Guilty as charged! Jail & Bail 2026 raises £9761 for Weldmar

16th March 2026

There was high drama and low misdemeanours at Dorchester’s historic Shire Hall Museum on Friday 13th of March. Seven members of the local community found themselves in the dock facing the music for a series of heinous crimes in our third annual Jail & Bail fundraiser.

From “aggravated biscuit consumption” to “being scruffy in the office” the presiding judge showed absolutely no mercy. Every one of the accused was found guilty and promptly sent down to the chilly, authentic Victorian cells to think about their crimes. There was even some chaos from the public gallery, as head of Weldmar’s Specialist Hospice at Home service Ali Caldwell was showered with packs of tissues when found guilty of her crime: ridiculously loud sneezing.

The challenge

Once they were finally behind bars our inmates faced four hours in the cold stone cells, facing the prospect of staying there indefinitely unless they raised £999 each in bail money!

Armed only with their phones, laptops, and a can-do attitude, the group rolled up their stripy sleeves and began calling contacts, emailing colleagues, and rallying support on social media to secure their freedom.

The collective effort was a massive success, raising £9761 for Weldmar Hospicecare and £1395 for Shire Hall Museum who kindly hosted the event and had their own participant taking part.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to our brave convicts who gave up their day to be locked away for a good cause:

Ali Caldwell: Head of Weldmar’s Specialist Hospice at Home Service, Pippa Aaron: Metro Rod , Terry Gillingham: Service Appliances in Blandford Forum, Adrian Wood: Advantage Digital Print in Dorchester, Jay Denny: Store Manager of Dorchester Tesco, Helen Gantley: Tache.co.uk and Barry Stratford, Coco Property Group (Barry was raising funds for Shire Hall Museum)

The impact

While the day was full of laughs, the impact is very real. The funds raised for Weldmar Hospicecare go directly towards providing specialist end of life care for adults across Dorset, ensuring dignity and support both in our hospice and in patients’ own homes as well as supporting their loved ones.

Fiona Hansford, Weldmar Fundraising Lead, says:

“We are incredibly grateful to our “inmates” for being such good sports and to their networks for their overwhelming generosity. Our sincere thanks also go to our friends at Shire Hall Museum for hosting us for a third year. Their support makes this unique fundraiser possible.”

We’re also incredibly thankful to Shire Hall Museum, who hosted the event and made it such a brilliant experience.

Lucy Danes from Shire Hall, says:

“It was a pleasure to host such a fun event. The funds raised for Shire Hall mean we can continue to cover costs and support vital local community groups such as the Neurodivergent Network and the Dorchester Death Cafe by offering the use of our museum as a welcoming, safe and accessible place for them to gather and find support for free, or at low-cost.”

Terry Gillingham, one of the participants thought it was a great day of camaraderie. “It was an absolutely fantastic day. It was brilliant meeting my fellow ‘convicts’ and having fun with it, while collectively raising so much money for such a vital cause that we all have personal connections to.”

Would you like to take part in a future Jail & Bail event?

Maybe you make terrible cups of tea, or always let the phone go to voicemail. Maybe you have a colleague who microwaves tuna for their lunch every day or who steals all the good pens. If you think this looks like a good bit of fun and would be interested in taking part in future, just fill out this form and we’ll be in touch with more participant details next time.