Community news from across West Somerset

CUSTOMERS of a Minehead opticians have helped to double the money raised by staff to support end-of-life care at a local hospice.

Last month, Specsavers Minehead began raising funds for St Margaret’s Hospice, a community-funded charity which has provided free-of-charge care to patients and their families for more than 40 years.

The opticians and audiologists organised a bake sale, having been inspired by one of the team’s grandmothers, who was cared for by hospice nurses after a cancer diagnosis.

The event raised £273, but the total has now escalated to £601 thanks to donations from customers.

Simon Simmonds, optometrist director, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have more than doubled our fund-raising total for St Margaret’s Hospice.

“Our customers have been so generous and I really cannot thank them enough.

“When they came in they wanted to give a donation.

“They have been amazing.

“Anybody who knows anything about St Margaret’s Hospice is aware of what a vital charity it is for West Somerset people.

“It has a special place in our hearts because we have friends, relatives, and colleagues who have benefited from their support.”

HAVING spent nearly five decades in nursing, teaching, and training large numbers of nurses in Somerset, Sue Twose is continuing to give back by supporting student nurses through her volunteer role at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (SFT).

The volunteer role was created in 2022 so Sue’s experience and expertise could continue to benefit the trust’s students.

She now supports student nurses through a structured placement programme, meeting them about once a week or fortnight as a group to coach them and develop their skills.

Sandra Webb, head of future workforce at SFT and a former student of Sue’s, said: “Sue is a very well-known and respected figure at the trust.

“Over the past 20-plus years, she has worked at the University of Plymouth in a variety of roles, including, at one point, as head of nursing at the Taunton campus.

“Prior to her time in academia, Sue worked as a nurse and midwife at Musgrove Park Hospital in a number of roles, and her career has also included international work and contributions to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as a senior member of the fitness to practice directorate.

“She has taught and influenced many of our current nursing colleagues and remains a highly regarded presence in the profession and our organisation.

“Her students have gone on to work in nearly every area of the trust, from a cardiac specialist nurse in the critical care unit, to district nurses, ward managers, specialist respiratory nurses, senior tissue viability specialists, supportive and palliative care, even our current director of nursing was taught by Sue.

“Late last year, she retired from the university and did not renew her NMC registration, known as a PIN, which nurses must hold to practise in the UK, marking the end of an extraordinary 48-year nursing career.

“We are incredibly fortunate that Sue will continue supporting our nursing students and colleagues through her volunteering role, helping to inspire many more nurses in Somerset.

“We would like to thank Sue, her impact has been far reaching in healthcare in Somerset.”

Reflecting on her career, Sue said: “Nursing has been a privilege.

“If I had not been a nurse, I never would have done all the things I have.

“It has been a privilege to train as many nurses as I have, and I am especially proud to see them climb up the ladder in the trust.

“I tell all my students, ‘you can do anything with your nursing qualification’, so do it all and see where it will take you.”

Sue’s career began in 1974 when she trained as a nurse and began her career in accident and emergency, progressing from a junior to a senior role before training in 1978 as a midwife, and then moving into a nursing role at Nuffield, where she stayed until 1994, rising to senior staff nurse and then sister.

She said: “I cannot remember ever not wanting to be a nurse, I remember telling my friend at an 18th birthday party that I want to work in nursing in A&E.”

SPARK Somerset has launched #WednesdayWithoutUs, a digital campaign inviting charity, voluntary, and community organisations across the county to share what they do every week, and what would be missing if they were no there.

The campaign asks every organisation across Somerset, however big or small, to post on Wednesdays using the hashtag #WednesdayWithoutUs, sharing a real moment from their group or highlighting a group they have supported if they are not a charity or community group themselves.

Together, those moments then become evidence of how ‘community matters’.

Chief executive Katherine Nolan said: “When people are connected and supported locally, they cope better, stay healthier, and need less crisis support.

“We see this happening across the county every day.

“A conversation that stops somebody reaching breaking point.

“A lift to a medical appointment that keeps somebody out of A&E.

“A room full of people who might otherwise be at home alone.

“A youth club giving children and teenagers the space to be themselves.“An arts group bringing people together to create, express themselves, and rediscover confidence.

“A community food bank or eco project offering practical support, dignity, and a sense of purpose.”

Ms Nolan said charities and community groups were not ‘nice-to-haves’, they were the glue which held everything together, where life happens.

More than 10,000 hours are given each week by Somerset’s volunteers to support residents, work which councils and health services could not afford to do by themselves.

Ms Nolan said nearly two-thirds of Somerset’s charities had less than six months of financial reserves, the money to keep paying electricity bills, insurance, or wages if their funding stopped.

She said: “Organisations that were here last year have already had to shut due to a lack of funding, but when they close the need for their support does not stop, leaving people with fewer places to turn to for help.”

WATCHET Community Cinema will be screening ‘Song Sung Blue’ on Friday (July 10), a film base on a true story of two down-on-their-luck musicians played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson who form a joyous Neil Diamond tribute band called ‘Lightning and Thunder’.

The film delivers a powerfully emotional experience anchored by Hudson's award-worthy performance and Jackman's commanding presence.

Complemented by a universally-beloved Neil Diamond soundtrack, this heart-warming journey is also a fitting tribute to one of the most beloved singer-songwriters in modern music history.

The screening is in Knights Templar School at 7pm with tickets at £4 available on the door.

A BELATED midsummer theatre night for villagers in Wootton Courtenay will be held on Monday (July 6) with the screening of a triple bill of one-act ballets.

They are a tribute to Frederick Ashton, the Royal Ballet’s founder choreographer.

The theatre club, which meets in the village hall, traditionally organises a ballet screening to celebrate midsummer, but admits to being a little late this year.

The three ballets are ‘The Dream’ (1964), an interpretation of Shakespeare’s ‘A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream’, starring Steven McRae, ‘Symphonic Variations’ (1946), an early Ashton masterpiece, and ‘Marguerite and Armand’ (1963), a tragic love story of great lyrical beauty.

Guests will also be able to enjoy strawberries with cream and a glass of Pimms on the night, with tickets on the door at £20.

For catering purposes people are asked to put their names down in the village stores.

IN a change to their usual routine of two performances in one evening, West Somerset Morris will only be appearing once on Thursday (July 9) when they visit Porlock Weir.

The Morris members will be dancing outside The Ship Inn, known as ‘the Bottom Ship’, from 8 pm.

A NEW vehicle has been presented to Williton Community Hospital by league of friends chairman Marilyn Hill.

The car has been specially adapted to accommodate patients who are both mobile or wheelchair users, for home assessments, hospital appointments, and complex discharges.

The Williton hospital had until now been the only one in the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust to have the use of its own vehicle.

However, this has now changed as the previous Williton vehicle, which had also been gifted by the league of friends has now been given to its sister stroke unit in South Petherton Community Hospital.

Following the cutting of a celebratory bow, the presentation was made to ward manager Sister Sharon Stone.

A spokesperson said: “The league of friends are able to make purchases such as this due to the huge local community support from donations, legacies, and fund-raising by the committee and hospital staff.

“A special thanks must go to Philip Glover, the treasurer, and Sister Stone for their work organising the purchase and liaison with the NHS.”