Puddletown

  • WHAT a magnificent lunch the students of St Mary's Middle School prepared for 18 guests from Puddletown and Tolpuddle as part the school's activities week.

Students from the school had been involved in a range of activities of all sorts throughout the week.

The Food, Glorious Food group had spent the week with food technology teacher Sheila Cox learning about food and nutrition - cooking a roast dinner, preparing a pudding, making cakes and trying their hands at sugarcraft under the direction of Nicky from the Angel Cake Company at Poundbury.

The lunch party was on the final day of the week.

All the guests were met and welcomed at the school entrance by students who led us all through to the kitchen where rows of long tables had been attractively laid and decorated with flowers. It all looked most inviting.

The menu was really extensive - quiches and local ham served with minted new potatoes and cous cous, bean, tomato, green and coleslaw salads and homemade bread rolls.

This was followed by a choice of strawberry and blueberry Pavlova, chocolate roulade or fresh fruit salad.

Jamie Oliver would have been proud of them!

The students - a group of 26 boys and girls - sat down to lunch amongst us and chatted to us about activities week and all the things the school had been doing.

We were really impressed by our confident and charismatic hosts who made us all feel so welcome, and bridged the generation gap so capably.

After lunch had been served, 11 year-old student Henry Jeff thanked all the guests for coming, and said he hoped that they would see them all again soon.

On behalf of the guests, Barry Shorto thanked the students and the school and said what a delicious meal it had been.

Headmaster Carl Winch thanked everyone for coming, and said how well all the students had done.

He invited the guests to go on a tour of the school with their students hosts.

  • SIMON and Ursula Pomeroy have invited us to hold the parish picnic once again at Duddle Farm on Sunday 28th June from 12 noon onwards. Bring your picnic, chairs/rugs and enjoy the countryside. The water is a great attraction for children so some spare clothes and a towel would be useful! In the unlikely event of the weather being wet, we can picnic in a barn.

Bere Regis

  • THE church garden party will be on Saturday, June 27 from 2pm until 4pm in the vicarage garden.

This is a traditional village event with ice-creams, raffles, plants, books, cakes, refreshments.

Wareham Town Band will be there to entertain you during the afternoon.

  • A NEW MENCAP group is to be set up in the area.

It is to be launched with an afternoon fete and a musical evening held at Rye Hill Farm on Saturday, July 4.

The afternoon fete begins at 2.30pm and has a host of family entertainments including rural demonstrations like hurdle making and traditional wood turning There will be dog displays, skittles, horse and cart rides, tombola and a hog roast.

Entry to the afternoon fete is free.

Entertainment in the evening begins at 6.30pm.

ABBA's Angels will be live in concert.

Tickets cost £10 for adults, children under 14 £5, available from the Pampered Pigs farm shop at Rye Hill Farm.

If you are able to donate items for the raffle and tombola, please contact Avril Harcourt on 01305 849178.

If you would like more information on the MENCAP group, contact Mervyn Harris on 01305 848338.

  • A FLOWER festival is to be held at St John's church at Bere Regis on Saturday, August 1 and Sunday August 2.

This will be in aid of the Moving Mountains Trust, a charity dedicated to working with street children and in deprived communities in Kenya.

If you would like to offer help and support to the festival, telephone Elaine Standfield on 01929 471774.

  • IN AUGUST the Thomas Williams Educational Foundation will be considering applications from those who live in the parish, are under 25 years of age and may need assistance with educational expenses.

Applications from youth-based organisations are also invited.

Previous beneficiaries are also eligible to re-apply.

Applications should be received before Monday, August 3.

For an application form, please contact:

Mrs Claire Gamble, clerk to the foundation, 17 Boswell's Close, Bere Regis, telephone 01929 471682, or email claire.gamble@tiscali.co.uk

  • SCOUTS in Bere Regis have collected 3,419 Tesco vouchers and 1,545 Sainsbury's vouchers.

A big thank you to everyone who has donated them.

There is still plenty of time for them to collect more to enable them to get some fantastic equipment free.

If you would like to donate vouchers and do not know anyone in the scout group, telephone Mike Whitfield on 01929 472159.