The In Jolly Good Company Almanac 2022

I love putting together our Almanac! It’s always a joy to look back over the year and see all the wonderful times we’ve shared together. We’ve had so much fun and laughter at our Jolly Days. I was delighted that this year also saw the opening of a new Jolly group in Wimborne, which has proved to be very popular. Why not grab a cuppa and enjoy a trip down memory lane?

January

We were very grateful to Lucy Jenkins, one of our volunteers, for her help at our allotment on a crisp, sunny January afternoon. We were preparing the beds for the start of our Step Outside gardening group at Kingston Lacy in March.

Local artist Nicola Davis visited us at Wimborne St Giles as we’d been invited to create one of a series of 10 flags for the Cranborne Chase AONB Celebrations in Silk project. Each flag would be designed to reflect the group involved and their relation to the heritage, landscape, biodiversity and stories of Cranborne Chase. We had such a wonderful afternoon chatting about, and drawing, the landmarks in our village that are special and mean so much to each of us. The drawings would feature on our finished flag. Margaret set about drawing the village hall where we hold our Jolly Days. It’s but also where the village holds its afternoon teas on a Sunday once a month in the summer.

We were very happy to welcome Paula back to our Blandford Jolly Day to lead us in a good old singing session. As I remember, Sue and Clara couldn’t resist getting up and doing their version of the Lambeth Walk!

February

Brian Hennessy generously donated and delivered wood chip to our Step Outside Allotments and the amazing Mr Rampton wheelbarrowed it all on to our beds. We now have eco compost and lovely accessible paths in between.

Tim Drew from The Younger People's Group, presented us with a generous cheque to help us keep up our Jolly support.

We had a wonderful time with local artist Nicola Davis creating our silk flag. Nicola had applied all the designs we created when she visited us previously to the flag with lines of wax so that the spread of the paint could be controlled. We all got stuck in, painting onto the silk. The afternoon flew by and we were really proud of what we achieved as a group.

Our Shaftesbury Jolly group were treated to music from Clara and Colin, otherwise known as 'Bit of a Tonic'. We loved it so much we got up and danced. It was really was a bit of a tonic!

March

How happy it made us to have our lovely Margaret back at our Wimborne St Giles Jolly Day after being quite poorly. She kept herself busy in her absence creating beautiful, bold artwork which she brought in to show us.

What a joy it was to be back at our ‘Step Outside’ allotment. On our first visit, we cosied down in the kitchen to shelter from the rain and planted seeds together. At the end of the month, we were blessed with spring sunshine and the two Fionas set about planting the beds.

Peter entertained us with his very clever Lidl and Aldi song at our Jolly Day in Shaftesbury.

April

The beautiful video that Guilia Franchi filmed at our Wimborne St Giles Jolly Day when we made our stunning silk flag with artist Nicola Davis was released this month, you can see it here.

We do love The Friendly Food Club, they always provide us with such delicious lunches at our Wimborne St Giles Jolly Days. We were treated to a very healthy, and delicious 3 courses. We started with beetroot soup and spelt bread, followed by smoked mackerel (with yummy hummus for the vegetarians), mixed salad, mixed seeds and couscous. We rounded off our feast with a refreshing slice of watermelon. After lunch, Jill gave a talk on healthy eating and how it can help with particular medical conditions.

We thoroughly enjoyed Brian’s ‘This is your Life’ story. He talked about tractors, combine harvesters, Australia, bikes, bus stops, Poole Speedway and last, but definitely not least, romance. Our lovely volunteer Mary typed up all the shared stories for us to read at our leisure.

We were delighted to have a fabulously sunny day for the start of our new Jolly Days in Wimborne. We were expertly entertained by ‘Bit of a Tonic’, Clara who told us the story of the restoration of Colin’s teddy before we sang Teddy Bear’s Picnic together. Then Yvonne Perk, a very talented local artist, showed us some of her beautiful paintings and talked about the different techniques she used.

It was all hands on deck at the allotment. Tim did a great job planting all the little lettuces we’d grown from seeds in neat rows in our raised beds and Fiona worked hard to ensure our broad beans and peas were well supported.

May

This month we were blessed with a wonderful rhubarb and lettuce crop on our allotment. The gardening group had fun mucking about and pretending the large leaves were parasols! Everyone went home with a big bag of salad and lots of rhubarb… yum… the delicious tastes of summer.

Actor Michelle O’Brien visited us in Wimborne St Giles and introduced us to her life-size puppet, inspired by her mum. Hilary was quite taken by her! We were also joined by singer and musician Dan Baker. One of the songs he sang was ‘The Girl from Ipanema’,. Afterwards, we had great fun creating an ‘Instant Theatre Story’ where the girl from Ipanema ended up in the arms of Isaac, a 63-year-old ice cream seller!

We were delighted to receive a Magic Little Grant from Localgiving which we put to good use by providing temporary shelter at our Step Outside allotment. We also received a donation from Tesco Community Grants thanks to all the lovely people who shop in the Shaftesbury Tescos for voting for us with your blue tokens, you’ve helped to fund our Shaftesbury Jolly Days.

Not only did we have a double-page spread in the summer edition of ‘Living Well’ magazine but we were also the cover stars! The wonderful photos were taken by the very talented Brent Jones.

We had a fabulous time making jolly good art at our new Museum group in Wimborne with Yvonne Perks from 'Perks of Art'. It was all done by dragging string through wet paint. So simple, but so effective.

June

We were joined by Ilse Black from Stepping into Nature at our ‘Step Outside’ gardening group to show us how to create Cyanotype prints. Cyanotype art is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print. Everyone loved gathering plants, placing them on special paper and exposing them to the sun to make beautiful images. We were all rewarded with a beautiful print to take home with us.

Our Jolly Pop-Up Supper was a resounding success. The room buzzed with people chatting together, getting to know their fellow diners and sharing laughter. It was heartwarming to see our lovely community come together to support us. Chefs, George and Jill from The Friendly Food Club, helped by Andrea in the kitchen, served up the most delicious Eastern European-themed three-course meal. We were also treated to a wonderful after-dinner talk from Michelin star chef Mark Treasure. A big thank you to The Friendly Food Club.

Our silk flag was one of ten displayed at the Chalke Valley History Festival. They were even viewed by the Royal Family as after Camilla Parker Bowles opened the festival she had a tour!

New boys Peter and Paul harvested a bumper crop of garlic for us from our raised beds at our gardening group. We did reward their hard work with tea and biscuits later.

The weather was so glorious this month that we were able to hold our Jolly Day outside in the stunning garden at the Museum of East Dorset.

July

Everyone at our Jolly groups in Wimborne, Wimborne St Giles and Blandford was gifted a 'Your seasons of Stories' activity pack from Stepping into Nature. It was a nature and creative community project aimed at encouraging conversation, community and nature connection. The storytelling, poetry and art activities within this beautiful resource encouraged us to enjoy the local landscape, wildlife, folk tradition and culture and sparked creativity and boosted wellbeing. Each box contained so many great ideas and all the materials we needed to start getting creative and inspired by nature. A big thank you to Martin, Sarah Jane and Ilse from Stepping into Nature, who have shown us how easy it is for us to do our own art activities at home.

We had a very sociable time at our Jolly Tea fundraiser at Wimborne St Giles Village Hall. The teas are always such wonderful occasions with a delicious range of homemade cakes and scones. Carol and Phyllis were there with their brilliant 'Knitting Angels' craft stall and donated the profits to In Jolly Good Company (thank you both).

Actor Tony Horitz showed us some of his precious items from his travels when he visited us at our WimborneJolly Day. At one point he donned an elder mask from Nicaragua which he brought along to show us. Tony studied theatre in Mexico in the 1970s and he has travelled extensively since then. He also talked to us about Hilda Coles who started the Museum of East Dorset. Hilda Coles inherited the ironmonger’s business from her father, Tom Frank Coles, following his death in 1953. Seven years later, she took the decision to close the shop and fulfil his long-held wish to turn the building, known as the Priest’s House, into a museum. She ran the museum herself for 25 years, with a team of volunteers and support from the local community. When she died in 1987, the house and garden were left to the Governors of Wimborne Minster, a local charitable trust. It was Hilda’s wish that the building should be used as a museum for the town and district and she provided an endowment income. We are delighted that we get to meet and have a jolly good time together in this beautiful building.

August

What a treat to taste this utterly delicious jam on scones at our ‘Step Outside’ allotment. It tasted even better because it was made from our very own blackcurrants. Thank you to our neighbour Jeanette who gathered the blackcurrants and had a friend make this tasty treat for us. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our gardening group now have our very own, handmade 'Jolly Bench' thanks to the skills of Elaine and George.

Sue Miller guided us through the art of decoupage at our Wimborne Jolly Day. We cut out images of butterflies, flowers and dragonflies from napkins and then applied them to ceramic shapes with glue to great effect. Many people commented what a relaxing thing it was to do.

We were delighted to welcome back Yvonne Perks from 'Perks of Art'. to our Wimborne group She showed us how to use cotton buds to create a stipple effect with paints to make beautiful hydrangea pictures. All in all, we all agreed it was a most relaxing and satisfying experience.

September

September was filled with the sound of music… our volunteer Annie sang for us in Gaelic at our Shaftesbury Jolly Day. She has a beautiful voice and it was very moving. Alan Cowie joined us at our Wimborne St Giles Jolly Day and played the bagpipes for us. He explained how he learned to play as a child starting on the chanter, which is the pipe part of the instrument and adding the bag (bellows) later. 14-year-old Daisy, who has a cracking voice sang several unaccompanied songs for us, as well as her own songs that she has written on guitar. Talented young musicians are always welcome to visit to showcase their skills to a friendly and appreciative Jolly audience.

Paula visited us at both our Blandford and Shaftesbury Jolly Days and held very enjoyable drum workshops. It's so good to create music together.

We had a stall at the Help and Care dementia roadshow in Verwood. It was set up and run by Rachael, our volunteer, who met and chatted with lots of lovely people about our Jolly Days.

The abundant harvest from our 'Step Outside' allotment was shared with everyone. At Jolly HQ I used the produce to make baked tomatoes and marrow topped with breadcrumbs, seeds and grated cheese. it was one of Brian's (a new visitor to our gardening group) wife's favourite recipes and it was delicious!

October

Carol made some stunning dreamcatchers to sell at our fundraising Jolly tea. We raised just over £800, £60 of which was contributed by Carol and Phyliss, aka the ‘Knitting Angels’. This money will be put to good use keeping the Jollys on the road.

Our Jolly staff and volunteers thoroughly enjoyed the first aid course with Alison Hawthorn from On Hand First Aid. Please don't go breaking any limbs at our Jolly Days though… we don't want to be tested that hard on how well we did!

I went on a much-needed holiday and left the Jolly Days in the very capable hands of Kate Sheridan. Kate and our gardening group had a very productive afternoon at our allotment putting the garden to bed so beautifully in my absence.

Kate also held a wonderful Jolly session at our Wimborne group which included not one, but two quizzes. Eric was the star of the show and seemed to know every answer without having to even think about it. Everyone did brilliantly though. What a brainy bunch our Wimborne Jollies are!

The 28th of October was our last Gardening Group for this year and our lovely Fiona, an extremely hard-working volunteer, made a huge difference to our plots in preparing them for the winter. We are so lucky to have her.

November

I was in Radio 4’s documentary ‘Reading the Air’ quite by accident! I was driving back from a Shaftesbury Jolly Day when I spotted well-known local author, fisherman and bird watcher Chris Yates parked by the side of the road. It was a cold day and I knew he would have tea and I know he loves cake and as luck would have it, I happened to have some fine examples made by ace local baker, Sandie Kingswell. It was only after I tapped on the window and offered Chris the tasty treats that I realised that he was in the process of recording a documentary and that I was inadvertently included.You can listen to Chris’ beautiful documentary about his peaceful search for the Hen Harrier and my surprise cake interruption here.

Ceramicist and artist Sue Miller came along to our Wimborne Jolly Day to show us how to create pretty decoupage tree decorations.

We were very happy to welcome the fantastic Madding Crowd ukulele band to entertain us at our Jolly Shaftesbury Day for the first time. They were dressed as The Mayor of Casterbridge, Gabriel Oak, Sargent Troy and Bathsheba Everdene. We hope to welcome them back soon.

Our Wimborne Jolly Group had such a lovely time making Christmas angels for the Museum of East Dorset’s community Christmas tree, which is displayed in the entrance gallery window. We also enjoyed a lovely, gentle yoga session with Suzanne Greenwood Yoga.

Our friends Louisa and Sandi from Joyful Jams visited our Wimborne St Giles group. They got us all moving and joining in, whether we were seated or on our feet. It was a wonderfully inclusive session.

it was time to celebrate our lovey volunteers with a special 'Volunteers Thank You' day. Each and every one of them helps to keep the Jollies on the road, and without them, I just couldn’t do it. We started the day with a sharing session and after a delicious lunch, we had fun making Christmas wreaths with Joh Kennedy Wall – as you’ll see some people felt they looked better as crowns – I have to agree they do look good.

There was much anticipation for our third annual Jolly Quiz, rival teams had been vying to get the best brains on their side since the summer. We had some excellent raffle prizes donated by local businesses and we enjoyed a delicious Chilli supper. Thank you to Wendy Jones, James Shephard, Carol Dawkins and Tony Quiz (the Quizmaster) organising it so superbly. Thank you also to our patron Nicholas Ashley – Cooper for supplying the wine and Wimborne St Giles Church for the loan of glasses to put the wine in!

December

The Winter Work party of volunteers met at our Step Outside allotment plots and got stuck in. They are working hard to get them into shape over the Winter, so we are ready for our lovely guests in the spring.

We were definitely getting into the Christmas spirit at our various Christmas parties. It was wonderful to see Brian arrive at our Blandford group dressed as Father Christmas again this year. He even got up and did a number with the Christmas elf, otherwise known as our amazing Christmas cracker Sue Old. A beautiful Christmas cake was donated by Tony and Liz Malin which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

At Wimborne St Giles we tucked into a Christmas lunch with all the trimmings and in the afternoon we were lucky enough to also be entertained by Sue, She brings such joy to our Jolly groups and has a lovely way of including everyone. Bob was up dancing as soon as the music started!

Santa, aka Maureen, cheered everyone up when she arrived in full regalia at our Shaftesbury Jolly Day. Elizabeth and Tony also looked very festive in their cheery Christmas jumpers. They also took part in our Christmas entertainment with a dramatic rendition of ' Scarlet Ribbons', with Elizabeth on clarinet. Maureen, who has a lovely voice, also joined in.

We sadly lost our lovely Rob after a short illness, a volunteer par excellence, with his kindness and infectious sense of humour. He was perfect at making people feel welcome and helping them to take part in activities and was a natural choice to ask to help set up the ‘Step Outside’ allotment group in 2016. With a keen love of nature and knowledge of gardening, Rob has supported countless people to enjoy our plots. He was just perfect at making our guests feel at home and at their ease. Especially any men who came on their own who were treated to Rob’s warm greeting “Alright mate?”, which magically made things OK. He made people feel welcome and seemed to attract wildlife in the form of our friendly Robin and ‘Eagles’ as Rob called them (buzzards). Rob also formed a great friendship with the rare breed pigs that were resident near our plots for a time. Making special trips to Wimborne Market to buy huge quantities of carrots to feed them with. No wonder they loved him! He was not just a colleague, but a dear friend – I am proud to have known him. He has taught me so much about how not to be selfish, to care for others and how to lead a good life.

We can’t wait to see you all in 2023. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year everyone.