Author Profile

Lauren Abbott - labbott@thekmgroup.co.uk

Lauren Abbott was news editor of the Dartford and Gravesend Messenger series until 2011. She then took responsibility for the KM Group's My Kent Family website before also taking on the role of Trending Content Writer across the Iliffe Media group in 2021.

‘£1.65 for a first class stamp? I’ll grumble and yet I rarely send a letter’

24 September 2024

Rising prices and unreliable deliveries - our columnist asks if she’s any right to grumble about postal services or is she part of the problem?

‘Parents won’t follow the rules unless the punishment is enough to dissuade them’

23 September 2024

Close to 900 parents have received multiple fines for term-time holidays - will the new threat of prison or a £2,500 penalty tackle repeat offenders?

144

‘Why only London or Wales? Every primary school pupil should get lunch for free’

17 September 2024

Free lunches are being served in London’s primary schools for the second year running and our columnist believes it’s time this happened everywhere.

‘The winter fuel debate could save the country £1.2bn but will it leave MPs out in the cold?’

10 September 2024

People are watching which way MPs vote on winter fuel payments, believes our columnist, with debates rumbling as autumn’s first cold snap arrives.

113

‘They face every day with incredible bravery and unwavering courage’

07 September 2024

A young boy fundraising for memorial benches after losing his own brother suddenly just last year is among this year’s Children’s Awards winners.

‘Oasis’ dynamic pricing isn’t new - families face inflated holiday costs every August’

04 September 2024

Why the fuss about Oasis ticket prices, asks our columnist, who argues families needing August holidays have paid inflated prices for years.

‘I’m sick of celebrities queuing up to tell us how bad their exam results were’

20 August 2024

It’s exam results time and our columnist is getting irritated by the multi-millionaire celebrities lining up to tell students grades don’t matter.

100 possible ‘grey belt’ plots identified in Kent for housing

19 August 2024

There may be 100 likely sites of ‘grey belt’ land in Kent that could be suitable for housing development, suggests a report, but where are they?

127

‘Viral videos of solidarity since the riots remind us of the good that comes when we exercise our moral duty’

13 August 2024

From the imam offering chips to rioters to the ‘nans against Nazis’ our columnist has become entranced by online videos showing acts of solidarity.

‘Society prefers children who aren’t seen and not heard to those who play in our streets’

07 August 2024

‘Where are all the children?’ asks our columnist, who fears society is gradually waging a war on play that means fewer youngsters are on the streets.

Rural churches face ‘funding crisis’ in increasingly cashless society

04 August 2024

Rural churches reportedly face a funding crisis as fewer visitors carry cash, banks close and village internet struggles - can Kent’s parishes adapt?

‘Winter fuel payments need restricting but to say all but the poorest can afford heating is wrong’

30 July 2024

Pensioners’ winter fuel payments need capping just as TV Licences did, says our columnist, but it’s wrong to say all but the poorest can afford it.

225

The despicable rise in dine and dash: ‘It’s greed and opportunism’

28 July 2024

Greedy customers who ‘dine and dash’ before paying are leaving owners out of pocket and staff disheartened but what is behind the rising trend?

‘It’s full steam ahead for Great British Railways - so will trains run in the national interest?’

23 July 2024

Could the government’s vision for our railways signal a new era for public transport and train travel in this country, asks our columnist?

Kent braces itself as summer getaway starts

19 July 2024

Kent is braced for a busy weekend on the roads and at its borders as schools begin to break-up, the weather warms up and Paris’ Olympics get closer.

‘We thought we’d got rid of rickets but now it’s back’

18 July 2024

There has been a sharp rise in the number of rickets cases recorded in one part of Kent but are Victorian diseases really making a comeback?

‘A lack of cash is turning education and our schools into a business’

16 July 2024

A lack of cash is turning education and schools into businesses, fears our columnist, when they should be in nothing but the business of education.

‘Flying ant day’ warning as millions of insects set to fill the skies

12 July 2024

The wet, windy, humid conditions may create the ideal conditions for ‘flying ant day’ with the natural phenomenon thought to be around the corner.

Parents’ anger at trust ‘erasing school’s history’ with name changes

10 July 2024

Families have accused one of Kent’s biggest academy trusts of ‘erasing’ its primary’s history as it prepares to rename more than 15 schools it runs.

‘Labour wants homes on the grey-belt but how do you control the green land released?’

09 July 2024

Labour proposes homes on the ‘grey belt’ but - asks our columnist - what will stop landowners letting their green land deteriorate so they can sell?

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