May is here, and the weather is warming up.
🗳️ Parish Council Councillor Vacancies:
Only 9 nominations were submitted for parish councillors, which means that the election is uncontested, and those 9 candidates are automatically elected.
However, we will have vacancies for two new parish councillors, and these will be advertised after the elections, so look out for them if you are interested. If you’re not sure what is involved, please contact the Parish Clerk, and we will discuss and give you an idea of what we are doing and plan to do.
🏏 Sports Pavilion Works
At the time of writing, the Sports Pavilion terrace was just waiting for the delivery of the picket fencing that will go on either side of the central steps. Once the fence is in place, the grass will be banked to the new terrace and graded in.
The boules pitches are under construction by the lower car park. Boules, also known as ‘la pétanque’ (the names are interchangeable), is a simple game with metal balls which can be played by all ages. The boule pitches will be available for anyone who would like to have a try. We are also looking for groups to start up boules teams for regular matches and, who knows, maybe a boules club.
🍵 Youth Hall – community café
The Youth Hall will be open on Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 11am to 2:30pm for the warm space and chat café. This will be a quiet space for people to meet and natter, or just read and maybe play a board game; whatever you wish. There will be simple refreshments, including a variety of Teas, Coffees and Hot Chocolate, a range of biscuits, a selection of soups and a supply of toast. We will review what is on offer as we get to know what people would like.
😜 Youth Club
The main Youth Clun will be starting on Tuesday 21st May. This will be run by Dorset Youth who also provide the Sturminster Marshall Youth Club. Membership will require a joint youth/parental agreement, and Dorset Youth will be sending out information later this month. It will run in two sessions across the evening:
- School years 6-7: 6pm-7:30pm
- School years 8+: 7:30pm-9pm
In the meantime, the Youth Hall will be open on Tuesday evenings from 6pm – 8pm and can be used by families who wish to play table tennis and pool or have a chill out with a coffee, etc.
If you are interested in volunteering to help run the youth club, or train to be a youth work assistant or young leader, please get in touch – DY can provide training. It’s a great one for DoE. 😊
🏓 Table Tennis
Wednesdays from 2:30 – 5pm will be table tennis time! You can book a game of table tennis for either 30 minutes or an hour. Please let us know if other TT sessions would be helpful.
🏠 General Hiring of Youth Hall space
Outside of these community sessions, the Youth Hall will be available to book for your own activities, including group meetings, or clubs who want to focus on card or board games, table tennis or pool, etc. If anyone would be interested in a ‘model train club’ one evening a month, please let us know.
Please contact the Parish Clerk at lytchettmatravers@dorset-aptc.gov.uk or LMYouthHall@gmail.com to get a copy of the Hall Hire rates, Hiring Agreement, and Terms & Conditions or download them here.
📆 Looking ahead, there are some important dates for June……
Thursday June 6th: The 80th Anniversary of D-Day
The timetable of events to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing on June 6th, 1944, is now finalised. Dorset was a major preparation area for the departing forces, and no doubt there are stories about Lytchett’s part in that:
- 5:00pm: Commemorative Film – The Longest Day – shown in conjunction with Purbeck Film Festival. Village Hall doors will open at 5pm. The film will run from 5:30pm – 8:45pm, with an intermission at 7pm, when teas and coffees will be available to purchase. Tickets are £5 to cover film licence and hall hire., with any surplus being donated to the British Legion.
- 9:00pm: Beacon Lighting. The ceremony starts at 9pm when our Cadets will process with the beacon to the centre of the Recreation ground. The beacon will be lit at 9.15pm, accompanied by the reading of the Nation’s tribute.
- Fish and Chip Suppers: Jo Meade’s fish and chip van will be in #UpOnTheRec car park as usual. Pre-film or intermission suppers can be ordered in advance. Seating will be provided on the Village Hall terrace. No food will be allowed in the hall during the actual film screening.
- Pop-up bar: We hope to set up a bar in the Sports Pavilion for the evening.
Saturday, June 15th: The Annual Parish Meeting.
We plan to set up our stand on Library Green from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., during which time you can come and ask Parish Councillors anything you like, good or bad.
Saturday, June 22nd: The Midsummer Village Festival #UpOnTheRec.
This will be split into a fun day of two halves.
2pm -4pm will be Afternoon family fun, featuring the bouncy castle, new extended train rides, face painting, craft stalls, games, Ice Cream, Teas & Coffees, cakes Dorset Fire & Rescue event truck and more. Main afternoon events include:
- 2 – 3pm Family fun Dog Show—with a fun, everyone wins approach to appreciating all the lovely dogs in our village. Look out for full details and how to get involved.
- 3 – 4pm Moo Music Show – a fabulous kids’ party over on the big stage.
From 4pm-8pm, we will move into the Music Festival Time up on the big stage. With local stars: Holly Jay, Red Hot Dorset Nagas, a Red Hot Chilli Peppers cover band and, Life in the Past Lane with their 60s-70s-80s rock jam.
There will also be plenty of refreshments, including the Sports Pavilion pop-up bar, Jo Meade Fish & Chips, and much more.
If you have a stall with suitable items for sale, from chocolate cakes to Panama hats, please let us know, and we can slot you in. If you think you have some time to help with the day’s organization, please get in touch. Maybe you can help set up, clear up, or marshall the day, but we absolutely need volunteers to make it the most fun it can be.
May Meeting:
Because of the elections on May 2nd, there will be just the one meeting on May 22nd, in the Village Hall as usual and starting at 7 p.m. Agendas are published online, and the report pack is available on request from the Parish Clerk. Meetings always start with public participation, so please come along if you have suggestions or questions that you would like to discuss with the PC or just want to hear what is going on.
Alf Bush,
Chairman, Lytchett Matravers Parish Council
For further information please visit our website at: https://lytchettmatraverspc.org/ or contact the Parish Clerk via lytchettmatravers@dorset-aptc.gov.uk