A PLACE TO LIVE, work and play
With a thriving development the size of Poundbury, communities grow fast. There are now more than 3,000 people living in Poundbury and a whole host of activities for the community
Communities are not born overnight. It takes time, effort and dedication to make a community to be proud of. Now in its 23 rd year, Poundbury has a range of community voices who have set up committees, networks of friends and clubs for common interests. There are now established annual events for the community such as the Dorset Food & Arts Festival, held every August, open gardens every summer and the Dorchester FC Great Annual Field Fun Day. There’ s the square dance held in Pummery Square every July, which is cherished by lots of local families. Resident and local business owner Katie Gallego organises the event and says she likes the fact it gives‘ Poundbury a village feel.’ At Easter, Boo’ s Toy Shop organises a great Easter Egg hunt, which draws in families from near and far, who also flock here for the store’ s Christmas Santa’ s Grotto. This year there are a few new events including a traditional village Spring Fling fair in Pummery Square organised by Hey Baby boutique and Café Octagon. There’ s also the inaugural Poundbury Family Picnic organised by weekly mum and toddler group Cheeky Monkeys to celebrate their 15- year anniversary this year. The popular club meets in Brownsword Hall each Friday and runs on
“ Our Tuesday night sessions are great fun. We laugh a lot and I always come away feeling happy and really energised”
donations by The Poundbury Residents’ Association and local shops including The Poundbury Village Stores, Waitrose and Boo’ s Toy Shop. This March, the Heart and Soul Poundbury Choir, who meet every Tuesday in the Quiet Space, won the award for the Best Choir at Weymouth Music Festival. One of the members Marcie Hollington said:“ Our Tuesday night sessions in The Quiet Space are great fun. We laugh a lot and I always come away feeling happy and really energised.“ I think the choir works so well because it allows each one of us to step outside of ourselves for a while – even if it’ s just for one evening a week. We sing together, we are friends, we’ re part of a whole family. It’ s very uplifting, actually, in a way I never expected it to be. It’ s not just a bunch of folk singing. A community choir is more than that – there’ s a kind of alchemy going on.” Other community groups include Poundbury Ladies, Wine Knows, quiz nights, yoga, fitness classes, walking groups and established organisations such as Poundbury Rotary. The Poundbury Residents’ Association celebrates its 20 year anniversary this year. Over that time the committee has funded lots of community projects as well as liaising with residents about planning issues that might affect the community.
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