The Medway Queen Preservation Society has signed up to “Localgiving” so that online donations can be made by that route as well as in the other, existing, ways. The hope is that this will reach a new audience and that we can benefit from the site’s promotional schemes. Donations can be made at any time and Localgiving runs a number of online fundraising campaigns throughout the year. Each campaign utilises a financial incentive to help local charities secure donations online with incentives such as match funding, “probabilistic” matching and competition prizes. 
 
The next campaign will be on Tuesday December 1st with each £5 donation made to a charity through Localgiving on that day placed into a draw to be doubled by an extra £5 of match funding. Donations of other amounts will not be included in the draw. The promotion will only apply to one-time donations and 1000 x £5 donations made on that day will be matched as part of this promotion. There are no limits on the number of donations you can make and every £5 donation will have an equal chance of receiving match funding. The more donations you make, the better your chances of getting matched!
 
Our page on Localgiving can be found at:  https://localgiving.com/search?name=medway+queen
 

Progress has been slow over the last few months, mainly due to the restrictions of finance and the number of volunteers available. After the Ramsgate "expedition" it was necessary to make repairs to the main access gangway and ramp which has been achieved. This allowed visitors on board and visitor numbers have steadily improved over the weeks. Our volunteers have continued work on the steering systems. The bow system was completed some time ago now and work is concentrated on the main steering linkage which runs through the aft saloon. 

We have experienced problems with rain water ingress through the promenade deck seams as some visitors must have noticed. A new method of caulking the deck has been tried with considerable success but this requires the timber to be dry at the time of application and we will not now be able to complete the process until after the winter. A temporary sealing measure is being considered by the trustees. Scuppers have also been fitted to speed the removal of rain water.

This work has been undertaken by Site Manager Bryan Hulley and the teams of technical volunteers working on the ship. We urgently need more such volunteers as well as help in other areas such as admin and the Visitor Centre. See the announcement on our home page.