An opportunity to view some of the beautiful gardens in the village of Bere Regis.

Programmes are £4 per person and available from the Drax Hall, North Street and accompanied children are FREE.

Refreshments and home-made cakes available from Drax Hall.   A Grand Draw takes place at 4pm on the day.

All proceeds to the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance

The Mayor of Taunton Deane councillor Steve Brooks said he is never one to duck a challenge and is hoping local people will join him in going quackers for good causes.

He is hoping to sell ducks for a race on the River Tone in aid of his chosen charities, the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and the League of Friends of Musgrove Hospital.

It couldn’t be easier to show your support – just buy a duck for £2 and help the Mayor to raise some much needed cash.

CouncillorBrooks said: “This is a fun event with the benefit of raising money to help my chosen charities. I hope people will join in, buy a duck and have a go. Everyone’s a winner as they will be doing their bit for two local good causes.”

Various outlets in Taunton are acting as agents the numbers for the race – each duck is numbered and the first three to reach the finish line will win prizes. You can buy your numbers at Stillmans Butchers in Station Road, Laing and Lewis gift shop in Riverside; Peppercorns deli in St James Street, Waterstones bookstore, the bus station, The Plough Inn in Station Road, the Lamb and Flag at Blagdon Hill, the Winchester Arms in Trull, Olio and Farina in Somerset Square and in the Debenhams store on February 24th and 25th.

The duck race will be started by the Mayor at 11 am on Saturday March 3rd from the wooden bridge in Goodland Gardens. The winner will be the first to reach the finish line, down river, just before the Priory Road bridge.

CONGRATULATIONS to the following winners of this week’s draw:

JACKPOT         £1,000.00       R PARK, YEOVIL

2ND PRIZE        £ 250.00        MRS SMITH, BRIDGWATER

3RD PRIZE       £ 150.00         T E SCULLY, SHAFTESBURY

4TH PRIZE       £ 125.00         MR R F PARKER, BURNHAM ON SEA

5TH PRIZE       £ 100.00         MR HATCHER, WAREHAM

 CONSOLATION PRIZE WINNERS:

T W R Brant, Bridgwater

I Redward, Stoke-Sub-Hamdon

D H Evans, Lyme Regis

S Easlick, Taunton

J C Fudge, Shaftesbury

S Kenyon, Dorchester

C A Rutherford, Weymouth

C Cook, Shepton Mallet

Mrs J Kirby, Poole

Mr & Mrs A G Martin, Sixpenny Handley

The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Flight for Life Lottery was launched on the 19^th December 2000 by Jeremy Beadle and since its launch, it has gone from strength to strength. It is one of the easiest and most sustainable ways of showing your support. It costs £1 a week to join. There are five main cash prizes, including a Jackpot of £1,000 and a number of other consolation prizes on offer. There are no rollovers, so the prizes must be won each week. If you would like join, just call: 01202 849530 or email: lottery@dsairambulance.org.uk

The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance would like to say a huge thank you to Alan Gates and the organising team from the Somerset Vintage & Classic Tractor Show.

This year’s show marked the 10^th Anniversary of the event and although the weather was extremely cold, it did not dampen the mood.

Alan and his team have been big supporters of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, providing us with significant donations for many years.  This year however, we were overwhelmed to receive an incredible cheque for £7,500.

Alan has now passed the reins over to Mike and Margaret Mitchell who will be organising next year’s event and we wish them well with this endeavour.

Pictures kindly supplied by Chic Photographic:  www.chicphotographic.co.uk 

Details on the tractor show can be found by visiting:  www.somersettractorshow.co.uk or by emailing: mandm.mitchell@btinternet.com

Pictures kindly supplied

CONGRATULATIONS to the following winners of this week’s draw:

JACKPOT                     £1,000.00       S P WHYATT, SALISBURY

2ND PRIZE                  £ 250.00          P GILLINGHAM, POOLE

3RD PRIZE                   £ 150.00         S J STAPLES, CLEVEDON

4TH PRIZE                   £ 125.00         B ANDERSON-SMITH, WEYMOUTH

5TH PRIZE                   £ 100.00         G TURNER, BOURNEMOUTH

CONSOLATION PRIZE WINNERS:

F N Barker, Wimborne

J Oliver, Bournemouth

E Florey, Bridgwater

D Minchin, Wimborne

D C Martin, Sturminster Newton

J Chilcott, Watchet

F Peacock, Bridgwater

S B Jarvis, Dulverton

Mrs M Mills, Bridgwater

A Roberts, Wimborne

The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Flight for Life Lottery was launched on the 19^th December 2000 by Jeremy Beadle and since its launch, it has gone from strength to strength. It is one of the easiest and most sustainable ways of showing your support. It costs £1 a week to join. There are five main cash prizes, including a Jackpot of £1,000 and a number of other consolation prizes on offer. There are no rollovers, so the prizes must be won each week. If you would like join, just call: 01202 849530 or email: lottery@dsairambulance.org.uk

Luke Adams, Carl Tinsley, Michael Chapman, Chris Cope and Glenn Powell are putting on a brave face tomorrow evening (Friday), when they take place in a charity Waxing Event taking place at the River Parrett Inn, Bridgwater.

The event, which was an idea that came together one Friday evening, is raising funds for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and the British Forces Association.

Luke, landlord of the River Parrett and one of the brave men being waxed, is looking forward to the night and said, “We are not nervous now at all, just really excited.  Anyone who attends on the night will be in for a fun packed evening.  We are all being waxed from the neck down.  People can come along on the night and buy a strip of wax for £3 and have a go.  We are hoping to raise as much as we can for these two great charities.”

The night starts at 7pm (River Parrett Inn, Salmon Parade, Bridgwater)

Our cheeky little cartoon helicopter was given the name ‘Dasher’ at 5.00 pm this evening.

Dasher was created by Dave Hindson, a paramedic and friend of the Charity and the naming competition was launched in our ‘Beeline’ magazine last November.

We had some really great entries which we received by phone, post, email and via our Facebook page and we are delighted that so many people took part in this fun initiative.

The winner of the competition was Katie Dymott aged 10 from Poole in Dorset.

Bill Sivewright our Chief Executive Officer said, “We had so many names suggested, our selection panel had a tough time picking the winner, but in the end we selected ‘DASHER’ (Dorset and Somerset Helicopter Emergency Rescue).

“We are very grateful to Katie and will be inviting her to our airbase where she can see the real helicopter and meet the crew.  I’m sure you can expect to see more of Dasher in the near future.”

Why don’t you write a story about Dasher’s adventures and send them to us!  Who knows, we might just publish them on our website or in our magazine.  Simply email: editor@dsairambulance.org.uk or write to us at:  Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Landacre House, Castle Road, Chelston Business Park, Wellington, Somerset  TA21 9JQ

CONGRATULATIONS to the following winners of this week’s draw:

JACKPOT         £1,000.00        M MEAD, FERNDOWN

2ND PRIZE      £    250.00        P SHAW, BRIDGWATER

3RD PRIZE       £   150.00        C R TINKLER, POOLE

4TH PRIZE       £   125.00        J LAWRENCE, POOLE

5TH PRIZE       £   100.00        S A GUEST, FERNDOWN

CONSOLATION PRIZE WINNERS:

M Jones, Weston-Super-Mare

G I Pritchard, Bridport

M O Upham, Bridgwater

Mrs B Blundy, Gillingham

Y Butcher, Poole

T Giles, Poole

P Turner, Somerton

M Hayward, Wimborne

L Brown, Weston-Super-Mare

J Baxter, Wincanton

The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Flight for Life Lottery was launched on the 19^th December 2000 by Jeremy Beadle and since its launch, it has gone from strength to strength. It is one of the easiest and most sustainable ways of showing your support. It costs £1 a week to join. There are five main cash prizes, including a Jackpot of £1,000 and a number of other consolation prizes on offer. There are no rollovers, so the prizes must be won each week. If you would like join, just call: 01202 849530 or email: lottery@dsairambulance.org.uk

A farm worker who did not think he would see his son or wife again after being crushed in a farm accident has thanked the air ambulance crew he says saved his life. 

Alex Page, 26, of Radstock, who was left with life-threatening injuries after the incident in Ston Easton two weeks ago, said his recovery is down to the air crew as well as the other emergency staff who responded so quickly.

Mr Page said: “It was all pretty dramatic and I did not think I would see my six-month-old son Oscar or my wife Kelly again.

“I don’t know how to thank the people who saved my life – I don’t know who they were but thank you.

“Because of the internal bleeding I would not have survived without the air crew who airlifted me to hospital so quickly.”

Mr Page had been working on a loading shovel when the arm came down, trapping him between the arm and front axle and crushing him.

His spleen was ruptured and with internal bleeding and broken ribs he thought he was going to die.

“I want to remind people about the air ambulance and what a vital service it is and remind people to keep the donations going for the air ambulance,” said Mr Page.

“The air ambulance really does something quite incredible. It is amazing what they do and I didn’t think I would feel so affected by what they did for me.”

He also praised the rest of the NHS staff for their immediate response and the high standard of care.

“The first responder was on the scene within minutes and then the paramedics. When I got to hospital a trauma team was waiting for me. It all seemed to be in such a short time.”

After an emergency operation Mr Page was in intensive therapy for a few days and is now at home recovering.

A spokesman for South West Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are delighted to hear that Mr Page is pleased with the care afforded to him, and convey our good wishes for his onward recovery.

“Once again the air ambulance has demonstrated its value in delivering the trust’s clinicians to hard to reach locations to provide time-critical life-saving care.”

Tracy Bartram, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance’s communications manager, said: “We really hope that Alex’s recovery is a good one.

“Due to data protection, the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is unable to make contact with patients direct and it is not until they contact the media or the charity direct that we find out how they are doing.

“We are delighted to have been a crucial part in Alex’s life-saving incident and wish him and his family well.”

With thanks to the Somerset Guardian for sharing this story.

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance have been presented with £500 this week from members of Burnham and District Model Railway Club.

Railway club member John Langley, visited the charity’s headquarters in Wellington, Somerset to present a cheque to Bill Sivewright, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Chief Executive Officer.

The money was raised through the sale of a ‘Simonds Brewery of Reading, Bristol and Devonport, Vent Van’ and included a donation from the group.

Burnham and District Model Railway Club was founded in 1976 with the aim of furthering the model railway hobby within the Sedgemoor area of North Somerset and it has certainly achieved that.

During the early years, the group of enthusiasts met in several rooms above a shop in Burnham town centre.  Now, with steady growth it has its own permanent rooms in the community centre and organise their own exhibitions each year, the largest being Sedgemoor Rail, normally held over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Mr Langley said, “Knowing that donations to charities have been severely impacted over the last few years, the club has been actively pursuing its policy of funding charitable worthy causes. Where possible we have chosen locally based organisations rather than the large national ones which generally have better resources. 

“We have given donations to many local charities over the last year and we are delighted to be able to support the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance with the proceeds from the Simonds Brewery of Reading, Bristol and Devonport Vent Van,” he concluded.

About Burnham and District Model Railway Club

Burnham and District Model Railway Club meet every Tuesday and Thursday evening at the Community Centre, Berrow Road, Burnham on Sea, Somerset between 7.00 pm and 10.00 pm.  Membership is available to all who take an active interest in railway modelling.  The Burnham and District Model Railway Club is a member of the Wessex Association of Model Railway Clubs and the Association of Model Railway Clubs Wales and the West of England.  www.burnhamanddmrc.org