If you live in one of the Winterbournes, Idmiston, Porton or anywhere else along the valley, you’ll know the problem even if you’ve never put it into words: there’s actually loads going on — brownies, horticultural societies, drop-in cafes, garage sales, AGMs, am-dram nights — but finding out about any of it is a matter of luck.

Every club and society here has done the right thing and built itself a little website. A parish council site. A hall’s own page. A Facebook group for the players. A noticeboard in the village shop. Each one is well-meant, and each one is basically invisible to anyone who isn’t already looking for it. You’d have to already know the Horticultural Society exists to find their site, follow their page, or spot their poster. New to the area? Just moved to Winterbourne Gunner? You’re not going to stumble across any of this.

So instead of every group competing for the same handful of eyeballs on their own little island, Bourne Valley puts them all on one map.

What it actually does

Bourne Valley is a single index for the villages in the valley — one place that pulls together:

• Clubs and societies — who they are, when they meet, where
• Events — everything coming up in the next few weeks, in one list
• Locations — the halls and venues that host it all, with links through to their own sites

Instead of eight different groups each running their own small, occasional website, there’s one shared front door. You can browse by what you’re into, see what’s on this week, and turn up knowing where you’re going.

The bit that matters most: anyone can add an event

The map only stays useful if it stays current, and no one person can keep track of everything happening across every group in the valley. So rather than me (or anyone) trying to be the gatekeeper, there’s a simple Add Event form open to anyone. Running a garage sale? Organising a coffee morning? Add it. It goes straight onto the shared calendar and map, next to everyone else’s.

That’s the actual shift here — from “every group maintains their own audience from scratch” to “everyone posts into one shared space that already has the audience.”

Why I built it

I’m Andy — I build websites for a living (Digital Smartarse), and this one’s a bit different from the client work: no one asked me to build it, there’s no commercial angle, it’s just a local itch that needed scratching. Small local groups shouldn’t have to become marketers to get ten people through the door for an AGM. They should be able to run their thing and know that anyone nearby who might be interested has a place to find them.

If you run a club, society, or regular get-together in the valley and you’re not on the map yet — add your first event here and you’re in.