About Moordown Community Centre
The popular Moordown Community Centre was set up approximately 10 years ago. The Council used a derelict school, which had been built in 1911 and was known as the Winton & Moordown Boys' School. The building was reduced in size, and the inside was remodelled and upgraded. Housing for the elderly and disabled was built in the area which was the playground.
The Centre is run with Charitable Status and its income is generated by Room Hire.
Here at the Centre we do our best to live up to our motto “Working together for our Community”.
A Centre Manager, 5 Duty Managers and a Housekeeper alongside 30 volunteers help to run this popular Centre, which exists primarily to benefit the inhabitants of Moordown and its local neighbourhood. Although its prime users live in the BH8, 9 and 10 Postal Code area we do have many visitors from the wider Bournemouth area.
At busy times some 1000 people per week visit the Centre.
Friendly and compact, the Centre is seen as somewhere local people of all ages and capabilities can pursue leisure and recreational pastimes as well as offering the kind of environment where they can learn new skills or add to previous education.
We are open for 12 hours a day (9.00am until 9.00pm).
Whilst most of the above activities take place during the week our diversification really shows when we become a Place of Worship on Sunday mornings.
By Sunday afternoon we become a venue for teaching Chinese to both children and adults.
Active encouragement is given to local people to come into the building to meet up socially. Singles, and those searching for the company of others, find the Centre an ideal venue in which to make new acquaintances and hopefully new friends.
A single storey unit, the Moordown Community Centre offers ideal facilities (including a uni sex wet room) for all its users. For those in wheel chairs and those with limited mobility, the Moordown Community Centre offers easily accessible car parking in close proximity of the entrance with dedicated spaces for the disabled.
The Centre is well lit and within the building there are no steps or slopes.
Being on one level is a positive advantage to those who are immobile, disabled or who have special needs.
The Community Centre is determined not lose its ‘Community’ identity.
As well as commercial room hire it pro actively supports hobby and interest meetings on a non-profit basis.
Clubs are also offered by the Centre and these are supported by charging per person, per activity, currently this is a maximum of £2.00 per activity. Clubs offer a very sociable environment, where visitors are free to pursue a sport, a hobby, craftwork or a favourite interest. The range is very wide and the Centre tries to cover all interests’ music, dancing, craft, darts, canasta, short mat bowls, table tennis and more. All of these activities are run by volunteers. To an outsider the craft club may look and sound like a group of friends knitting or sewing together…….. and, in fairness, this is exactly what it is!
The Marion House Day Opportunities Service has used the Community Centre to set up a lunchtime café on Mondays to Thursdays. This project has provided work placements for its clients, all of whom have learning disabilities.
This Community Partnership has been very successful with both parties benefiting from the experience The clients, who feel very at home in the Centre enjoy the advantage of lots of social interaction, and a boost to their confidence whilst they practice their work skills by taking orders, serving customers, waiting on tables and of course washing and clearing up!
Community Centre visitors have enjoyed being able to extend their visit by having hot, home cooked food served by Marion’s Kitchen before or after their club or educational visit. Having a lunch club on most days of the week gives some of our visitors (many of whom live alone) the chance to eat in the company of a friend or acquaintance; thus extending their visit to the Centre.
We try to encourage, local people who do not use the Centre for either an educational or social visit to be tempted to have lunch here in the company of others.
The Community Centre is a warm and well cared for and the Association is very proud to be one of the first public buildings in the area to be taking advantage of heating its hot water with the aid of solar panels.
Whether the visit is recreational or educational you can be sure of a warm welcome at the Moordown Community Centre.
The Centre also publishes its own monthly in-house magazine with news and information about events and activities. An on-line version is available for you to read here.
Click to launch the full edition in a new window
Scalextric Challenge
Over a couple of evenings through February and March, The Community Arts & Music Project (TCAMP) have been running Scalextric race meetings at Moordown Community Centre for people of all ages to come and enjoy free of charge. This was an opportunity for them to not only run test events and iron out any problems before taking to the road for the Bournemouth & Poole Community Scalextric Challenge Cup but to see the potential for fund raising.
The evenings were run by volunteers and every entrant was guaranteed a few minutes practise and a minimum of 8 races. Entrants ranged from 9 - 79 yrs in age. A computer Race Management System kept track of laps, lap times and fastest laps to within 100th of a second. Both evenings were a big success, and the second meeting even ran an under 16 event.
The Bournemouth & Poole Community Scalextric Challenge Cup is open to any group/club/society or community centre and a chance for your group/centre to win £75.00 with the individual winner collecting £120.00 worth of Scalextric.
If you would like more information and to register for future events please email: scalextric@tcamp.info or visit the website at http://www.tcamp.info
Happy Tapping
Happy Tapping is a friendly group for adults of all ages who have an interest in tap dancing, whether you have experienced it as a child or in later life, or if you would like to learn. We have all ability groups at various venues. These are social, stress free classes that are pay as you go with no term fees. So, for an hour of exercise and mental stimulation apply to start anytime.
For details call Jean on 01202 398464
Join our Newsletter
Would you like to be kept uptodate as to what's on at Moordown Community Centre, then please subscribe to our quarterly newsletter. Your details are only used for the purpose of this newsletter and we comply with the data protection act.