Dear XXX,

Welcome to the September Ramsgate Society Newsletter.

This month we have had both a talk by Henry Cleary on the award of Heritage Harbour status to Ramsgate and a visit by the Princess Royal just two days before our second talk by Diane Harvey-White on royal links to the Royal Harbour.

Keeping the nautical focus, the first two items, below, also relate to harbour-based events: one involving the Dunkirk Little Ships in 2025 and the other, our more problematic ambition to host a Tall Ships Regatta. Also note that the exhibition of stories and artifacts from the Clock House collection continues inside Arch 6 of Military Road until October 6th.

Terry Prue

Ramsgate Society Communication Lead

Our Next Talk on The Dunkirk Little Ships and Ramsgate

Photo by Terry Prue of Kevin Flinn at a previous Ramsgate Society talk

A major event in May 2025 will commemorate the 85th anniversary of Operation Dynamo and the role of the Little Ships in the Dunkirk Evacuation. A fleet of 60 of the original vessels is planned to assemble and then embark from Ramsgate Harbour.

Our next talk on October 24th 7pm at the San Clu will set the scene!

The talk will be presented by:

Kevin Finn. Commodore of The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, owner of ‘Brown Owl’ and Ramsgate resident.

Ian Gilbert. Honorary Vice Admiral of The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships and owner of ‘Lady Lou’.

The evening will cover two areas:

1. Operation Dynamo and the Dunkirk Little Ships.

   A historical review of Operation Dynamo from different perspectives, together with a look at the types of vessels who took part and how.

2. The Commemorative Return to Dunkirk 2025.

   What does this mean for Ramsgate, what events are taking place, how many Little Ships are attending, what is a support Fleet. How can you engage in the events taking place.

Doors open at 6:30pm and the talk of about 45 minutes will start at 7pm and be followed by about 15 minutes Q&A. Places must be booked in advance at £2 (+88p for Eventbrite costs). Non-members of the Ramsgate Society will be requested to add a voluntary donation of £3 on the door.

Terry Prue

Proposed Ramsgate Tall Ships Regatta 2026

Ramsgate Society members will know that over the last several months we have been working closely with the Ramsgate Regeneration Alliance to bring a Tall Ships Event to Ramsgate in 2026.

The initial phase of this project was to commission a Feasibility Study from Tall Ships Global who are the leading experts in this field. Thanks to generous support from a number of sponsors, particularly Marc Turnier of Arcvelop, Ramsgate Town Council and Ramsgate resident Graham Birrell, we managed to raise the necessary funds to commission this initial report which was presented by Paul Bishop OBE of Tall Ships Global at a public meeting at the San Clu Hotel on 20th June this year. The report concluded that such an event was indeed feasible in Ramsgate and the response from the large audience present was very positive. There is clearly considerable public support for the Tall Ships coming to Ramsgate to boost the local tourist economy.

The Feasibility Report was then submitted to Thanet District Council (TDC) for discussion as TDC owns the Port and Royal Harbour and this event cannot take place without their support and engagement.

We held a meeting with the Leader of the Council and key Officers on 9th July to discuss the way forward. They were clearly supportive of the idea but had concerns about making any financial commitment to the project in the light of local authority finances at the present time. We understand these concerns, which are being felt nationwide, not just in Thanet, and suggested to TDC that the next step would be to commission a more detailed Viability Report which would provide the necessary financial information and risk assessment that TDC would need to make a decision.

TDC responded to us in a letter dated 23rd August stating that though these events “have the potential to have a long term lasting positive effect on the ports, harbours and towns that host them” they felt unable to proceed until and unless the risks to TDC had been more clearly identified, and declined to contribute towards the cost of the necessary Viability Study required to provide this information

We have attached the initial Feasibility Report here and the exchange of correspondence with TDC here so people can see and understand more clearly the position that has now been reached and why. We feel that if TDC were not so constrained financially they would want to host a Tall Ships Event here in Ramsgate so we are currently thinking ahead as to how this might still be possible.

Whilst recognising concerns regarding risk, there is overwhelming evidence over the past fifty years of the financial contribution these events make to the local hosting communities. In Ramsgate’s case, the Feasibility Study estimates the economic benefit to be between £12 million and £14 million over the four days of the even. This suggests that in terms of value for money, this project ranks very highly indeed.

With this in mind we propose seeking the necessary £10,000 (Plus VAT and travel costs) for the Viability Study to address the concerns expressed by TDC.

Earlier this year the previous Conservative Government announced that Ramsgate would receive an additional Grant of £20 million from the Long Term Plan for Towns and we feel this could be a possible initial funding source for the Tall Ships, which would be repaid from the sale of tickets. However, following the General Election in July 2024 TDC are awaiting clarification from the new Labour Administration as to whether the Long Term Plan for Towns will go ahead in the light of the “£22 billion Black Hole” in the Government’s finances which needs to be filled.

The Chancellor of The Exchequer will be unveiling the Government’s first budget on 30th October, so we have decided to wait until then to review the situation. If the Long Term Plan for Towns is retained we hope that this will provide a platform for further discussions with TDC around the Stage 2 Viability Report and we will keep everyone informed as events unfold.

John Walker

Ramsgate Society

Stephen Byrne

Ramsgate Regeneration Alliance

Last chance to visit our Ramsgate Harbour Exhibition

Just two weeks left to come and visit the exhibition – RAMSGATE’S HARBOUR. Ramsgate’s Royal Harbour is the only Royal Harbour in the world and this exhibition brings together stories from around the harbour, land and sea, over its 200-year history. All objects on display are from the collection of the Clock House Museum and many have never been shown in public exhibition before. The Clock House Museum is about to undergo major renovations to reopen in 2026 so the exhibition is housed in Arch 6, Military Road. We are open Friday–Sunday / noon–5pm, until 6 October.

Rob Warren

Clock House Museum Curator for the Ramsgate Society

October ‘Chine to Chine’ Litter Pick

Volunteers in a previous year!

It’s that time of year again folks!

The Ramsgate Society’s next Litter Pick will take place on

SUNDAY 27th OCTOBER from 10am to 12noon

Meeting outside The Clock House in The Royal Harbour

This will be in collaboration with the Ramsgate Litter Forum and will be part of a series of clean-up events through Thanet during October.

As in previous years – we look forward to seeing people from other local community groups, the Sea Cadets and Guides as well as local residents and members of The Ramsgate Society to make this another successful event!

H&S guidance in relation to Litter Picking will be available, with High Viz Jackets, Litter Picks and Sacks provided courtesy of Ramsgate Town Council and Thanet District Council.  Disposable gloves in all sizes and stickers for any children who take part will be provided by The Ramsgate Society.

DO COME AND JOIN US!  IT’S A REALLY WORTHWHILE ACTIVITY AND ALSO GREAT FUN FOR CHILDREN!

Susanne Ford

Lead on Events and Community Engagement

Climate Matters: Climate Change and Sustainability

Climate Matters has focussed particularly on the dangers and causes of climate change. However, climate change is just one facet, albeit a massive one, of the overall degradation of the planet caused by unrestrained growth.

Sir David Attenborough said some years ago:

“We have a finite environment—the planet. Anyone who thinks that you can have infinite growth in a finite environment is either a madman or an economist.”

In 2015, on the occasion of its seventieth anniversary, the United Nations launched its Sustainable Development Goals in a document entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. The plan consists of 17 Sustainable Development goals and 169 targets. The plan recognises, among other goals, the need to:

“protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations.”

Sustainability is an absolute necessity for the health of the planet. Unsustainable exploitation of resources has led to the destruction of natural environments, loss of biodiversity, pollution and greenhouse gas emission. These directly affect the ability of the planet to provide an adequate environment for sustaining life.

The following are the Sustainable Development Goals agreed by all nations and delegates at the 2015 conference.

Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*

Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

* Acknowledging that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change.

These goals are laudable, indeed essential, but the difficulties involved in approaching them should not be understated. Two paragraphs from the report illustrate this clearly:

“Sustainable development recognizes that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, combating inequality within and among countries, preserving the planet, creating sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and fostering social inclusion are linked to each other and are interdependent.”

And

“Realizing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will make a crucial contribution to progress across all the Goals and targets. The achievement of full human potential and of sustainable development is not possible if one half of humanity continues to be denied its full human rights and opportunities.”

Despite the good intentions and bold words, the countries of the world have not excelled themselves in delivering any of these goals. For example, the US and UK are complicit in the oppression of women today in Afghanistan (in no other country are women and girls so oppressed on the basis of their sex). Their abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 triggered the collapse of the Afghan government under which the situation for women and girls was improving. Since then, the Taliban has withdrawn even the most basic human rights of women and girls. In June this year, the UN held a conference on Afghanistan and, shamefully, acceded to the Taliban’s demands that Afghan women be excluded.

We are now 11 years into this 15-year program. I leave it to the reader to contemplate how much closer, or not, we are to these goals and how likely we are to achieve them.

Phil Shotton,

Ramsgate Society Lead on Environment and Climate Change

New Ramsgate Society Committee Member

We are delighted to announce that Sophie Clissold-Lesser has recently joined the Committee of The Ramsgate Society

Sophie has had trustee roles in charities across several sectors and has more than 10 years experience as chair of board of trustees. She is currently a trustee of Charity Mentors Kent and Medway and has recently been appointed to the trustee board of Power of Women Thanet.

She joined the founder board of trustees of Street Doctors in 2013 and resigned as chair of the board in 2023. That period for Street Doctors included pivoting delivery model to work through the pandemic and the evolution from a small group of inspired medical students to a charity which in 2023 delivered training to 9800 young people at risk of violence (116% increase from 2022) through more than 1000 training sessions (72% increase from 2022) and has delivery teams across the UK.

Whilst she was chair of Little Angel Theatre, the charity doubled its audience in house and on tour to over 40,000 and its income to over £1m (2005-2016).

Sophie’s other trustee roles have included The Ramblers – a walking charity and membership organisation with around 100,000 members and a network of volunteers who maintain and protect the path network.

Sophie’s business background includes time managing globally distributed teams and delivering complex enablement and change projects both for a range of clients across public and private sector and internally in IBM. She is an experienced workshop designer and facilitator with a focus on communications and collaborative working and who particularly enjoys problem solving.

Having moved to Ramsgate in 2023 Sophie volunteers in a local charity shop and is an active supporter of live music and cultural events in the area. She has volunteered at the Ramsgate International Film Festival, the Festival of Sound and most recently Broadstairs Folk Week.

We are delighted to welcome Sophie to the Ramsgate Society Committee where I am sure she will make a significant contribution to delivering the Society’s Charitable objectives.

John Walker, Ramsgate Society Chair

Contact the Ramsgate Society

If you have any queries about or for the Society please get in touch

Members with events, workshops or news that you would like the Society to consider featuring in its newsletter please contact: news@ramsgate-society.org.uk