MP sleeps rough to raise money for homeless veterans
Plus a one-man show about shopping lists, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, we review the Falcon Cafe, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more
Rochester and Strood MP Lauren Edwards found herself in hot water over unpleasant tweets that surfaced last year, including one about a homeless man. A year on, she is taking part in a rough sleep-out to raise money for homeless veterans. We dispatched our charity correspondent Zahra Barri to talk to her about the endeavour and to ask whether this is meant to close the door on last year’s furore. Further down, we have news of a new one-man show about shopping lists, a review of Medway Little Theatre’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist, a breakfast at the Falcon Cafe, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more.
MP sleeps rough to raise money for homeless veterans
by Zhara Barri
It’s hard to imagine a Member of Parliament sleeping rough. However, on 27 March, Lauren Edwards, the Labour MP for Rochester and Strood, will be swapping the House of Commons for no house at all as she takes part in The Great Tommy Sleep Out.
This might sound like a deleted scene in the Blackadder finale, but it is, in fact, a national award-winning fundraising challenge. The Great Tommy Sleep Out is an initiative set up by the Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) to raise awareness, as well as funds for homeless veterans.
When I sit down for a chat with Lauren about this volunteering venture, I silently congratulate myself. It seems clear to me that my new column, Volunteer Medway (launched less than a month ago), has had an immediate political impact. However, because I am humble, I do not mention this. Instead, Lauren tells me that she got wind of the sleep-out when visiting Rochester’s BAE Systems and found out some pretty dismal stats. Figures show that veterans nationally make up a huge amount of the homeless population. Veterans are vulnerable to homelessness because after serving they are often wounded and/or permanently disabled. The result of this means they are faced with the upheaval of adapting to a new way of life and doing so with a physical impairment. However, the problem isn’t just physical. They can also experience the inevitable effects of trauma on the psyche and a loss of purpose which comes from retirement. In short, veterans are in peril from a cocktail of physical and mental health issues, which makes it hard for them to assimilate.
Lauren is positive for the future as she tells me that the new Labour government has given £3.5m in additional funding to improve support for veterans and their families. She tells me that she feels it is our duty to help veterans who have given up so much to serve. It’s terrible to think that after fighting for their country, they then have to face the battle of homelessness. “I think if we ask people to give their lives for their country, then the least we can do is make sure that they're properly cared for and supported when they come back. She adds that “as a newly elected MP, I'm thinking how I could also use my voice in parliament to help. I think it's a combination of what you say, but also what you do that matters.”
This is clearly a cause that Lauren is passionate about. And I, too. One of the reasons why my first Volunteer Medway article tackled homelessness is because I passionately believe that having a home is a basic human right. Helping tackle homelessness in your area is an admirable trait. I once dated a guy based solely on the fact that he said he helped the homeless (however, I later found out he was actually an estate agent). Lauren nods, not about dating estate agents but about having your own roof over your head is part of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
I’m tempted to move on and ask her about her prep (is she bringing thermals and Jammie Dodgers?), but being the hard-hitting political journalist that I am (a cross between Bridget Jones, Jennie Bond and Lois Lane), I probe her for more. I bring up the infamous disparaging tweet about homeless people that caused a fracas last. I do this not to further agitate this blunder. I believe in second chances and that ignoring vulgarity is one thing, but cancelling it altogether is not beneficial to human growth. There needs to be a compromise where people are accountable but also, at the same time, redeemable.
With this in mind, I tell her, as I discovered myself in my last Volunteer Medway column, that there is no totally selfless good deed. In no uncertain terms, I ask if this act of volunteering, not to get all existential about it, is also a cathartic reckoning of self? “Is it helping you to close the door on your much younger, naive self who wrote impulsively on Twitter about a homeless person?” After all, we live in an age where apologies are written online, not acted out in real life. Just like my Volunteer Medway Column advocates, in the age of online activism, it really is about time that people are walking the walk and not merely talking the talk. Like a true politician, Lauren skirts the question impeccably by hitting me in my sweet, spot-quoting Emmeline Pankhurst, “Deeds not words.”
With that out the way, she tells me that not only will she be sleeping rough, but she’ll be instructed by Medway’s answer to Bear Grylls on how to construct shelter using the bare necessities, who will also teach her survival tips. Furthermore, her station will be curated by military history enthusiasts, and expert historian Andy Robertshaw will reconstruct WW1 trenches. Lauren has seemingly agreed to take part in a mix of not only Blackadder, but Man Vs Wild. In addition, Lauren will be meeting veterans also taking part, who will be re-telling their heroic stories.
Lauren and her team are hoping to raise at least £1,000, with every pound that's raised going to funding practical and employment support, including providing safe homes for veterans to get back on their feet. Closer to home, these donations will help fund the Mountbatten Pavilion, emergency accommodation, which this past winter has faced enormous pressure.
Despite having a busy schedule in London at least four days a week, Lauren says she is endeavouring to get more involved with volunteering community groups, particularly on the Stood side of the river. She continues to take part in The Great British Spring Clean to keep Britain tidy. Just a couple of days after the sleep out, she’s going to take part in a litter pick with the Medway Scouts. She’s also planning to help out at the Rede Common Nature Reserve Easter event in April.
On that note, we move into more personal matters, and I ask her whether she saw my interview in Local Authority, where I make it my public duty to shadow Medway MPs. I go in for the kill and ask if I can shadow her. Lauren seems keen to have my socio-political stance on all things Medway and immediately asks her assistant to arrange it. I’m thrilled, and I leave our interview imagining my time spent shadowing her will be a Medway version of Veep, Parks and Recreation, and the West Wing, three of my favourite tv shows. Stay tuned.
In brief
🍺 The Prince of Ales micropub in Rainham has been awarded the Medway CAMRA Pub of the Year award for 2025.
🧼 The Sign Guy makes videos cleaning the UK’s dirtiest road signs. He has been to Frindsbury to make this oddly satisfying video.
📜 Country Life has compiled an in-depth history of Restoration House in Rochester.
⚓ A new report estimates that Chatham Historic Dockyard adds nearly £28m to the local economy.
👕 Red Menswear will leave Chatham after 26 years and relocate to Rochester High Street next month.
A one-man show about shopping lists
Medway artist Kieran Poole of Rubbish Snooker has a new stand-up comedy show, which will be performed at Sun Pier House as part of the Medway River Lit’s Rippling Out. We caught up with Kieran to find out more.
“This is not actually a stand-up show,” says Kieran. “It is a one-hour one-man show filled with storytelling using littered shopping lists, and I am really looking forward to it.” Kieran reassures me that, despite this clarification, there will be humour throughout.
Having worked with litter to make art as part of his Rubbish Snooker project, he has also collected over 500 littered handwritten shopping lists abandoned in supermarket trolleys or baskets and “given each a short story based on its contents.” There is an online gallery of them, which can be seen here.
Kieran created the show after “being utterly fascinated because each list had an individual story, from the calligraphy to the endearing spelling errors to even drawings.” That wasn’t the only aspect that Kieran liked about the lists. “What they are written on is sometimes funny.” Does he have a favourite? “A sheet of kitchen roll is my favourite so far.”
Sadly, snooker will not be part of the show, though Kieran says he “would love to do another Rubbish Snooker show like I did with Ideas Test”. Wordsmithery’s Barry and Sam Fentiman-Hall attended that show, and “it had elements about shopping lists, and they said it would fit nicely with their wonderful literary festival.”
Milk. Eggs. Bread. will be performed at Sun Pier House on 29 March. Tickets are free but limited, so you can register to attend here. You can bring along a shopping list if you’d like.
Out to Breakfast: Falcon Cafe
In which Steven Keevil assesses the breakfast options available in our towns. This week, he’s been down to Falcon Cafe in Gillingham…
Opposite the Great Lines stands the Falcon Cafe, a stalwart of the Medway breakfast offering, in the former Falcon pub. It offers all the classic breakfast options you would expect. The café layout is locked in with some tables offering nice window seats to watch people doing parkrun as you tell yourself that you will definitely do it next week whilst you sip your tea, or you can sit on the slightly raised second tier.
I ordered two fried breads, three fried eggs, four rashers of bacon well done and a portion of mushrooms, with a cup of tea. The server slightly panicked at what to charge for such a meal. Apparently, the extra fired slice pushed it into a higher price point. But when the food when arrived, it looked immense.
The fried bread was delicious and mopped up the runny egg yolks into a delicious flavour sensation. The bacon was extremely crispy, like the gods intended, with the mushrooms rounding the meal off. Everything was served by friendly staff, and the café had a good atmosphere. So the next time you want to watch other people parkrun, the Falcon offers a solid option for a reliable breakfast.
Accidental Death of an Anarchist at the Medway Little Theatre
Review by Anne-Marie Jordan
As rolling news feeds of recent years will attest, this revised version of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Dario Fo and Franca Rame's classic political farce (which premiered in Milan in 1970) has never felt more (depressingly) relevant, with the action taking place on the upper floors of a Metropolitan Police station following the 'accidental' death of an alleged anarchist, accused of bombing a bank.
As one might expect, this production captures the frenetic pace of the unfolding events. The protagonist, known as The Maniac, veers between fun and fury in equal measure as the audience is exposed to the institutional cover-ups, corruption, and collusion at the heart of not one but two shoddily conducted judicial inquiries into the unfortunate suspect's demise.
This contemporary adaptation by Tom Basden brings you bang up to date with modern-day references to Line of Duty, e-scooters and ChatGPT, as well as not shying away from referencing Stephen Lawrence and Sarah Everard, leaving you wondering if anything has changed, or ever will.
Mike Dickinson as The Maniac is well suited to the play's hectic speed, with energetic facial movements and nailing the physicality the role demands. Elaine Thomas, as Superintendent Curry, made such an impressive entrance that I genuinely thought they had drafted in Alison Steadman! I also loved the rousing rendition of Bella Ciao, which kickstarted Act 2.
Unsurprisingly, for such an ambitious production, the intricacy and volume of wordplay resulted in a few prompts. Still, the cast took it in their stride and effortlessly incorporated them into the evening's entertainment.
By the end, while left thoroughly entertained, you are also left in little doubt as to where, unfortunately, the priorities and focus of such institutions really lie.
Accidental Death of an Anarchist is playing at Medway Little Theatre until 29 March. You can book tickets via their website.
Events this week
🧒🏻 Until 2 April Medway Youth Creates // Showcase of local young artists’ work produced in art groups led by local artist Nick Ashton. Halpern Gallery, Chatham. Free.
🪕 Fri 21 Mar - South Shore // Debut gig from new Medway trio featuring Rachel Lowrie, Stuart Turner, and Nick Rice. Rams Micropub 12 Degrees, Rochester. Tickets £10.
🎭 Sat 22 Mar - Boy Stroke Girl // Provocative play by Ian Dixon Potter about love in a modern world. Spotlites Theatre, Chatham. Tickets from £12
🤼 Sun 23 Mar - UKPW Fury in the ‘Woods // Action packed, family-friendly pro wrestling featuring local competitors. Parkwood Community Centre, Rainham. Tickets £10.
🖊️ Tue 25 Mar - Creative Medway Social // Connect with Medway’s vibrant creative community, meet like-minded people and hear the latest updates from Creative Medway. Chatham Town Football Club. Free.
🎞️ Wed 26 March - Bird // First outing for the new Electric Medway Cinema Club, with Andrea Arnold’s coming-of-age fable about marginalised lives, filmed entirely in Kent. Huguenot Museum, Rochester. Tickets £5.
🎭 Thur 27 Mar - Soul Food Solo Stories // Immersive night of Black Heritage, with four powerful, unique stories. Glassbox Theatre, Gillingham. Tickets from £10.
More Authority
The Mess Room began 20 years ago when artist Wendy Daws started volunteering with the Kent Association for the Blind (KAB). Now, the organisation works with a broad group of people to provide various arts activities to help people explore creativity, build confidence, and connect with others. Their latest project involved a participatory programme that allowed people to connect with people and places of the past, so we went along to find out more.
The Mess Room connects with the past
The Mess Room began 20 years ago when artist Wendy Daws started volunteering with the Kent Association for the Blind (KAB). Now, the organisation works with a broad group of people to provide various arts activities to help people explore creativity, build confidence, and connect with others. We visited the Guildhall Museum in Rochester to learn about their Mess Room Creatives celebration.
Footnotes
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Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: The Quiet One by These Guilty Men and Twelve by the Singing Loins.
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