THE Minehead Amnesty International Group was fortunate to enjoy fine sunny weather for their fundraising garden tea party on July 18.

Members looked over the Amnesty display, and signed letters to authorities in Bangladesh, regarding two current human rights cases.

The first human rights case was about an atheist blogger, who expressed his views on publicly on Facebook. When these posts became publically shared by more people, and without his permission. In November 2023 under the new Cyber Security Act, he was placed under arrest, and remains in prison despite bail having been granted. 

The second case concerned over 100 members of the Bawn indigenous community, who were arrested in the Chittagong Hills, as a collective punishment for their peaceful protests against military activities in their traditional lands.

After reading over and signing letters, members enjoyed tea, cake and a chat, whilst visitors enjoyed browsing the bookstall, playing Amnesty-themed games and testing their knowledge by identifying 10 pictures of flags placed around the garden.

The remarkable £500 raised at the tea party will support Amnesty in funding research, reports, and campaigns concerning cases like those in Bangladesh.

The group’s next event is a vigil on August 1, marking the fifth anniversary of the downgrading of Jammu and Kashmir to two union territories governed directly by the Indian government from Delhi.

For more information, visit the Minehead Amnesty website here: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/groups/minehead

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Year 1’s from Minehead First School embarked on a trip to Dunster Beach in Minehead, along with Mandy and James from Somerset Wildlife Trust.

Throughout the day, the children engaged in various activities such as rock pooling, a nature walk, and beach art. They learned about sea walls, erosion, and the preferred habitats of different plants.

Bringing the day to a close, the children used rocks and their voices to pretend to be the sea.

The school would like to thank Tesco for providing the coach, and offer thanks to Mandy and James for a fantastic day of learning and fun.

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A specialist team that helps to care for carers of people with mental health conditions has won an NHS award for how it set up a vital education course.

The carers assessment service, which is run by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (FT), provides support to all those unpaid carers of people who are known to community mental health teams, home treatment team, dementia services, child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), or mental health inpatient wards.

Across Somerset there’s a large team of many dedicated and selfless people who care and support their loved ones with mental health.

The award-winning carers education course was set up as a trial and run as a partnership between the trust’s carers assessment service, the Somerset Recovery College, and St Mungo’s – a charity working on behalf of the homeless.

Somerset FT’s deputy manager for the service, Samantha Pike, said: “Over the last few years we’ve had many requests from carers for support and education on the needs of mental health carers.”

“The aim of our course was to create a supportive environment for people caring for those with a mental health condition using self-management education. We wanted to help them to develop the skills needed to effectively manage their own health as carers, and that of the people they support.”

“The sessions included understanding mental health conditions, supporting people with mental health challenges to make changes, conflict and crisis, dealing with emotional distress and a relaxation session, as well as understanding mental health medications.”

“During the sessions, participants were encouraged to talk with each other about the information being shared and how this was relevant to them individually.”

Due to the success and feedback, the course has been run three more times, with recommendations from the participants helping to develop the course further each time.

Samantha continues: “The course has been integral in developing mental health carers’ resilience in dealing with their own mental health, as well as a better understanding of those that they support. It has given them confidence to understand care pathways, their rights as carers to be involved and included in their loved one’s care.”

“Carers in general are an unrecognised part of our society and just every little thing we can do to support that is really important for them as well.

“We’re very much a tiny part of the organisation, but we’re privileged every day to have carers sharing their stories with us, and then be able to think about what we can do to support them, and I’m really proud of our entire team.”

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West Somerset Ramblers are inviting locals to come along on a ‘good walk’ with coffee and cake afterwards at the Tithe Barn, Dunster, on Saturday August 17.

The group put emphasis on how physical and mental health can benefits just from walking, and should not be underestimated. Walking whilst chatting together and sharing the outdoors, gives everyone a boost with the opportunity to make new friends at the same time.

After the walk, tea and delicious home made cakes are being served between 3.00pm and 5.00pm, to help raise funds. It's £5 per person and you're not limited to just one cake!

If you are keen on a walk to build up an appetite, then you need to be at the Tithe Barn at 1.00pm if you'd like to try a 3 mile walk. If you are more adventurous then the 7.5 mile walk starts at 10.15am from Dunster National Trust car park.

Full details of these walks can be found on www.westsomersetramblers.org.uk/walk/walks programme. Walkers will need to wear stout shoes or trainers and bring waterproof jacket if rain is forecast. Also, participants can bring a picnic lunch if you are joining the long walk.

The West Somerset Ramblers are commented on being a friendly bunch, who don't rush visiting or new walkers.

Everyone is invited to give them a try, or just come for their tea and cakes to support funds, if you would prefer a good chat in the Tithe Barn.

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The Watchet Town Band will be playing on the Esplanade at the Watchet Fayre at 2pm on Sunday, August 4.

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The West Somerset Morris will be dancing at Cutcombe Fête (Wheddon Cross) at 2pm and again at 3.30pm on Saturday 3 August. ---

This is a great opportunity for local people to have their items repaired safely (sensitive data is wiped from devices), and to get rid of unwanted technology to a new home.

Porlock Vale repair cafe are a not for profit organisation with limited funds, who work within the community to resuse loved and pre-loved tech from the landfill.

At the next event on the August 17, they can help repair their normal types of items, but have also arragned for the Somerset Council funded Fixy van to pop along, which will operate from between 10.00am to 1.00pm.

Both of their repairs and the tech amnesty help the environment by reusing items that would otherwise have been thrown away or left unused.

Fixy, operates as a mobile tech amnesty point for smart tech donations such as mobile phones and laptops.

All donations are given to Donate IT, a local community interest company which refurbishes the tech and distributes it to people, schools and groups who need them, helping to address digital poverty.

You can find out more information here: www.somerset.gov.uk/bins-recycling-and-waste/fixy/