Formed in 2016 by local volunteers, the Purbeck Youth & Community Foundation is a charitable organisation created in response to Dorset County Council’s appeal for community groups to take over the management of youth centres.

Our aim is to help & support young people & the community in Purbeck. We manage the Wareham Youth & Community Centre & run age related evening sessions at Wareham, Corfe Castle, & Wool youth clubs. At Wareham – We provide some lunchtime access for students at the adjacent Purbeck School. We also organise one day trips & residential activities. A Duke of Edinburgh Award group meets fortnightly & the local Gateway Club uses our facilities on a weekly basis. We also have a women’s group & work in some local schools & with some young people in the community one to one or on Outreach.

We run a Not so Youth group for over 50’s. You can find out more by watching this short video here!

Our qualified staff support young people’s individual needs & when necessary signpost them to further help on a diverse range of issues. We work in partnership with many agencies who regularly use our premises to meet young people in their environment. Our members have highlighted the club as somewhere they feel safe, where they can meet friends & make new friends, relax, enjoy themselves, & take advantage of new opportunities.

In January 2024, pycf became the host for “Wareham’s Family Hub”, part of Dorset’s family hub network. In April 2026, National Guidance changed the name to “Best Start in Life Family Hubs”.

Wareham Family Hub has network points in Wool, Bovington, Lytchett Matravers, & Upton, with links to libraries, Swanage & Wareham Rugby Club, the URC church, the foodbank, & Not Just Sundaes. We continue to develop links.

Swanage has its own family hub. Both are overseen by the Purbeck Local Alliance groups which  links with Dorset Strategic Alliance Group.