Community

MARKET KNOWLEDGE

Benjamin Clark Weller, Twisted Cider

Welcome to The Sherborne Market! What brings you here?

The proximity of the market is a big seller and the pitch location we have in Pageant Gardens is great to interact with customers especially when the sun is shining. Jules Bradburn and co. have done a splendid job growing the market into a must-see attraction which has a vibe I’ve not experienced at other markets.

Where have you travelled from?

A stone’s throw away (if you’re a giant), 3 miles south of Sherborne in Longburton, where the apples are grown, the cider is produced and the cows are fed.

Tell us about what you’re selling.

We bring eight different ciders on market day, four of which are traditional farmhouse ciders, one which has been given some bubbles and the last three some playful ingredients to add a twist.

Where and when did it all begin?

In the summer of ’69 or was it 2010? The adventure began in 2010 and our apple trees started growing some fruit for us to experiment with. Our first batch of cider was 300 litres and we now average at 30,000 litres.

What do you enjoy most about selling at markets?

The instant reaction of ‘OMG’ when a customer tries one of the ciders, followed by the smile that accompanies it. For The Sherborne Market specifically, I get to see those customers who aren’t frequent visitors to us in Longburton which allows me to have a good catch-up.

If you get the chance, which fellow stallholders here at Sherborne would you like to visit?

I’m a keen visitor to all food stallholders on rotation so I like to visit The Big Munch Mac & Cheese, The Thai Hut, Pizza Man, Crab Linguine, A Taste of Mexico, The Story Pig, and the Japanese food stall. I normally get a coffee in the morning too.

Where can people find you on market day?

You can find us in Pageant Gardens near the entrance closest to Sainsbury’s either in our mobile trailer or, fingers crossed, our new Cider Bus.

FOUNDATIONS FOR CHANGE

Neil Walker, Communications Officer, Sherborne Community Land Trust

There is something new happening in Sherborne. A new organisation has been created, whose aim is to fundamentally change the housing market for those who find it hard to either rent or buy a home.

The problem is that rent and prices are just too high for so many local people that they cannot afford to live in the place where they grew up.

‘The cheapest house you can buy around here starts at about £250,000,’ says John Jackson, a retired Government official.

‘That means that even if you can save the minimum 5% deposit, you need a combined income of more than £52,000, even allowing for the most generous mortgage terms. It is just not possible on the wages which many people earn.’

Jackson is one of a small group that was so bothered by this that they decided something had to be done. And so the four - Taff Martin, Juliet Pentolfe, John Jackson and Vaughan Matthews -

began sounding out other organisations in the town to see if they would support a new initiative called a ‘Community Land Trust’.

The idea quickly gathered momentum and at a packed Digby Hall last November, hundreds of Sherborne residents listened to the new proposals and raised their hands in unanimous support. Now the CLT has legal recognition and a website.

So what is a Community Land Trust? Basically, it is a democratic not-for-private-profit organisation that owns and develops land for the benefit of the community. CLTs are springing up all over the country and there are already several in Dorset and Somerset.

‘What we want to do,’ says Jackson, ‘is be able to sell or rent to local people at a price that is lower than market value. The CLT decides what that affordable price will be. We aim to be selling homes at about £150,000, but will maintain a forever interest in the property. That means that its value will go up along with all other properties, but when it is sold it is bought back within the CLT system so that others can benefit long into the future.’

Since the Digby Hall vote in November a number of new people have been drafted in to set up finances for the CLT, offer expertise on how to build affordable homes, and make sure that the governance is correct. All of this is being done under the watchful eye of Alison Ward, the community-led housing adviser for Middlemarch, an Exeter-based body whose job is to help organisations like Sherborne CLT get going.

‘We have been very lucky so far,’ says Juliet Pentolfe, who is also a Town Councillor and set to be Sherborne’s next Mayor. ‘The expertise of our volunteer committee has been phenomenal and we have already received a number of grants of money from various groups in the town to help with our setting-up costs.

‘But this isn’t going to be easy,’ she adds. ‘Although there are grants we can apply for from both central and local government, getting hold of the land is going to be tricky. Basically, I think we will be looking to buy any small piece of ground or brownfield site. Or, of course, land can be donated.

‘We know it won’t be quick, and at the moment we don’t know exactly how much demand there is.’

The CLT has been told by Dorset Council that there are 200 people known to them who need affordable accommodation.

‘We think there are probably more than that,’ says John Jackson. ‘So we are going to hold a survey later this year to see if we can establish how much demand we are talking about and to listen to the views of local people.’

A second meeting will also happen in the summer when people will be invited to become members of the CLT by buying a share, which will entitle them to vote at the annual meeting.

Says Jackson, ‘We are not going to solve this housing problem overnight. But you have to start somewhere and we are making great progress.’

CLUBBING TOGETHER

Rachel Goodfellow, President and Secretary, the Rotary Club of Sherborne Castles

It has been a challenging couple of years for us all, but we have been busy behind the scenes ensuring that all our fundraising events and activities (which support those both in the local community and internationally), were ready to go again the moment restrictions were lifted.

During lockdown, we were able to provide funds so that all students at Sherborne Primary School, who previously could not access a laptop due to financial reasons, received one. This was a fantastic project and made the sudden essential home-learning far more open to all.

Our club has several new initiatives to not only drive the club forward successfully, but to also ensure Rotary is far more transparent in what we do. This includes a very exciting development, as we are looking to launch a satellite club which will work under our own club umbrella but which will attract new members from those less represented in the community; young professionals, community interested organisations, schools, Rotary programmed alumni, former club members, friends, and family. There will be within this satellite club a different variety of vocations and interests, bringing along new skills and knowledge.

We, like all in our community and beyond, have been aghast by the crisis going on in Ukraine. EVAG, our Emergency Voluntary Action Group, has already sent a shipment out from a Notaro warehouse near Bridgwater thanks to the collective fast response from all of our Rotary clubs in our district, District 1200.

Our club is still collecting for further shipments going out in early May, and for refugees coming to the UK. Please feel free to drop goods, particularly torches, batteries, boots, and first aid kits at my home, Halfway House Farm, DT9 4PX. Support for Ukraine is going to be needed for many months, and possibly years to come as people eventually return to their homeland.

Early in April, our members and Friends of Rotary were out in the town with collection buckets, raising over £1000, and all clubs across the district are putting on a HUGE variety of events to raise further funds.

This coming year is already full of events and activities for our club. Thanks to The Sherborne Market we have a monthly stand and fun activities for families. Last month we had a raffle of beautiful

hampers and coming soon we’ll have a Teddy Bear Zip Wire and Virtual Balloon Race, with all proceeds going to local charitable causes. Rotary is also a signpost for other events going on during the market days, so do come and find us in Pageant Gardens, near the train station entrance, if you have any questions. Check thesherbornemarket.com for the market dates.

The Classics and Supercars event at Sherborne Castle on 17th July is a fantastic family day out; this year kindly sponsored by Atkins Ferries Wealth Management and organised jointly by The Lions, Round Table, and Rotary Clubs. There is something for every age group and suitable for those with mobility aids. The funds raised support local charities. For full information and tickets please go to classic-supercars.co.uk

Through our own charity, The Rotary Foundation, Rotary has been proactive in the eradication of polio, and as of 23rd March 2022 there is just 1 case in Afghanistan; no others worldwide.

The Rotary Foundation, which enables Rotarians around the world to make a difference to people’s lives, gives district or global grants.

An annual scheme has seen 4 more students from the Gryphon School accessing RYLA (Rotary Young Leadership Award). This benefits all taking part by building confidence, external friendships, social skills, and leadership skills.

Another annual event is our giving out Olympic Bursaries to two students from the schools in our town who have shown commitment and promise in sport.

Our international link with Malawi can now resume after what seems like years! Already, bridges, school buildings and a library have been built, and furniture and fittings are in situ. Rotary has sent out the funds for books, and we now await the final Malawi Covid restrictions to be lifted so that these can be bought and got to the school. Our club has also sponsored a muchneeded cow in Africa.

Rotary is a fantastic way to support those in our local community and internationally, and we would welcome you to come on board either as a member or as a Friend of Rotary. Please get in touch to find out more!

OUR MAN IN WESTMINSTER

Chris Loder, MP for West Dorset

In October 2013, the then Police Commissioner sent a letter to all Councillors to say, basically, that Sherborne Police Station was going to be closed. The police enquiry desk would be closed too. I was the District Councillor for the villages to the south of Sherborne at the time and it was a lesson to me that no matter what the pressures, if you don’t keep banging the drum and championing the cause for what you value, you will lose it.

Our police here in Dorset do a good job. However, in rural West Dorset, I often feel that I am battling for focus and resources and attention, whether with local police priorities or with the Home Office.

There are 41 constabularies in England. We are 40 out of 41 for funding – there are several reasons for that. Over the years, we have managed well, we have targeted the areas needed and the police force has been responsive. In recent times, the benchmark has changed. Drug crime has gone through the roof, including the ‘county-lines’ drug gangs. I was really shocked when I had to help a family here in Sherborne who had been a victim of ‘cuckooing’ – that is where a drug gang preys on a vulnerable person or family, takes over their house, threatens them with all sorts of harm and uses their house as a base for drug dealing – and this is just one example of serious crime that we see happening here.

In wider West Dorset, we have drug dealers who pull up alongside children’s playgrounds and dish out cannabis, and maybe other substances that look

like candy – you seriously wouldn’t believe it. You would not have to go far to find groups of young people gathering to exchange it and this sort of thing is often referred to – as part of the very broad classification – as anti-social behaviour.

The Dorset Rural Crime team is just three people in size for a significant geographical area. I have been making the case for this group to at least double and I have, for most of my time in Parliament, been making the case for better resources to be made available for Dorset Police. I have been taking every opportunity to raise these issues in the House of Commons, including the need for the police funding formula to be reviewed to ensure we have our fairer share, to which the policing minister has now agreed.

One area of particular importance to Dorset is rural crime and the detrimental effect that this has on our environment, the countryside and the agricultural community. Not only are there crimes, such as farm vehicle theft, animal theft, animal worrying, and wildlife crime which are unique to rural areas, crimes that occur in urban areas often present very differently in a rural setting.

You may have read a month or two ago, that there was controversy relating to my views on a bird of prey found dead in North Dorset. If the police are presented with two situations, one of which is a rare bird – where they are of the view that no crime has been committed – and another, such as a drug-related incident, or farm animals being mauled to death by dogs, my view is that the police’s priority should be the latter cases.

But what we have seen since is a good example of how some organisations and some people who have a difference of opinion are resorting to uninformed, vociferous and alienating attacks simply because they disagree with a point of view, and no more so than on social media.

In my case, for example, I think sea eagles are better placed elsewhere in the UK than in West Dorset. I think that because I’m worried about the other wildlife - hares, other birds on which eagles will prey as well as livestock, young lambs particularly. I have substantiated that with other reports, and the experience in Norwich which meant the whole scheme was cancelled because of these concerns in the autumn last year, as well as press coverage from Scottish experiences of sea eagles, but the uninformed attacks on social media have been immense.

Now I know that, in my job, I have to expect some political turbulence. But this sort of bullying and intimidation is also prevalent toward our young people and children via social media and it is also a concern. It is, in my opinion, a major factor of mental health problems for children, often who are harassed by bullies on their phones all hours of the day.

It is time we got a grip with these things. That is why I continue to make the case for more rural police officers, the correct priorities, and I am also closely following the Online Safety Bill which has recently been brought to Parliament to address these difficult online issues and to safeguard children and vulnerable people from these horrible attacks.