It started as a few workmates getting together to go for a regular morning run, but has grown into an ambitious project to benefit the whole of the Bournemouth community.

Having been working under the radar for the last few years, the team behind Bourne Awesome are now inviting members of the public to get involved to “make Bournemouth more awesome” through a range of health, well-being and fitness initiatives.

“It’s grown into a town-wide movement to try and make Bournemouth a better place to live,” explains Bourne Awesome managing director Lucy Cooper.

“There are four projects focusing on four different mini visions within the overall vision of making Bournemouth a great place to be.”

Bourne Awesome, a not-for-profit company, will be officially launched with a corporate event on the evening of Thursday, September 20, followed by a public event taking place in the Lower Gardens from 12pm to 4pm on Saturday, September 22.

Members of the public are invited to go along to the launch to discover more about the initiative, how to get involved, and to enjoy a range of activities on offer including free exercise taster classes, live music and games. There will also be the chance to sample Bourne Awesome produce, including juice and trail mix.

“We have been growing in momentum and establishing a clear vision to help give back to the community through well-being initiatives,” explains Lucy.

“We are here to support the local people get well and to feel awesome.”

“The project was established to enrich the lives of the local community with a range of initiatives focused on health and well-being, but it does encompass a lot more.”

Bourne Awesome’s mission statement is “to benefit Bournemouth as a town, to build a useful and equally entertaining space for everyone to enjoy with a longer-term objective to make Bournemouth the number one health and well-being destination in the UK”.

It aims to do this through the work of four teams all focusing on different areas.

The blue team will carry out a range of exercise programmes, with weekly classes including boxing, Insanity workouts and Pilates. It will also work to raise money for a new outdoor gym at Boscombe Pier.

Meanwhile the green team, represented by local nutritionist Barbara Cox, looks after food, drink and nutrition projects, such as encouraging people to use local suppliers and focusing on zero waste.

The red team, working alongside Rev Ian Terry, team rector of Bournemouth’s Town Centre Parish, will have a community focus, with initiatives including converting a disused church in the town into a centre for homeless people who have recently been re-housed, with a bid to giving them a purpose. The centre will be open seven days a week and feature a treatment room, soup kitchen, bike repair workshop and fruit and vegetable garden, aiming to support a self-serving community.

In addition, the red team will work with the fruit and veg stall in Bournemouth Square, which will be re-branded to encompass Bourne Awesome, and will sell Bourne Awesome juice. The team will also train rough sleepers to work on the stall at weekends, and create street art on walls underneath the Wessex Way.

Finally, the white team will work towards a Bourne Fest event in 2019 and aims to secure funding for a Bourne Awesome app, whereby members can take part in an activity to earn tokens which can then be exchanged for merchandise or put back into community projects.

“We will invite members of the commercial community to come and sign up for Bourne Awesome membership,” explains Lucy. “part of that membership is giving out juice and trail mix to members’ employees.

“We can’t open membership to individuals until we get the app, but people can buy merchandise or put themselves forward as a volunteer, and they can sign up for a newsletter to find out more, and to find out when it does become open for individual membership.

“Longer term, we want to have a clear strategy about how we make Bournemouth more awesome.

“The ultimate goal is that everyone that lives or works in Bournemouth is a member, but we will include the whole of the conurbation in our activity. By 2025 we want to have 60,000 members.”

“We want people to be part of a community initiative, with any surplus that we make being invested back to the community.”

To find out more about the project, follow Bourne Awesome on Facebook or Instagram.