Archive for January, 2009

LETS Members at Douglas Jackman House Nominated in Waitrose Community Matters

January 25, 2009 · Filed under News · Tagged , ,

January/February 2009

Dorchester & South Dorset LETS members – Douglas Jackman House – are currently one of three nominees in the Dorchester branch of Waitrose for the Waitrose Community Matters. Douglas Jackman House is a Care Home in Dorchester for Adults with Learning Difficulties and they currently help us hand deliver information to members for marts – to save postage costs!

Every month the Dorchester Waitrose branch will donate £1000 between three local good causes that their shoppers choose. At the checkout you’ll receive a token, which you then place in the box of the good cause you’d most like to support. The more tokens a cause gets, the bigger the donation they receive.

You can also nominate other good causes to be considered for the scheme in the future. Just pick up a leaflet in store for more information. PLEASE NOMINATE DORCHESTER & SOUTH DORSET LETS in future to help us with our sterling running costs and so we can fund more LETS community and green projects – including ones where we can especially involve Douglas Jackman House.

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Vegetarian/Vegan Cooking Workshop with LETS Member Sandra Hood – May 16th 2009

January 25, 2009 · Filed under Events, Members Workshops/Trading Days · Tagged , , ,

Vegetarian/Vegan Cookery Workshop with Sandra Hood
On Saturday 16th May 2009, 11.00 am – 1.30pm
At The Dorford Centre, Bridport Road, Dorchester
In celebration of National Vegetarian Week 18th – 24th May 2009 & supporting The Vegan Society

Dorchester & South Dorset LETS Member Sandra Hood, is holding a vegan cookery workshop in Dorchester in celebration of National Vegetarian Week in May 2009 and in support of The Vegan Society.

For LETS members the cost of the workshop will be £5 (this is to go towards the expenses -  hire of the hall, food ingredients and literature) plus 15 Marts (OR £5 + 10 Marts for early bird payment if deposits are received before the 31st March).

The workshop is more suitable for the beginner (although experienced cooks are welcome),  to help increase your confidence in preparing vegan dishes and will provide you with new and fun recipes to impress your friends and family.  The morning will include a folder of recipes, practical cooking tips and a chance to sample the various dishes. 

Places are limited so please book early. 
Any cheques should be made payable to ‘The Vegan Society Limited’. 
Please send deposit payment and your name, address and contact number to:
Sandra Hood, 19 Paul’s Way, Crossways, Dorchester DT2 8UW.

Vegan cooking is fish-free and meat-free vegetarian food that is also free from any animal derived ingredients including; eggs, milk and honey. If you wish to cut down or even stop eating animal products, or you have a dairy allergy for example, or simply wish to eat healthier food, then there are many animal-free alternatives to use in cooking including; soya milk products, soya mince, tofu, vegetable margerine - and the list is actually endless. Vegetarian and vegan food can be very healthy but it can also be very tasty and fun too!

National Vegetarian Week (NVW) is the annual awareness-raising campaign promoting inspirational vegetarian food and the benefits of a meat-free lifestyle.

Celebrated by The Vegetarian Society since 1992, the Week is now an established event and everyone from small businesses to big corporations, schools, community groups and individuals are welcome to come on board and make the week a success. Why not sign up to the ‘Veggie Pledge’ and let everybody know what you’re committing to do for the Week – this might be anything from trying a veggie meal, to going veggie for the day, week, month, year… or even for life! Or of course simply attend Sandra’s Vegetarian/Vegan Cookery Workshop! Perhaps you’re already veggie and can pledge to talk to friends and family about the reasons for going veggie? Or you may consider going Vegan like Sandra and not using any animal products – meat, eggs or dairy.

For details of the Vegetarian Society and National Vegetarian Week visit www.vegsoc.org/nvw or for The Vegan Society visit www.vegansociety.com.

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Herbal Walk with LETS Member Eleanor Gallia – 31st May 2009

January 25, 2009 · Filed under Events, Members Workshops/Trading Days · Tagged

LETS Herbal Walk with Eleanor Gallia (of Nether Cerne Herbs)
On Sunday 31st May 2009, starts 11am
At Nether Cerne Farm, Godmanstone near Cerne Abbas, Dorset

Dorchester & South Dorset LETS member Eleanor Gallia who is a local Medical Herbalist, is running a Herbal Walk for LETS members on Sunday 31st May at Nether Cerne Farm near Cerne Abbas, Dorset DT2 7AJ. We will meet at 11am for the walk which will be followed by a picnic lunch to share (under cover if wet!). Herbal teas provided. Generally herbal walks last 2 – 2.5 hours. There will also be a chance to buy herbal products. Eleanor’s walks and herbal products are very popular so we are very lucky to have booked her in advance for a LETS day!

Eleanor says that in May there are “Lots of lovely things – everything you need for a spring cleanse – dandelions, nettles, cleavers, early signs of elderflowers, and hawthorn flowers (their colloquial name being MAY).”

The walk will cost 15 marts per person.
For more information and to book your place please email Eleanor -emba_uba@yahoo.co.uk.

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Dorset LETS Photography Project & Exhibition by Pete Millson

January 15, 2009 · Filed under Announcements for Members, News

Dorchester & South Dorset LETS are very excited to have been invited to be involved in a project by the amazing photographer Pete Millson, who is a member of the South West Dorset LETS (and as we are also part of the Dorset LETS Network). Pete is planning an exhibition of selected photos from his LETS Project at Bridport Arts Centre in June 2009, and hopefully a book in future too.

We have therefore given Pete a list of our members contacts so expect a call or email from him! He would like to ask your personal permission to come and photograph you. On the Core Group we feel very honoured to be invited and hope many of you will too (although obviously it is your choice!).

Pete says;

“I’m currently involved in photographing members of our local LETS (Local Exchange Trading Systems) group. Rachel and I joined this year and this is a project which should turn out to be an excellent exhibition and possibly even a book… It’s painless  and not at all stressful I promise! And, yes, I know you hate being photographed but this should be a great project to show the many and varied people around here who make up this LETS group.”

Have a look at Pete’s blog to see how the project is going and his latest photos for it on http://petemillson.wordpress.com/lets-project. Check out his main website portfolio too on www.petemillson.com -  you may spot some other familiar faces there!

Our Web Manager Anna Celeste Watson was the first of the Dorchester & South Dorset LETS members to have her photo taken in January (check out her comments below) – perhaps you’ll be next?!…

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LETS 2009 Membership Fee Due for Renewal by April 1st

January 15, 2009 · Filed under Announcements for Members

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR DORCHESTER & SOUTH DORSET LETS MEMBERS:

All existing member’s subs are now due for renewal for 2009. Please make your payment by the deadline of April 1st 2009, including of course those of you who were late in paying renewals and so have only just renewed for 2008. New members who joined on or after October 1st 2008 DO NOT have to renew again until 2010 (so effectively get up to 3 months FREE membership!).

The Individual/Family membership fee for 2009 will remain at £5.00 sterling per year (or £2.50 concessions + 3 Marts) or £8.oo for Businesses. There is also still a charge of 6 Marts every six months (so 12 marts per year / 1 mart per month) which is automatically deducted from your LETS account.

Early Bird Bonus!!!
If you make QUICK PAYMENT of your renewal fee BEFORE April we will add 3 Marts to your account as a thank you (effectively meaning you only pay 9 Marts instead of 12 per year - in the long run!).

Please send your payment to:

Dorchester & South Dorset LETS
Maiden Cottage
Weymouth Road
Martinstown
Dorchester
Dorset
DT2 9JJ

Please make cheques payable to ‘Dorchester & South Dorset LETSystem’.

Alternatively download the Renewal Form below and then post it to us when completed along with your payment by cheque.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD LETS MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL FORM >>

A Note from the LETS Web Manager:
Please note that although the whole point of LETS is to be an alternative and complimentary currency with as little use of sterling as possible – like many members, the LETS System itself does also incur many expenses – for; printing, postage, web development and event venue hiring etc, so we really appreciate your support in paying your annual membership fee to keep things running. If everyone renewed before April it would be a fantastic boost to our Sterling Account and help to pay for costs of our AGM (planned for April) and other trading events, and go towards the Web Development for an Online Members Area through LETSlink UK which we are starting now. We also have other plans to attract more new members which will benefit everyone on LETS, and for LETS Community and Eco Friendly Projects, so we are also applying for Sponsorship and Funding/Grants to pay for more ambitious projects to make our LETS even better!

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LETS SEEKS SPONSORSHIP FOR OUR PRINT WORK for our AGM in April 2009

January 15, 2009 · Filed under News · Tagged , , ,

Dorchester & South Dorset LETS are seeking a local business (or personal) sponsor who can offer us printing of our new Leaflets, Exhibition Boards and a Banner either for free or at very low cost. As we are a not-for-profit community organisation we rely on the kind support of our members for trading without sterling, and also for funding and sponsorship from other sources as our cash funds for running our LETS is very limited.

We need more professional and attractive printed material to show at various events we hold stalls at in the South Dorset area – to attract more members and trading. We would like to have them ready for our AGM in early April which will be in Dorchester and open to the public.

We would be very happy to list you as an official sponsor so in turn you could promote your business to other members of the public and show your company’s support of the community.

If your company could help us in any way please contact Anna Celeste Watson on 01305 267854 or email web@dorchester-lets.co.uk.

Anna is also a professional Web Designer and there may be opportunities for you to work on other paid commissions as an Associate. For details of her work please visit www.annacelestewatson.com. There are also many other professionals trading on our LETS who may be interested in using your services and/or forming business relationships outside of LETS as well.

Studio401

Dorchester & South Dorset LETS gratefully acknowledge the support of Studio401 Print Design in Sherborne for offering their services in producing our print design work.

Dorchester Town CouncilDorchester & South Dorset LETS is a non profit-making independent community group benefiting local residents & businesses. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions and support from Dorchester Town Council, which has been granted to us in recognition of the potential of LETS for economic and social development within the community.

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Bournemouth LETS to be resurrected

January 13, 2009 · Filed under Events · Tagged ,

Dorchester & South Dorset LETS are offering our support to Mischa and other Bournemouth residents who are currently resurrecting the Bournemouth LETS in 2009. There was a meeting at Mishca’s home on 14th January 2009 for people interested and apparantly it was a great success.

If you would like to join the Bournemouth LETS please call Mishca on 01202 426233 or email mishcad@aol.com.

We are also inviting all interested parties to all our Dorchester & South Dorset LETS Events and Core Group Meetings and hope to see some of you there! Bournemouth residents are also welcome to join the Dorchester & South LETS, as you can be members of multiple LETS if you wish. We are also members of LETSlink UK which means we can inter-trade with other UK LETS if we wish to. If you would like to join our LETS please contact Jenny on 01305 889782 or email jenny@dorchester-lets.co.uk.

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South West Dorset LETS Invite us to their New Year Lunch

January 12, 2009 · Filed under Events, Photo Gallery · Tagged

A few of our Dorchester & South Dorset LETS members at the SW Dorset LETS New Year Lunch!

A few of our Dorchester & South Dorset LETS members at the SW Dorset LETS New Year Lunch!

Sunday 25th January, 12pm -  3pm

St Mary’s Church Hall, Bridport

SW Dorset LETS are holding their January Lunch at the St Mary’s Church Hall, South Street in Bridport on Sunday 25th January from 12 noon until 3pm. All members of Dorchester & South Dorset LETS Group are welcome to join them.

Payment is £1 plus 6 NETS or MARTS per adult. If you would like to bring a suitable food contribution with you, you will be redeemed in NETS or MARTS. It will be a great opportunity to meet and intertrade with members of one of our fellow Dorset LETS groups.

Please contact Debbie on deborahbond007@yahoo.co.uk if you would like to come or need any further details. We look forward to seeing some of you there!

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