SANDFORD Parish celebrations to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday will kick-off on Saturday, March 5, when local residents will be asked to help "Clean for the Queen".

The parish will be taking part in the national initiative and is asking local residents to help clean up their neighbourhood.

Local residents are asked to meet at Sandford Playing Field at 10am, where they will be provided with litter pickers, gloves and cleaning materials.

They will then be asked to go to all parts of the parish and clean it up.

Refreshments will then follow at Sandford Congregational Church Hall after the event.

Further information is available from Malcolm Vallance, parish clerk, on 01363 772769 or email: parish [email protected] or Shauna Waller, chairman of Sandford Parish Council, on 01363 772943.

On Saturday, June 11, during the morning, a family treasure hunt, run by Sandford Heritage Group, will take place.

At 12 noon on June 11 there will be the grand opening of the Sandford Edwardian Street Market, in and around Church Street, to mark the year 1926 when the Queen was born. (Parish Hall if wet!).

Parish organisations have been invited to take along a stall to fund raise for themselves. Commercial stalls can be booked at a cost of £10. Lunches and teas will be served.

A Fancy Dress contest will run at the same time, with an Edwardian Theme. There will also be a grand draw and street entertainers including morris dancers and a fairground organ.

On Sunday, June 12 a Celebration Service will be held at St Swithun’s Church at 10.30am.

The service will be followed at 12 noon by a “Big (Bring and Share Lunch)” at the Parish Hall. At the lunch it is hoped to have a Loyal Toast made with Sandford Orchards cider or apple juice.

A programme of events for the weekend will be circulated in the parish.

The children at Sandford School have been invited to design a cover for the programme. The winning art work will also be used as the cover for a 90th birthday card to be sent to the Queen.

The parish council sub-group is also hoping to find a parishioner who will be 90 and born in the same year as the Queen in 1926.

The group is researching what was happening in Sandford in 1926 and has so far have discovered that this was the first year a bus service started to run a couple of times a week from Sandford to Exeter.

The next meeting to discuss the celebrations in Sandford will take place on March 2 at 7.30pm at Sandford Congregational Church Hall.

Alan Quick

A copy of the 2012 Sandford Diamond Jubilee celebrations programme cover designed by Georgia Peters.