A Royal Wedding

by James Harding

In just under six weeks time, Prince William will marry Kate Middleton, and with anticipation growing in the build-up to the royal wedding, memorabilia and souvenirs seem to be springing up everywhere.

It’s been announced as a public holiday, meaning two days off work, and is all set to be one of the highest-profile British weddings ever, with live TV coverage of the ceremony to be broadcast into the homes of millions of Brits.

It’s been a love story to capture the imaginations and to win the hearts of the nation, and kept the royal family in touch with the common man. William, 28, and Kate, 29, met while studying together at the prestigious St. Andrew’s University in Scotland. Both achieved a 2:1 degree and the pair were even housemates during their studies.

University lecturers strike over pension changes

by James Harding

University lecturers continued industrial strike action this week in the midst of a disagreement about pensions and pay. Lecturers at the University of Kent engaged in a strike on Tuesday, and Ian Bruce told me that it was in the hopes “of forcing the employers back to the negotiating table.”

In an exclusive interview he explained to me that the protest is a last resort. “How can we do this to send a message to our management that they need to re think and discuss further a change that they’d like to impose because we don’t think it’s right … not just for us but for the system, without hurting the students?”

How worried does debt make you?

Copywritten by Rebecca Tomkins - http://rebeccatomkinsportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/

With the rise in student fees before Christmas, it has raised awareness of the debts that current student already have. A freedom of information request has revealed that the largest debt owed to the government by one student is £66,150 and the combined 20 largest student debts amount to more than £1 million. In these statistics it showed that only one of these students lived in London, where funding is higher due to the price of living costs.

The question is how did the rest of these students compile such huge debts? Longer courses mean more loans and this means more debts. However, a notable point is that these debts are created by students studying to be doctors and lawyers, professions that should result in a high income. This means paying back loans shouldn’t hurt their bank balances as much.

Roman ruins found in Canterbury

Archeological site in St. Dunstan's, Canterbury

words and video by Hannah Atterbury

An ancient Roman burial ground has been uncovered in St Dunstan’s, Canterbury. The site, located on the former Halletts garage on Station Road West, is currently being excavated by the Canterbury Archeological Trust to prepare for the building of new student accommodation.

Archeologist, Chris Hammond, said the graves dated back to either 1 or 2 AD and that “loads of bodies” remained. The skeletons are all facing east or west which suggests them all to be Christian.

Southeastern Rail is still full steam ahead

words by Nicole Muller, audio and pictures by Nicole Muller and Alex Dodds

It has been announced that Southeastern rail have been given permission to continue running services until 2014.

The two-year extension is likely to be a disappointment to the many passengers who experienced bad service during the snowy conditions at the beginning of the year. With countless cancellations and delays and even some train stations being closed completely, travelers were left furious at the lack of help provided by Southeastern rail.

On top of this, the company has encountered further controversy when it was revealed they scored 82.04 per cent punctuality in the last Passengers Charter period, which is just 0.04 per cent above the point at which customers can apply for compensation.

Canterbury rugby club on the brink of relegation

words by Nicolas Verdier

With seven games to go, the end of the season is going to be a stressed one for Canterbury rugby club.

Currently just above the relegation line in 13th position, the city club have just seven games to avoid a relegation in National League 3 London & South East division.

However, to do so, they must stop this 12 games losing streak and win at least three games of the remaining seven to secure their place in National League 2 next season.

“This has been quite a frustrating period for us. We are playing a good rugby but we cannot get the victory. We are always in the game after half time but then we are shooting ourselves in the foot by giving away easy points,” Number 8 Wim Baars said.

Creative arts hit hardest in funding slash

words and pictures by Alex Dodds

The University of Creative Arts in Canterbury is facing a 7.8% funding cut thanks to new government action.

The university system is undergoing the biggest shake up in years with tuition fees for students tripling and London seeing some of the most volatile street protests ever seen.

Speaking to BBC Kent, UCA deputy vice chancellor Mark Hunt said the government had “favored stem subjects” such as maths and English and creative subjects all over the country had been hit hardest.

Also talking to the BBC, minister David Willets said: “"Next year will be a year of transition to a new funding regime where more teaching funding will follow the choices of students.

What did you think of the Census?

Words and video by Rebecca Tomkins - http://rebeccatomkinsportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/

It's Census time. Every 10 years each household in Britain must complete a government form giving details of everyone who spend the night there.

Questions include which religion people follow, the age of every person and details about employment.

But some people say the questions are unnecessary in a world where so much personal information is easily available thanks to the internet and government records.

Canterbury Tales went onto the streets of Canterbury to discover what people really felt about the Census.

CCCU looking to be involved in London 2012

words and video by Nicolas Verdier

A survey has shown that more than 90% of universities and colleges in the UK are expecting to be involved in London 2012, and Canterbury Christ Church University is one of them.

Following the designation of London as the host for the 2012 Olympics in July 2005, they applied the next year to be an Olympic training centre and became one of the 70 institutions around the country that were designated as a pre-Olympic training camp.

At the time of their allocation, they were given basketball, fencing, judo and badminton as their options. Five other camps are in Canterbury. They are Polo Farm (hockey), Canterbury Cricket club (archery), St Anselm girls’ school (gymnastics), Canterbury Academy (athletics) and the University of Kent (indoor sports)

Now Christ Church is working hard to find a nation to come train in their facilities under the guidance of Kent Sport Leisure and Olympics.

Canterbury is hotspot for parking tickets

words, video and audio by Alex Dodds

People in Canterbury pay more parking penalties a year than anywhere else in Kent.

The city has come top in a parking penalties survey carried out by the Department of Transport with district wardens issuing over 25,000 tickets last year and the local council pocketing more than £730,000.

Canterbury’s ticket total is almost 4,000 tickets ahead than any other district and the total is more than the whole of Dartford and Thanet put together.

Canterbury’s pothole pitfall

words by Nicole Muller

A cyclist who lost four teeth after crashing into a pothole has joined a growing list of people condemning the state of Canterbury’s roads as dangerous.

As well as losing his teeth, Rubi Sheffield grazed his face and even came close to being paralysed after being thrown over the handlebars of his bike when it hit a pothole on Saturday. The ambulance was called and upon arriving at the hospital the 61-year-old was advised to remain still to avoid further neck injury.

“It was unbelievable how fast it happened," said Mr Sheffield.

"I was only doing about ten miles an hour at the time. If I had been going faster I would have been paralysed or more likely dead.”

Battle of the balls!

words by Sam Smith, video by Nicolas Verdier

The Summer Ball is the biggest event of the third term for both Canterbury Christ Church and Kent universities. Students gather to celebrate the end of the academic year, and their respective unions are expected to arrange a line-up of music to entertain them.


The line-ups of the Canterbury and Kent summer balls are always compared and contrasted, with much chagrin often directed at the CCCU student union for booking what many feel to be inferior acts.


This can often be attributed to the much larger budget Kent Uni has to work with, allowing them to book a larger number of popular bands and musicians.


However, this year the booking decisions of both student unions have been questioned by angry students.

The strains of student life

words by Hannah Atterbury and Nicole Muller

A third of students are more concerned about debt problems than they are about their exam results according to a survey by this website.

But the pressure of exam deadlines cause the most stress to those questioned and is leading to a rising concern over the welfare of undergraduates.

Homeless man overdoses near Canterbury college.

words and photos by Rebecca Tomkins

The scene at Longport Roundabout

On Monday at 3pm three police cars and an ambulance were summoned to attend to a 40-year-old man, who after collapsing was bustled into an ambulance on a stretcher.  The man is believed to have been homeless and after taking an overdose had collapsed, while one of his friends left, the police arrived to deal with the aftermath.

Canterbury census appeal

words by Rebecca Tomkins and audio by Rebecca Tomkins & Alex Dodds

For the past few weeks the postmen have been busily delivering the 2011 census to our doorsteps.  The census is important for the government to understand where funds should be sent for local services.  Canterbury council can lose an estimated £5,000 over a period of 10 years for every census not completed and returned.

The council has set up workshops in village halls and community workshops to ensure people are confident that they will fill in forms correctly.  Today the first workshop took place in Whitstable at the Whitstable Library with census coordinator Henry Lewis.  The coordinator of Tankerton, Whitstable, Yorkletts and Seasalter explained the importance of the census:

“The census is really important, primarily so that the resources get to the population in relation to their needs.  If we didn’t have the census the distribution of schools, hospitals, transport etc would be rather more haphazard than if there was no concrete information.

Netto knockdown causes a stir

The demolition site located in Dover Street.

words by Hannah Atterbury, video by Hannah Atterbury, Rebecca Tomkins and Nicole Muller

Demolition work in Dover Street, Canterbury has enraged local residents.

Last month workmen began tearing down Netto supermarket, the furniture shop Bamboo Tiger and Studio 41 nightclub to make way for Canterbury Christ Church University student housing. The halls will house 206 student rooms, a brand new Students Union plus 10 new residential homes.

Residents of Dover Street, however, have grown tired of the constant noise and disruptions the demolition site has caused in their daily life.

The unveiling of The Marlowe Theatre

words by Nicole Muller

After two years of anticipation Canterbury’s Marlowe Theatre is finally preparing to reopen, and have prepared a memorable line-up of productions to kick start their first season.

Following the demolition of the original building in late 2009, Canterbury has been without one of its biggest attractions for quite some time and even had to resurrect a giant circus tent as a temporary venue over the Christmas period to hold its annual pantomime.

Officials at the venue are very excited to reveal that the construction of the new building is now completely finished.

Japanese shockwaves reach Canterbury

words by Sam Smith, video by Sam Smith and Nicolas Verdier

The ongoing tragedy in Japan has had far-reaching consequences, even affecting some here in Kent. The massive earthquake, measuring a 9 on the moment magnitude scale, and the subsequent tsunami that swept across the country created devastation, with 8,649 confirmed deaths and 12,877 people still missing.

The terrible destruction has cause a global effort to support the Japanese in any way possible, including collecting donations to help with relief efforts. Richard O’Donnell, 21, and Sam Wallace, 20, are both history students at Kent University who volunteer for various charities in their spare time. Currently collecting for the Red Cross on Canterbury high street, the two are more than happy to give their time to aid those suffering in Japan.