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Our programme to transform Gillingham Town Centre is underway. This newsletter will provide regular updates on the transformation work taking place to make Gillingham a better place to live, work, learn and visit for years to come.
Learn more about the following:
- An update from the chair of Gillingham Town Centre Taskforce, Naushabah Khan
- Gillingham Action Plan launch event
- Love Gillingham weekend
- Summer at the Strand
- Business spotlight: Gillingham Market
- Cracking down on litter
- Big Door Knock coming to Gillingham
- UK Shared Prosperity Fund: St Albans project
- Medway Park improvements
Stay up-to-date on the latest Love Gillingham news via our website
Got a question? Email futuregillingham@medway.gov.uk
 Hi everyone,
I hope you are enjoying the sunshine.
As the MP for Gillingham and Rainham, I am deeply committed to making Gillingham High Street a source of local pride and a celebration of the very best our community has to offer. That’s why I’m delighted with the upcoming activity and carefully curated events happening locally this summer.
The Love Gillingham 'Big Day Out’ is back for its second instalment on Sunday 20th July, and promises to be a truly memorable event. Residents can enjoy live entertainment ranging from musicians to street performers and even a wrestling match, with interactive workshops also. You can trial some of our best local street food, and support local businesses at one of the many shopping stalls on the day. Our event is free, and also dog-friendly! I look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.
The Medway Mile is also coming up on Friday 18th July, which will be a brilliant coming together for residents at the Great Lines Heritage Park. I will be taking part with some of my team and am looking forward to getting on my trainers and enjoying the positive energy and high spirits this event always provides.
I’m also really pleased that The Strand has been refurbished and is ready for use this summer. In May, I attended its Big Opening Day to celebrate the reveal of the new splashpad and refurbished tennis courts, which look excellent. As Chair of the Strand Taskforce, I have also announced that The Strand will receive £700,000 in investment over the coming year to renovate the site and further improve its facilities.
Lastly, the Gillingham Town Centre Action Plan will be launched on Saturday 12th July. I will be in attendance and am very much interested in hearing from residents about the proposed strategic direction for developing our town centre. There are further details on participating in this event in the newsletter, and I highly encourage our community to get involved. Your voice, opinions and experiences are vital in creating a successful plan.
Best wishes,
Naushabah Khan
MP for Gillingham and Rainham
A special launch event of the Gillingham Town Centre Action Plan, which has been created in partnership with residents, is being held this Saturday, 12 July from 11am – 1pm. Spaces are still available to secure your space.
In 2024, Medway Council commissioned a consultant team to lead a co-creation project to shape a vision and action plan to improve Gillingham town centre and make It a better place to live, work, learn and visit.
This work included recruiting a demographically-representative panel of 40 local people to shape our plans. The ambition was to co-develop a long-term strategic plan that sets out the desired future of the town centre, focusing on its physical and social environment, as well as its economic role.
Three in-person workshops with the Community Panel were held at Gillingham Salvation Army, helping to create a document that sets out the Community Panel's aspirations for the town centre and identifies a set of projects and actions to help deliver the vision for Gillingham’s future.
We are now keen to hear from the wider community and local groups to hear what you want to change and how they can lend support.
Residents, businesses and anyone with an interest in Gillingham are welcome to come along to the event and find out more about the plan, which sets out the vision for the transformation of the town centre in the coming years.
The launch event is being held at Gillingham Salvation Army. Tickets must be booked in advance.
Book now
The Love Gillingham Weekend takes place on Friday, 18 to Sunday, 20 July.
It's part of a celebratory weekend in the heart of the town centre with fun for all the family. It kicks off with this year's Medway Mile:
- Medway Mile 2025: Friday, 18 July from 5pm.
It’s nearly time to get set and go for this year’s mile. This year’s course will be based entirely on the Great Lines Heritage Park, where participants will pass the iconic Chatham Naval Memorial and be able to soak in amazing views of both Gillingham and Chatham. It’s a free one-mile fun run for all ages and abilities where you can choose to walk, jog, or race at your own pace.
In addition to the Mile there will also be children’s races on the Medway Park athletics track sponsored by Child-Friendly Medway, competitive club and run group relay races organised by Medway and Maidstone athletics club, mascot race, free sports activities and live entertainment.
Register your place now
- Gillingham Market: Saturday, 19 July: 9am – 4pm.
Gillingham Market has been trading in the high street for over 30 years, with over 25 stalls. The market provides a range of local meat, fish, clothes, household products, toys and much more. Bag yourself a bargain and support a local business by visiting the market during our Love Gillingham weekend.
- Big Day Out: Sunday, 20 July; 10am – 4pm.
Our 2nd annual Big Day Out event for Gillingham High Street is just around the corner. Last year's event attracted over 2500 residents and was packed full of entertainment for all ages. This year’s activities include wrestling, street performers, creative workshops, live music and much more. Don’t miss out on this free family fun day to kick-start the school holiday season.
Find out more about the Love Gillingham weekend
It’s going to be a splashing summer at the Strand Park and Lido…and you won’t want to miss out.
The legendary family attraction has gone through a major makeover ahead of the holiday season. A number of new and improved facilities are now open.
The new attractions add up to a brand-new chapter in the rich history of The Strand, which first opened in June 1896.
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New tennis courts
The new courts have been fully refurbished to ensure the courts can be enjoyed by players of all abilities for years to come.
As well as weekly Barclays Free Park Tennis sessions, the refurbished courts will host Local Tennis Leagues, giving people the opportunity to get involved in friendly and social local competitions.
All courts are now available to book via the LTA website. New booking systems and gate access technology means it is now easier to get on court by booking in advance to guarantee availability.
Book now
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New splash pad
The beach-themed water feature has more than 30 ground-level sensor-activated water jets to splash, play and soak in the fun.
The works have been funded through Section 106 contributions. The splash pad has been designed and installed by specialist contractors Fountaineers and is suitable for children aged 3 to 11 years old.
It's free for attend (no booking required).
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The Strand Lido
Our iconic outdoor swimming pool is one of Britain's earliest open air-pools and is the country's only remaining riverside tidal salt-water pool.
The lido has undergone a fresh new lick of paint and new signage celebrating memories from years gone by.
It will be open every weekend until the school holidays when we will be open every day (whatever the 'British' weather).
Book a session
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There’s also a new picnic area, with new seating installed to provide another spot for families to enjoy the summer sun.
Find out more about activities at The Strand this summer
Gillingham Market has seen serving the local community for over 30 years. It's a vibrant and traditional community street market held in the heart of Gillingham, running on Mondays and Saturdays every week from 9am until 4pm.
The market features a diverse range of stalls, offering fresh produce, street food, clothing, household goods and much more.
With over 25 stalls every week, Gillingham Market serves a central hub for the local community, providing a space for social interaction with supporting local businesses.
Boyces Bakery is one business that has reaped the awards of having a regular stall on the market. Having originally traded at Strood and Gillingham markets, the business now has a shop on Gillingham High Street, along with other shops in Parkwood and Rainham.
Businesses on the high street continue to tell us that their footfall increases in their shop on market days. Gillingham Market continues to support the local economy and provides a boost both for businesses on the high street and local residents.
The Gillingham Taskforce is determined to reduce the litter on the high street. We've taken major action over the last 12 months to catch culprits.
Our enforcement officers have been ensuring that littering is caught and punished, with 263 fines handed out between July 2024 to June 2025. 256 of these offences related to cigarette butt littering.
Cllr Alex Paterson, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Highways and Enforcement, said: “We want to send out a strong message that dropping cigarette butts, or any other litter, in the street is not acceptable and those who do it can face hefty fines. Our teams work hard throughout the year to keep Medway clean and tidy, but everyone who lives, works or visits here needs to do their bit too.”
To reduce the risk of harm from smoking, residents who want to stub out the habit for good are encouraged to get in touch with Medway Council’s Stop Smoking Service.
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 allows for authorised officers to issue fixed penalty notices on any land the public has access to. Our contracted litter enforcement agents patrol across Medway including in the area’s high streets, greenspaces, supermarket car parks and other areas which have high levels of littering.
We’ve teamed up with LitterLotto to help fight littering on Medway’s streets. Residents can enter a weekly prize draw to win £1000 simply for binning their litter.
To enter the weekly prize draw, residents need to take a photo of the litter and throw it away in a public bin using the LitterLotto app.
The initiative is another way in our ongoing work to help keep Gillingham High Street litter-free.
Report littering in Medway.
The Big Door Knock: Connecting with the community
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Officers from Medway Council, along with our trusted contractors Mears and Norse, will be visiting tenants and leaseholders for The Big Door Knock. This is your chance to share your thoughts and concerns directly with us.
What to Expect:
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Personal Visits: We'll be knocking on doors to give you the opportunity to complete a short survey and report any issues you may have.
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Missed Us? Not a problem. If you're out, we'll post some useful information through your door.
Event Details:
🗓️ Wednesday, 23 July. 10am-12noon. Roads in the Gillingham area
🗓️ Thursday, 28 August. 10am-12noon. Roads in the Gillingham area
Why Participate?
Your feedback is invaluable in helping us improve our services. Plus, it's a great way to stay informed and connected with what's happening in your community.
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Medway Council's UK Shared Prosperity Fund programme has made a major funding contribution over the last few years.
Over £1.5 million has been awarded to over 100 applicants since 2022, including charities, voluntary sector organisations, private sector organisation, council services and other eligible groups across Medway.
One of the local Gillingham projects that has benefitted from funding was ‘Celebrating St Albans'.
The project will be delivered in partnership with Medway Adult Education and Medway Housing Services to celebrate the area, its rich history and all those that live there. Collaborating with
local residents to showcase the diversity and richness of Gillingham and transforming spaces at St Albans (situated in St Albans Close) into symbols of pride and unity.
Our Housing Team will be holding events to create artwork that celebrates some of the areas local landmarks, its history as well as looking at a vibrant and exciting future.
Workshops will be delivered with local schools so that they can create their own interpretation in a collage they will be able to keep for years to come.
Stay tuned for further updates coming soon.
Read more about Medway's UK Shared Prosperity Fund
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If you're a regular user of Medway Park you are likely to have noticed massive improvements to the swimming pool changing area such as a full decoration of walls, ceilings and cubicles, replacement vanity units, sinks and mirrors, plus anti-slip treatment on the floor tiles.
We're delighted to announce there's more to come with:
- gym extension on upper floors
- a new studio: a purposed built home for our fitness classes, which will allow us to increase capacity and reduce waiting lists. The new studio will be fitted out with mirrors, new sound system, lighting and flooring. It will also have the added benefit of an accessible equipment store alongside the studio and separate waiting room for you to use pre and post workout.
Discover more at Medway Park
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