectic retro boutiques, galleries, cafes, bars, restaurants, unusual attractions and places of interest. There’s also a series of free and family friendly events, exhibitions, live music, art and performances planned around the town

For a day by day guide to what’s on in Margate , visit:

www.thisismargate.co.uk or call 01843 577577 for full details.

Fire service to stop attending fire alarms

Chamber members and businesses across east Kent with automatic fire alarm systems are urged to check their fire safety risk assessments and fire alarm systems are in order and working correctly ahead of new proposals that could affect them.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) has been called out to 30,000 automatic alarms in the last five years, of which 99.07% were false alarms. These were often caused by dust or faulty equipment and the responsibility to maintain equipment lies with the responsible person. KFRS intends to stop attending calls to automatic alarms, unless they get a 999 call in the normal way to say there is actually a fire.

There is no legal requirement for fire and rescue services to attend calls to fire alarms sounding, however KFRS will be considering at-risk sites and ensuring that it continues to protect vulnerable communities. The requirement for maintaining and managing a fire alarm system sits with the responsible person for the building or site. This includes a responsibility to make sure the system operates correctly and does not produce unwanted calls.

KFRS shall be meeting with a wide range of stakeholders to raise awareness of the proposed changes and to discuss any concerns people may have. A period of public consultation is also planned later in the year.

For more information visit www.kent.fire-uk.org

New World Record For Folkestone

Grand Auctions, a new auction house based in Folkestone AND Channel Chamber member, has established a new world record for an Alan Lowndes painting of £30,000.

Grand Auctions established this world record price for British artist Alan Lowndes’s ‘Beach Scene’ (oil on board, 32 x 48 inches) at their inaugural auction held recently held at a clifftop venue in Folkestone with views across the channel to the French coast.

The company’s next auction is on Saturday 25 June and will be held at The Tower Theatre in Folkestone; notable lots in the sale include 46,000 78rpm records including T.S. Elliot reading his poetry. For more information call 01303 220440, or email info@grandauctions.co.uk or visit www.grandauctions.co.uk

Future Jobs For Eight Young People Looks Promising

Eight young employees at Oriac House Learner Centre have recently passed the ECDL qualifications – giving them proof of skills gained when they seek employment in the future.

Their certificates will be presented by the Mayor of Folkestone on Wednesday 20th April at 11.00hrs at the Oriac House Learner Centre, in Folkestone.

Similar to Channel Chamber’s own Future Jobs Fund programme, Oriac, has employed 8 young people who were previously on Jobseekers’ Allowance.. Each has been employed full time by the Learner Centre as tutors and IT technicians and during the first month they were required to study and sit the ECDL (European Computer Driver’s Licence) exams, in order to become qualified IT Tutors.

The FJF employees are all actively involved in another community project as part of the government’s UK Online scheme to try to get as many digitally excluded people as possible using the internet by 2013.

For more information on the Oriac Learner Centre please contact Monica Titterton, Centre Manager on 01303 278 418 or email: monica@oriac.eu