Community in Poole: Make It, Mend It and Meet Someone at The Dolphin

Some weeks the best thing at The Dolphin is not something you can buy. It is a table, a kettle and a few people who know how to fix a lamp.

GATHER is our free community space, and over the next fortnight it is busy with people making, mending and teaching each other things.

Poole Men’s Shed, until Sunday 20 September

The Shedders are with us until Sunday. If you have not come across a Men’s Shed before, the short version is a workshop where people build things together, mostly for the good of being in a room with other people while doing it.

Come and see what they make, have a proper chat and find out how to join. No woodworking experience required. Turning up is the whole entry requirement.

Hello You Studios, Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 September

Hello You Studios brings its pop up to GATHER for two days. Worth a look if you are curious about what they do.

Art Cafe with Chimera, Wednesday 23 to Friday 25 September

Three days of relaxed, sociable art making. The point is not to be good at it. The point is to sit down, make something and talk to whoever is next to you.

Materials are there. So is tea.

Bournemouth Repair Kitchen, Saturday 26 September

Bring us your broken things.

The volunteers at the Repair Kitchen will help you fix the toaster, the lamp, the jacket with the failed zip, the thing you have been meaning to sort out since March. It saves money, it keeps working items out of landfill and it is genuinely satisfying to watch.

Have a rummage in the cupboard before Saturday. You will find something.

Why GATHER matters

GATHER is 1,600 square feet in the middle of Poole that costs nothing to use. Charities, community groups and individuals book it for exhibitions, markets, information sessions and workshops.

It means the centre is not only a place to shop. Some weeks it is where people come to learn something, fix something or simply not be on their own for an afternoon.

Plan your visit

The Dolphin is in the heart of Poole with parking on site. Come for one thing, stay for the other.

Take a look at our What’s On listings before you set off, then come and find us.