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July 2021 July 2021

Educational Needs establishment (SEND) as a centre of Excellence within Dorset. sporting event with style and panache, a nation able to poke a little fun at itself
Children attending St Mary’s will be from all areas in Dorset. Many children with (remember Rowan Atkinson and even the Queen joining in!).
special needs are unable to access the support they require to develop and are
placed in schools outside Dorset. Each out of county place costs £60,000 on Though a big World Series Triathlon is being planned for this September, the scene
average but placements within Dorset are a third of that cost, making it more had reverted to what I imagine always took place with swimmers gathering for
economical in the long term. A third of the children currently needing a SEND the 8 am. 880 yard handicap race. Others were in there enjoying their early
place live within a 45-minute drive of Shaftesbury. morning dip, some fast, some slow, some old, some young. I guess that what
struck me most was the wide variety of ages of swimmers enjoying the lido. They
came in all shapes and sizes and presumably from all walks of life. Swimming is a
Cultural Strategy great leveller and we were all there to enjoy.
An outline cultural strategy has As we stood in expectant
been developed and it is anticipation, Brian emerged
available to view on the from the upstairs balcony where
Dorset Council website. The the club’s committee had been
culture sector encompasses having a meeting. He had been
organisations, freelancers, club secretary since 2009, a
artists and creatives, public member since he was 11 and
venues, institutions, and had a long family association
activities. For this strategy, this with the club. His uncle Tommy
includes: –Performing arts was killed in a Blenheim Bomber
including dance, music, during the war and his family
comedy and theatre; Visual had donated the Sergeant
arts, design, craft and makers; Thomas Cup in his memory. I
Digital media and film; remarked on how it was great to
Museums, collections and see so many young people
archives; Libraries, literature, writing and publishing; The natural, historic and built involved and he came up with
environment; Cultural tourism, locally produced food and drink, outdoor festivals a priceless quote, “This club was once one for eccentric elderly gentlemen. Now it
and attractions. Amateur and voluntary run arts for example fetes, carnivals and is a club for eccentric gentlemen of all ages “. He had certainly noticed a
knitting circles. The next steps will be to conduct further research and develop refreshing trend that the age profile of club members was down over the past few
delivery plans and a framework to make sure all communities in Dorset can years, with many members now in their 20s and 30s all brought about by word of
benefit from the strategy where we can help. This will help us when applying for mouth.
grants for new investment into Dorset and to maximise the leverage value of the Another change had been the admission of women into the fold. Women have
council’s own investment in arts, heritage and culture. only been admitted to full membership since 1999 but a few had been allowed
associate membership since the early 70s. The club now has 500/600 members of

Reduced Rail Provision which around 150 are actively involved and around half are women.
As we stood and chatted I noticed an elegant, petite lady arrive. It was Rosemary
Below is a summary of a letter we recently sent to the Transport Minister expressing George, a prominent member and vice President of the Serpentine Club. I had
our concerns about the much-reduced rail service in Dorset provided by South always wanted to meet Rosemary as she had donated an annual trophy to the
Western Railway. Channel Swimming Association many years ago for the “Most Meritorious Swim of

Prior to the pandemic we had 2 trains per hour (tph) running between Weymouth the Year”. I had been its proud recipient in 1992. Rosemary had herself completed
and Waterloo, one fast, one stopping. During the pandemic this was reduced to 1 two successful channel swims each taking over 20 hours back in the 1960s so it
tph plus a shuttle between Weymouth and Bournemouth to allow connection to made my 18 hour 40 minute effort look pretty straightforward.
other services. This has now been reduced to 1 tph between Weymouth &
Rosemary introduced me to Alan Lacey, a long standing club member, a war
veteran who sunk two U-boats during the last war and who at the age 90 flew a

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