Fenner Frost Foundation

04/09/2026

It's been another brilliantly productive week here!

We've been sorting the cassette tapes (they are all in alphabetical order...) so Sam and Jamie were making sure all the right cassettes were in the correct boxes. And you'd be surprised how popular cassette tapes still are - one might say they are making a proper retro comeback!

Ffion worked hard at her placement with Heather Cafe on Thursday morning. As you can see, she is drying some priceless crystal - don't for goodness sake drop it Ffion! Lydia spent her usual Friday morning with our Support Worker Lucy at the Co-op. Lydia's placement at this fantastic community orientated shop is a great opportunity for her to get out and learn some new retails skills separate to our record shop.

George and Danny have spent time this week ensuring that all our vinyl donations are meticulously inspected and suitable to sell. It's a job that requires some seriously hard concentration... Once again, thanks to everyone who has donated to our shop this week - we are always so grateful that you thought of us and for your amazing support. Ooh and thanks go to all our customers who purchased something this week too!

We've also been talking about and completing some worksheets on listening and learning. The group shared their thoughts on what makes a great listener and how we can all learn from one another. Let's face it, we've all got fantastic stories to tell each and every week and we'd like to share them with our family, friends and work colleagues - but we must also learn to listen to one another's news too!

And of course, there is always a little 'down time' after all the hard work...so anything a wee bit crafty is always super popular with some of the members of our team.

Roll on the weekend!

04/09/2026

03/09/2026

Classic vinyl that you absolutely must have in your record collection. Don't shop at HMV or online, shop with us at RPM! You'll get them cheaper and you'll be supporting our work - what's not to like?

26/08/2026

The team were all so sad to hear about the passing of Dolly Parton yesterday. She was an incredible woman who helped many many people and made some fantastic music. Only last week we discussed her amazing career, she leaves behind an amazing legacy. Here is some of her music we found in the shop this morning, RIP Dolly.

21/08/2026

Another busy week here at RPM! The team have been enjoying the cooler weather and even (hallelujah!) some rain!

We've received even more donations this week, thank you for the generosity. It's certainly kept the team busy.

As promised, we have priced up and put out the coloured vinyl that was donated last week, isn't it all amazing? Make sure you come and check them out in person this weekend, we are open Saturday 10am - 1pm.

We have been very impressed with our Ave this week, she did the cashing up all by herself with no help and her customer service this week has been absolutely amazing. Well done Ave, keep up the good work!

We carried on our new learning focus this week with country music stars. We learnt about Luke Combs, Kenny Rodgers, Shania Twain and Dolly Parton. The team are really enjoying increasing their musical knowledge, any suggestions on who or what we should cover next?

The team have been back at their work placements this week after our summer break. Lydia was back at the Co-op, she had the shelves looking s***k and span in no time!

And finally this week we have celebrated two birthdays! First up is George, we hope you like your lego bus and have a fantastic day! Then we celebrated our lovely team leader Brooke, who is turning 40 this weekend. Brooke we all love you and we hope you have a wonderful day!

19/08/2026

As you may already be aware, we were recently delighted to receive funding to purchase a new point-of-sale (POS) till system, helping us to improve our operations and customer care.

The funding, awarded by Cllr Paul Webb (Reform) through the Member Grants Scheme, has enabled us to replace our existing till with a modern POS solution, designed to make transactions quicker, improve stock management and provide more efficient sales reporting.

For an independent record shop like ourselves, where stock can range from new album releases to rare and second-hand vinyl, CDs and other music-related products, having an accurate and reliable till system is an important part of running our business.

Our Charity Director Lou Fowkes said, “We’re incredibly grateful to Paul for this crucial funding. Investing in a new POS till might not sound glamorous, but it will make a real difference to how we run the shop. It will also help our team, who have learning disabilities, down syndrome and/or are on the autistic spectrum, a greater understanding of the financial impact of what it takes to run a viable business on the high street. It will additionally give us more time to focus on what we love; supporting our team with their ongoing work place, social and life skills, together with their personal development.”

Paul popped into RPM today and was given a grand tour, learning all about the vital work we do here and was delighted to meet some of our team. Alongside George, Sam and Jamie, Lou also asked him to pick out his favourite vinyl album - he chose Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours.’

You may also have noticed that our shop has recently completed an extensive refurbishment, delivering a fresh, modern monochrome environment both inside and out and is part of our ongoing commitment to developing the business and providing a welcoming destination for music fans in and around Sittingbourne.

Thanks for your support Paul!