Viewpoint Magazine

05/12/2025

Dear Readers!

Lights, camera, action! Not just a classic filmmaking phrase and a 2024 song by Kylie Minogue, but December at Viewpoint Magazine.

In November, we covered Remembrance Day services as well as the switching on of the Christmas lights in towns and villages across the region. We also reviewed several amateur dramatic productions. See reviews on pages 34 and 39.

Now we have our cameras ready to capture Christmas parades and festive events.

We realise how important it is for our magazines to be out meeting readers and advertisers and finding out what is happening in the community.

January can seem a little flat after the plethora of exciting seasonal events, but this is our chance to interview interesting people and to find out what clubs and societies have planned for the year ahead.

January and August used to be known as the ‘silly seasons’, when newspapers and magazines short of significant news filled their pages with light-hearted or trivial stories. These items often involved local oddities or strange animal behaviour — not that we’re averse to featuring quirky stories at any time of the year!

However, I suppose on a ‘slow news day’ in the dim and distant past, I have been guilty of writing a front-page article that may not have warranted such a prime position — not for this magazine though.

And they both involved animals in Wimborne. One stated that 15 to 20 wild cats were causing distress to people living in New Borough Road, and the other that rats had become a problem in Crown Mead, scampering through the garden and abseiling to get at food left for ducks!

And on that note, let me wish all our readers and advertisers a very happy Christmas and a healthy New Year.

Marilyn Barber
News editor

21/11/2025

🍰 Sweet dream realised after more than 40 years

✍️ Marilyn Barber

A woman, who at the age of 16 had the dream of owning a baking business, has achieved her ambition more than 40 years later, having overcome numerous hurdles en route.

Louise Johnstone, who lives in St Leonards, is now known as ‘the Christmas cake lady’, having launched Louises Kitchen last year to celebrate her 10-year cancer-free milestone.

“I was taught to cook by my mum and my grandma, and one of the first things I produced unsupported was a treacle suet pudding,” she said.

“I was just 10 years of age, and it didn’t turn out brilliantly, ending up as a very small sponge.”

It was during her O-Level year that she had a dream that she was a baker.

Growing up in Sussex, she took a two-year catering course in Chichester, before moving to Dorset where she went on a hotel management and catering course at what was then the Dorset Institute of Higher Education.

“Sadly, I didn’t do anything with what I had learned at that time, and I went to work for Marks & Spencer, eventually running the staff catering unit,” she said.

Read more in the December issue of Dorset View magazine ⤵️

📢 Out now! 📢

December issue of Dorset View 📰

Read 👀 online 👉 https://www.dorsetview.co.uk/dorset-view-magazine/

Printed copies available from one of over 70 community collection points including CO-OP Wimborne, Colehill, Corfe Mullen, TESCO Ferndown, SAINSBURYS Christchurch and Ferndown.

GPS tracked door-to-door distribution is underway.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
🎅 Why Christmas in Wimborne is the place to be
🎄 Save the Children Christmas Parade
🐸 Toad Patrol wants you
🍰 Sweet dream realised after more than 40 years
🌺 Ferndown remembers
🌺 Wimborne remembers
💡 Are you missing out on Pension Credit?
🎆 Fireworks display lights up Broadstone
🚓 Standing up to anti-social behaviour in Dorset
❄️ Winter gardening
🏊 Christmas Day sea dip returns to Boscombe Pier
💛 Help now closer to home for families affected by self-harm
🔁 Another five-year term for Wimborne BID
🏛️ Museum re-opens after three-year closure
🌧️🚗 Safe driving in a storm
📝 REVIEW Suzuki e Vitara
🔌 EV charging network continues to grow
🏠 Get your home Christmas ready
plus much more

07/11/2025

Dear Readers!

Although there is a plethora of documentaries available across all TV channels, I, like so many other people, enjoy going to talks organised by our excellent local organisations.

I’ve learned quite a lot over the years – and, it must be said, have also failed to retain information – but one presentation that will remain with me for a long time took place at Queen Elizabeth’s School recently.

As part of the Planet Wimborne Green Festival, Patrick Grant from TV’s ‘The Great British Sewing Bee’ spoke about ‘When Less is More’. The idea was to inspire the audience to discover how having fewer, better things could make us happier.

A show of hands revealed that I was in a distinct minority of attendees who had never seen the BBC programme, as I admit that I’m even reluctant to sew on a button.

However, I have long been concerned that my wardrobes – yes, they are plural – are bulging with far too many clothes.

Statistics show that we wear 20 per cent of our wardrobe 80 per cent of the time, so we are clearly buying more than we need. And that’s both men and women!

Patrick pointed out that, instead of buying quality clothes made in this country, we are spending our money on cheap imports, often bought online.

My friend and I were convinced that we had quality items in our wardrobes, but when we returned to our homes, we discovered that virtually all the garments were made thousands of miles away – and we’re talking names that are big on the high street.

We should be buying from our excellent local shops, many of which advertise in Viewpoint Magazine and Dorset View.

Marilyn Barber
News Editor

24/10/2025

🌊 Making waves

✍️ Luke Graham and Ben Woodland

Will Behenna is working to make Dorset’s blue spaces more accessible.

For most people, the ability to enjoy Dorset’s blue spaces – its lakes, rivers and coastline – is taken for granted. But for people with mental or physical disabilities, these areas are often inaccessible and out of reach. One man fighting to change that is Will Behenna.

Wimborne-based Will was paralysed from the waist down as a teenager after breaking his back during a cycling accident. Despite his injury, he has spent his life on the water using kayaks and paddleboards and is now on a mission to make Dorset’s coastline accessible to everyone.

In October last year, he launched Inclusive Paddleboarding, which makes foam-based seats and kneeling supports that can be attached to paddleboards to match the needs of different people, enabling them to paddle independently. Will also teaches paddleboarding to those with physical or mental health challenges, helping people with a wide range of disabilities take to the water.

Then in January 2025, he launched the Beach Access Project, a national project aiming to help people with disabilities like himself have a safer and more accessible route onto not just Dorset’s beaches, but the whole of Britain’s coastline.

Read more on page 20 of Dorset View November maagazine ⤵️

📢 Out now! 📢

November issue of Dorset View 📰

Read 👀 online 👉 https://www.dorsetview.co.uk/dorset-view-magazine/

Printed copies available from one of over 70 community collection points including CO-OP Wimborne, Colehill, Corfe Mullen, TESCO Ferndown, SAINSBURYS Christchurch and Ferndown.

GPS tracked door-to-door distribution is underway.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
🦛 Wooden animals return to Poole
🎅 Broadstone Christmas Parade to return
🗓️ Christmas events for your diary
😅 Is it a firearm? Is it a shotgun? No… it’s a tripod
🪖 Remembrance events in 2025
🤝 BCP councillors defect to Reform
❔ Is Bournemouth booming?
🏞️ Heathland restoration project for Dorset
🏓 Proposal for new padel courts
💐 Wimborne Minster Flower Festival wows visitors
🎙️ Your Voice Dorset Podcast with Tom Hayes MP
🎂 420 cards for Kathleen
🪙 Free finance workshops for carers this autumn
🥪 Join a picnic fundraiser for Gaza this Christmas Eve
🫂 Going the extra mile to help families with cancer
🎉 Celebration to be held for Jekyll and Hyde author
🧾 Save on your heating bills
🚗 20mph limit for Allenview Road
👟 Heartwarming Holt hero ‘steps’ up with trainer charity
plus much more

10/10/2025

Dear Readers!

My choice of biscuits was wrong. The three men who arrived to re-install my kitchen following a flood earlier this year were disappointed that I had provided Digestives instead of Chocolate Hobnobs!

But that apart, things went incredibly well.

In this magazine, we have a feature on ensuring you hire a professional for work in the home — and these men certainly were.

Although from the same company, they weren’t the same men who had dismantled the kitchen and put it in storage whilst the flooded flooring was being dealt with. However, they weren’t fazed when confronted with what appeared to me to be a jigsaw of parts.

And, miraculously, less than five hours later everything was back in place and the kitchen looked exactly as it did when it was first installed.

They were truly professional with both their work and their consideration for my house.

Over the last few months — and I promise that this is the last time I will write about the flood — I have welcomed a variety of different specialists into my home, and all without fail have shown the utmost professionalism and politeness.

There has been no scratching or shaking of heads to indicate that the job was beyond them. I had 100 per cent faith in their abilities — and believe me, some of the tasks were unusual, such as the removal of asbestos floor tiles which necessitated the floorboards being taken up.

I am totally inept when it comes to house maintenance and am a menace with a hammer and a screwdriver, so I don’t tackle challenging jobs as I know it could end in tears and increased expense.

If you’re the same, check out our feature on page 23.

Marilyn Barber
News editor

26/09/2025

🐝 Buzzing community garden promotes the importance of bees

A community-based not-for-profit organic food garden is celebrating three years of hosting beehives on its land and supporting Dorset’s precious honeybees.

Nourish Community in West Parley is managed by twin brothers Nick and Rich Stone. The duo started growing produce after seeing how food supply was affected during Covid.

Rich said: “We witnessed first-hand how our food system came under major threat and how it was almost brought to its knees during the uncertain times of 2020.

“With all the fear and conflicting views going on around the world, we were both inspired and motivated to start growing our own food. Not just for us and our families, we also wanted to do what we could to support our friends and those that had come under hard times.”

Nourish Community was set up two summers later to help support the wider community and also to help establish, protect and grow a stronger, more resilient food system.

The brothers’ aim was to build and establish a self-sustaining and ethical business model that supported everyone involved; from the food growers and distributors through to the foodbanks, shops, restaurants, individuals, and families within the community that needed an extra helping hand.

Read more in Dorset View October ⤵️

📢 Out now! 📢

October issue of Dorset View 📰

Read 👀 online 👉 https://www.dorsetview.co.uk/dorset-view-magazine/

Printed copies available from one of over 70 community collection points including CO-OP Wimborne, Colehill, Corfe Mullen, TESCO Ferndown, SAINSBURYS Christchurch and Ferndown.

GPS tracked door-to-door distribution is underway.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
🪧 Summer of protests in Bournemouth
🚧 Major works planned for Christchurch Bypass
👜 First fashion show for Lewis-Manning Hospice Care
✅ Top marks for girl who missed five years of school
😟 Dorset Local Plan sparks concern from local organisations
🗳️ Lib Dems win BCP by-election
🐝 Buzzing community garden promotes the importance of bees
🍽️ The next step taken by Wimborne Community Garden
🏪 Green light for new Aldi, despite local opposition
🏥 Patient power in action as Martha’s Rule rolled out
🪩 Retro music festival gets Highcliffe hopping
🎙️ Discover the life and times of Dire Straits
🎸 Get up and dance at daytime disco
👻 Delve into Poole Old Town’s spooky history
🎙️ Your Voice Dorset Podcast with local businesswoman Emma Burke
🏠 Guide to moving and mortgages
plus much more

05/09/2025

Dear Readers!

Blackberries, Rowan berries, conkers — just some of the delights of September.

And go on, admit it, we have had a very good summer, although on some occasions it has been a little too hot, and rainfall has been lacking, resulting in brown lawns, and nightly garden watering.

Although it is always sad to say goodbye to summer, there is something rather comforting about the onset of autumn, with trees becoming adorned with a kaleidoscope of hues.

Autumn is not just about the end of summer; it is also about beginnings. And not just back to school — sorry children and teachers.

An American poet, William Cullen Bryant, said: “Autumn is the year’s last, loveliest smile.”

August this year was delightful, with families able to enjoy days at the beach and outings into the countryside, safe in the knowledge that they wouldn’t need rainwear, but it can be a disorientating time for some. With schools closed, parents and grandparents with childcare duties must alter their routines. Meanwhile, clubs and societies go on a hiatus, which can result in loneliness for some, with much loved schedules suspended.

September brings with it a return to the familiar. However, that is not to say that it isn’t a time to try something new to challenge you mentally and physically. Fresh activities can bring you more friends too.

And if you felt that summer activities in our area were impressive, just keep reading our magazines to find out the treats that await you in the coming months.

Marilyn Barber
News Editor

27/08/2025

Get up and dance 🪩

A daytime disco club event is coming to Bournemouth.

If you think clubbing is just for midnight ravers and 20-year-olds staying up until 3am, a new daytime disco event wants to change your mind.

‘Day Fever Uk ’ invites people to rediscover their clubbing days and party from 3pm to 8pm to a soundtrack of the greatest hits of the 20th century. Since June, it has been touring venues up and down the country and is coming to Bournemouth’s O2 Academy on 27 September and Southampton’s O2 Guildhall on 13 September and 11 October.

The affordable daytime event is the brainchild of TV actor Vicky McClure, best known for ‘Broadchurch’, ‘Line of Duty’, and ‘This is England’, who came up with the idea alongside her husband Jonny Owen and friends including Jon McClure of Reverend & The Makers.

It all started with a simple idea. “Jonny just said, ‘Have you ever seen those bars in town during the day? They’re rammed!’” said Jon. “We were like, come on then, let’s do it and it went nuts.”

According to Vicky: “The first one sold out in two seconds.

“We did Nottingham, then Sheffield, then Merthyr and Cardiff and it just flew from there.”

The parties have attracted people of all ages and backgrounds.

Read more in Dorset View September ⤵️

📢 Out now! 📢

September issue of Dorset View 📰

Read 👀 online 👉 https://www.dorsetview.co.uk/dorset-view-magazine/

Printed copies available from one of over 70 community collection points including CO-OP Wimborne, Colehill, Corfe Mullen, TESCO Ferndown, SAINSBURYS Christchurch and Ferndown.

GPS tracked door-to-door distribution is underway.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
💷 The Great Dorset Givaway
🔥 Heathland hellfire
✅ Dorset remains a safe place to live
👮 Mobile police stations coming to Dorset
🗳️ Wimborne BID prepares for pivotal ballot
🥇 Medal success for Mila
🏏 Wicket women
🏥 Tranquil garden for hospital patients
📚 Volunteer service brings the library to you
🎂 Former fighter pilot turns 100 years old
💉 Vaccine protecting babies in the South West
🎙️ Your Voice Dorset Podcast with panto dame Jamie Riding
🕺 Get up and dance at daytime disco
🦖 Dinosaur to star in Wimborne Minster flower festival
🅿️ BCP hikes parking fines for bad drivers
👭 New networking event for wellness businesses
🗳️ By-election for BCP Council
plus much more

08/08/2025

Dear Readers!

This is a scary thing to do, so you must brace yourself.

You can check how long you have spent on your smart phone each day.

On an Android phone, open settings, navigate to Digital Wellbeing and parental controls, and on an iPhone, you also go to settings and tap on App & Website activity.

A survey by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) discovered the stark detail that the average adult in Great Britain spends three hours and 21 minutes a day on their phone!

And I’m as guilty as anyone of going down digital ‘rabbit holes’.

The problem is that as soon as you click onto an amusing or supposedly educational clip, even more pop up. How many times do you need to view cute kittens, or clips from ‘Fawlty Towers’ or ‘Only Fools and Horses’?

The first smartphone was released for purchase in 1994; however, the phones that we are familiar with today didn’t appear until 2007.

They aid our lives in so many positive ways, but they are also a constant distraction.

Scrolling on your phone is isolating, and there is a better use of your time, as our article on page 26 detailing adult education opportunities illustrates. Taking a class or joining an activity is sociable and provides such a bonus for the many people who now work from home or those who are retired and miss the buzz and connections of the workplace.

Many activities close for August, but September presents so many interesting and exciting opportunities for readers, so make sure you always peruse our listings for opportunities near you.

Marilyn Barber
News editor

25/07/2025

📣 COME ON YOU REDS!

AFC Bournemouth prepare for the kick-off of the 2025/26 Premier League season

Up The Cherries! 🍒

Football is back this month, as the whistle is blown for the start of the new Premier League season on Friday 15 August.

AFC Bournemouth have the honour of playing the opening match of the new campaign, facing last year’s league champions Liverpool FC in Anfield.

It’s an ominous start for the local team. Bournemouth lost both of its matches against Liverpool in the last season, losing 2-0 in February 2025 and 3-0 in September 2024. In fact, out of 20 games between the two sides since 2014, Bournemouth has only won twice and drawn once against Liverpool. That last win was a 1-0 victory at home in March 2023.

How did Bournemouth do last season? The team achieved their best ever Premier League performance, once again breaking their Premier League points tally record with a total of 56 points, having won 15 out of 38 games. It was also the club’s best-ever defensive record in the Premier League, with the Cherries only conceding 46 goals.

They finished in 9th place, up from 12th in the 2023/24 season and 15th the year before that; this was the team’s highest finish in the Premier League since placing 9th in the 2016/17 season.

Read more in Dorset View August ⤵️

📢 Out now! 📢

August issue of Dorset View 📰

Read 👀 online 👉 https://www.dorsetview.co.uk/dorset-view-magazine/

Printed copies available from one of over 70 community collection points including CO-OP Wimborne, Colehill, Corfe Mullen, TESCO Ferndown, SAINSBURYS Christchurch and Ferndown.

GPS tracked door-to-door distribution is underway.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
⚽️ AFC Bournemouth prepare for the kick-off of the 2025/26 Premier League season
📉 BCP Council faces £171m financial black hole
🔥 Wildfire devastates Holton Heath
↩️ Council U-turns on tip plan
🪖 Ceremonies to mark VJ Day 80
🎨 Wimborne’s new mural unveiled
🧑‍🍳 Top chefs to attend Wimborne Food Festival
🩰 Harry Redknapp opens new Wimborne dance studios
🧜‍♀️ Farewell to the Great Tail Trail
🎉 Friends of Victoria Hospital celebrate 90th anniversary
🛩️ Air Festival has its wings clipped
⛵️ New summer event for Christchurch
🤡 Fun at Westival
💃 Shake & Stir sees Southbourne turn vintage
👩 Meet the woman behind the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show
🅿️ BCP Council shifts gears to reverse parking plan
🪟 The value of a sea view
✈️ Pull a plane for charity
plus much more