Structure
The Power House (Poole) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England under number 11625271, and a registered Charity since August 2020, number 1190962 . It is a membership organisation and is governed by this constitution. We ask that as a Member you give a minimum 10 hours a year voluntary time to The Power House, so you are an active team member and able to vote on key issues. You can join here.
We have four Directors who are Trustees and on a recruitment drive to grow our board with the relevant skills and experience. The Power House project is being managed by a core Project Development team made up of Trustees, staff, and Advisors. The core team is supported by other volunteers and partner organisations.
Core Project Development Team including Trustees
Alix Digby-West
Founder & The Power House Project Manager
Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Founder of SMILE Connect and Community Outreach Worker for 10 years out of her own lived experience as a single mum. Singer, musician, mother, and wannabe writer and artist. She has a BSc (Hons) Speech & Language Pathology and Therapeutics and grew up locally in Corfe Mullen and embedded in Poole and Bournemouth, resettling 26 years ago in Poole following University and now a Hamworthy resident for 12 years. Has a passion for Social Action and for all members of our community to know wholeness and live life to the full; for our communities to thrive economically, environmentally, and be connected. To be a strong, resilient place where we value and look after one another.
Being part of the founding Power House team and driving it forwarded, establishing community links and collaborations, while connecting and developing with residents has been an immense joy and huge learning curve.
After 7 years of being the only long term worker on the ground, Alix is so very thankful that The Power House is now in the position to scale up and bring the team needed to make The Power House be all it can possibly be. To finally become the multi-faceted diamond it promises to be, to ensure the people of Hamworthy and Poole thrive, flourish, and be all they can possibly be.
Avril Atkins
The Power House Project Manager
Avril joined The Power House in May 2024 as a Project Manager, co-working with Alix. She brings a wide range of practical skills and wealth of experience gained within the Voluntary, charitable and private sectors.
She moved to Hamworthy in February 2020 and has worked for organisations including: Community Action Network advising and supporting charities across Dorset, acting as a Consultant and Manager at West Howe Community Enterprise and Lily Housing providing supported housing for young people. Prior to moving to Dorset Avril lived in London successfully delivering an ESF funded Lottery controlled project for Gingerbread and managed a £1 million pound St Mungo’s Project Putting Down Roots for Young People. Avril has also worked as a Project Manager within addiction recovery services. She's used her HR knowledge as an HR Advisor within British Transport Police, the YMCA, City of London Corporation and London Councils to name a few.
Possessing a Masters in HRM, MCIPD Graduate, Post Graduate Diploma in Professional Development and BA (Hon) Business Studies. Her strengths include excellent Business and Project Management skills and outstanding organisational development experience, whilst creating effective systems, policies and procedures that deliver both compliance and effective monitoring and evaluation.
Avril enjoys working in charities she believes make a real difference in respect of people’s lives, addressing community needs and improve well-being. So people can reach their potential and achieve their aspirations.
She’s really looking forward to working with her own local community delivering exciting projects and events in The Power House Hub and at the Cornerstone Patch.
When not working Avril enjoys DIY renovating her home, cooking, gardening, and spending time with her granddaughter.
Penny Denyer
Community Projects Coordinator
Penny joined The Power House in October 2024 and has been a part of the Hamworthy community since relocating to Dorset in early 2018. Having spent over six years working at Hamworthy Library, she is a well-known and valued local figure.
A passionate and skilled crafter, Penny runs her own successful papercraft business. Her work has been featured in several magazines, and she has won numerous awards in crafting competitions. When she is not busy creating, Penny enjoys spending time outdoors with her dog, Tilly. You’ll often find her strolling along the beach, collecting shells, or exploring the forest in search of pine cones.
Maureen La Frenais
Interim Chair of Trustees
Co-Founder & Director/Trustee
Heritage of Poole, Arts
Building Design and Space Making,
Maureen has lived in Poole for almost thirty years. Currently, focusing on her own creative projects and supporting local cultural, access and wellbeing initiatives that benefit the community and visitors. In 2021, she was curator for the first ever Open Art Exhibition at Lighthouse, Poole for The Power House.
Apart from being a passionate artist, Maureen has worked in some diverse jobs that include being a graphic designer and illustrator for Brecon Beacons National Park, Haymarket Publishers and at Wandsworth and Southwark councils and as a Medical Artist at Guy’s Hospital.
Once she started working with more charities she realised she could easily combine my interests more holistically with my work. As a project manager. Maureen enjoyed delivering heritage, arts, cultural and natural environment projects and installations for the National Trust, RNLI, and English Heritage, and was fortunate to have some lovely work environments in historic buildings and museums, as well as visiting them as a freelance consultant and general punter!
Some of Maureen’s key work has included the delivery of the Grace Darling Museum, the Henry Blogg Museum, exhibitions at St. Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, and museums in London plus public art projects in the grounds of Lacock Abbey, and the RNLI National Memorial in Poole.
As an artist she also trained as an art teacher, and over the years have illustrated many publications, interpretation panels and led workshops and training sessions for various organisations, and occasionally find time to exhibit in exhibitions.
Maureen is an AMA (Associate of the Museums Association) and ex-trustee and events co-ordinator for the AHI (Association of Heritage Interpretation) and has held other trustee positions that include local connections such as with South West Federation of Museums and the EXplora Science project (Poole). As a member of Poole Printmakers Co-operative you can see examples of Maureen’s creative work through them.
Bernard Uzzell
Director/Trustee & Treasurer Business Development, Land Acquisition & Building Development Team
More than 35 years in roles specialising in financial and commercial analysis and business management. Previous industry roles have included commercial director in an international software and systems integration business to owning and running award winning hotels and a tour operator business in Bournemouth. With a PhD in Mathematics, Bernard enjoys turning chaos into order. His strengths include implementing and maintaining effective systems and processes to improve operations.
Marie Pandolfo
Director/Trustee
Strategic Project & Urban Development and Fundraising
Marie grew up in France and is a dual French and Italian national. She studied Fine Arts, French literature and languages; she holds a Masters degree in Ecology and Urban Planning and is an accredited Better Business Case Practitioner. She has been advising public, private and not-for-profit organisations in Fundraising and Project development since 2004. She has a proven track record in securing grant funding in the UK and in the EU through various roles in local government, charities and businesses. She is now the proud Mama of a Poole born and bread little girl, and wants to give back local to the community. In her spare time you will find her hiking, running, swimming or teaching French to local children.
Rachel Huggett
Co-Founder, Member of Project Development Team
Professional arts practitioner with over 20 years experience designing and delivering community arts programs to disadvantaged groups, dementia, mental health, carers groups and more. Co-founder of Zoofish Arts and artist member of the Boilerhouse Gallery. On a creative journey with my own sculptural work - currently in wire and stone - and an enthusiastic explorer of weaving, spinning and textile dyeing.
Bel Babbington
Cornerstone Patch Gardening & Activities Lead
With a First Class BEd Hons, Annabel has spent the past decade in education, specialising in integrating outdoor learning to help individuals reach their full potential. She has significant experience working with children in care and those with SEND and SEMH needs, leading outdoor and community-focused activities through her Forest School.
Annabel combines creativity with a passion for the outdoors, transforming unused spaces into vibrant, interactive areas and has quickly settled into her role as Lead Gardener at The Cornerstone Patch Community Garden where she will continue to utilise the natural world to feed our mind, body and souls.
A lover of all things wild, Annabel can often be found on the coast path with her camera and ID book or by the fire, paintbrush or pen in hand, aspiring to become the next Beatrix Potter. She also enjoys bouldering, camping, wild swimming, and paddle boarding.
Wider Team Members
Frances Fielding
Safeguarding Lead
Photo and Bio to come
Isaac Digby
Medical Lead, Deputy Safeguarding Lead, Communications & Administration Officer, and Generally Amazing Volunteer
One of the original founding vision holders, Isaac is one of the Class of 2020. A talented musician, and community hearted young person, showing great leadership potential. Isaac is a St. John Ambulance Service Volunteer and also Advanced Medically Trained. He has previously been a Chief Instructor at a Jet-ski Company, First Officer on a Boat Charter company and also the Emergency Response Lead for an Independent Coastguard Rescue Team. Basically, willingly, helps our Project Manager to get things done, to create something very special for the next generation and beyond!
Youth Project Team
Youth Project Leader
Thanks to National Lottery Reaching Communities we have funding for 16 hours a week for a three year role.
We are in process of securing the remaining funding to start recruitment of a full time Youth Project Lead to work with the wonderful young people of Hamworthy, Poole Town, and the area of Poole.
This will be to run our weekly Youth Space and add a second session, set up and run a Youth Café session, grow the Youth Project Volunteer base with our Community Team, develop and grow existing and new links with secondary schools, and develop and grow our Youth Volunteering offer.
Two years minimum Level 2 Youth Work qualification Youth Work experience.
Advisors
Martha Searle
Advisor
Community Development and Strategy
Martha Searle has worked and volunteered supporting charities and community groups for over 20 years. She worked with BCP Council for many of these, supporting groups in West Howe, Kinson and across the conurbation, championing equality and creating space for local residents to develop their own approaches to shared challenges. Martha brings a reassuring glow of confidence, with a sprinkle of bid writing expertise, years of project development experience and a smidge of governance knowhow to the team.
Patrick Andrews
Barefoot Lawyer
Advisor
Patrick is fascinated by organisations, and how they can draw the best out of people and make a positive difference in the world.
Working as a freelance business adviser, he helps organisations think about how they are owned, governed and led, and what impact this has on their people and their work. He draws on his background as a corporate lawyer, his experience with a wide variety of organisations in the UK and abroad, and his intuitive sense of what people need to be able to show up and contribute to a shared endeavour.
Patrick lives in the New Forest and loves both forest and sea.
Michael Armstrong
Project Development Team
Community and Arts Strategy
Michael has spent the last 15 years working in the arts, with a specific interest in participatory practice. Following a career in health and social care including roles in senior workforce planning and community development, he moved into event and arts management in 2010. He moved to Poole in 2014 to take up a role with the local music education agency SoundStorm, where he managed their Music Hub service for 7 years before going freelance in 2021. He lives in Hamworthy with his partner, two cats, and a sizable record collection.
ECA Architects & Planning CIC
Advisor
“We are architects. We are planners. Not one or the other but both. Better together, we work in harmony to deliver unparalleled results.”
RTPI Chartered Town Planner • 8 years experience working in local planning authorities • 4 years project management for regeneration partnerships (London) • 11 years in planning consultancy in community and commercial planning • PQF, BAP Ilminster: Neighbourhood Plans • Gravesend Transport Quarter: Renewal • Boscombe Towns Fund Manager • Pool of London Partnership Regeneration • Neighbourhood Plan Champion for Locality • Expert witness: EiP & Public Inquiries • Resident of Poole.
Gwyn Jones
Advisor
Business and Sustainability
Director of the Association of Sustainability (ASP), Co-Founder of the Bournemouth University Social Entrepreneurs Forum (BUSEF) and a guest lecturer at several universities and Business Schools on Global Sustainability and Social Enterprise. His passion is working out how we can all live sustainably and the role that organisations and individuals can play in achieving this. His vision is of a world in which enterprise serves society and where we learn how to nurture what nurtures us. For many years Gwyn lived and worked in Europe and the Far East creating and running IT services and management consulting organisations.
In Memorial
We remember Rev. Andy Mason
29/07/77-02/12/21
We remember Andy who was a Power House Poole Trustee
2019 - 2021,
Member of Project Development Team, Youth Project Steering Group & Safeguarding Lead
The Power House is very sad to have lost a valued Board member, member of the team, and friend. Since 2019, Andy was a Trustee who not only brought wisdom and good charity governance but led with Alix the Youth Project out of his time working with other local charities to hold the 2018 Poole Youth Conversation.
We remember Andy, who had a particular calling to help young people, the homeless, and those caught in addiction. It was his life mission was to bring Jesus to those caught in disadvantage and fight for injustice.
Andy’s legacy will go forward in many projects nationally and in Poole, including in The Power House.