meet the team

Alix founded The Power House from a passion for bringing people together through creativity, community and social action. With a background in community outreach and lived experience of overcoming challenges, she is committed to creating opportunities for local people to connect, contribute and thrive. A Hamworthy resident, Alix is also a musician, mother and enthusiastic creative.

Michael has spent the last 15 years working in the arts, with a specific interest in participatory practice through community engagement. Following a career in health and social care, which included roles in senior workforce planning and community development, he moved into event and arts management in 2010. A Poole resident since 2014, he co-managed SoundStorm's Music Hub service for 7 years before going freelance in 2021. He lives in Hamworthy with his partner, two cats, and a sizable record c

Leila is our Community Projects Coordinator, playing a key role in bringing the hub to life through creative events and engaging programmes. She coordinates activities, supports and manages our fantastic team of volunteers, and is often the friendly face welcoming visitors through the door.

Passionate about connection and community, Leila is focused on reaching more people, building meaningful relationships with local organisations, and getting out into the wider community to grow our impact.

Out and about, Leila embraces creativity and connection in all its forms. You might find her at live music events, dancing Bollywood-style, printmaking with local co-operative Poole Printmakers, swimming in the sea, or even singing in the woods!

Bio coming soon

Maureen is an artist, curator and project manager with extensive experience delivering arts, heritage and community projects across the UK. Since moving to Poole nearly 30 years ago, she has supported a wide range of local cultural, wellbeing and access initiatives, including curating The Power House's first Open Art Exhibition at Lighthouse, Poole in 2021.

Her career has included roles in design, illustration and museum project management, working with organisations such as the National Trust, RNLI and English Heritage. Passionate about creativity and community, Maureen continues to support local arts projects while developing her own creative practice.

Bridget has lived in Hamworthy for over 10 years after having lived in several countries and cities. She has worked at senior leadership level in both global and local organisations.

Bridget has an MSc in Management with HR and brings a wide range of experience to the Trustee role. She has recently qualified as a personal trainer, with coaching skills. Bridget is keen to add her knowledge to support The Power House Poole to continue to grow and support the local community and promote wellbeing.

With a genealogy that records over 600 years of continuous residency in Poole, Simon is proud of his local roots. Born and bred in Hamworthy, where he resides, he supports civic and community initiatives that seek to improve the area that he loves.

Simon’s professional career also centred on care of the environment. He spent over 30 years helping large and small organisations establish sound governance processes and operational practices for managing environmental risk. As a trained auditor, Simon has a keen eye for identifying risk to compliance, and is experienced in developing mitigation measures that deliver compliant and sustainable performance improvements.

Since retiring, Simon has become interested in exploring how art can be used to harness the power of community, and has founded a Community Interest Company that is facilitating the production of a local public art installation to create community benefit.

Casey Jeffery is a communications specialist, CIPR member and Trustee at The Power House Poole. Local to Hamworthy, where she grew up, she brings over 12 years’ experience helping organisations strengthen how they listen, connect and communicate.

Rachel is an artist, counsellor and community arts practitioner with more than 25 years’ experience helping people explore their creativity. Trained at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Bologna, she has worked with a wide range of communities, creating welcoming spaces where people can connect, express themselves and discover new possibilities through art.

At The Power House, Rachel leads creative groups and wellbeing activities, bringing together creativity, mindfulness and conversation in a relaxed and supportive environment. Alongside her community work, she works as a qualified counsellor (MBACP) from The Snug counselling room. When she’s not facilitating sessions, Rachel enjoys printmaking, sculpture and spinning yarn on her much-loved antique spinning wheel.

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.

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.