For the third year running the Petersfield charity In Ministry to Children held its Summer Serenade fundraising event in a glorious garden in Steep.

On June 28 people were invited to partake in a huge selection of home-made cakes, tea and fruit juices while being entertained by the beautiful music of The Dragonflies trio.

It was a glorious setting for a restful musical experience and donations for In Ministry to Children were collected, amounting to more than £1,200.

Petersfield Golf Club recently hosted a dementia awareness morning at its clubhouse in Tankerdale Lane as part of its commitment to supporting local causes.

The event was attended by some 40 people from the club and the local area and was organised by ladies’ captain Jackie Carter, who with club captain Iain Thomson has chosen Dementia-Friendly Petersfield as her captain’s charity for her year of captaincy. The club is also supporting the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.

Originally scheduled to be led in person by East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds, the event instead began with a live video message from Mr Hinds, who was unable to attend because of an important parliamentary vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. In his message, he reaffirmed his support for both Dementia-Friendly Petersfield and Dementia-Friendly Hampshire.

One of the founders of Dementia-Friendly Hampshire, and its charity lead, Jane Ward spoke to the audience about living with dementia and gave many tips to help make life easier for carers and those with dementia, also drawing on her personal experience as a carer for her mother, who lived with vascular dementia. Jane answered questions and highlighted the work of the Admiral Nurse service, which provides specialised dementia support to families.

Club captain Iain Thomson thanked Jane for her informative and helpful talk, and Jackie for arranging the morning. He also thanked Audrey Morton, lead of Dementia-Friendly Petersfield, for arranging Damian Hinds and subsequently Jane Ward to speak. Mrs Morton said that the money which the club is raising will make a substantial difference to the Dementia-Friendly Petersfield group.

On one of the hottest weekends of the year, amid the second heatwave of June, Headley Horticultural Society staged its summer show on June 28 at the village hall.

But the weather did not put members off. More than 190 entries were beautifully displayed, with every class being well supported.

The roses were probably suffering from the dry and immense heat and so there were fewer roses than would have been expected in June.

However the sweet peas were impressive and the society seemed to have found an enthusiastic and successful grower of delphiniums, as Chris Dagger's entry was most impressive and won the best exhibit award in the flowers and vegetables class. The society had not seen delphiniums like those for a long time.

There were plenty of fruits and vegetables on show as well, including potatoes, beetroot, courgettes, blackberries and cherries.

The flower arrangements made a very colourful display, with a very imaginative flower display using a kitchen item as part of the arrangement. The entries for a miniature arrangement in a shell showed what could be achieved in a small container with a few small flowers.

There was a domestic class for men only, making a brave attempt at rock cakes, of which there were six entries.

The award winners were: Edkin Challenge Cup (Roses) - Alison Head; Ann Brodrick Cup (Roses) - Sue McClusker; Elsie Watkins Cup (Roses) - Alison Head; Allden Challenge Cup (Delphiniums) - Jennifer Mitchell; Sweet Pea Society Bronze Medal - Christine Leonard; Suter Trophy (Vegetables and Fruit) - Eileen Potter; Worshipful Society Of Gardening Diploma Best Exhibit - Chris Dagger for his delphinium; Diploma Of Merit Domestic Science Best Exhibit - Roger Sherburn-Hall; Under-eights - Olivia Rutland and Edward Rickard for a picture of a sunflower.

Alton Art Society proudly presented its cumulative artwork to Hartford Care, which commissioned it to depict scenes of Alton.

In the top left corner is Kings Pond, painted by Ellen Ging. Top right is the old Alton brewery, by John Holden. Underneath the brewery is the Watercress Line, by Mike Downs. Middle left is the Swan Hotel, by Kate Davis. Below the Watercress Line is the Cairn, by Chris Davis. St Lawrence Church is bottom left, painted by Sue Robinson. In the middle is a lady reading Jane Austen's work, by Sally Cox. The edges were decorated with hops, by Margaret Crowe. Bottom right is Flood Meadows, by Annabel Young.

Alton Art Society members were delighted to be asked to an evening event at Hartford Care’s Alton Place home on June 26, when prizes were given to winners of its photographic and children's painting competitions, and the society’s work was unveiled.

The society wishes to thank Hartford Care for the commission and Travis Perkins for supporting the paintings and the artists who took part.

Alton Hard of Hearing Group meets monthly and has a variety of speakers and special events during the year.

In June members decided their summer tea party would be Ascot-themed, therefore they needed to arrive in their summer hats.

During the afternoon they enjoyed a quiz, some hearty singing and a delicious cream tea, plus a glass of something bubbly. Members wore a variety of Ascot hats and were delighted to present Evelyn with the winner’s cup - actually a mug.

This year the group has enjoyed different talks by its guests, including about Citizens Advice. Local historian Jane Hurst told them about the mills of Alton, and they learned about the organisation Canine Partners, which can provide assistance dogs. Members have also had advice on hearing loss and listening skills from Kate Dando, who originally established the local group.

In addition to the general monthly meetings, the group is also fortunate to have a qualified tutor, visiting monthly, to give members lessons on lip reading. This is a skill that those with impaired hearing can use to enhance their ability to fully participate in conversations.

There is also another monthly meeting for the knitters in the group, who work away to knit items for Bliss and other charities.

Meetings are on Tuesday afternoons. For further information about any of them call Annette Blackman on 01420 543219 or email her at [email protected]

Grovefest, a fundraising event at the Voyage Care Grove Resource Centre in Hindhead, will be held on August 9.

The Grove is a day service for adults with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and autism. It runs various creative, vocational and musical sessions throughout the year as well as working to develop fundamental household and life-based skills such as cookery, finance, home maintenance and community visits.

It is heavily focused on building independence and promoting the people it supports to live their lives the way they want to.

Each year it holds Grovefest, a day festival in its gardens, to showcase the work it does as well as raise vital funds for the service to make sure it can continue to create meaningful experiences every day.

Co-ordinator Lauren Graham said: “While we are primarily a service for disabilities, we love it when anyone comes to visit us, and welcome everyone.

“I’m busy finalising a list of musicians to properly curate a brilliant afternoon of entertainment. We will also be offering hot food, soft drinks, mocktails, sweet treats and snacks.

“We will have some carnival style games, a raffle, craft stalls, merchandise, face painting and hair braiding to suit everyone!”

The Rotary Clubs of Farnham are participating in Plastic Free July to be part of the solution to plastic pollution.

Members are reducing their plastic waste by choosing to refuse to buy things containing single-use plastic.

A spokesperson said: ”We all know that plastic is an amazingly useful material and because of this it has penetrated many aspects of our lives. However, we also know that it brings many problems - by 2050 it is estimated there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish.

“Birds and fish swallow it, doing themselves no good, and approaching 100 per cent of sewer blockages are caused by wet wipes.

“One of the main problems is that plastic doesn’t disintegrate - it just breaks down into tinier and tinier particles, micro and nano plastics. For example, a plastic bottle can last for about 450 years.”

The Rotary Clubs of Farnham recommend avoiding packed fruit and vegetables, using plastic-free tea bags, buying paper-wrapped kitchen and toilet roll, avoiding clingfilm, using bunting and paper decorations rather than balloons, buying plastic-free greetings cards and plastic-free pens with recyclable parts, and using paper tape rather than traditional sticky tape.

For more ideas visit https://www.plasticfreejuly.org

For details of Farnham Rotary Club visit www.rotaryfarnham.co.uk or email [email protected]

For details of Farnham Weyside Rotary Club visit www.farnhamweyside.org.uk or email [email protected]

For Plastic Free Farnham visit https://www.plasticfreefarnham.org