February 19, 2009
· Filed under Announcements for Members, Events · Tagged bartering, Dorchester & South Dorset, LETS AGM, Local Exchange Trading System
Saturday 4th April 2009, 10am – 5pm
Dorchester & South Dorset LETS AGM & TRADING DAY
At The United Church Hall, South Street, Dorchester
We are currently planning our next Annual General Meeting and Trading Day for Saturday 4th April 2009. It will be open between 10am – 4pm to the public and open 2 hours earlier at 8am for members to set-up. Our AGM will also be held later at 4-5pm for members only.
The AGMs are your opportunity to contribute your ideas and help decide how our LETS is run; to do some trading; to join as a member if you haven’t already, enjoy some entertainment and to meet other members.
We aim to provide more entertainment this year and are more central in Dorchester town so we can invite more of the general public in. Non-members can also trade with LETS members.
We’ll be doing another good quality Clothes Swap Shop, Shared Trading Stalls, a Snack/Tuck Shop (for sterling), and hopefully Entertainment such as Music, Comedy, Demos, Talks etc. If you are a member and would like to provide some entertainment please let Katy know - you will be paid Marts for your time. We are also looking for Artists to display their paintings for an Art Exhibition – they can also be for sale. Katy may even do a Yoga demo with students who are LETS members! All other ideas welcomed! Please contact Katy on (01305) 262253 or email katy@dorchester-lets.co.uk.
Please mark the date in your diary and we hope to see you there! : )
ENTRANCE IS NOW FREE FOR EVERYONE!!!
February 19, 2009
· Filed under Events · Tagged Dorset Womens Day, International Womens Day, WAND, Women's Action Network Dorset
Saturday 7th March 2009, starts 10.00am
The Exchange, Sturminster Newton
WAND (Women’s Action Network Dorset) are holding an International Women’s Day event on 7th March at The Exchange, Sturminster Newton – Celebrating Women of All Ages (and open to men too of course!).
Dorchester & South Dorset LETS will be holding a stall there alongside other Dorset LETS groups. As it’s a Dorset-wide event we thought it would be good if all the Dorset Groups came together and joined in, womanning (and also manning) the stalls and networking among ourselves and also with all the other people there.
If you would like to help us and be paid in marts for your time please contact Katy on (01305) 262253 or email katy@dorchester-lets.co.uk.
WAND is still growing – they’re just at the stage where an idea becomes a reality…
They will be organising a whole range of more activities in Dorset very soon – from campaigning and debates on serious issues to social events and trips.
For more information on WAND visit www.wandwomen.org.uk.
February 19, 2009
· Filed under News, Trading Stories · Tagged bartered trade, bartering, exchanged trade, LETS trading
The last three months have seen a flurry of activity amongst some of our LETS members!
Trading has taken place as follows:-
Ironing
Vegan Cooking
Dog Sitting and Walking
Furniture Repairs
Gardening
Moving a Garden Shed
Small DIY projects
Putting up a Washing Line
Tiling
Logs and Kindling
Plants
Floristry
Wreath Making Workshop
Driving
Carpentry
Laminating
Photocopying
Computer Upgrade
Computer Help
Computer Repairs
Computer Telephone Support
Newspaper Deliveries
Osteopathy
Yoga
Massage
Reiki
Purchases of books, dishes and beeswax!
Plus Core Group Work
Producing Newsletter
Web Design Work
Membership and Directory Work
Planning events/publicity
Maintaining Marts Database
And the prize for the most original trade this quarter goes to… ‘Rescuing a Damsel in Distress’!!!
By Susie Hosford
February 17, 2009
· Filed under News · Tagged LETS newsletter
The first electronic version of your LETS Newsletter was sent today by email (or will shortly be posted to a few members who prefer not to use email or the web for LETS which we obviously have to respect).
We would really love to have member’s feedback on what you think of the newsletter – for example; is it too long or too short, is the new simple format okay, what other content would you like to see more of such as articles, photos, members trading stories etc. We have tried to keep more emphasis on news and events as we have so much going on and also as we now have our website which is regularly updated, but would you like to see more about the actual people on LETS or more about actual trading? Would you like to submit your own articles? Do you think the newsletters are regular enough or do you think they should only be quarterly?
All feedback and suggestions are welcomed, including if you are happy to continue receiving the newsletter by email rather than printed and posted.
We hope you enjoy your newsletter and if you are not a LETS member yet – you will have to join to view our newsletters!
PLEASE NOTE: CONTACTS FOR NEW MEMBERS WERE NOT SENT ALONG WITH THE NEWSLETTER FOR PRIVACY REASONS (SENDING STUFF ONLINE!). ALL MEMBERS WILL CONTINUE TO RECEIVE AN UPDATED CONTACTS LIST BY POST.
February 17, 2009
· Filed under Events, Members Workshops/Trading Days · Tagged Dorset LETS Trading Day
Sunday 1st March 2009, 2pm – 4.30pm
SOUTH WEST DORSET LETS TRADING DAY
At St Andrews Community Hall, Lower Sea Lane, Charmouth
On Sunday 1st March the SW Dorset LETS group will be holding a trading event at the St Andrews Community Hall, Lower Sea Lane in Charmouth and invite Dorchester & South Dorset LETS members to join us. We hope to have a quiet area for therapists away from the main trading area so therapists can talk discreetly with prospective clients and discuss their many and varied skills and services.
If you would like to book a table at this event, which is open to the general public as well as LETS members and will be advertised throughout the SW Dorset area, please let us know.
Contact Jane Morrow on 01297 560329 or Vee Driscoll on 01308 425518.
The cost is £1 + 3NETS. Refreshments will be available and the trading will mainly arts and crafts, home made cards, pictures, hats, t-shirts etc.
Look forward to seeing you there!
By Debbie (SW Dorset LETS Co-ordinator)
February 17, 2009
· Filed under Articles
On 7th January our former Chairlady Patsy Freeman threw a small party to say ‘goodbye’ to her friends before departing for the South of France together with her dog Muppet. Naturally her friends included a number of LETS people. We were asked to bring a glass and something to put in it and also to be prepared to contribute to the entertainment.
Not everybody knew each other and so as an icebreaker Patsy stuck on each of our backs the name of a famous person, one of a pair; e.g., Laurel and Hardy. The idea was that we should discover the name on our own back by a process of elimination. It was unfortunate that my name was chosen from a Jane Austen book that I have never read!
Anna our webmistress was there, wearing her famous gorilla suit that is rapidly becoming her trademark. It is lovely and I want one like it! Mind you, I suppose mine would have to be a silver backed one. When the entertainment started some people read poignant passages from books they had read or written. I read my tragic poem ‘Stumped’ written in hospital after a sad loss. You’d never guess – some heartless people laughed! I was followed by Patsy’s financial advisor who had us all in stitches.
As LETS is international I expect Patsy will by now have found a local group, or perhaps founded one, maybe among a covey of ex-pats. I’m sure she will read this via the interweb, so, Patsy, we wish you well, and when you are fixed up for accommodation we will all come and visit you! One at a time or all at once?
By Chris Slade
February 17, 2009
· Filed under Events · Tagged Environmental film, Free film Dorchester, The 11th Hour, Transition Town Dorchester
Friday 6th March 2009, 7.15pm – 9.45pm
FILM NIGHT: The 11th Hour
Hosted by TTD Thomas Hardye School, Dorchester
Join us for the screening of ‘The 11th Hour’ hosted by Transition Town Dorchester (TTD) at Thomas Hardye School (6th form block), Coburg Road, Dorchester.
This event is free (donations to Transition Town Dorchester are welcome and help them provide additional events) with tea & biscuits provided. Doors open 7:15pm. Film starts 7:30pm. Film ends 9pm. Followed by a relaxed discussion ‘open space’ kinda thing 10pm… then exit!
About the film…’The 11th Hour’… This passionate and polemical documentary, narrated and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, brings together leading scientists, environmentalists, politicians and activists to argue that the Earth is in a perilous state, and asks what can be done to save the planet and mankind before it is too late. The experts – including Professor Stephen Hawking, Mikhail Gorbachev and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Wangari Maathai – highlight key issues they believe face the planet’s life systems: global warming, deforestation, mass species extinction and depletion of the oceans’ habitats. And they claim that Man is a key contributor to the problem. But the film, which gained acclaim as well as provoking debate on it’s cinematic release, also offers hope and potential solutions to these problems by calling for restorative action to reshape and rethink global human activity through technology, social responsibility and conservation. Catastrophes dominate the headlines: drought, famine, flooding, record rainfall, hurricanes, acid rain and the highest average temperatures in recorded history. But in the film DiCaprio asks whether these are tragic isolated incidents, or pieces of a larger global jigsaw that could threaten humanity’s very future. The experts argue that in humanity’s short time on earth we have had a profound impact; our drive to ensure our survival and quality of life has revolutionised industry, science, nutrition and medicine, but it has also effected changes to the delicate balance that makes life on earth possible. The film looks at the forces that govern our climate – the oceans and rainforests that generate oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide, govern climate, weather and temperature – and argues that Man’s activities are having an unprecedented effect. The experts lay the responsibility for the warming of the planet mostly on the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, much of which are produced by human activity, and link the huge quantities of waste generated by industrial society with the pollution of the land, ocean and air, resulting in disappearing forests, widening deserts and melting arctic sea ice. And they claim that not since a meteor hit the planet 55 million years ago have so many forms of life become extinct. But the film also asks if these changes to the earth have to be permanent, or whether our society can mobilise to save the planet.
To find out more about Transition Town Dorchester visit www.transitiontowndorchester.org.
