September 12-14 2014

Once again the Medway Queen Preservation Society is taking part in the annual “Heritage Open Days” weekend. From Friday 12th September through to Sunday 14th the paddle steamer Medway Queen, her visitor centre and the society’s workshops will be open to the public. Guides will be on hand to explain the history of the ship and to show our progress in her restoration. There will be plenty of opportunity to discuss the work done so far, our plans for the future and how you can become part of that future.


The site will be open from 11am to 4pm on all three days and tours of the ship will be arranged according to demand. Access to some areas is dependent on the state of the restoration work but as much as possible will be open to visitors. Other attractions will include the workshops and visitor centre, the society’s bookstall and souvenir shop, light refreshments and other temporary displays and exhibits.


Medway Queen is berthed at Gillingham Pier, Pier Approach Road, Gillingham, Kent. ME7 1RX. Telephone 01634 575717 (Monday to Thursday office hours) for more details or look at www.medwayqueen.co.uk for the latest information as the big day approaches. If you wish to arrange a large group visit please telephone as early as possible to make arrangements and allow us to spread the load evenly.

The Medway Queen will be sporting the red ensign over the weekend (23rd-24th) as the Dunkirk Little Ships are heading to Chatham on a commemorative cruise.
Over 20 ships are expected to be attending this event from Medway, Thames, South and East Coast.

The MQPS site will be open on Saturday, so come down and see the ship, enjoy the visitors centre and see what we have been doing.

Go over to their website to find out more!
http://www.adls.org.uk/

This is Aaron, Dave and Lukas installing the Jackstaff and Flag onto the Quarter Deck.

I am Estelle Moricel, a 20 year-old-intern working for the Medway Queen Preservation Society, from the 12th of May until the end of June.

I come from a lovely town in Brittany, France, and after having studied Applied Foreign Languages and International Trade for 3 years (Bachelor Degree), I have had to find a work placement abroad. This 7-week-internship brought me to Gillingham where I hope to improve my professional skills as well as my language skills.

Indeed, I'm working on the Maritime Heritage Skills (MHS) Cluster Project (preservation of the maritime heritage and promotion of jobs in this sector) on PR & Communication in cooperation with Antoine Porteneuve (Liaison Officer for European Affairs) and Taryn Harrison (IT Support & Administrative Assistant).

I also came here to learn how a European project is run and all the measures needed to achieve it.

Regarding my future, I wish to become Officer in the French Army. Obviously, it is quite atypical but as far as possible, I would like to keep using foreign languages. I am sure speaking English, Spanish and Arabic (at least, try it!) would be an asset for the future. Why not find a job in an embassy? Let's go to competitions!

Contact:
Estelle Moricel
Tel :01634 575717
E-mai : [email protected]

Over 6 weeks, Paul, Thomas, Steyn and Andree did a traineeship for the Medway Queen Preservation Society (Medway) where they have learnt to improve their professionals skills and practice the English language.
They all came from Belgium where they are currently unemployed, but thanks to VDAB, a Belgian job center, they had the opportunity to come to Gillingham as interns on the PS Medway Queen (a historic paddle steamer which is now being restored).

They are between 20 and 50 years old, and come from different parts of Belgium, they were fisherman or long term unemployed in the past, but have decided to move into new work.
Working as mechanics, painters, sprayers and electricians on the Medway Queen, they feel very rewarded with this foreign experience, they found it to be a nice atmosphere. Obviously, the blending with volunteers, interns and full-timers make the society an easy to work with team.

This experience has given them new skills, they now have more hope to find a job in Belgium.. and we wish them all the best!

From left to right : David (a 21 year-old-apprentice, Maidstone), Thomas (a 23 year-old-painter, Belgium), Paul (a 42 year-old-sprayer, Belgium), Andree (a 47 year-old-electrician, Belgium), Stign (a 27 year-old-mechanic, Belgium), Arron (a 21 year-old-apprentice, Chatham), Robb (a mechanic volunteer).

For further information, please contact :
Estelle Moricel, PR & Communication intern
Tel :01634 575717
E-mail : [email protected]

Or, Brian Goodhew, Press Officer  
Tel : 01795 843317
Website: http://www.medwayqueen.co.uk

The lifeboat that we have been assembling and building for our Belgian partners, our volunteers have been working very hard on it, and now currently it looks like this! its near completion and is looking great.

The Belgian trainees we have had for the last few weeks have worked very hard on spraying the forward saloon white so it can be used for a working space.

More photos and information will be coming shortly.