It's always difficult to capture the spirit of an organisation in a brief paragraph - a little like speed dating one would imagine, so like speed dating simple honesty and no buzz words is the best approach….

Essentially we're about getting things done, and doing them well. Being able to respond quickly and effectively to the people we work with and for always being relevant, accessible and creative; constantly open, honest, and smiling - if we didn't enjoy it we couldn't deliver the service we do!

Chalk and Cheese is a small independent organisation full of people that are passionate about developing, enhancing and celebrating the diverse cultural assets of the local area. We work with local people, landscapes and the immense wealth of local food & craft products and producers to cultivate opportunities for improving the quality of rural life.

We've been around since 2002 and seem to have packed a lot in since then! We've delivered the Leader+ funding programme, run a range of local and international projects & activities, and taken on the role of county wide co-ordination of the local products sector from Dorset Food Links. We've also been great places, met brilliant people and eaten wonderful food - a dirty job but someone has to do it!

There is so much to do that we make sure we are only developing and working on projects and activities that our local food, craft and community groups have asked us for. So that means you need to tell us what you need.

The future is obviously desperately exciting - local food in every outlet in the county, Dorset culture celebrated as it should be, local people proud of their county and everyone unfortunate enough to live outside it understanding the food, farming, landscape and culture which is ours. Enough to keep us busy for a while.