From photography to Rotary, marching Majorettes to U3A and everything in between: West Dorset has countless clubs offering something for all ages and interests.

Every week the Bridport and Lyme Regis News features the latest news from YOUR club. Here's this week's offering.

Want to contribute? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at news@bridportnews.co.uk or write to Bridport and Lyme Regis News, Fleet House, Hampshire Road, Weymouth, DT4 9XD

Axe Vale Orchestra 
The Axe Vale Orchestra starts its new season with a mixed programme of classical, romantic and 20th century music. Under the baton of Arturo Serna, their first concert opens with Mendelssohn’s overture to Ruy Blas, in which he evokes the passion and intrigue of Victor Hugo’s romantic drama.

Mozart’s Paris symphony (no.31) dates from his stay in that city (1778) and with its new form it was enthusiastically received by his audience there. Four Russian Songs by Anatoly Liadov, published in 1906, demonstrate the ‘orchestral colour’ for which he is known. As the centrepiece of the concert, flautist Jeremy White will play Francis Poulenc’s lively and moving Sonata for Flute in the arrangement for flute and orchestra by Lennox Berkeley.    

The concert is at 3pm on Sunday, October 15 in St Andrew’s Church, Colyton, and is followed, as always with tea and cakes. Tickets are £10 (free for children and young people in full-time education) and are available from The Archway Bookshop in Axminster, The Little Shop in Colyton and on the door. 

West Dorset Flower Club

 “The History of Flower Arranging” was the title of the programme enjoyed by West Dorset Flower Club members at their September meeting.

Sue Baker, the club secretary, delighted the large audience with her informative narrative. The floral designs, demonstrated by members of the club’s committee, included Dutch Flemish, consisting of a lavish colourful design in an urn using a variety of different flowers from the garden.  

There was also a stunning three tiered Victorian design using strong colour contrasts of red, yellow, pink and purple flowers.  The Art Nouveau era was depicted with a simple arrangement of white longi lilies in a slim black vase.  

Meanwhile the Constance Spry design was a picture in pinks and creams which Constance herself would have been proud of, and to finish there was a simple but very impressive design using a frame with pink germini and ornamental grasses.

The arrangements were raffled and taken home by the lucky winners.
The club meets on the second Monday of the month at 2.30 pm in the WI Hall in North Street.  

The next meeting is on Monday, October 9 with a demonstration by Katie Baxter entitled “Autumn Falls”.  New members and visitors are very welcome.  For further details contact Sue Baker on 01308 488497.

Bridport Art Society

Last Thursday was the first meeting back for Bridport Art Society after the summer break and over fifty members and friends attended for a demonstration entitled “Figurative Scenes” by renowned artist, Podi Lawrence.

A full time artist for over 30 years, Podi describes herself as a “people painter” who experiments with different media to produce evocative pictures of cafe scenes, musicians, dancers, portraits and much more. 

She started her talk by showing how to place figures in a group scene and went on to do a sketch of two society member’s sitting at a table drinking tea. 

The next meeting will be a demonstration entitled “Animal Portraits” with Jemma Thompson and is on Thursday, October 26 at 7.30pm in Bridport Town Hall, West Street.

New members always welcome and for more information call Julia on 01308 422822.

Bridport Youth and Community Centre

Bridport Youth and Community Centre is run by a committee of local people who are determined to make it a true community centre for all ages. The range of activities on offer in the sports hall now includes aerial and circus skills, fitness classes, B Sharp, Fizzy Boppers and Jelly Beans for little ones, basketball, boxing and taekwondo. The fundraising committee is organising a range of activities to keep the centre running, and the next one is a fundraising quiz at the Youth Centre in Gundry Lane on Saturday, October 14 at 7pm for 7.30pm. 

It will be a general knowledge quiz: some of the questions have been set by the Centre users, others by the Harmony Group and the rest by Question Master Chris Savory, who promises to make sure everyone has a good time and the questions are fun and will surprise you with how much you know. 

There will be a licensed bar run by Mike Farmer with reasonably priced drinks, and an interval ploughmans’ included in the £5.00 entrance. A raffle, with prizes charitably donated by local businesses including Smith and Smith, Groves Garden centre and The Bull Hotel, is another part of the evening’s entertainment.  The meal in the interval is being generously contributed by Leakers bakery, Ford Farm Cheesemakers, Framptons of Bridport, The Coop supermarket, and  Bridport Community Orchard. The tables will be of  no more than 6 people, but if you want to make a smaller group or join up with others on the night, just come along and make up a table. 

Tickets are available from the Youth centre by calling 01308 422500 to book, or emailing bridportycc@gmail.com to reserve your table. 

Lyme Regis Lifeboat

Former chef and lifeboat supporter Petrina Muscroft is opening her Lyme Regis holiday home to stage a special fish supper in aid of the RNLI.
On the menu: lifejacket potatoes, crew cut chips and fresh haliboat.

“No, that’s the joke menu,” said Petrina, “but there will be fish curry and rice, salmon salad and vegetarian pasta.”

Petrina’s supper is from 4pm to 8pm on Saturday, October 14 and is part of the RNLI’s annual fundraising event with volunteers hosting meals countrywide.

Suppers will be served on the hour at Perina’s chalet called Ammonite, No 6, Bowling Green, and is reached by walking through the bowling green after parking in one of the two Monmouth beach car parks. 

A minimum donation of £5 provides a meal and diners are asked to bring their own drink. Call Petrina on 07967 145035 to book a table in advance.

Rotary Club of Lyme Regis
THE Rotary Club of Lyme Regis has sent a donation of £900 to ShelterBox following the sequence of hurricanes that devastated several Caribbean islands over the past month.

 “Reports coming out of the Eastern Caribbean indicate that shelter is an immediate and urgent need,” said Rotary President Les Baker, “and the Cornwall based disaster relief charity ShelterBox, founded by Rotary, is there giving that essential aid in several islands.

"These funds, much of which were so generously donated by the people of Lyme Regis and Charmouth during our recent collection, will help support that effort. 

"We have also sent a cheque for £450 to ShelterBox in support of their relief efforts in Sierra Leone where recent mudslides have left over 4000 people homeless.”

News of the hurricanes and the devastation left behind sparked many people to help raise money for those who have lost everything.

Rotary clubs across Dorset and beyond staged collections and kind-hearted shoppers and residents dug deep to help those most in need.
ShelterBox has a long association with Rotary. They provide emergency disaster relief for people hit by disaster all around the world.

The kits and boxes contain the items that help transform shelter into a home, like cooking sets, solar lights and activity sets for children.