A SCOUT group is celebrating scooping two awards in the Dorchester carnival procession.

Entrants let their imaginations run wild when designing their floats and costumes, and not having a theme proved so popular that organisers will repeat it in next year’s event.

The winning float was made by cubs and beavers from the Broadmayne Scout group, who designed a royal rowing barge in honour of the Queen’s jubilee.

Scout leader Val Latham said the youngsters were ‘really proud’ to have won.

She said: “They all dressed up as members of the royal family, policemen and guardsmen, and had a brilliant time.”

A panel of judges chose the winners and runners-up before the procession set off, and prize money of more than £2,000 was awarded to the first, second and third placed winners in each of the four classes.

A record amount of prize money was up for grabs after generous onlookers threw coins totalling £2,100 into buckets around the procession route.

The cash was presented by carnival organisers Dorchester Round Table during half-time at a Dorchester match last weekend.

Ellis Ford, carnival procession chairman, described the standard of entries as ‘incredible’.

He said: “An awful lot of imagination and time was spent in preparing each of the entries, be they floats or walking entries.

“With no theme this year, people had a blank canvas upon which to base their ideas, which proved to be popular, and this is something we will look to repeat next year.”

Carnival chairman John Palmer said: “I am overwhelmed by the support and generosity of the people of Dorchester, their families and visitors, who turned out in their thousands and gave so freely.

“It makes all the hard work in planning the carnival so worthwhile.”

Having no theme was not the only break from tradition in this year’s event. Mr Palmer added: “The carnival is usually supported by a single main sponsor, but this year we decided to do something a little different, and we managed to secure sponsorship from a collection of local companies.

“Our grateful thanks go to all our sponsors, for without their support and generosity, the carnival just could not go ahead.”

 

List of competition winners 
Overall winner: Broadmayne Scout group
Children’s walking: Broadmayne Scout group
Children’s floats: Ossie’s All Stars and Manor Minors after school clubs
Non-commercial floats: Dorchester Town Supporters Trust
Commercial floats: Superdrug