Scroll Down And See What We've Been Doing
This is the page to take a look at all our past events.
One of the 5 key aims of ARCH is to improve the quality of life and well-being of residents of Canford Heath by creating a sense of community and providing opportunities for residents to meet in a social setting.
As part of this aim we undertake various community projects and organise events at different locations on the heath throughout the year. We are delighted to say that the community enthusiastically supports what we do. This support is key to our existence and spurs us on to build on what we and the community have already achieved.
As for the future, we will continue to build on the great relationships we already have with other heath based organisations and we are already working on some exciting and innovative future events for the community of Canford Heath.
The latest event to be added is Light Up Canford Heath – Dec 2023
Click on the links below to view each previous event plus images and press releases.
Previous Events
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Canford Heath 50 –
Haymoor School Playing fields Sept 2015
Canford Heath was officially 50 years old in 2015.
Canford Heath is one of the largest housing estates in Europe, made up of private and housing association properties for young families and the elderly and has grown and changed a lot in the last 50 years.
To mark this milestone, a day of celebrations was planned and organised by local residents, the Poole Well-being Collaborative and the Coffee House community café
The day started with a Memory Walk in aid of Alzheimer’s Society around the roads of Canford heath and served as a trip back through time to the first days of the estate.
The main celebration was a day long event at Haymoor School and was opened by the Mayor of Poole Cllr Ann Stribley together with 2 long term residents, Mr. and Mrs Harmsworth. As well as being a thriving community estate, Canford Heath is also known for being the largest heathland in Dorset and the largest lowland heath in the UK. During the Second World War it was used as a munitions storage. The first stage of the development of 59 houses and 68 bungalows was built by the end of 1964 and the link to its war time history was kept when roads were named after distinguished World War Two aviation figures, such as Bader, Gibson, Scarf, Mitchell and Kellaway. Adastral Road got its name from the Royal Flying Corps London headquarters Ad Astra with the addition of L of the capital put at the end. Ad Astra is the RFC motto ‘to the stars’.
In 1988, Canford Heath became an SSSI, due to the rare habitat and wildlife on the heathland.
In 2008, planning permission was given to develop homes on a former landfill site not in the SSSI and this latest building development is now currently being built and known as Cornelia Gardens.
A lasting legacy of the celebrations is a community garden with a picnic bench and table in the grounds of St Paul’s church which was enabled by donations from local businesses and residents.
Community Fayre – Community Centre June 2016
The Community Centre affords a great space for events within our community here on the Heath, and craft fairs are a great chance for everyone to get together and indulge in a little retail therapy and a lot of community spirit.
We have a lot of local crafters and it is a chance for them to share their creations with others and it is always wonderful to see so many diverse stalls offering a comprehensive range of handmade gifts, lovely eats, raffles and tombolas.
The Baptist church members provided a wonderful refreshment service and local community singers entertained us with fabulous performances. The Mayor of Poole Cllr Lindsay Wilson attended, along with the Sheriff Sean Gabriel.
Community Fayre – Scout Hall April 2018
The Scout Hall is another great venue on the heath which gives a great space to hold a Fayre.
Everyone who attended was giving a free Easter egg and the Cake stall proved to be a great hit ! Refreshments were provided by members of St Pauls church including bacon sandwiches which were well received.
Christmas Celebration – Civic Centre Dec 2018
Members of Arch were thrilled to be invited into the council chamber in December 2018 for an evening with Sean Gabriel, then Lord Mayor of Poole. Sean entertained us all with stories about life as a Mayor and how he came to have the job of serving the town he loves. We had plenty of chances to ask questions and learn more about our town. He also showed us the numerous civic artefacts and insignia that the town is so proud of, and members had a chance to see them up close and personal as well as hearing about their history. The ceremonial maces, one dating from the time of George III and the other two dating from the reign of Charles I and used to carry at the head of the parade when Charles II visited the town, were exceptional. Other artefacts on view included 3 silver spoons from the 16th century, The Jolliffe medal dating from 1694 and also documents such as the freedom of the borough presented to Winston Churchill and Lady Baden-Powell. It made for a very interesting and entertaining evening and everyone left with a renewed sense of pride at living in a town with such a long history.
Canford Heath Fest – Haymoor Playing fields May 2019
The Canford Heath Fest on Sunday 19th May was a great success organised by ARCH (Association of Residents of Canford Heath).
The day started with a joint church service at St Pauls attended by members of all 3 local churches of St Pauls, Canford Heath Baptist Church and Canford Heath URC. It was an upbeat service to celebrate our wonderful community which finished just in time for people to make their way over to the Festival site at Haymoor School playing fields.
The Festival was opened by the Mayor, Cllr Sean Gabriel, and was followed by music from The Scanners a local tribute band.
The festival included a variety of stalls, a great raffle; bouncy castle and teacup rides; Punch and Judy shows; variety of food; and lots of entertainment, there was activity for all ages and the community turned out to celebrate the good of Canford Heath. It went incredibly well, up to the part of the Monsoon!! Even then, it still carried on and everyone had a great time.
TEACH Academy schools entertained us with their Samba Band, Jumby Pans and Choir; Magna Academy Band, Legacy Academy showed
residents the talents right here in Canford Heath; and Adrian from Hospital Radio Bedside directed proceedings in between. During the rain the Citrus Singers community choir gave a warm performance to keep spirits up and the day finished with the OASISS UK Tribute Band.
ARCH would like to thank the sponsors of the event; Lottery Awards for All, Shaw Healthcare (Figbury Lodge), Canford Heath Community Centre, Cuddles Day Nursery, Chester Pearce and Palmer Snell. Many other organisations and individuals also who donated to the raffle. Thanks to the stallholders and all those performing who came together to make the day special for everyone.
The Festival would not have been possible without the efforts and hard work of all the volunteers – you know who you are and a big thankyou to each and every one. It really was a massive team effort, before and on the day, and ran incredibly smoothly.
Community Drop-in – Limelights Sept 2019
This event saw BCP and partners coming together for a final time to address any concerns residents had with regards to ASB in Canford Heath. Police were on hand as requested to discuss specific cases. Other partners who were there included ARCH Residents Association, Magna Academy, Police & Crime Commissioner Conservative Candidate, Councillor Sandra Moore, BCP Anti Social Behaviour team, Michael Tomlinson MP, Neighbourhood Watch and information from Youth Services Environmental & Consumer Protection (scamwise)
In total, Lianne Chorley, BCP Community Development, hosted 3 events over 4 months across the ward at various times and locations . Following these there was a huge drop in reports of ASB complaints. This was a fantastic testament to all the hard work that was put in across the board to work with offenders of ASB by all organisations and partners.
Defibrillator Awareness Training –
St Paul’s Church Hall Oct 2019
A successful CIL (community infrastructure levy) bid application enabled the funds for the of two new defibrillators, accessible 24/7 for the benefit and ease of use for the community; one at Magna Academy, off Adastral Road and the other on the outside of the Haymoor Pub at the Neighbourhood Centre. The locations were chosen due to the ease of access to the equipment should it be required in an emergency (click here to view the map of defibrillator locations).
The chosen supplier was The Community Heartbeat Trust who support organisations seeking to provide public access defibrillators.
In addition, the funds were used to purchase a Training AED and also funded free Cardiac Arrest Awareness and Basic First Aid Training Sessions in various heath venues.
Malcolm Simpson, who is a local First Aid trainer and member of ARCH, has helped to oversee the project and makes weekly checks of the new defibrillators, updating the information on a national database to confirm that they are always ready for use in an emergency and oversaw the training sessions.
Malcolm explained that the sessions educated attendees on how to help someone having a cardiac arrest and how to use a defibrillator with confidence.
‘You don’t have to be a fireman to use a fire extinguisher; you don’t have to be a paramedic to use a defibrillator.’
Picture shows Malcolm Simpson with Claire Roberts, manager of Haymoor Pub.
Canford Heath Remembers – Library Nov 2019
The “Canford Heath Remembers” recent display in Canford Heath Library was a first for the Heath and the brainchild of ARCH events organiser Julie Caines.
Local residents and organisations were invited to make a poppy for the display – much creativity was evident with the huge variety of knitted, crocheted, painted and clay models with all ages taking part including the local Rainbows and Guides groups and the newly opened Figbury Lodge residents plus many others by local individuals.
Julie said
“I’m absolutely delighted with the amount of poppies that have been donated and thank you to each and every individual and group who has donated to the display – it took 3 of us over an hour to pin them all up but it has all been worth it because the display looks fantastic”
Sales of the poppies raised £175.10 which was presented to the Royal British Legion Head Office and will go towards supporting veterans and serving personnel and their families.
The leftover poppies will be kept for next year as ARCH hopes to make this an annual event. Many thanks to everyone who made poppies for the display. A big thank you also to Julie Caines, ARCH events organiser, who came up with the idea and created the display and also to the Library ladies who helped to oversee it for the 2 weeks it was on display in the library.
Photo shows Julie Caines putting the display together
Christmas Lights Switch on – Adastral Square Dec 2019
An incredible night at the Canford Heath Christmas Light Switch On!
For the first time ever, the Heath celebrated the switching on of the Christmas tree lights organised by ARCH (Association of Residents of Canford Heath). Hundreds of local residents turned up to see the various entertainment provided by local groups and schools and the night was a magical spectacle of community spirit and Christmas cheer!
The event started with carols sung from a joint Heath church choir made up of members from St Pauls, the Baptist Church, the Beacon Church and a ‘meaning of Christmas’ story read by Revd Matt Williams. Miss Diamond Dorset then started the countdown to the main event –the tree was kindly sponsored by Encore Care Homes Ltd who have recently opened the Oakdale Nursing Home in Kingsmill Road. The lights were generously sponsored by the Cosmetic Clinic Poole.
The Mayor of Poole, Cllr Marion Le Poidevin then said a few words, praising the spirit of Canford Heath and congratulating those involved before the Light Switch on and turned on the tree with the help of 2 local children. She then introduced the TEACH Trust School choirs who sang carols by torchlight. The event was tunefully closed by the Citrus Singers, a local group who meet and practise in the Library.
In addition, the Poole Bay Rotary Club Santa Express made a special appearance, the Community Centre had an extremely popular free Santa’s grotto for the children, Lounge One Cafe were open for hot drinks and mince pies (provided by Tesco’s) and hosted Christmas colouring with Just Crafty, The Pilot Pub were serving mulled wine, there was a Lifesize Nativity, special guest characters Elsa, Ana and Olaf were handing out chocolate coins (donated by Iceland) and the Craft Locker and McColl’s hosted face painting and glitter tattoos – a real community effort!
Adam Roast, local Dad and father of one of the children in the TEACH Academy school choir said “The evening was a real success and credit to the Canford Heath community. My son has been practicing in the school choir for weeks and was so happy and excited to be part of such a great event.”
Julie Caines, ARCH event’s organiser who oversaw the whole event said, ‘A Community Christmas tree has been missing from the Canford Heath area and we are so happy that we were able to bring some festive cheer to the Heath. We are absolutely delighted with the turnout and hope to continue building on the success for years to come. The Canford Heath community is a strong one and we are thankful for everyone who helped make the event happen’.
ARCH is especially grateful to Lianne Chorley the Community Development officer from BCP Council, Malcolm Simpson from Medstar for providing First Aid on the evening, Karen and Michael May and Alan Hawkins for helping put up the lights and the many other unnamed people who contributed to the event which was funded with profits from the Canford Heath Fest which took place back in June as well as a recent Arch Quiz night and generous sponsors.