Some wonderful memories here of this years Dorset Seafood Festival

You can keep up to date with next years festival at www.dorsetseafood.co.uk

Producer – Lisa Worthington
Camera // Editor – Chris Fergusson
Sound Recordist – Jake Chilcott

www.tandem-marketing.co.uk

Organisers of the Weymouth & Portland Spirit of The Sea Maritime Festival are pleased to announce the result of the charity raffle that took place throughout the nine days of the Festival. The raffle was held to raise funds jointly in aid of the local Weldmar Hospicecare Trust and the Maritime Festival itself. The draw was made celebrated actor and director Julian Fellowes at the recent Weldmar Hospice Garden Fete.

The prizes were;

1st Prize - £1,000 Cash
2nd Prize - A Merlin Annual Pass for Family 5 – Kindly donated by Weymouth Sea Life park
3rd Prize - A Day’s Sail on TS Pelican

The delighted winner of the £1,000 cash first prize, local lady Heather Rettie, said she was ‘over the moon’ at her good fortune and never dreamt that she would actually win – I just wanted to support the Weldmar Hospice and Spirit of the Sea Maritime Festival.

The photograph shows the Chairman of the Spirit of The Sea Committee, Jeremy Pope, the Fund-Raising Director of the Weldmar Hospicecare Trust, Caroline Nickinson, Matt Smith, Fundraising Co-Ordinator for Weldmar and the raffle winner Heather Rettie with her husband.

Keep up to date with what’s planned for Spirit of the Sea 2012 at www.spiritofthesea.org.uk

Find out more about the work of The Weldmar Hospice Trust at
www.weld-hospice.org.uk

Today marks the launch of the Weymouth and Portland Ambassador Programme, with the application process open and you can apply now by visiting www.dorsetforyou.com/dorset2012/wpa

The Weymouth and Portland Ambassador Programme will enable people to volunteer during the Olympic and Paralympic period in 2012, at key locations, in Weymouth and Portland. Weymouth and Portland Ambassadors will steward, marshal, answer questions, give advice and be the welcoming smile to people visiting Weymouth and Portland during Games time next year. The Olympic and Paralympic period for the Weymouth and Portland Ambassador Programme will run from 26 July – 9 September 2012; a total of 46 days.

Up to 800 volunteers will be required and the application process starts 17 June 2011 and closes 17 October at 20:12pm.

The Weymouth and Portland Ambassador Programme has been awarded the prestigious Inspire Mark by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and is the first 2012 host venue volunteer programme, outside of London, to be launched; ahead of other host venues such as Cardiff, Manchester and Lee Valley.

Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, quotes: “We’re delighted to support the Weymouth and Portland Ambassador Programme, which is a great opportunity for local people, who are passionate about Weymouth and Portland, to get involved during Games time.”

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council 2012 Brief holder, Councillor Howard Legg, quotes: “Our volunteers will be on hand to guide visitors, provide information and answer any queries that are put to them. This will be a demanding task which they will achieve with full training to supplement their enthusiasm and eagerness to want to help.”

The Weymouth and Portland Ambassador Programme is an all inclusive programme that promotes equality and diversity. The only criterion to be set is that people are…..

1. Enthusiastic about the Olympic and Paralympic Values.
2. Committed to the Weymouth and Portland Ambassador Programme.
3. Passionate about Weymouth and Portland.
4. 16 years old or over by 31 January 2012

Volunteers will be asked to give 60 hours of commitment over the Olympic and Paralympic period which will be divided into 10 shifts lasting 6 hours.

Sarah Kennedy, leading on the Weymouth and Portland Ambassador Programme quotes:  “Our Ambassadors  will wear officially branded uniforms, be provided with a bus travel card, meal and refreshments during their volunteer shift and will be acknowledged for their valuable 60 hours of commitment. “

To apply to become a Weymouth and Portland Ambassador visit the online application form at www.dorsetforyou.com/dorset2012/wpa

Weymouth’s golden sands has been voted the 4th top beach in Britain in a recent poll by TripAdvisor, the second time that Weymouth has been recognised by contributors to the website.

Last summer, Weymouth won TripAdvisor’s award for being the 4th best emerging destination globally.

Crowds Enjoy Weymouth Beach on Carnival Day

TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site, and offers trusted advice from real travellers. The site attracts more than 40 million unique monthly visitors and operates in 27 countries worldwide. Being recognised on the site gives Weymouth a fantastic boost to help promote the visitor offering across the world which in turn will contribute to improving and strengthening our local economy.

Weymouth’s Georgian seafront is currently being regenerated by a number of partners; including the Arts Council, English Heritage, County Council as well as the Borough Council. Funding, totalling £2.5m has been secured to complete the works listed below. The work is planned to enhance the area for the long term, which will host the sailing events for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer.

Projects include:
• Refurbishment of Victorian shelters
• Restoration of statues
• Providing new sitting-out areas for restaurants and bars
• New Beach Rescue centre, incorporating RNLI rescue, public toilets and cafe (subject to planning approval)
• Two new dual server catering kiosks
• Permanent sand sculpture attraction (subject to planning permission)
• Improved signage and highway infrastructure
• New waste bins and promenade surface
• Enhanced and new public conveniences
• Improved hjghway lighting
• New Artist Led ‘Veils of Light’ scheme

Eminent local Sand Sculptor, Mark Anderson and local businessman David Hicks have joined forces to create SANDWORLD International Sand Sculpture Park – here in Weymouth, Dorset.

Latest: View the movie of

The Making of Sandworld on Visit Dorset.tv

Opening to the public on 22nd April 2011, SANDWORLD will exhibit fantastic sculptures up to 5 metres in height made entirely of sand and water. They will be created by competing World Class Sand Artists, who will be flying in a month before the opening to construct the masterpieces – all set to a maritime theme.

As a World Class Sand Master, Mark has competed around the world; recreated Windsor Palace in sand for Her Majesty The Queen and worked directly for many prestigious blue chip clients including Sky, BBC, O2, Peugeot, BA and BMW along with many others.

Work will begin immediately on the site, which is located at Lodmoor Country Park, Weymouth close to the Sealife Centre between the Leisure Ranch and the recently newly restored, miniature electric ride-on train.

“We are very excited about this new venture”, says Mark. “SANDWORLD International Sand Sculpture Park is a natural progression from my seafront exhibition and builds on the worldwide success of sand sculpting events, exhibitions and festivals. It will celebrate tradition and is the UK’s first competitive international sand sculpture event.”

Mark will continue to run his seafront exhibition; an exhibition started by his Grandfather Fred Darrington in the 1920’s. Mark explains, “the seafront exhibition has received the support of Weymouth & Portland Borough Council and local residents for over 90 years. It is embedded in the Sea front heritage and I will continue to run it in addition to SANDWORLD”.

Whilst the primary focus will be as a visitor attraction to experience, enjoy, play and learn with this art form, the scope is much broader. Notably, it will include the programmes/strategies for children and adults to improve 3D modelling ability, build social, team and motor skills and release their creativity. Cultural engagement, academic and education programmes and sustainable development will be key to its delivery.

“As the structures are built entirely from sand and water, we aim to bring community, arts and entertainment together at a minimal cost to the environment”, explains David, who is also a part time sand sculptor and has worked for over 5 years on major projects with Mark. “Visitors will be able to get close to the exhibits and try their hand at the art form themselves. We will also be developing interactive workshops, community projects, team building and corporate hospitality programmes”.

The main jaw dropping sculptures will be showcased under cover in a huge Marquee, where a café will be serving refreshments. The entrance fee will be kept low to encourage as many people as possible see these wonderful creations.

“This year, Sand World will be open to the public from April 22nd until the end of October. We are then looking at having an amazing, ‘Weymouth Winter Wonderland’ attraction for the Christmas holidays, with plenty of fun activities for children of all ages,” explains David. “We will be asking the Sand Masters back in 2012 to create masterpieces on an Ancient Greek Olympic theme”.

SANDWORLD is offering a number of sponsorship opportunities to businesses looking to raise their profile with Community and Arts projects. More details are available from Trudy Braithwaite at trudyb4@gmail.com.

Weymouth &  Portland celebrated the milestone of 1000 days to go until the 2012 London Olympic Games by creating what we are sure will over the years become an iconic picture of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast that demonstrates pride Weymouth and Portland has in being selected as the host venue for the Sailing Events of the 2012 Games.

The shot was staged using four Lazers from the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy against a backdrop of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast at Durdle Door.

Video of Sail Lazer Training Sessions at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy

The Rotary Club of Weymouth are preparing for their Second Men In Pants Walk to raise funds for Orchid, the Male Cancer Charity, on 24th October 2010 commencing 11 minutes to 11 am (don’t leave it until the eleventh hour).

It is hoped by publicising the event in our locality that men of all ages might take note of how serious cancer can be within the male species. Cancer has no respect for age and as such this is not an age related disease. The walk is targeting men in our locality, it is hoped that we can raise not only money but the profile of these horrendous diseases. Therefore we would like to appeal to your club with your male members to come out on Sunday 24th and support this very worthy cause as cancer can strike at any time with disastrous effects on friends, families and loved ones.

For more information and entry form go to:- www.eleventhhour.org.uk

Weymouth’s annual Beach MotoCross Race is organised by Weymouth Lions Club and the Purbeck MotoCross Club. The event takes place annually in October the actual date bering determined by the tides.

This year’s event took place Sunday 10 October when over 10,000 spectators packed Weymouth Esplanade for a free grandstand view and helped Weymouth Lions Club raise record amounts for local charities.

A pod of dolphins filmed from a fishing vessel just 500 metres of the eastern coastline of Portland in May 2010.

Dolphins can regularly bee seen off Weymouth and Portland but there are few videos available that show them in such detail.

The wreck of the SS Athen, which sank in March 1906 after a collision with the SS Thor lies about 8 miles SE of Portland Bill  at  maximum depth of 57m