Community café in Poole set to reopen

We are set to reopen our Alexandra Park Café in Poole on Friday 20 June.

The café is located in the refurbished pavilion building in the park and will be open seven days a week offering a range of food, drinks, and snacks.

The café has been temporarily closed over the winter months and, during this time, improvements have been carried out. The old derelict toilet block alongside the café has been demolished and a new accessibility ramp has been built in its place and landscaped with surrounding planting.

This work forms the most recent part of a wider refurbishment to the café which started in 2023. In addition to the new ramp, the café has received a structural refurbishment, a new plumbing system, kitchen, toilets, outside seating and a facelift to the old pavilion building.

John Hanson, Chief Executive Officer of The Parks Foundation, said, “We’re absolutely delighted to reopen the café in Alexandra Park.

“Accessibility for all is important to our charity – we want this café to be a much-loved neighbourhood space and community hub, a real asset for all residents where people can meet, chat, and enjoy the park.

“The refurbishment has really transformed the pavilion into a modern and welcoming place to visit. Now, with the addition of the new ramp, everyone can fully access this space and what it has to offer.

“We couldn’t have done this work without the help and support of the community, including BCP Council, local businesses and residents, as well as our charity’s GreenFingers volunteers who have worked so hard to ready the space for the café’s reopening.

“We’ve got lots of exciting plans for the summer, including regular BBQ events for local people to get together and make the most of this special park.

“We can’t wait to welcome the local community back to the café, and we look forward to seeing familiar faces and new visitors.”

We would like to thank everyone who has supported our work and helped fundraise or secured grant monies, and all those that have worked so hard transforming the bowling pavilion into the refurbished café.

Our charity works to enhance more than 20 parks across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole for the benefit of people and nature.

We have been working within Alexandra Park since 2021, improving the park for wildlife and the local community by planting trees, sowing wildflowers, creating a community growing space and orchard, and running free nature-based activities for local people of all ages. The opening of the café in May 2024 further expanded our work in the park.

Like our charity’s other community cafés at Winton Recreation Ground, Redhill Park, and Boscombe Chine Gardens, and the Kingfisher Barn Visitor Centre on the Stour Valley Nature Reserve, profits from Alexandra Park Café will help us continue enhancing parks across the area.

Our cafes rely on volunteers who give their time as often as a couple of times a week to once a month (full training is provided). If you’re interested in volunteering at our community cafes, please contact info@parksfoundation.org.uk, call 01202 143724, or pop into the cafes for a chat.

We also welcomes working with other local charities and community groups and invite those interested in hosting their activities in the cafes to get in touch.

Find further information about our Alexandra Park Café here.

Published June 2025