Volunteers

Seeking help from Upwey Society Members.

If you are interested in volunteering for either the First Aid Team, the Community Speed Watch Team, or both, please reply to this email. Even a small amount of your time could make a real difference to our village.
 
Thank you for your continued support of the Upwey Society.
 

25 July 2026.  There are two volunteer opportunities.

First Aid  Cover 
 
I hope many of you enjoyed our recent Upwey Society Family BBQ. If you weren’t able to make it, you missed a fantastic evening of great music, delicious food and plenty of dancing. It was wonderful to see so many people enjoying themselves and supporting the Society.
 
As many of you will know, events such as our BBQ require appropriate first aid cover. For this event we employed St John Ambulance, who provided an excellent service, but this comes at a significant cost.
 
To help reduce future event costs while increasing the skills within our community, the Upwey Society Committee has agreed to fund accredited first aid training for up to eight Society members.
 
In return, we would simply ask that those who receive the training are willing to provide first aid cover at up to two Society events each year.
 
If you would be interested in receiving the training, please get in touch with me. Once we know numbers, we will arrange suitable training dates.
 
 
Community Speed Watch
 
The Upwey Society is also looking to establish a Dorset Police Community Speed Watch team and we are seeking volunteers to help make our roads safer.
 
Community Speed Watch is a nationally recognised initiative supported by Dorset Police. Trained volunteers monitor vehicle speeds using approved equipment at agreed roadside locations. The purpose is not to issue fines but to educate drivers and encourage them to slow down. Details of vehicles recorded exceeding the speed limit are passed to Dorset Police, who write to the registered keeper with advice about their driving. Repeat offenders can be targeted by police enforcement.
 
To establish a team, we need at least five local volunteers who are willing to take part in speed monitoring sessions. Our intention would be to carry out sessions approximately once a month at selected locations throughout the village.
 
One of the key reasons for setting up Community Speed Watch is to gather evidence of the speeding issues experienced in Upwey. This evidence will strengthen our discussions with Dorset Council and Weymouth Town Council and help demonstrate that there is a genuine need for further measures to improve road safety.
 
Particular concerns include:
  • Excessive speeds along Church Street, which is frequently used as a cut-through between Weymouth and Dorchester.
  • Dangerous blind bends, particularly at the bottom of Stottingway Street and Goulds Hill, where speeding creates additional risks for pedestrians and other road users.
  • Sections of road where there are few or no footpaths, making walking through the village particularly hazardous.
Evidence collected through Community Speed Watch could support future requests for additional safety measures, including:
 
  • Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs).
  • Reduced speed limits, including 20 mph zones where appropriate.
  • Other traffic-calming measures where justified.