6th August 2026 • The HERALD • Page 41 v SEND ALL YOUR NEWS TO THE HERALD v Hampshire Open Studios Hampshire Open Studios Art lovers and curious visitors are invited to step inside the creative heart of the county this summer as Hampshire Open Studios returns from 22nd – 31st August. For ten inspiring days, 300 venues across the county will open their doors free of charge, o ering a rare chance to meet local artists and makers in the places where creativity happens. From painters and potters to sculptors, jewellers, textile artists and printmakers, visitors can explore an extraordinary variety of art and cra while discovering the stories and techniques behind the work. ere is a cluster of venues to visit in the Hythe and Dibden Purlieu area all in close proximity. Group exhibitions are by the Waterside Art Group at the Community Centre and A Piece of Art and Slice of Cake at the WI Hall. is is nearby to Art in the Hut at the Scout HQ. Home studios include regular favourites Sharon Ridding, Chris and Brenda Molyneux, Alison Williams and Mandy Smith. New for 2026 is Past Routes, in Dibden Purlieu, bringing the historic landscape to life, linking the past with modern landscapes. Planning your own art trail is easy with the free full-colour catalogue, or through the Hampshire Open Studios app on both Apple and Android devices. e app allows visitors to search venues by location, medium or opening date, save favourites and navigate using interactive maps. ere is also the chance to win a £100 prize draw towards purchasing artwork from a favourite Hampshire Open Studios artist. For more information visit: www.hampshireopenstudios.org. uk Past Routes A Warm Welcome At Oakhaven Recently, Hythe & Waterside (H&W) Rotary received an invitation to visit Oakhaven Hospice in Lymington, which provided the perfect opportunity for the club to present them with a donation of £400, which was raised at a Rotary Summer Garden Party in May. Allan Glass, Craig Webber, Manny Fordham and garden party hosts Christine and Ian Wheeler were warmly welcomed by Oakhaven’s Community Fundraiser, Hannah Davies, who gave them a tour of the facilities there, which provide palliative and end of life care and support to people in the New Forest in the hospice and in their own homes. H&W Rotary received a letter of thanks from Hannah, which included: “Fundraising enables us to provide our specialist care to over 360 patients at any one time in the local community, whose illness is no longer curable. Our services are focused on individual needs, including in-patient and out-patient care, a day hospice and bereavement support. It costs just under £9 million each year to run our services, free of charge, for everyone who needs us in the community. We receive just 11% NHS contribution; the remaining 89% is raised through the amazing support of people and organisations like you”. ere is no doubt at all that New Forest residents are very fortunate indeed to have this amazing resource with such dedicated sta and volunteers in the local area. Rotarians presenting a cheque to Hannah A young lmmaker who created lms about nature recovery and sustainable farming in the New Forest National Park has swapped Hampshire’s heaths for the tropical rainforests of Borneo. Charlotte Gresham, from Romsey, has secured a coveted position with the Borneo Nature Foundation (BNF) as an Orangutan Behaviour Research Assistant. e role is based in Sebangau National Park, Central Kalimantan, working within the world’s longest-running continuous conservation research project focused on Southern Bornean orangutans. Charlotte, a passionate conservationist with a first-class honours degree in Zoology from the University of Sussex, has already built a strong foundation in eldwork, specialising in animal behaviour and rainforest restoration. Last year she applied her talents locally by delivering a series of short lms for the New Forest National Park Authority (NPA), helping to promote the bene ts of sustainable farming practices under the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) scheme. e Department for Environment, Food and Rural A airs (Defra) programme is managed locally by the NPA. Charlotte lmed farmers who have successfully applied for grants from almost £1million of funds to improve the natural environment, cultural heritage and public access, and made farms more resilient and t for the future. Charlotte said: “This is a dream come true. I’m incredibly excited to start this new chapter, and I’m so grateful to the FiPL team at the New Forest National Park Authority for the opportunities and experiences they gave me. The skills I developed through that work will be invaluable as I take this next step in conservation and communications.” Charlotte is based at BNF’s remote research station in the heart of the Sebangau peat swamp forest, where she is expected to remain for a year or longer. Her work will cover a variety of research areas, including orangutan behaviour, health, seed dispersal, and movement patterns. Her primary focus is on feeding ecology - investigating how orangutans selfmedicate and their use of medicinal plants. e ndings will contribute to ongoing efforts to understand and protect this critically endangered species. Paul Walton, Head of Environment and Rural Economy for the New Forest National Park Authority, said: “We are all so excited for Charlotte and thank her for her great work highlighting the successes of the FiPL scheme in driving nature recovery in the internationally important New Forest landscape. The Borneo Nature Foundation’s work is internationally recognised for its impact on primate conservation and tropical forest research. For Charlotte, the opportunity marks the next chapter in what promises to be a remarkable conservation career.” From New Forest To Rainforest Charlotte researching orangutan in their native rainforest (Credit: Charlotte Gresham/Borneo Nature Foundation)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTIyNzI=