Blandford Childrens Centre

What we do

The centre is part of the North Dorset cluster of children's centres, working closely with Gillingham Children's Centre, Shaftesbury Children's Centre and the Sturminster Newton Outreach Base. Our centre has evolved into a service for parents of children aged 0 - 19 as we work alongside a host of professionals and support services, including:

• Citizen's Advice
• Children and adolescent mental health service
• Parent support group
• Youth inclusion support panel

We run a variety of groups and activities which are all listed in our Blandford activities programme (pdf, 140kb) (opens in a new window)   Please call to check availability and book a place at any of our activities.

We support courses run in conjunction with Dorset Adult Learning with our Creche. We are proud of our links with the Blandford Midwifery Service, Connexions and Blandford Health Visiting team.

Find out what is happening in the North Dorset cluster newsletter (pdf, 4Mb) (opens in a new window) .

We are committed to safeguarding children and can offer support and advice. Find more information on safeguarding children, how we assess children who need extra support and how you can volunteer at the centre on our essential information for all children's centres web page 

Children's Centre Open Day-17 May 2013

Each Children's Centre in North Dorset is having an Open Day on Friday 17 May 2013. Blandford Children's Centre Open Day takes place from 10.00am-4.00pm where anyone can drop in to meet staff and see what activities are on offer. Please see our Blandford Children's Centre Open Day poster (pdf, 767kb) (opens in a new window) for more information. We look forward to seeing you there.

Day nursery

We have a 40 place nursery and an out of school club for children aged 4 - 12 years. For more information about Blandford Children's Centre Nursery and Oscars out of school club, search for them in the Family Information Directory (opens in a new window) . 

The centre also has a sensory tent which groups, families and the nursery, as well as local pre-schools, and other outside groups and professionals can use.

Location and area covered

We are located in Black Lane in Blandford Forum, which was the old St Leonnards school site. This is also the site for Adult Learning and Archbishop Wake Primary School. There is very limited parking on site but we are close to the town centre and a 'pay and display' car park costing 70p per hour. There are a number of dedicated Disabled spaces within our car park. There is a lay-by outside the perimeter which you may also park in. There is a bus stop a short walking distance from the centre.

The centre covers a wide area including Shillingstone, the Tarrants, out to Winterborne Kingston and Blandford Camp.

Further information

The centre warmly welcomes you to drop in and have a look around, or contact us for more information. We are open 8am - 6pm, Monday to Friday, 51 weeks of the year with the exception of bank holidays and staff training days.

• Manager - Amanda Davis
  Name: Blandford Forum Children's Centre
  Email: blandfordcc@dorsetcc.gov.uk
  Tel: 01258 480147
  Fax: 01258 480147
  Full details for Blandford Forum Children's Centre