At 05:20 this morning, South East 4x4 Response Control received a call from Kent Police to assist with moving a somersaulted vehicle from a farmer's crop field following an RTA in the Barming area. Two responders were deployed to the scene to assist first with rolling the vehicle from it's side to the right way up. The vehicle was then winched through the crop following the path of the collision to a point where traction assistance from an alternative 4x4 took over to move it along a farm track to a hard standing area at the entrance of the field. From there the recovery team were able to load the vehicle onto their recovery truck. Our responders headed to work at 08:15. An interesting start to the week!

Two responders have been out supporting Kent Police and Kent Search and Rescue with transportation of their search teams in the Kemsing area.

At our AGM last night, the Golden Shackle was awarded to Brian O'Bray, a responder, who had gone to the aid of a member who had two flat tyres on the same side of a trailer carrying sheep, close to the intersection of the M26 to the M20. Our responder collected two old wheels from another member's house so that wheels could be changed and the sheep could continue their journey to home, all be it rather slowly.

South East 4x4 Response supported the Heart of Kent Hospice Bluebell walk today by manning 5 of the 13 marshal points along with transporting a number of marshals to and from their stations. Whilst a misty start to the day, the sun soon came out to make an enjoyable event.

Responders were out supporting Kent Search and Rescue with transportation of their search teams in the Tonbridge area.

The third group of three responders recently completed a day's British Off Road Driving Association (BORDA) Standard training at Ashtree Farm, home of our sponsor, The Wright Event. Following the recent heavy rain the off road course presented challenging conditions for drivers. We are fortunate in having, Paul, our Vice Chair, who is a BORDA BST, on our team. South East 4x4 Response is kindly funding the training for members who wish to become BORDA assessed.

The Fundraising team had a great day at the Sheppey St George's Day event with the public supporting out tombola, Spin the Wheel game and purchasing some of the St George's Day cakes made especially for the occasion. It was good to welcome so many people to our stall.

Recently we had to quickly lift and move our cabin and container from their position to enable resurfacing work to take place. We would like to thank Jacksons Fencing for the loan and use of two large trailers for storing the cabin and container during the 7 weeks of removal.
We would also like to thank Swain Heavy Haulage, Strood, for lifting both back into position with a Scania lorry equipped with a 14 tonne crane. Our Events and Response trailers will be returning to the site too.

We would like to thank the Sittingbourne Christmas Lights and Sleigh Round group for their generous donation of £250 towards our funds. Our members enjoy supporting the Sittingbourne Christmas Light switch-on event along with the sleigh rounds each year. It has become the highlight of a very busy year as we draw to a close our event season prior to Christmas. We are looking forward to supporting you again this year.

One of our responders came across a stranded motorist on the M2 who had run out of fuel. Unfortunately, the motorist didn't quite get his vehicle completely off the carriageway onto the hard shoulder. With our responder in a fend off position, a Highways Agency vehicle, which had now arrived on the scene, towed the vehicle fully onto the hard shoulder with our responder talking the motorist through what was needed re. towing and steering. While the Highways Agency vehicle moved onto another call, our responder remained with the stranded motorist until the AA arrived to assist with the recovery.