About Us

Wellbeing Swanage came, initially, from the learning that the Swanage and Purbeck Development Trust had when it took on the former Youth Club building and it grew into a vibrant community centre. It recognised the importance of community being at the heart of protecting and enhancing wellbeing buildings, services and activities.

This then developed into a diverse community group with collaboration between representatives of the Trust, Swanage Town Council, the Swanage Area Forum, Swanage Neighbours, Swanage & Purbeck Rotary,

Swanage Linking Lives, various local healthcare groups, interested individuals, as well as larger national groups with an interest in promoting health and wellbeing like the National Trust. We have recently come under the formal umbrella of the Swan age and Purbeck Development Trust which acts as an advisor and charitable delivery vehicle, for local projects to aid the community in meeting the challenges and issues important to it.

Our Values

Whilst we expect and hope the shape of Wellbeing Swanage will change over time, as more groups and community members become co-producers, we have laid down some initial values to act as guiding principles and inspiration, and as a basis upon which we can start to build something really exciting!

Our commitment to adaptability enables us to evolve with our community’s needs, nurturing an ethos of continuous learning and growth. Above all, we strive for a culture of compassion and empathy, as we believe that nurturing the wellbeing of Swanage extends beyond physical health to encompass mental, emotional, and social wellbeing as well. Together, these values drive our mission and empower us to cultivate a vibrant, healthy, and connected community.

Empowering

Strengths focused:

We start from a place that looks to ll of our community and seeks to recognise the abundance of talents, abilities and vision that everyone in it already has.

People can and do the extraordinary.

Listening:

We are committed to listening to all community members, giving full and equal voice to all – we want to hear what everyone has to say.

This is vital if together we are going to shape this project so it is authentically by and for the community.

Sustainable

Long-term thinking:

We seek to build something that will be able to serve our community now and in the future.

We will avoid short term fixes and instead look to help our community put in place solid infrastructure to support us to live good lives, at all our lifes stages.

Responsive:

We want to be adaptable and seek creative solutions to the problems our communities face. We want to build on what works well but drive positive change in those areas where things could be better.

We will follow a “push it where it moves” model to maximise our ability to do this.

Connecting

Sharing:

This project is all about sharing – be that ideas, resources, spaces, talents, problems and projects.

Mutual aid and organisation, reciprocal exchanges and cross pollination can be a powerful amplifier of the good that is already in our community.

Building connections:

We will facilitate meaningful connections in every way we can, building and nourishing relationships will be a key measure of how successful we are as a project.

Kind

Building Trust:

If we want every member of our community to feel safe and valued we must have trust. We recognise trust is something that can take time to build and requires genuine acts and words.

It requires honesty, compassion, accountability and respect to run through what we do.

Welcoming to All: 

As a project we must create and maintain an environment in which all are welcomed. This is an active, practical process, which will involve breaking down barriers to participation and truly valuing everyone involved.