Wellington Hospital League of Friends hosted a very successful cream tea afternoon which raised more than £400.

The event, held in Wellington Baptist Church Hall, attracted many new supporters and included a tea-themed raffle with 18 prizes all donated by trustees of the League of Friends. First prize of a basket of goodies, including a two-tier cake stand, was won by Wendy Deahl.

Many of the scones were baked by trustees with others kindly donated by Co-op and Tesco supermarkets. Cornish company, Rodda’s kindly donated the cream and jam.

The next event will be the Christmas Coffee Morning on November 22.

Get ready for wagging tails, winning tricks and plenty of community cheer as Nynehead Court hosts its annual Fun Dog Show on Sunday, July 13, from 2pm to 4.30pm.

This light-hearted and affectionate event celebrates dogs of all shapes, sizes and personalities.

Registration opens at 1pm, and for just £2 per entry or three for £5 (cash only), dog owners can enter a variety of categories, including: Best in Show, Prettiest Bitch, Most Handsome Male, Best Rescue, Cutest Puppy (under 1), Waggiest Tail, Golden Oldie (over nine), Dog Most Like Owner, Youngest Handler and Best Trick.

Judging begins promptly at 2pm, led by Mr Gordon Dyer, whose love of dogs makes him a favourite with entrants and spectators alike.

Alongside the show, visitors can enjoy refreshments, a raffle, tombola, children’s tattoos, face painting and a selection of stalls.

Proceeds from the day help support resident events and activities at Nynehead Court.

To find out more, contact [email protected]

The recent meeting of the Wellington U3A took place in the Rugby Club on June 9 with a good attendance of some 60/70 members being present. We had a presentation by the local Blood Bikes who spoke to us about the organisation and the charity, which of course, it is.

The speaker, was both entertaining and knowledgeable in equal measure and very well received. He told us the National Association of Blood Bikes has been awarded The Queens Award for Voluntary Service and that their patron is Alex Lovell of local TV fame. They are all self funded with the only help from government being that no Road Tax is levied on the bikes. The bikes come in a range of sizes, from the large meaty bikes, we all associate with them, to smaller versions for the inner city areas that can, more easily, move around the smaller roads.

The bikers themselves must be experienced advanced, (or moving towards advanced) riders and work a shift system, where there are five bikes on duty at any one time. They work from 7pm until 7am, Monday through Thursday, and then Friday through to Monday where they change over riders to be replaced by the fresh one who will have to take the original rider home of course, because the bike must remain with on duty man/woman as the case may be. Riders can be male or female and there is no age limit either but all must have advanced rider status.

Other roles must also have cover ie. Office work coordinator, incident officer, and of necessity, maintenance crews in the workshop, where they keep a fleet of 19 bikes road ready with 16 of these being duty bikes. Like the RNLI , they are a service operated by volunteers who give their time and expertise willingly but have to cover their own costs for the equipment (the leathers) they rely on.

Our speaker, I’m sorry I can’t remember his name, was asked about cold, icy weather deliveries and we were told that if the conditions fell below three-degrees and it was unsafe for two wheels, then he would use his own, personal car to deliver, but it would be delivered whatever “it” was, because it was life saving, be it plasma, blood, medication or breast milk for a baby.

Outside the club room the bike was parked, the large 600cc version we associate with this job. Many members took photos, while others were more eager to climb aboard it though this still required a photo, perhaps more so.

The meeting closed after many questions were answered and a collection of around £260 was donated to the charity from the members who attended.

The next meeting takes place in the Rugby Club, Corams Lane July 14, at 10.15am where we will again, be hosting a speaker, this time about the Fox family, very local history.

Everyone is most welcome even if your not a member, you can come as a guest and perhaps find a comfortable fit to enrol and belong to an ever growing group of folk who ask questions and supply the answers.

June 18, saw the last day of school for Year 11 students at Court Fields School.

The 2025 leavers enjoyed a shirt signing and Leavers' Assembly, after which they bid their final farewell to the school, until they return to collect their GCSE results over the summer holidays.

The school joined together for their annual whole-school applause last week, clapping the Year 11s as they left site after exams.

Students will reunite with staff on Friday, June 27, for their prom celebrations.

On Monday, June 16, the monthly parish council meeting was held in the Memorial Hall.

The recent Planning Application – 26/25/0004/CQ – Change of use of barns north of Toogoods, East Nynehead, was discussed. Due to concerns about nearby road flooding it was agreed to submit a Storm Water Objection to the application and to request that a condition be imposed that requires the development to instal suitably sized soakaway and/or attenuation provision such that surface water from the development does not contribute to flooding the highway (and potentially adjacent properties) where the ditch that the development currently drains into crosses under the East Nynehead to Bradford-on Tone highway.

Following a recent email from Mr F Meadows, Members discussed how to encourage residents to become more involved and engaged in Parish Council meetings. In order to give Members time to research possible options for changes to the agenda and possible addition of a Public Question Time will be added to the July agenda.

The meeting concluded with the usual parish council administration.

The next meeting is on July 21, at the Nynehead Memorial Hall commencing at 7.30pm. The village website, contains much more information including dates of the Parish Council Meetings and Minutes of previous meetings.

The parish council aims to serve the needs of the community and residents are encouraged to share ideas, voice concerns or suggest initiatives in person at a meeting or by contacting the clerk, Vicky Hebditch email [email protected]

The club’s annual handover meeting was held at the Beambridge Inn on Monday, June 23, where Rotarians and their partners enjoyed an excellent lunch.

At a traditional handover meeting the new incoming president receives the president’s chain of office from the retiring president. Only this year, unfortunately, there was no retiring president. Over the past twelve months the role of president had been shared by three past presidents with the president elect (Richard Williams) taking over for the last six months of the Rotary year. This meant the incoming president would receive the chain of office from himself and shake his own hand - confusing. To overcome this problem, a brilliant plan was hatched. The three past presidents would present the chain of office to the incoming president jointly. Simple!

Having got that tangle of handshakes out of the way, new president Richard Williams welcomed Rotarian Richard Manning as treasurer and Rotarian Miles Halliwell as secretary.

President Richard thanked the club, and in particular the three past presidents who had supported him throughout the past six months while he was learning the ropes. He announced that fund raising efforts during his year of office will include another week in the Pop-Up Shop (October) and the annual Christmas Collection. He was pleased to announce that Father Christmas has agreed to appear again in Wellington in December. The club will continue to support local schools and youth organisations, some of which are sometimes overlooked. President Richard confirmed that the club will continue to support Water Survival Box, PolioPlus and Foundation, Rotary’s own charity. It was reported that the club had occupied the Pop-Up Shop during the previous week and it had been noticeable that fewer people were around in the town. It was thought the closure of Junction 26 of the M5 was having an effect on trade in the town. All the money raised will be used to support local charities.

He wished all the club members an enjoyable Rotary year and closed by thanking the people of Wellington and the surrounding districts for their support, without which the club would not be able to help so many worthwhile causes.