LIFE-extending drugs have been given to 158 NHS cancer patients in the South West over the last six months, thanks to new funding. The region, which includes Dorset, was allocated the money out of a £50million a year interim fund set up to give patients
A WOMAN who was misdiagnosed when suffering from cancer wants more doctors to embrace the alternative therapies that helped her battle the effects of the disease. Cheryl Field, who lives in Woodsford near Dorchester, spent seven months visiting
THERE was standing room only in Portesham school hall for the school’s end of term musically themed Easter assembly. Rev Ada Whittock talked about Palm Sunday and Easter and then Richard Budd gave a presentation showing the marvellous work that fundraising
AN army of volunteers is needed to help clean Dorset’s beaches next weekend. Dorset County Council’s ranger service is calling on people who love the county’s coastline to join them for the 2011 Great Dorset Beach Clean on Sunday, April 17.
Volunteers of all ages can join in this year’s beach clean by simply turning up at any of the participating beaches at the meeting points and times below: &bull Lyme Regis: The Slipway, Cobb Harbour – 11am-1pm &bull Charmouth: Charmouth Heritage Coast
VITAL STATISTICS Name: Annie Lush Date of birth: 11 April 1980 Star sign: Aries Current hometown: Poole First boat sailed and where? I am sure it was when I was very small, but the first time I went sailing on my own was in an AB dinghy
VITAL STATISTICS Name: Lucy Macgregor Date of birth: 28 November 1986 Star sign: Sagittarius Current hometown: Poole First boat sailed and where? The first boat I learnt to sail in was an optimist at Poole Yacht
Portland Harbour will get a visit from five Royal Navy units next week and will be inviting guests on board and carrying out demonstrations. HM Ships Raider, Biter, Charger, Exploit and Smiter are all part of the University Royal Naval Units
VITAL STATISTICS Name: Nick Dempsey Date of birth: 13 August 1980 Star sign: Leo Place of birth: Norwich Current hometown: Weymouth Nickname: Dempo First windsurfer sailed and where? Vinta 370, Ferry
Vital Statistics Name: Bryony Shaw Date of birth: 28 April 1983 Star sign: Taurus Place of birth: Wandsworth, London Weymouth links: Moved to Weymouth in 2001 with her parents, who still live in Buxton Road area
A DORSET man has been lucky enough to receive probably the most sought after wedding invitation of the year. Major-General Jonathan Hall has a coveted spot in Westminster Abbey on April 29 to watch Prince William and Kate Middleton tie the knot. While
VITAL STATISTICS Name: Niki Birrell Date of birth: 16 August 1986 Star sign: Leo Place of birth: Manchester Current hometown: Manchester Nickname: n/a First boat sailed and where? N12 Budworth, Cheshire Who got you into sailing
AFTER several years of planning, the building of the new church annex at St Aldhelm’s, in Radipole, will start in May. It will improve the existing facilities for the groups that currently use the hall and create new possibilities for community use
NHS Dorset has been successful in obtaining equality and diversity partnership status with NHS Employers. It is one of 13 Trusts nationally that have achieved partner status for 2011/12. To gain the award, the Trust had to show how it integrates
THE royal wedding provided the inspiration for Easter bonnets made by the children of Smiley Faces pre-school at the annual parade organised by Matthew Blanthorn, the reception class teacher at Southwell Primary School on Portland. Seventy children
TRIBUTES have been paid to former Portland Mayor Valerie Durston who collapsed and died at her home on the island. Mrs Durston, 76, who once nursed Winston Churchill, was found by a young friend, Paula Brown, who alerted the emergency services. She
DADS are being asked to have their say about how to make childrens’ services in Dorset more father-friendly. As an incentive, Dorset County Council is offering fathers the chance to win a £100 Tesco voucher for expressing their views on how
THE FINANCE chief at Dorset County Hospital has reassured fellow board members that the cash flow situation is stable despite the hospital missing out on a multi-million-pound loan. Director of finance Bill Boa told a meeting of the Foundation Trust’
A second gun was found dumped at Kinson Common in Bournemouth hours after a dog walker found an unloaded shotgun in a case. Police officers found the firearm during an extensive search of the area overnight on Friday. The common remains sealed off to
FREE training is available for members of green-thinking groups. Dorset Agenda 21 and Dorset Adult Learning have teamed up to provide free places on an innovative group two-day training course called Weaving Magic. Taking place at the Dorset Adult Learning
A DRIVER is warning motorists to be vigilant after thieves targeted her in her car. Kim Dennick, 53, was waiting to cross a Dorchester roundabout when two men walked up to the side of her vehicle. The Littlemoor resident said one of the men looked directly
AN independent investigation has been launched after a motorcyclist died in an accident near a mobile speed camera on Saturday morning. The incident closed a long stretch of the A338 and caused traffic chaos for hours around Bournemouth. Police were
DORCHESTER Town keeper Dan Thomas has been recalled by parent club AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries made their move after releasing second-choice gloveman Jon Stewart this morning, following a "further incident of misconduct". The former
Well, after an epic medal race and a great week of sailing we have returned to the UK with another bronze medal. We are extremely pleased to have medalled in Palma in such tricky conditions. Our efforts now move towards the next World Cup regatta in
FAMILY and friends of tragic teenager Robyn Nixon are determined that the ‘talented and beautiful’ youngster will never be forgotten. Today marks the first anniversary of the 15-year-old schoolgirl’s death in Weymouth town centre last year
ONCE again Winfrith Village Hall was filled to capacity with an Artsreach event, our last of the season when Tim Laycock and Colin Thompson performed in “Benjamin’s Book.” Based on a recently discovered manuscript book of fiddle tunes, this lively and
MORE than 20 organisations have joined forces in Dorset to orchestrate the smooth running of the sailing competition and associated events for the London 2012 Games. The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been described in organisation
A MAN was due to appear in court today charged with murder following a stabbing in Boscombe. Police said they charged 49-year-old Mark Haylock, of no fixed abode, on Saturday night. He was due to appear at Bournemouth Magistrates Court. Detectives
POLICE were called out to the Marsh playing fields in Weymouth after a couple were spotted having sex in full view of children playing football. Children as young as seven were playing football and even younger children were with their families
It’s great to be able to let your dog off the lead and let it run but dog walkers are getting concerned about the amount of dogs that are not under the owner’s total control being allowed to roam across the fields by the water tower. Recently an elderly
I finally feel the need to speak after reading Matthew Piles’s comments on how it is the drivers’ fault the Boot Hill traffic system doesn't work The people of Weymouth must have had extraordinary patience to put up with months of jams while the perfectly
RICHARD Drax MP recently used his Echo column to oppose Alternative Vote system. No surprise there. Increasingly, Labour and Tory MPs are using every available media opportunity to oppose AV. Why? MPs in the two main parties can be pretty
I write about the new order of vehicular traffic schemes in the Weymouth area. The new Relief Road is great and let us hope that the detractors, who have over the years cost us many hundreds of thousands of pounds, will now shut up and enjoy it. When
READERS may be interested to hear that plans for this year’s Milton Abbey Music Festival are well in hand and rehearsals for the choirs will begin on May 21 in Broadmayne Village Hall. We would welcome experienced singers of whatever range
FIREFIGHTERS rescued a man after a fire broke out at his home in Weymouth. Fire crews were alerted by neighbours at around 3.30am to the fire in Old Castle Road, which is believed to have been caused by unattended cooking. The fire crews were on the
TWO people escaped without serious injury after a car overturned on the A35 west of Winterbourne Abbas. A Dorset Police spokesman said there were no other vehicles involved in the incident, which occurred at 3.45pm yesterday, and the two people in the
TOMORROW sees a favourite – and very brightly coloured – children’s character come to Bridport for a very special visit. Elmer is an unusual elephant. Where most of his pals are grey, he a dazzling patchwork of bright colours. One night Elmer couldn
HAROLD Pinter has been hailed as one of our greatest post-war playwrights and one of the works that helped cement his reputation comes to Weymouth this week. The Caretaker is a darkly funny but deeply un-nerving play where two brothers and a tramp fight
NO MATTER how much you enjoy cooking, at the end of a busy week you often feel you owe it to yourself to abandon the kitchen and let someone else do the catering and cleaning up. If your spouse or partner is feeling the same way then, oh what a shame
SUNSEEKERS took to the sands as Weymouth enjoyed a sweltering start to the Easter holidays. Weymouth beach was packed with visitors over the weekend as people flocked to enjoy the spring sunshine. Traders reported an early season boost that they hope
MARTYN Rogers admitted it had been a “bittersweet experience” after Weymouth landed a crucial blow in their battle to avoid relegation. The Terras’ chief returned to Tiverton Town on Saturday – the club he managed with much success for almost
ASHLEY Vickers has called for greater communication between his Magpies in the wake of Saturday’s goalless draw with relegation-threatened Lewes. The Dorchester Town boss believes his men must be more vocal in order to assist one another on the pitch
Dorchester TOWN 0 LEWES 0 DORCHESTER Town edged a step closer to safety after this goalless draw with fellow strugglers Lewes. Both sides were guilty of wasteful finishing in a rather uninspiring contest at the Avenue Stadium, while Gary
MELKSHAM TOWN 2 BRIDPORT 3 IMPRESSIVE Bridport completed a quickfire double over Melk-sham Town to enhance their promotion aspirations. Having disposed of the Wiltshire outfit by a single goal at St Mary’s Field just a fortnight ago, the
HAMWORTHY REC 1 WEYMOUTH RESERVES 0 MARK Carter conceded defeat in the Magna Dorset Premier League title race after losing out to leaders Hamworthy Recreation – but insists the Terras still have plenty to play for. One goal was enough to settle this
TIVERTON TOWN 0 WEYMOUTH 4 Wolleaston 36, Fowler 45, 74, Gerring 90 SKIPPER Mike Fowler bagged a brace as Weymouth climbed out of the drop-zone after capturing their biggest victory of the season. Fowler led by example against basement rivals
WEYMOUTH'S Paul Goodison and Ben Ainslie claimed gold in the Finn and Laser classes on the final day of racing in Palma to bring the British medal tally to eight at this third leg of the ISAF Sailing World Cup series. Goodison and Ainslie
