KentFurs

KentFurs is a local furry community group for the Kent County region of the United Kingdom

History

 * In 2008 Furmeets were held in Ashford on 23rd February and afterwards started being held in Canterbury until after 21st November 2009


 * In 2012 Coffee in Canterbury later renamed Cake in Canterbury  started on 9th February in Canterbury on between the Spring Kent Seasonal Meet on 3rd March and Summer Kent Seasonal Meet on 16th June. On 24th June the Cake in Canterbury and Kent Seasonal Meets were consolidated into the KentFur Meets . On 8th December the KentFurs Winter Party was held in Stodmarsh.


 * In 2013 the KentFur Meets continued and on 26th August the KentFurs Summer Barbecue was held in Stodmarsh. On 7th December the KentFur Meets went on hiatus


 * In 2014 the Canterfurry Meets later renamed CanterburyFur meets started on 22nd February until 8th June when the planner resigned


 * 1n 2015 the KentFur Meets resumed on 17th January and continue to date

Meeting Point
Canterbury Furmeets from 2008 to 2009 attendees would meet at the Canterbury West Rail Station then proceed to a venue chosen by the group

Coffee/ Cake in Canterbury, Spring Kent Seasonal Meet, KentFur Meets from 2012 to 2013, Canterfurry/CanterburyFur Meets and KentFur Meets in 2015 attendees would meet at the Canterbury Cathedral Gates at 13:00 wait 15 minutes before proceeding to a booked venue or a venue chosen by the group

Summer Kent Seasonal Meet attendees met at the Westgate Tower at 13:00 waited 15 minutes before proceeding to the Westgate Gardens

Winter Party in 2012 and Summer Barbecue in 2013 attendees met at the Sainsbury’s Superstore in Canterbury at 13:00 and volunteer drivers would ferry attendees to Stodmarsh

KentFur Meets in 2016 attendees meet at the St George’s Centre Barista & Baker

Planners
Coffee/Cake in Canterbury and Spring Kent Seasonal Meet were planned by Thayne Blake on the UK Furs forum.

KentFur Meets from 2012 to 2013, Summer Kent Seasonal Meet, Canterfurry/CanterburyFur Meets and KentFur Meets 2015 to present were/are planned by Thayne Blake and Gairne Bloodmuzzle on the Facebook Group and UK Furs forum.

Winter Party in 2012 and Summer Barbecue in 213 were planned by Clio, Thayne Blake and Gairne Bloodmuzzle on Facebook Group.

Schedule
Coffee/Cake in Canterbury, Kent Seasonal Meets, KentFur Meets from 2012 to 2013, Winter Party and KentFur Meets 2015 were scheduled on Saturdays that did not conflict with nearby Furry events and had no consistent pattern.

Canterfurry Meets were scheduled every six weeks

CanterburyFur Meets were scheduled on the second Sunday of each month.

KentFur Meets are scheduled every four weeks

Venue
Caffe Nero High Street was used as a venue for the Cake in Canterbury

Clio’s Family Farm in Stodmarsh was used for as a venue for the KentFurs Winter Party in 2012 and the Summer Barbecue in 2013.

Costa Coffee High Street was used inconsistently as a venue for the Coffee in Canterbury, Cake in Canterbury, KentFur Meets 2012 to 2013 and KentFurs Meets 2015 to present.

Costa Coffee Marlowe Arcade was used as an emergency venue for the KentFurs Meets in 2015 when the regular venue was unexpectedly unavailable

The Old Brewery Tavern part of the Abode Canterbury franchise was used as a venue for part of the Summer Seasonal Furmeet and inconsistently for the KentFur Meets 2012 to 2013

The Old Buttermarket part of the Nicholon’s franchise was used as the venue for the Spring Seasonal Furmeet.

The Parrot Pub Dinning & Ale House was used as an emergency venue for the Summer “Picnic” Seasonal Furmeet when the weather in the Westgate Gardens became unsuitable for the picnic and the attendees needed emergency shelter

Play Island the Family Entertainment was used as a venue for a KentFur Meet in 2016 after the St George’s Barista & Baker closed at 16:00

Quex Barn Canterbury was used as a consistent venue for the CanterburyFur Meets, this branch of Quex Barn has since closed

Starbucks Burgate was used as a venue for the Coffee in Canterbury, Cake in Canterbury, KentFur Meets 2012 to 2013 and Canterfurry Meets, this branch of Starbucks has since closed

Starbucks High Street was used as a venue for the KentFur Meets 2012 to 2013, Canterfurry Meets and KentFur Meets 2015 to present

St Geroge’s Centre The Lounge and Barista & Baker Cafe part of Canterbury Christ Church University was used as an inconsistent venue for the KentFur Meets 2012 to 2013 and Canterfurry Meets. It is has been scheduled as a consistent venue for the KentFur Meets 2015 to present.

Social Media
Facebook Group was created in 2012 to support the community. It was recreated 2013 after the first version came under attack from within the furry community. The current version of the Facebook Group was created 1st November 2014 relaunch the KentFurs community and revealed in December 2014. The Facebook Group is set as a Closed Group to protect members of the community

Facebook Page was created in December 2014 to show the public the community

Google+ Community was created in 2016 to expand the presence of the KentFurs community into other social media.

Skype group was created in 2012 later recreated in 2014 to relaunch the KentFurs community.

Telegram group was requested by a member of the community, a poll posted on the Facebook Group ask the community whether they wanted a Telegram group and from the results of those that participated there was a clean indicate it would be appreciated by the community

Twitter profile was created in 2015 to expand the presence of the KentFurs community

UK Furs forum has been used to post details for the Coffee/Cake in Canterbury, Seasonal Furmeets, KentFur Meets 2012 to 2013, Canterfurry Meets, CanterburyFur Meets and KentFur Meets 2015 to present. The details are posted in the England section, EastFurs subsection.

Membership
When the Facebook Group was created to support the KentFur Meets 2012 to 2013 the focus of the membership was on attendees. Some attendees of the furmeets come from outside of the County and were considered Honorary KentFurs

In 2015 with the relaunch of the KentFurs community a membership

Residential Membership is for members resident in the Kent County

Associated Membership is for Honorary KentFurs not resident in the Kent County, but has a personal connection to the County by friends or family

In 2016 a new membership was introduced known as Guest Membership. The Guest Membership is for furs that are not resident or have a personal connection to the County or Community, but want an opportunity to participate. Guest Members have one year from date of joining the Facebook Group to become Honorary KentFurs and Associated Members

Administrators & Committee
In 2012 Thayne Blake created the Facebook Group for the growing community becoming the first Administrator by default.

Gairne Bloodmuzzle was recruited by Thayne Blake as an Administrator in 2012 to help support him with the group and events. Gairne resigned to focus on his career and his life with his husband

Clio was recruited by Thayne Blake as an Administrator in 2012 after the KentFurs Winter Party because of her hospitality and support of the community. Clio resigned to focus on her education and later moved out of the County to live with her partner.

In 2014 Rufus Knight was recruited by Thayne Blake as an Administrator in because of his expertise as a fursuiter and compassion for the community.

In 2015 when the KentFurs community was relaunched the Committee was official established with Thayne Blake, Gairne Bloodmuzzle and Rufus Knight.

The Administrators and Committee try to keep an odd number of members to help avoid decision stalemates.

Community
As the Furry community has mature content the minimum age to join the Facebook Group and attend KentFur Events is 16

A member of the community requested birthdays be celebrated, at the start of 2016 monthly Birthday shouts were introduced to the Facebook Group.

Members with children who are too young to understand the mature the content are permitted to bring their children to events until they reach an age they can comprehend the mature content

Members with Emotional Support Dogs are permitted to bring their companion to the events at the discretion of the venue and proof it is a registered Emotional Support Dog

The Borders of the Kent County have changed over the years, which is evident in the Area Codes and Post Costs. The committee decided to accept furs that live in an area that has been considered part of the County as Residential Members.

The Code of Conduct for the community is Respect

The Kent Police have been informed of the KentFurs Meets and Fursuit Walk by the committee

The Whitefriars Shopping Centre is private property and the committee has contacted the management to get permission for the Fursuit Walks to pass through the premise

Members in the outer districts of the County have requested furmeets in their local area. The committee created event pages on the Facebook Group for members to arrange their own mini furmeets however no one took the opportunity. The committee present to the community with the plan to created the KentFurs Network to arrange mini furmeets around the County to coincide with the KentFur Meet. After posting a poll on the Facebook Group the feedback from the community is the KentFur Meets are sufficient.

Mascot
The design for the mascot was inspired by the symbol of the Kent County, the White Horse of Kent or White Horse Rampant known as the Invicta which is the motto of Kent “Unconquered”. On the Facebook Group the Community was asked for suggestions on a name for the mascot. The name Canter was chosen and Invicta the motto of Kent was chosen as a surname. When the mascot was introduced on the Facebook Page as part of the introduction a disclaimer was included dismissing any attempt to depict the mascot in mature content to protect the reputation of the community.