When Tracy Ring got married a couple of years ago, she may have hoped for a cosy home life with a loving husband to return to each day from her part-time job as a vet’s receptionist, (a role she loved). After her receiving a ring on her finger, along with Ring as her surname; she also gained a step-daughter she adores and her very own floristry business “Bright Blooms”.
Still basking in the aftermath of honeymoon, it came as a shock to newlyweds Tracy and John, when John’s daughter Annie visited, with the sad news that Bright Blooms, Bell Street in Shaftesbury was being sold. Annie had trained and worked there for 3 years gaining her Grade 3 Floristry qualification under the tutelage of Kyla Foster-Shaw, the then owner, and Kingston Maurward College. At just 20 Annie had been given a choice to buy out the business or be made redundant.
As with any parent, John would do anything to help his little girl, so with a sudden juggling of lives and finances he and Tracy stepped up to the mark and bought the business. Annie became a sole trader, with stepmother Tracy overseeing and working with her, to build up their bespoke and design led florist. It is run very much as a family business, Tracy says “we help until we can let go of the reins and let Annie fly herself.”
Christmas and Valentines have been a busy time and they have now taken on Ellen part-time to help with the day to day creation of bespoke and beautiful bouquets. They can produce flowers for all occasions including Mothering Sunday, Birthdays, Weddings, Retirement, Thank You, funerals and sometimes just because you need cheering up. 
Bright Blooms can deliver to a wide area and are open for collection 9.30-4pm weekdays, 9-1pm Saturdays. As well as Annie’s bouquets; Tracy can often be seen sprinting across the high street to collect boxes of handmade chocolates to send out. She has also developed her own side line; Jarrah honey, as the only stockist locally, who supplies the products direct from Australia.
Tracy told us, “I have gone grey with the stress of this last year, but we are really pleased now especially with the website, now up and running at https://www.brightblooms.co.uk/ .” She has had to draw on a lifetime of learned skills to help her step daughter in this venture. Tracy has taken to the deliveries as it appeals to her bubbly, friendly nature, she loves the interaction and effect her flowers have on her recipients and can often be caught wiping a tear after an emotional presentation.
A different emotion caught her the other day, the strings of ‘Bolero’ now haunt her memories every time she tells the story. She took a useful short cut along a muddy and waterlogged country lane where she learnt first-hand about the perils of black ice as her world spun in slow motion before ending up in the hedge. The road past Compton Chamberlain may still bear the skid marks, the Bright Blooms van still shows the dent, but not a petal of her precious cargo was damaged in her not to be repeated driving “technique”.
And what of John, although employed himself, he still finds time to pop in and help load or deliver an item, supply much needed coffee and smiling face. I suspect when he asked Tracy to marry him, he never imagined ringing the changes in such a colourful and beautifully blooming way.
With Mothering Sunday around the corner on Sunday 26th March, Bright Blooms would like to offer 10% off any order for a mother, grandmother or step-mother ordered from them quoting “Mother 1”. Any specific requests are needed by Wednesday 22nd March. Order a bouquet and make someone in your life very happy.
Effective advertising reaches potential customers and informs them of your products or services. Ideally, advertising should capture the prospective customers’ attentions and entice them to use your product. 
In January 2016 Shaftesbury welcomed 80 brand new members to the Slimming world groups held there. 11 months on and 50 ladies and gentleman from the groups have reached their PAT; personal achievement target. PAT is chosen by the individuals themselves and once it’s achieved the membership to Slimming World becomes free for life!
Gillingham Ladies are currently 5 games into their second season in the Dorset Women’s League. The team train on Tuesday evenings at Kington Magna from 6:30pm until 
have a new support team this season in Coach Les Chinyou and Manager Tim Simmonds.
Gordon Amery, organist at Gillingham Methodist Church, has recently completed an 18,000 piece jigsaw in aid of church funds. “I’ve always enjoyed doing jigsaws, especially at Christmas when it’s a real pleasure to do a 1,000 piece jigsaw with the time to complete it. However, I wasn’t prepared for the surprise when I was given a gift of an 18,000 piece jigsaw entitled ‘At the Watering Hole’. I didn’t know such big jigsaws even existed! How did I start? A big relief was to find that the jigsaw was in four sections, each of 4,500 pieces, since doing a complete 18,000 piece all in one go would have been too daunting. Each section took about 6 weeks with a break before starting the next section (to stay sane) and the whole project took around 9 months to complete.
making a finished jigsaw of 3m x 2m. Church members came to the ‘unveiling’ (with coffee and cake!) and we raised £33 for church funds.
el. Bart was Guest speaker at our School Sports Awards Evening in 2009 and my memories of that evening include passing his Beijing Gold medal round the room so all 400+ students, staff and parents could see the most prestigious prize in sport up close: he also showed such a genuine interest in the achievements of every student who asked for an autograph. It is the aim of the foundation to use Bart’s passion of sailing to transform the lives of young people. Bart’s other passion was his family, and far too many years ago it was my pleasure to teach his wife, Leah, now a Primary School colleague so there is a personal connection too. Finally Gillingham
School where I have taught for 29 years is celebrating its 500th anniversary this year so this is my own way of marking such a uniquely special event. Donations can be made at: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/rosiethompson2
