Meet the Team

The Kent Miners’ Festival is made possible by a team of volunteers, led by the festival committee. A great deal of behind-the-scenes work is needed to make sure this Event is a success. Careful planning and many hours of hard work, takes place ahead of the event, as well as attention to detail on the day. Some of the 2019 team are listed below:

Gary Cox
President
Gary Cox has been involved with the Kent Miners’ Festival since 2009, having been the original event Chairman, and was one of establishing members of the event, before becoming the festival President in 2016. He lives in Deal and worked  at Betteshanger Colliery until the closure of the colliery in 1989.

KMF Joint ChairsColin Varrall
Chairman
Colin has been involved with the Kent Miners’ Festival since 2010, as a heritage representative for Tilmanstone Colliery and the mining community of Elvington. He is an establishing member of Elvington and Eythorne heritage group and heritage centre.

Imogen Balderston
Secretary & Treasurer
Imogen became involved with the Kent Miners’ Festival in 2015, after becoming the festival Secretary and Treasurer, and is now one of the Co-Chairs of the festival. She works in the local community for the National Health Service.

Shane-ScottShane Scott
Vice Chairman
Shane Scott has been involved with the Kent Miners’ Festival since the first festival was held in 2009. He has been a festival organiser and coordinator, due to his experience of helping to marshal at many different events across Kent over the past 10 years, and is the festival Vice-Chairman.

Royston Stone
Site Manager
Royston has been involved with the Kent Miners’ Festival since 2009. He has attended many local events across the region due to his involvement with helping to marshal at local events, and is now the festival site manager.

Clive Luckett
Stage Manager

Chris Tough & Samantha Broadhurst
Organisers of the Health & Wellbeing Marquee
Chris is a representative for the Kent Miners’ Festival as one of the co-ordinators for Health and Wellbeing. He is presently the Director of Kent YUTH in Europe CIC, and is a local Deal resident.

Jim DavisJim Davies
Betteshanger Heritage
Jim Davies has been involved with the Kent Miner’s Festival since 2009, having been one of the establishing members of the event, and is the heritage representative for Betteshanger Colliery and the Mill Hill mining community. He lives in Deal and worked at Betteshanger Colliery until the closure of the colliery in 1989.

Ross Llewellyn
Chislet Heritage
Ross has been involved with the Kent Miner’s Festival since 2009, having been one of the establishing members of the event, and is the heritage representative for Chislet Colliery and the Hersden mining community. He lives in Hersden and worked at both Chislet Colliery and Tilmanstone Colliery.

john&rosemary_trickeyJohn & Rosemary Trickey
Kent Coal Queen Competition Orgaisers
John and Rosemary have both been involved with the Kent Miners’ Festival since 2009. John is C.E.O. of Miss European, and are both involved with the annual Deal, Walmer & Kingsdown Carnival and Regatta, and are the organisers for the Kent Coal Queen at the festival.

Kevin and LizKevin & Liz Payne
Dog Show Organisers
Kevin and Liz have been involved with the Kent Miners’ Festival since 2015, helping to organise and hold the festival dog show. Kevin works as a tractor driver on a local farm, is a first aider, and is a dog behaviourist. Liz enjoys walking with her two labradors and is particularly interested in the local archaeology and history of the area. They are both local residents at Betteshanger.

Tony & Elizabeth Kemp
Tony and Elizabeth Kemp have both been involved with the Kent Miners’ Festival since the first festival was held in 2009. They became involved with the event originally by providing the First Aid cover with St. John Ambulance, and are now the heritage representatives for the St. John Ambulance and the Kent Colliery Rescue Teams. In 2017, they were both awarded as members of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.

Beech Grove Community
Thanks also to the Beech Grove Community from Nonington who will be providing stewards for the day. Available on their stand will be free copies of the new book ‘Their Name is Today: Reclaiming childhood in a hostile world‘ by Johann Christoph Arnold.

Anita Luckett & Andrew Denyer
Promotions, programme design and website
Live Heritage CICLive Heritage CIC have been pleased to put together a design and print packages for the Festival since 2012 and also manage the festival website.

Live Heritage is a not-for-profit company that brings together the educational, photographic and web expertise of Andrew Denyer and Design for print, website design and community arts experience of Anita Luckett. Live Heritage offers assistance with and complete project management of community projects including marketing, design, workshops, education packs and events.