News in Shepton Mallet

Sunday 21st November saw several members of Shepton Judo Club travel alongside their coach Dianne White to Kettering in Northamptonshire for the BJC national Judo Championships.

All the players fought fantastically well, with Sophia achieving Gold, Aethan achieving Silver, Bertie also achieved Silver, with Dan just missing out on a bronze medal after competing in the adult age group, due to lack of competitors in the under 16s. Dan certainly did the club very proud stepping up to the plate against players much older than himself.

Shepton Judo Club is now back up and running again after 14 months of Covid restrictions.

This resulted in the club being run, for nearly a year-and-a-half, over Zoom. The sessions, although remote, were great fun and well attended, and kept everyone in regular contact throughout the craziness.

Fans of the Shepton Mallet parkrun will be disappointed to hear that its return has been delayed along with parkrun 5k events across England due to a lack of support from landowners.

More than 250 events in England obtained landowner permission to return, including Shepton Mallet, however this fell far short of the number needed for it to return on June 5 as hoped.

Parkrun is appealing to runners to support it in its effort to restart events in June.

Organisers plan to restart the famous free Saturday morning 5k events across England on June 5.

The new season is about to start at Shepton Mallet Bowls. Come and join us for fresh air and fun- you're never too young! Whether you want to play for fun, are a complete beginner or a more experienced player, you will be made more than welcome. Contact us at [email protected] for more details.

Shepton Mallet residents have until February 9 to sign-up to the Big Community Switch and switch energy providers.

This year, for the first time, the Big Community Switch auction has the option of 100 per cent renewable energy tariffs from wind, biomass and solar for electricity, at really competitive market prices.

Mendip District Council is launching a Plant for Pollinators guide, encouraging people to plan ahead and plant some spring bulbs to help hungry bees and other pollinating insects next year.

Everyone can take part by planting bulbs this autumn, creating "nectar cafes" for the insects when they wake up after the winter.

Cricket, like many other sports, is not being played at the moment, due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

However, that has not stopped Cranmore Cricket Club members keeping their ground in top condition, so they are ready to resume action as soon as restrictions are listed.

To mark the leap year, this week's Shepton Mallet Parkrun is going to be run in reverse for one time only.

The parkrun takes place every Saturday at 9am in Collett Park in the town, but there will not be another Saturday February 29 for 28 years, so the organisers wanted to do something special.

This weekend brought a spectacular start to 2020 with Shepton Mallet Gymnastics Club's tumblers all securinf a place in the next round of the South West tumbling finals.

The club travelled to Dorset to compete in the first competition of the year, which was quite an emotional roller coaster for all gymnasts with lots of happy tears by the end of the day.