The Town Council helps to support the local community and voluntary sector through the activities of its Community Development Officer. For more information, or to get involved, please contact Emma Scott, Community Development Officer on 01305 266861 or email e.scott@dorchester-tc.gov.uk.

The Community Development Officer delivers their programme of work in accordance with their structured Community Implementation Plan which sets out a series of community priorities under 7 headings and describes how these can be met with concrete and measurable steps.

Work that is currently being delivered with partners includes:

1. Culture, Heritage, Tourism & Leisure

    • Hosting a range of events such as:
      • Dorchester Science Festival
      • Pop-Up Pride Dorchester
      • One World Festival
      • Holiday Hangout
      • Anonymous Festival
      • Carols in the Gardens
      • And supporting town council events such as Love Parks and partner events such as Street in the Park and more.

2. Transport and Access

    • Coordinating the Dorchester Access Group whose aim to is to help improve the standard of access relating to the built environment including public and commercial buildings within the town of Dorchester. The group advises on installation of dropped kerbs, supports campaigns, for instance to install a lift at Dorchester South station, and acts as a consultative body, for instance with Dorset Highways.
    • Supporting the work of Dorchester Transport Action Group and promoting active travel.
    • Supporting the Friends of the Station’s groups.

3. Good Health, Wellbeing and Safety

    • Supporting a range of health groups and projects.
    • Working with local prescribers and the local Primary Care Network and Public Health.
    • Mental health work, especially supporting young people.
    • Working with projects promoting inclusion.

4. Democracy and Local Voice 

    • Running 2 x themed community lunches per year.
    • Sending out community mailouts to share local events, news, and funding opportunities.
    • Running events such as:
      • Democracy Day
      • Holocaust Memorial Day
      • Informal Annual Town Meeting
    • Coordinating Dorchester Youth Council – whose role covers:
      • Organising and leading on events such open mic nights & the Anonymous Festival.
      • Helping at other events like Love Parks.
      • Acting as a consultative body to represent young peoples views and needs.
      • Linking to other youth councils.

5. Housing

    • Supporting the work of the Dorchester Area Community Land Trust to help deliver affordable local housing.
    • Maintaining a leaflet to support people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and working with local agencies to support rough sleepers.
    • Working with local Housing Associations.

 6. Economy, Training, Education and Volunteering

    • Supporting and advising a wide range of local groups, helping with advertising for volunteers, providing governance and funding advice and linking them to other relevant initiatives.
    • Working with projects supporting people on lower incomes and local food banks.
    • Championing volunteering for instance through social media and the Car Boot Celebration Tea.

7. Climate and Environment

    • Promoting litter picking
    • Supporting Litter Free Dorset and other projects looking to reduce waste.
    • Working alongside local environmental projects.
    • Developing Rethink Fashion Dorchester to promote Sustainable Fashion.
    • Helping to coordinate the new Watermarks Scheme.
    • Getting involved in Food Conversations with a view to developing a range of food related projects.

Future plans and aspirations

  • Develop more projects with the Community Land Trust.
  • Continue to run and develop events.
  • Continue to work on youth led projects with Dorchester Youth Council.
  • Continue to promote digital inclusion and ensure widespread digital equality.
  • Work with colleagues and partners to support local business and enterprise.
  • Develop the Watermark Scheme to develop long term projects and deliver environmental outcomes.
  • Develop more food related projects, ideally including a Social Supermarket or a Pop-Up Food Larder.
  • Continue to respond to community priorities as they arise and work with partners to find ways to address them.

All of the work is coordinated with the involvement of local community organisations, statutory partners and a great number of amazing volunteers without whom projects could not be delivered.

Many of the aims of the Community implementation Plan also link to, or overlap with, the Town Council Community Resilience Plan– especially around the importance of communication, growing digital inclusion and supporting local voluntary groups.