Affpuddle

  • THE coffee morning held at Blackthorns, the home of John Royal, raised a total of £377.56 for church funds.

This total included £64 from entrance, £109 on the raffle, £14.50 on plants, £50 books and cakes and cards £140.06.

It was an extremely pleasant morning and much enjoyed by all who attended.

  • THE parish council learnt that the shared taxi service that is running between Waddock Cross and Dorchester on Wednesdays has not yet had a passenger.

Because of this, the county council has implied that the service could be withdrawn.

This would be a great shame given that it was set up in response to local demand. Fares are only £1.50 each way, or £1.00 from Stinsford and Bockhampton.

For more information please call Dorset Passenger Service on 01305 224535.

May’s meeting of the parish council included the annual statutory meeting at which councillor Nick Gore was appointed chair of the council with Councillor Sue Jones appointed as vice-Chair

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The parish council election was uncontested and the following councillors were returned to serve on this parish council:

Paul Badcock, Charles Barter, Nick Gore, Sue Jones, Sally King and Stuart Wilson. Graham Lightfoot was also appointed to this Parish Council following his nomination

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With seven councillors returned, this left two vacancies and following the notice of election, Jaffar Abbas was co-opted onto the parish council.

This leaves one vacancy for a parish councillor and anyone interested should contact Anthony Braine, the Parish Clerk, on 01202 888410 or anthony@abraine.wanadoo.co.uk.

Two former parish councillors chose not stand for re-election and they were Jenny Lightfoot and John Russell. The parish council paid tribute to all the help and hard work they have given the community and thanked them for the many years of voluntary service.

Members welcomed the recent resurfacing of the B3390 through Affpuddle but expressed continued dissatisfaction at the length of time it is taking for the county council to implement agreed extra safety measures.

At a previous site meeting with parish councillors and village representatives, county council officers had agreed to extend the 30mph speed limit on the B3390 and to install additional warning signs.

Further contact would be made with the county council to remind them of their agreed commitments.

The county council is currently reviewing its winter roads maintenance operation.

This includes gathering information on self-help arrangements in villages and farmers willing to help out. The county council would like information on: 1) Areas of road away from the usual salted network that experience ice problems 2) Preferred locations for grit bins and 3) Farmers who would be willing to operate snow ploughs or spread salt on a voluntary basis.

If anyone has any comments please contact parish clerk Anthony Braine

Garden Share is a new scheme which sees people with unused gardens put in contact with residents who have no access to a garden but want the chance to grow their own food, herbs and flowers.

The benefits for the garden owners include a share of the produce, the pleasure of seeing a developing vegetable plot and the sense of community in being part of a sharing initiative.

For more information call Liz Beardsall, garden share co-ordinator on 07521 432907 or visit www.transitiontowndorchester.org.

The next meeting of the parish council will be on Wednesday, June 9 at 7pm.

  • A FETE and dog show in aid of the church is to be held on Saturday, June 19 from 2pm until 4.30pm.

This will be in the garden of the Old Granary in Briantspuddle, and there is a large car park within easy reach of the event.

Entertainment will be provided by the Wareham town band, and there will be numerous stalls and delicious teas served throughout the afteroon.

The dog show always attracts a lot of entries, and if you would like to know more about this, contact Sue Wood on 01929 405504.

Bere Regis

  • A DUCK race and barbecue will be held in aid of church funds on Friday, June 4 from 7pm until 9pm at the scout hut in Elder Road

Races are at 7.30pm and 8.30pm.

  • A GARDEN party will be held in the vicarage garden on Saturday, June 26 from 2pm until 4pm in aid of church funds,

This traditional event will have ice-creams, raffles, plants, cakes, books, refreshments and many other different stalls.

The Wareham town band will provide entertainment.

  • THE congregational chapel's summer holiday club has the exciting title of SPYKIDS 007.

If you are aged from 4-12 years, you are invited to help thwart the sinister Gigabyte as he attempts global domination by sending his own wormy virus to infiltrate the world's computer systems.

This modern-day morality tale points the way to God's great rescue package for mankind.

Contact Pastor Jim on 01929 471270 for information on chapel activities.