Local community groups are to join forces as Homage de Fromage, the Surbiton club that celebrates great British cheeses and cheese-based art, hosts a special ‘Meet the Producers’ event at Surbiton’s next Farmers’ Market.

Master of ceremonies Robin Hutchinson will introduce the event where visitors can learn about and taste fine cheeses on sale at the market. The talk and tasting runs from 11.30am on Saturday (June 18) outside The Antelope pub in Maple Road and is free of charge.

Bookham Fine Foods supplies locally sourced cheeses including the award-winning Sussex Charmer made with welfare-assured, grass-fed milk from R Harrison & Sons, third-generation dairy farmers from West Sussex.

Norbiton Fine Cheese Company specialises in farmhouse and small quantity artisanal cheeses. Among its top sellers is Stinking Bishop, said to be derived from a cheese once made by Cistercian monks in Gloucestershire.

Nut Knowle Farm produces hand-made cheeses from a small Sussex dairy. All its cheeses are made on the farm from pasteurised goat’s milk produced by its own herd of pedigree dairy goats.

Surbiton’s Farmers’ Market is held on the third Saturday of the month in Maple Road from 9am to 1pm. Surplus proceeds are returned to the community to support local charities and causes. Among the 26 stallholders at the June market will be Kingston Carers Network, a local charity that provides support for young carers. Surbiton High School will be selling recycled bags created by pupils to raise funds for global charity Free the Children.

Homage de Fromage is held monthly at The Lamb in Brighton Road, Surbiton and organises community events such as Surbiton Ski Sunday and The Seething Festival. Its latest fundraising venture is ‘Giant Hungry Hippos’ when it will be building a giant version of the children’s game in The Lamb garden this weekend. The event will help raise money for the cancer charity Brainstrust and the Kingston’s International Youth Arts Festival (July 1-18).

For more information on Maple Road Surbiton Farmers’ Market, please contact Sarah Taylor on 020 8390 5673 or Geoffrey Doyle on 07949 15544. Look out for more details at the website, www.mapleroadsurbiton.co.uk or on Facebook.