CHARITIES across Dorset could benefit from a new £250,000 fund launched by Santander bank. The South West region is the first to take part in the Santander Community Fund, which will provide grants of up to £5,000 for projects that help disadvantaged
The Chief Constable of Dorset Police, Martin Baker, will step down at the end of this month. His sudden resignation was accepted by the Dorset Police Authority Chief Officer Appointments Committee today. Mr Baker has been Chief Constable
AN ARTIST has adapted the Spirit of Bridport logo with a Banksy style graffiti twist. The iconic image of the flaxen-haired woman sat on a throne whilst working twine has been reworked showing her holding a bottle of wine and a cannabis cigarette
IT WAS games galore as a group of disabled performers brought Olympic and Paralympic sports to life. The group from Ridgeway Day Centre, Weymouth, were greeted by shouts, cheers and flag waving as they recreated sports including archery, the beam
TWO sailors who met during the Falklands War were reunited in Weymouth. Commodore Jamie Miller and Chief Petty Officer Cook Martin Etwell met up again on board Royal Fleet Auxiliary Mounts Bay, which supported the Olympic security operation in
SAILING legend Ben Ainslie will be on float 15 when the Our Greatest Team Parade travels through London on Monday. Final preparations are well underway for the capital’s parade that will represent the greatest ever gathering of British Olympians
A NEW literary prize will see £1,000 up for grabs for writers from Dorset and the West Country. The West Country Writers’ Association (WCWA) has launched the John Brooks Award for published authors. The award is funded by a legacy left by the
THE Olympic Spirit flourished at the Dumble Bimble Fun Runs. The event was heralded by the Portland Shanty Group serenading runners with Sailing For Gold, a specially written song. Far ahead from the start in the field of 100 in the five-mile
A COUPLE who stole nearly £55,000 from a trusting elderly relative have been found guilty of theft. Jane and Michael White plundered widow Olive Cutler’s bank account after Michael White was given power of attorney when she became too ill to manage
VOLUNTEERS are needed to join a new fundraising group in Dorchester . Oxfam is looking for people in the county town who are able to help with anything from marketing events to counting cash. The charity hopes to use people’s skills to start
A DISABLED woman is hoping for plenty of support as she tackled a charity challenge from Weymouth to Dorchester . Sheree-Jane Tebbutt will be accompanied by friends as she takes on a 13-mile route from Weymouth seafront to the Joseph Weld Hospice
FAMILIES inspired by the Olympics and Paralympics are being urged to join in the fourth annual Castlepoint fun run. The popular event, which was launched in 2009 by double Olympic marathon runner Liz Yelling, is designed to inspire local children
AN INQUEST has shed light on the movements of a man shortly before he drowned in Weymouth Marina. Liam Conway-McDonagh, 26, was found dead in the early hours of May 22. His body was discovered by a fisherman, the inquest at County Hall in Dorchester
THE Inside Out festival continues across Dorset this weekend with two unusual pieces of music and theatre. Harmonic Fields, which is taking place in Bowers Quarry on Portland , is made up of 500 instruments all sounded by the wind. Huge musical
EXCITEMENT is building, with just two weeks to go before the auditions for starring roles in this year’s Weymouth pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk. Although ‘a big pile’ of applications have already been received for the roles of Jack Trott and
A POOLE funeral director has launched a revolutionary way for people to remember loved ones – interactive headstones. Special QR codes (Quick Response codes) are being placed on gravestones so they can be scanned by a mobile phone, which then launches
A MAN has been arrested by police investigating an arson attack in Bere Regis. A large wheelie bin in a car park next to a dentist surgery in Manor Road was set alight last Saturday night. Firefighters were able to stop the blaze spreading
DORSET County Council’s spending on consultants and temporary staff has significantly reduced, cabinet members have been told. The authority launched a review into arrangements for temporary staff earlier this year after a Dorset Echo investigation
The Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival will throw its doors open to visitors this weekend for its thirteenth annual event. Tomorrow and Sunday, from 10am to 5pm, the Sturminster Newton Recreation Ground will be home to some of the South West’s
DON’T pack away your crusty tent and dancing wellies just yet, the festival season is not quite over. It’s The Barnstomper West Country Festival tomorrow, Saturday, September 8, and you don’t have to travel too far for a good time. Rye Hill
A flourishing local Diabetes UK Voluntary Group is seeking enthusiastic new members to join the committee. The Diabetes UK Blackmore Vale Group provides support to local residents affected by diabetes, their families and friends. It has an
I would like to say that I enjoyed my holiday in Weymouth a few weeks ago. But I was very sad to see that Weymouth have onces again lost their speedway team. But please can we have our speedway back. Weymouth needs speedway and speedway is needed
HAVING attended the Dorchester Show for 50 years, I find this wonderful local event only gets better and better. It’s always a friendly and rewarding atmosphere and an enjoyable place to be. So, as a response I would like to say a big thank
Yet again we see people getting into trouble on the Dorset coast having not taken the basic safety measures. It is time for an effective maritime and coastal safety campaign, with a focus on local factors, to make sure that residents and visitors
On behalf of the Friends of Weymouth Museum may I wish Grge Schofield well in his efforts to form a history group based at the Old Town Hall, a building well suited to help with the recording of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis’s history. However,
DORCHESTER'S Paul Blake picked up his second Paralympic medal with a fine performance in the T36 800m. The 22 year-old from Charlton Down finished third in 2mins 08.24secs behind Russian duo Artem Arefyev and eventual winner
PHIL Simkin has urged the local community to show its support for his high-flying Magpies. Dorchester Town are revelling in their best ever start to a Blue Square Bet South campaign, which includes boasting a 100 per cent home record. Despite
BRENDON King has warned his players they must give their opponents the utmost respect tomorrow or face an early exit from the FA Cup. Totton & Eling may sit two leagues below the Terras but they have recorded five wins in their last six and
TREVOR Senior has warned his Bees to be on their guard tomorrow afternoon. Following last weekend’s FA Vase triumph at Tavistock, third-placed Bridport return to Toolstation Western Premier Division duty with a trip to Street (3pm). Tomorrow
PORTLAND United will be looking to maintain their early-season momentum when return to action at Cranborne tomorrow (3pm). The Blues are the only side in the Magna Dorset Premier League still with a 100 per cent record to their name, following
WEYMOUTH face a baptism of fire, according to Paul Harding, as they begin life in Southern Counties South with tomorrow’s visit of arch-rivals Dorchester (3pm). The former enjoyed one of the finest campaigns in the club’s history last term as
MARTIN Oxland has stressed the importance of getting off to a good start ahead of tomorrow’s derby date with Weymouth (3pm). Dorchester enter the 2012/13 campaign on the back of an impressive showing last time out. The county town side finished
WEYMOUTH Olympic dinghy sailor Paul Goodison revealed that he sees his future in big boat racing while attending the Extreme Sailing Series tour in Cardiff. Goodison, who won gold at the Beijing 2008 Games but was hampered by a back injury at the
BRYONY Shaw beat all 40 wind-surfers – including the men – at a ‘crash and burn’ style competition in Cardiff. The Beijing bronze medallist was named overall winner of the Neil Pryde Racing Series competition, which complemented the Extreme Sailing
GOLDEN girl Helena Lucas made history by winning Britain’s first Paralympic sailing medal – and its first ever gold. It came on a day when ParalympicsGB sailors also bagged a bronze medal, and Dorchester athlete Paul Blaze won bronze in the T36
TEARS of frustration turned to smiles of jubilation for Britain’s four-time world champion sailors who realised bronze at the home Games marked triumph not tragedy. The hugely successful Skud-18 keelboat duo of Alex Rickham and Niki Birrell , teamed
