Bridport will be joining Great Big Green Week – the UK's biggest ever celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature.

Events will be held in and around Bridport from Saturday, June 10 to Sunday, June 18.

Bridport Great Big Green Week, organised by West Dorset Friends of the Earth and partner organisations, will get underway with an opening event from 10.30am to 1.30pm on Saturday, June 10 at the Bridport Community Orchard. 

A number of environment-focussed organisations will hold stalls, including the Allington Hillbillies, Co-op, Bridport Tree Planting, Energy Local Bridport, West Dorset Friends of the Earth, Sustainable Bridport, St Mary's Eco Church, Bridport Town Council and Bridport BeeFriendly. 

There will also be live music from Squeezebox and refreshments. 

Those wanting to taking part in the bike ride around the town should arrive from 10am for a 10.40am start. Helmets and high-vis jackets for children are required. 

The opening day's events will continue with Bridport's first Fashion and Textile Network meeting at the Beach and Barnicott from 6pm, with speaker Ria Burns.

Growers, spinners, weavers, dyers, sewers, tailors, menders, knitters, pattern cutters, collectors, traders, vintage junkies, curators, historians and fashion and textile enthusiasts of West Dorset are welcome.

Talks throughout the week will cover subjects such as co-designing the eco-community of the future, the Upper Axe Landscape Recovery Project and exploring the state of our rivers and how you can help.

The week will also include several film screenings, including a short film created b y local young people illustrating their thoughts on climate change, to be screened at Bridport Arts Centre at 6pm on Thursday, June 15.

There will also be a number of tours and walks, including a tour of Bridport Water Recycling Centre, a walk to learn what makes a healthy hedge, and a walk to Happy Island on the Asker to check out the Himalayan Balsam and discuss what to do and take action.

Other highlights will include the Great Big Blue Swim, from 4pm to 5.30pm on Friday, June 16 at East Beach in West Bay, with a possible beach clean to be followed by a quick chat about the problems facing sea swimmers, a group swim and hot drinks and cake, and a Wilding Weekend with a number of events to be held over June 17 and 18 at Hooke Farm in Hooke, near Beaminster.

Several of the Great Big Green Week will also tie in with the fortnight-long Bridport Food Festival, which kicks off on Sunday, June 11 with the main festival event on Saturday, June 17. These will include a food fayre at St Mary's Primary School from 2pm to 4.30pm on Friday, June 16.

For more details and the full programme of events for Bridport's Great Big Green Week, visit https://www.westdorsetfriendsoftheearth.org.uk/index.php/great-big-green-week/