Thank you so much to all who attended our Swanley networking meeting this week, the first Swanley specific event since lockdown. It was action-packed with lots to catch up on from various speakers.
Thackray Williams who were delighted to be the sponsor of the Sevenoaks Chamber ‘Swanley networking Re-launch’ said ‘it was great to see so many familiar faces and some new ones too’.
Vikki Herbert, Partner and Head of Residential Property at Thackray Williams’ provided a summary of the firms approach since lockdown, reminding those who may not have known about the firms’ extended opening hours in support of its clients, the community and of course NHS workers since the start of the pandemic; its COVID helpline and the many and varied podcasts, videos and webinars, some of which are still available to view on the Thackray Williams website.
She also hi-lighted the current offers that the firm has in place, including Wills Week in aid of We Are Beams, Wills for Schools, free HR Health Check and of course the forthcoming series of three virtual events entitled How to protect your health, wealth, family and future, each hosted in conjunction with Wronski Wealth Management, WPA Healthcare and We Work Well.
And of course, not forgetting the two new additions to the Thackray Williams team … Nick Gabay, Corporate and Commercial Partner in Sevenoaks and Katrina Walker, Client Relationship Manager.
Vikki said, “today was such a success, and great to hear from Ryan Hayman, CEO of Swanley Town Council on the plans to deliver the regeneration programme for the town”.
Ryan Hayman, who has recently taken on a new role as CEO at Swanley Town Council gave us a very interesting update of developments in Swanley, in particular the re-generation of the town centre, and areas of priority for the Town Council going forward. Ryan is also looking to support Mark Perkins from Insight 6. Mark is our Chamber Swanley Ambassador and is developing a localised network to support the businesses in Swanley Town. More information will follow at the next meeting about the Swanley Business Partnership which Mark will be re-launching soon.
We also heard from Emily Haswell from the Economic Development Team at Sevenoaks District Council who showed us plans for the new Business Hub and updated us on the leisure centre, and the railway refurbishment (slides attached). Emily also talked about the business support and grants that SDC have been working through since lockdown. If you would like to know more about business support and grants here are some useful links:
Business Grants – info on Council Website
Free Business Support Available – ncmb.co.uk
E-mail: business@sevenoaks.gov.uk
We also heard from local charity We are Beams. If you would like to find out more about disabled children’s charity We Are Beams please contact Julia.hussain@wearebeams.org.uk and visit their website wearebeams.org.uk. Please do consider attending some of their upcoming events. They are providing a life-line service to 450 vulnerable families in the local area and need to raise £1.4m this year to continue to do so.
Also, JD O’Brien made us aware of Concrete Wave CIC a not for profit, aiming to do a multi-faceted fundraising campaign to rebuild the skatepark on St Mary’s Rec in Swanley, and possibly a playground rebuild. Concrete Wave would love to give the people, especially the children, of Swanley a project to get behind and enjoy as a whole community and hope to gain local businesses support by matching their fundraising efforts. If you have any questions or would like to know more, please email jdob@concretewave.org.uk
Thank you to everyone involved. If you are a Chamber member you will receive a copy of all in attendance with email addresses for you to continue your networking and contacts outside of the meeting. If you are not a member and would like to get involved, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thanks for joining us, look out for our next Swanley meeting in April!