The Rendezvous Charity

02/09/2026

🎉 Fantastic results from our young people – and we still have learning places available!

We’re delighted to celebrate another brilliant set of Functional Skills results at The Rendezvous.

📚 84 exam results
✅ 73 passes – an overall pass rate of 87%

Including:
🏅100% pass rate in English Writing
🏅 96% pass rate in English Reading
🏅 71% pass rate in Maths
🏅 25 Speaking & Listening passes

These results represent a huge amount of hard work from our young people, supported through individual, one-to-one learning with our fantastic volunteer tutors.

*We still have spaces available on our programme*

If you’re aged 16–25 and would like support to gain your Functional Skills qualifications in English or Maths, get in touch with The Rendezvous to find out how we can help.

Our learning is one-to-one, supportive and designed around the individual – particularly for young people who may not have thrived in a traditional classroom environment.

📩 Contact us to find out more or to make a referral.

➡️ www.therendezvous.org.uk

Would you or your organisation like to help local young people THRIVE? Get in touch to find out how you can support our vital work in the community 🧡

28/08/2026

🧹🧽 *VACANCY* Could you help us keep s***k and span at our charity's HQ in central Sherborne? We're looking for a reliable cleaner 2-3 hours a week, flexible work times, to start ASAP. Would suit a local person (no agencies please).

For further details please contact Jess:

☎️ 01935 814496
📧 [email protected]

🧡 www.therendezvous.org.uk

27/08/2026

All of us here at The Rendezvous were sad to hear the news that Sherborne Castle Country Fair has enjoyed its last event, after 30 incredible years celebrating all that is good about our rural community - the people, the farmers, the animals, the producers and the makers. Through this event, nearly £1.4m has been donated to charities that support the needs of children and young people and this news obviously means a loss to them too.

The Rendezvous, which provides vital one-to-one mental health and learning services to young people aged 14-25 years, has been a grateful beneficiary of the fair for many years. We would like to thank the organisers, fair volunteers, exhibitors and the many thousands of you - our local community - who have visited the event, for contributing so positively to the lives of the young people we support - some 200 each year.

There will be many charities such as ours, who depend on donated funds to continue their work and who are impacted by this news. If you are ever in a position to support these local children's charities and organisations on a future occasion, you'll find their details here: https://www.sherbornecountryfair.com/httpswwwsherbornecountryfaircombeneficiariesphp

Thank you.

SCCF STATEMENT – AUGUST 2026

On 17 June the Directors announced that planning for next year’s Fair was being paused whilst the Show Committee considered the financial implications of the continued decline in attendance numbers at the event held on Bank Holiday Monday 25th May.

After careful consideration of a variety of proposals and alternative options for maintaining the event, the Committee has reluctantly and unanimously concluded that it would not be financially viable for the Fair to continue.

Payments have already been made to this year’s beneficiaries bringing the total amount disbursed to charities supporting local children to nearly £1.4m over the last 30 years. This is an extraordinary achievement and we are most grateful to all those who have supported the Fair over this period whether as Volunteers, Stewards, Patrons, Sponsors, Exhibitors, Trade Stands, Caterers, Contractors and particularly the Sherborne Castle Estate as our host.

Thank you for all your support and Good Bye.

04/08/2026

*TIME TO RECHARGE* Holiday closing:

Please note that our Sherborne centre at the Rendezvous will be closed from Friday 7th August until Thursday 20th August 2026. This gives our staff and volunteers time to recharge after a very busy and successful academic year.

If you would like to leave us a voice message or send us an email, please do so and we will respond to you on our return.

t: 01935 814496
e: [email protected]

Summer activities of course continue through our Gillingham centre - see our previous posts for details.

If you are a young person in need of help or support in a crisis please do not hesitate to call:

Samaritans 24-hours – 116 123 (free, any age)

Childline 24-hours – 0800 1111 (free, under 19 years)

Connection 24-hours – 0800 652 0190 (free, any age)

Or text:

SHOUT to 85258 (free, text-based, any age)

If you, or someone else, are at immediate risk or danger always call 999.

Wishing you a safe and happy summer holidays and THANK YOU for supporting our vital work with young people throughout the year.

For more information visit www.therendezvous.org.uk

27/07/2026

22/07/2026

This afternoon we celebrated the achievements of our wonderful staff & volunteers and were delighted that so many could join us for a cream tea.

We said a fond thank you and farewell to Paul Blake, a loyal volunteer maths tutor for some 12 years - who received high praise for his support from one of our successful young people - Dani Turner. We also heard from Zoe, such a success story - who was tutored by Alison Hoffman and who has now become a tutor at the Rendezvous herself!

Exam results are still coming through but we hope to share news soon of this year’s results, and high pass rate of the young people our volunteers have tutored in the past academic year - gaining essential qualifications in English and Maths.

We are grateful to the Mayor of Sherborne, Suresh Jeganathan, for supporting us on behalf of Sherborne Town Council (photographed here with members of our learning and mental health staff team, alongside Chair of Trustees Paul Copp).

Thank you also to our generous bakers and helpers (incredible scones by Caroline and gorgeous buns thanks to Oxfords Bakery 🙏) and to Neal's Yard Remedies for so kindly gifting our volunteer goody bags 💚

www.therendezvous.org.uk

22/07/2026

Could you help us keep s***k and span at our charity's HQ in central Sherborne? We're looking for a reliable cleaner 2-3 hours a week, flexible work times, to start in August. Would suit a local person (no agencies please). For further details please contact Jess on 01935 814496 or e: [email protected]

13/07/2026

Our 45+ volunteer tutors are the back-bone of the Rendezvous. They are the ones building one-to-one relationships with young people who come to us for help. With their guidance, young people can achieve qualification milestones in English and mathematics, while re-building their confidence and self-esteem - opening up opportunities for the future. Read more about our recent training day: https://www.therendezvous.org.uk/volunteer-tutor-training/