Community

The rain held off, well kind of, this not quite, (but nearly), sunny bank holiday! So many fetes, fun days, events in our villages this weekend. I got around to as many as I could. And I enjoyed meeting with familiar and new faces in my Mendip South division. Thank you to all the volunteers,…

Stroke Services in Somerset are set to change. This could include closing the Stroke Acute Care Unit in Yeovil. A consultation has been running by NHS Somerset on a couple of proposals. That consultation is now closed. One of the proposals is to close Yeovil Hospital Acute Stroke Care Unit and expand the unit in…

The sun was out for Alhampton’s Open Gardens (May 21st) with hundreds of people visiting the village to explore 8 incredible gardens, some of which have been created and tended to by leading horticulturalists. This year’s event was celebrating 10 years of Haddon Woods, which the local community conceived, developed and maintained with the Woodland…

Had to find a quiet spot near my home after 3.5 hours of Suicide Alert – Every Life Matters training I helped to organise for a group of Somerset Council Councillors. In Somerset we have higher than average annual rates of suicide. One person every 90 minutes takes their life in the UK. Globally it…

The tiny single-track roads, that flow into the village of Batcombe can often take a traveller in many directions. It seems I’ve never reached this village the same way twice, as you glide in the steep valley of the River Alham (5 miles south-east of Shepton Mallet) through tiny hamlets, on undulating roads. Batcombe village,…

Myself, Councillor Alex Wiltshire and Councillor Sarah Dyke (also Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Somerton and Frome) spent much of the day in Baltonsborough, helping the community come to terms, consider options, since the sudden announcement of the closure of Balsbury Shop. We attended the village meeting, listening to concerns and ideas for a way forward.…

Today, I attended a coming together to celebrate the life of Sally Atkins of Ditcheat, formally of Stoney Stratton. Sally was a cornerstone of the community, and a hugely popular person. This was evidenced by the large numbers who joined her family today at Castle Cary Rugby Club. Sally was always encouraging and interested in…

In 2008 I was asked to present ideas for place marketing to the Catherine Hill Traders, who were a group of business owners based on and around Catherine Hill, in Frome. At this time Catherine Hill had few thriving businesses, while it did have something special: people with great ideas prepared to come together and…