How We Started

The Regent Centre is located in the High Street, Christchurch, with the two main towns of Bournemouth and Poole six and twelve miles to the West. The New Forest stretches to the East for some thirty miles as far as Southampton. The Centre was opened in 1931 as a cinema and was used thus or as a bingo hall until 1983, when it was purchased by Christchurch Borough Council for re-development. Local pressure and enthusiasm for the arts persuaded the Borough Council to re establish the cinema and add structures and fittings to enable theatre presentations. The Council provided a small number of key professional staff, but a majority of the day to day operation was carried out by volunteers. The programme of events at the centre has continued to expand and diversify since this time. In 1986, a temporary structure was added to the rear of the building to provide dressing room accommodation and a Studio rehearsal space. In 2000 a permanent four story replacement was completed as part of the town’s Millennium celebration.

What We Do Now

The current events programme is diverse, providing a mix of professional music of all kinds, small to mid- scale touring theatre, film, dance, and extensive use by some ten local amateur companies, representing approximately 450 events annually. The completion of the studio theatre has enabled development of more intimate productions and offers a unique facility in the area. The additional spaces are used extensively by the local community and the Regent Centre can offer a drama school, ballet school, pre-school nursery, as well as rehearsal space and smaller rooms for workshops and meetings.

During the past three years, the Regent’s front of house area and auditorium has received a facelift, with refurbished interior fittings, improvements to the fascia, new seating, air conditioning, ladies’ toilets and disability access, and the introduction of computerised ticketing.

Without question, the viability of the Regent Centre is dependant on the large number of volunteers who perform key tasks from ushering in the auditorium, to projecting, to duty managing. Their input also adds to the overall feeling of a community facility and our patrons’ sense of having a stake in the organisation. Support from the Borough Council is also vital. Without the building maintenance contribution, the Regent Centre would struggle to survive.