Medway Queen Preservation Society

More Fundraising News

21/1/2019

In mid-December we were able to tell you about £11000 in donations from the Co-op Community Fund, one of our long term supporters and Reading Support Group. Since then an appeal to the members and the general public has brought in even more.

Over the Christmas - New Year period and in the following weeks the postman has been delivering cheques, the online donate button has been busy and one or two generous donors have visited on a Saturday to make their contributions in person. This amazing activity has resulted in another £20000 in total being added to the previous amount.

As a result we are over halfway to the amount needed for electrical and safety work on the upper aft saloon and the campaign continues. Local press, radio, our society members, the website and KMTV have all contributed to the fundraising drive and generated fantastic results. Please don't stop now!

To view the KMTV appeal click here

Work on the aft saloon is continuing apace with the bulkhead taking shape and fire-doors installed. Preparations to make the access companionways more secure and weatherproof are in hand. Our small team of dedicated volunteers are putting all they have into the project and would appreciate any help you can give - practical as well as financial. The fire doors are necessary to meet modern regulations but they will be "aged" to be more in keeping with the ship.

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Support Group News

16/1/2019

Medway Queen's “Reading Support Group” have re-branded themselves as “Medway Queen – West” due to Richard's house move last year. “Reading” no longer seemed appropriate. A few of our previous regular events are no longer viable from the new location so we need to find others within sensible travelling distance of Wootton Bassett. Suggestions/offers welcome.

The group are very close to passing the £100K milestone in funds raised for the society and intend to achieve that target by the time of the 95th anniversary of the ship’s launch on April 23rd. We have had amazing support from the media, event organisers and donors of saleable goods for which we are very grateful. The group has its own small band of volunteers who put in many hours of hard work. Thank you all; just because you enjoy it (I hope they do) doesn’t mean it’s not tiring!

We'll continue with creation of promotional items such as the model railway wagons and other items. The first new line for for 2019 will be a range of greetings cards. Two new titles will be added to the one printed in 2018 and it will then be possible to sell mixed packs of 6 cards online and over the counter. Watch the website for details shortly.

Richard Halton

Below: The group's stall at "The International N Gauge Show" is now their largest annual event presence.

January 08th, 2019

8/1/2019

Visit Details

A walking group known as the SLOBS (Senior Lucas Old Boys Society) visited Medway Queen and Chatham Historic Dockyard recently.

The group has in excess of 140 retired members in total with a walking group that meets on a monthly basis with close to 40 walking. On this occasion the popularity of the Medway Queen attracted 46 people for the tour. The Medway Queen Preservation Society is still hopeful that one or two of these visitors will be persuaded to join our band of volunteers.

The SLOBS managed to "jump the gun"!

Medway Queen is open for tours again on Saturdays from 19th January. Open hours are 11am to 4pm with last admissions at 3pm.

Ron Vant & Ju. Maguire

Bob Ratcliffe

22/12/2018

Above: Bob and his wife, Margaret at the presentation of the bow wheel to Medway Queen in November 2014. Joe Stokes

We were saddened to learn of the passing of Bob Ratcliffe – he was very much a part of the story of the Medway Queen project. A founder member of the Medway Queen Preservation Society, Bob served on our first committee in 1985 and with his local knowledge, contacts, optimism and humour we were soon underway.

Known locally as “Mr. Rochester”, because of his interest in and vast knowledge of the area he was involved in several local societies and was present at most events in the city. He was an expert in the bygone transport of the region; trains, traction engines, buses and, of course, ships. Bob knew and loved them all.

Not only did Bob remember the Medway Queen in service on the Medway but he was on board the ship as a passenger at the Spithead Coronation Review in 1953. In 2014 Bob generously sponsored a replacement bow steering wheel in memory of his son, Michael. An author, broadcaster, historian there was no limit to his talents nor his energy when campaigning for a local cause. John and I enjoyed time out on the sailing barge “Cabby” on race days in the company of Bob, he was always a witty companion.

Bob’s funeral was held at Rochester Cathedral on Thursday December 20th 2018 at 11.30 followed by a private service for the family at Medway Crematorium. To Margaret and Andrew and family we offer our condolences. Bob was respected by all and the world of preservation will be a poorer place without Bob Ratcliffe.

Noreen Chambers
(December 2018)

Bob's interests in transport were varied. In 1953 he was taken by train to Southampton where he boarded Medway Queen for a tour of the fleet and to watch the Coronation Review. Bob took this picture at Waterloo Station. The center train is the one he boarded for the journey to Southampton. Some of the passengers must have been a little put out when their first view of their ship was the top of a funnel protruding above the dockside. Berth 47 was an ocean liner berth and Medway Queen’s 316 tons would be a quite a bit smaller than the usual traffic there: RMS Queen Mary, still in service at that time, was 80,000 tons displacement.

Fund Raising Successes

13/12/2018

In addition to the £3033 donation from the Co-op Community Fund recently announced we have had a generous donation of £5000 from one of our long term supporters and another £3000 from Reading Support Group. This gives us just over £11000 towards the aft saloon project and the electrical fittings. The Fun Food and Craft event on 1st December did well despite the weather and made a further very worthwhile contribution.

The board are continuing to look for further sponsorship but the desired timescales rule out formal grant applications to charitable trusts. We will have to rely on individual donations, smaller grants and sponsorship. If you know anyone who might help please get in touch with them or pass details to us at info@medwayqueen.co.uk

On top of that our prospective publisher for the proposed children's book has revised the specification giving us a much reduced sponsorship target of £3400 for a 1000 print run. This is as good as finding a first sponsor! We will not raid the restoration budget for this project and need it to be independently financed.

Click the "Wish List" below for more details of all donation opportunities.

Medway Queen's Wish List

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January 08th, 2019

Bob Ratcliffe

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