She was late.
He could tell as soon as she came in, before he even saw her. The lengthy pause between the opening and then crashing of the front door, the shoes kicked off rather than gently prised from her feet. And, of course, the singing.

He knew she couldn’t sing; she knew she couldn’t sing and the only time she sang was after she’d been to the pub. Tom had lost count of how many times he’d had the conversation with her, she had to stop, they couldn’t afford it, he couldn’t stand it. No matter what he said it all came back to this. She tried; she really did try. For maybe a week, ten days, it would be the old Rosie back again, but then she would fail again, and Tom was at his wits end.
He was standing with arms folded when she came into the kitchen. ‘You’ve been drinking again,’ he said.
‘I’ve only had a couple, I’m not drunk,’ said Rosie.
Tom could see she had been in worse states, but she certainly would be unfit to drive, and he was relieved she took the bus to work.
‘You’ve still been drinking, after all we agreed.’
‘I know Tom, but I was just…’
‘Don’t even bother trying to explain. I don’t want to hear anymore excuses, I’ve heard them all before.’
‘But Tom, really…’
‘Don’t say anymore, it won’t make any difference. We’ve already decided that this would be the last time for us.’
‘I was celebrating, that’s all.’
‘Celebrating! Again. What was it this time? The cat’s birthday, the anniversary of you first being sacked. You’re always celebrating and now the excuses have worn too thin.’
‘No, really, Tom this time it was a celebration.’
‘I hope you’ve been celebrating being single again, because I’ve had enough. You knew what would happen as soon as you stepped in the pub door. While you’ve been boozing, I’ve been packing.’
‘Tom, don’t go, really don’t, life will be different now.’
‘You make these promises all the time when you’re drunk and then never keep them. I can’t cope anymore. It’s time I thought about myself instead of you.’

Tom took the stairs two at a time when he went to fetch his suitcase. He was angry and
needed to use some energy. How could she do this again. She knew what it did to him.
He came downstairs and began putting on his coat.
‘You shouldn’t go, Tom, you really shouldn’t,’ said Rosie.
‘I’ll call for the rest of my stuff in a few days, when you’re sober.’
‘But Tom I was only celebrating…’
‘Just stop, don’t speak to me anymore, I’ve had enough of your lies and deception. I’m leaving.’
Tom slammed the front door behind him.
‘… winning thirty million on the lottery,’ said Rosie to the closed door. ‘I guess now I’ll have to spend it all by myself.’
And she smiled.

Last month at St Mary the Virgin CE Primary School and Nursery we held a ‘Half a Heart’ day to raise money for the charity ‘Little Hearts Matter’. This is a charity close to our hearts as we have a child, Imogen, in year 5 who has hypoplastic left heart syndrome (meaning she only has half a heart).

The charity offers help to anyone affected by the diagnosis of single ventricle heart condition. From initial antenatal diagnosis, through treatments and into life at home, the charity works with children, young adults and families to reduce the isolation, fear and lack of understanding created when a child is diagnosed as having half a working heart.

The children all wore red and blue clothes to school and we asked for a minimum donation of £1. We raised an incredible £240.20.

On the 8th February, Dyosa Aesthetics opened at Fitness by Design Gillingham in the Old Market Centre. The launch was a success with quite a number of CJ’s old and new clients who popped in and got their free Vitamin B12 injections, £50 Off gift vouchers, free lip and face products, mini consultations and of course some tea, cakes and champagne!

Christine Joan Manalo, also known as “CJ” was an overseas nurse who has over 10 years nurse experience and began her aesthetics work in Dubai back in 2015. She then moved to the U.K. and acquired her nurse qualification straight away. However, her passion for aesthetics has led her to set up her home clinic and work on her free days offering beautification and aesthetics services when she is not doing her full time job at the local nursing home. C.J. carried on attending further training courses to advance her skills and to accommodate client demands.

However, due to the overwhelmingly increasing number of clients and with more equipment that came with the other new services, the little spare bed clinic was getting a bit crowded. C.J. then decided to move to a proper clinic where she could see clients 5 days a week (Tuesdays to Saturdays), registered the business as Dyosa Aesthetics Ltd., and offer more of a clinical environment for advanced aesthetics procedures such as facial injections and laser treatments.

Consultations are free for a wide range of services such as dermal and lip fillers, wrinkle relaxing injections, advanced anti-aging skin boost, fat-dissolve injections, semi-permanent make up, eyebrow microblading, microneedling medical facials, dermaplaning, BB glow etc. Laser treatments and mega volume eyelash extensions coming next month.
You can take a look at more details from www.dyosa.co.uk or perhaps if you are wanting to see photos of her work, her social media galleries (Facebook: Dyosa Aesthetics and Instagram: dyosaaesthetics ) are always updated with before and after pictures of various treatments with clients’ permission.
You can send her an email to dyosa_aesthetics_uk@yahoo.com or for quicker response to queries, you can contact her directly at 07398010517.
A fully insured Qualified Nurse Injector and Advanced Aesthetics Practitioner is the one to trust with all your basic to advanced aesthetics needs! Watch out for seasonal offers and discounts. Book your appointments now!

A group of Shaftesbury residents is celebrating after broadcast regulator Ofcom awarded their not-for-profit venture the community radio licence for the area. It means that Alfred, which has been creating online radio-style programmes or podcasts, will soon be available on FM radio, along with a host of other new local features and programmes.

“Alfred will be a unique radio station, tailor-made for Shaftesbury,” explained managing editor Keri Jones. Along with his fellow directors, he will be unpaid. All of the reporters, interviewers, announcers and performers on Alfred will also be volunteers.

L-R Kevin Harrison, Amber Harrison, Keri Jones, Karen Brazier, Andy Hargreaves

Alfred won’t try to compete with existing radio services and won’t play pop or commercially available music. Instead, it will champion local music and performers. “The research we undertook early this year indicated that local people know where to go for their favourite music, whether it’s pop, rock or classical. People are satisfied with existing national news provision too. Alfred will be all about Shaftesbury, Semley and The Donheads,” said Keri.

Overheads will be kept to a minimum with no paid staff, no shareholders and no music royalty fees. That means Alfred won’t be awash with adverts.

Ofcom recognised that key members of the Alfred team share an extensive professional broadcasting experience. The team will now begin training residents in the skills of radio programme making using everyday devices.

“With today’s technology, it is remarkably easy to record radio interviews, commentaries and features on your laptop, tablet or the phone in your pocket,” said Alfred director Amber Harrison. She says the Alfred Carnival podcast with Kipling Carnival Club members Matt and Steve Appleby is a superb example of how programmes can be made using phones and PCs.

The regulatory process is slow, and even though Alfred has been granted the licence, the station won’t start broadcasting until at least 2021. That gives the team plenty of time to train the host of volunteers who will soon be bringing this unique local radio station to Shaftesbury’s airwaves.If you want to join Alfred’s team, please email hello@thisisAlfred.com

Registration has opened for Shaftesbury Fringe, with performers being offered a new, discount booking deal. And this year, organisers hope to transform the High Street into a space for public performance with artists displaying their creativity.

Shaftesbury Fringe co-chairman Rob Neely is urging members of Shaftesbury’s artistic community to help decorate the town during Fringe 2020 by showing their work and creating pop-up art pieces. “Art doesn’t have to be in the gallery,” explained Rob. “It could be in the street. It could be anywhere. It would be nice to have something a little more unusual, more fringe-orientated.”

Rob promises that the Fringe team will work on the logistics of displaying outdoor pieces if artists respond positively. “We can try and solve it,” said Rob. His message to our town’s artists is straightforward. “Get cracking. Art should be out there for people to see and I think it’s a blank sheet, really.”

Co-Chairman James Thrift believes the art in public spaces will help to make the event more prominent. “When you come into the town, you suddenly realise there are thirty or more venues and at any one time there can be thirty or more shows. But if you stand in the High Street, people wonder whether it is actually going on because it takes place behind closed doors,” he said. “It would be fantastic if we could utilise that space, whether that is music, performance art or visual art.”

If you want to take part in the 2020 event, or you know someone who might be interested, you can now reserve your place on the Fringe website. Last year, organisers introduced a discount for performers who register early. That fee reduction for each show is being offered once again. “They have a month to register – the whole of January – at the early-bird fee of £15 per show. After that it’s £25,” explained Rob.

All of the money raised from registration gets ploughed back into the festival. Much of the cash is used to promote and market the Fringe weekend and to encourage people to visit the town. And it works – the turnover of some businesses can be boosted by tens-of-thousands of pounds over the weekend.

If you would like to book your show, visit ShaftesburyFringe.co.uk.  Shaftesbury Fringe runs from 3rd – 5th July 2020.