We hope you have been enjoying the summer and for those of you who have been away we look forward to seeing you in the HUB again soon!

FIRSTLY: AN IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM THE CHAIRMAN ABOUT THE POST OFFICE

Some of our customers have been in the habit of leaving mail and parcels in the Hub when the Post Office counter is closed, and our staff and volunteers have been happy to look after these until the Post Office reopens.

We are now advised that this is in breach of our contract with the Post Office. As you all know, Ed, our Postmaster, is keen to do everything he can to be helpful to our customers but, reluctantly, we are forced to discontinue this practice with immediate effect as both Ed and the Hub would be in breach of their contracts.

Post Office Limited carry out random spot checks on their Outreach Post Offices and, if we were found to be in breach of this part of our contract, we risk our Post Office and Ed’s Tisbury PO being closed down and Ed’s livelihood put in jeopardy. This is a risk we cannot take. Our staff and volunteers have therefore been instructed not to accept any letters or parcels for the PO when the PO counter is closed.

OTHER NEWS:

HELP ARRIVIED JUST WHEN WE NEEDED IT.
We particularly thank Millie Hitchens who has been a tremendous help over the past few weeks.  Millie is heading for university shortly and in the meantime has been gaining some work experience with us.  She has mastered all the IT systems seemingly with great ease and has become a familiar and popular face with our customers.  Thank you Millie for your valuable contribution and we wish you well in the next stage of your career. You will be welcome back anytime!

AN EXPANDED RANGE OF OLIVE’S KITCHEN PRODUCTS
Up until recently we have only stocked a couple of meals from the Olive’s Kitchen range but due to their popularity we now have a dedicated freezer for their products. These include curried chicken, fish pie, coq au vin. lasagne, meat balls, steak and ale pie.

Olive’s Kitchen is a local Dorset based family business run by Charlie and Nikki Allhusen.  Their mantra is:

“Good food and good company are two of life’s simplest yet greatest pleasures”

…..a philosophy which we fully subscribe to so we are delighted to be working more closely with them. Their website gives a good explanation of the history of the company and how it has grown. See them at www. olives-kitchen.co.uk

INTRODUCING BOOK & BUCKET, A NEW CHEESE SUPPLIER
Book & Bucket is a new cheese company that makes a  wide range of artisan cheese.  Again they are a local award-winning company who we are pleased to be working with.  Their range is pretty extensive but to give you a “taste” here are a few to whet your appetite:

Shakespeare – to Brie or not to Brie…..!

Tennyson-   a soft blue cheese

Matured feta – marinated in kalamata olive brine

Smoked Burns halloumi

A SURPRSE VISIT FROM A TRADITIONAL FRENCH KNIFE SHARPENER
Cathal – “the knife grinder “ arrived unannounced in Broad Chalke offering his knife sharpening service to the village.  Tony thought this was a splendid idea and set him up on the grass opposite the HUB where he did a roaring trade so much so that he stayed for three days!  He is now on the road to Wales and then Scotland but has promised to return to Broad Chalke on his way back to France.  We will give you as much advance notice as possible (via our Face Book page and in the HUB), once we know when he will be back.

DEFIBRILLATOR TRAINING
Thanks to Chris Rothwell seven of our staff and volunteers have now been trained in how to use a defibrillator.  Villages throughout the Chalke Valley are installing this equipment and we are pleased to say that ours is situated in the telephone booth by the HUB.  If anyone is interested in having similar training please ask Tony who can put you in touch with Chris.

QUOTES FROM THE VISITOR’S BOOK

 “Super food, super staff, great building”

“ A wonderful community HUB – thank you to all the volunteers”

“It’s always a pleasure to visit – well worth the 80 mile round trip!”