Meaningful words from Medway’s Mayor

Amid the past months racial reconning and unrest following the tragic Stockport knife attacks, the message from the Mayor of Medway, Cllr Marian Nestorov is clear, “battering hate with hate will never work… it’s important to celebrate our diversity”.

As millions flocked to London’s Notting Hill Carnival this August Bank Holiday weekend, some of the MCC volunteers included, we remember the reason this street party first started in the 60’s. Out of racial hatred came a celebration of Caribbean culture and solidarity, which over time has become a multicultural Mecca. Today, Notting Hill Carnival is thought to generate on excess of £300 million for the London economy. The carnival also supports the equivalent of 3,000 full-time jobs. But it has never been about the money: when the first was held in 1964, racial tensions in Britain were running high, and carnival was a strength of unity.

Medway Culture Club Volunteers at Notting Hill Carnival 2024. Left to right: Charlene Hull (Events Coordinator), Camealia Xavier-Chihota (Co-founder), Michael Bousquet (Vice Chairman), Heidi Jobson (Trustee).

Earlier this month, the Medway Culture Club team held their 4th annual Carnival event in Gillingham. The community arrived in their droves to enjoy the festivities, from mouth-watering food to samba dancing, drumming and steel pans to face painting, limbo, dominoes and carnival crown crafts. The Soca, Calypso and Reggae music could be heard from afar thanks to Intention Studio sound system keeping the crowd in high spirits! Inspired by Notting Hill Carnival, and lead by The Samba Girls the parade had the public dancing in the streets!

This event came a matter of weeks after Huricane Beryl hit parts of the Caribbean and South America. Hurricane Beryl began to impact several Caribbean islands on July 1, causing extreme damage to islands in Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. More than 90 percent of all buildings on the islands were damaged or destroyed, and three people lost their lives. On July 3, as Hurricane Beryl approached Jamaica as a Category 4 storm, Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared the entire island a disaster area and issued an islandwide curfew from 6 am to 6 pm local time on Wednesday. There were warnings of a 9-foot storm surge as the storm neared landfall on the island’s southern shore. Eventually, three deaths each were reported in Grenada, Jamaica, and Venezuela. It has since been reported that 13 people lost their lives at the hands of this devastating hurricane, and hundreds more are left trying to desperately rebuild their lives.

Medway Culture Club launched a relief fundraiser ahead of their carnival and continue to collect donations to help those affected by this tragic turn of events. If you wish to donate, you can do so HERE until 7th September.

“A huge thank you to everyone who joined Medway Culture Club’s Carnival on 3rd August and to the many people who helped make it a success, from volunteers to sponsors and vendors, we hope to make it even bigger and better next year for 5 year anniversary!”

-Camealia Xavier-Chihota, MCC’s Chairwoman.