On today’s Winchester Now:
- Election results:
- Hampshire County Council has fallen into no overall control. All 78 seats on the council were up for election this year. The Conservatives, who had been in control, have seen big losses, with significant gains for the Reform UK Party, which now has 20 seats on the county council. The Conservatives are reduced to 27 seats, and the Liberal Democrats now have 26 seats. Aldershot North was the last of the seats to declare today, with just a single vote in it: the division going from Labour to Reform.
- The Liberal Democrats now hold all seven of the Winchester divisions on the County Council. James Batho has taken Winchester Downlands from the Conservatives; Angela Clear has won Winchester Southern Parishes from the Conservatives; and Anne Small has won Meon Valley from the Green Party. Paula Ferguson, Jackie Porter, Martin Tod, and Jonathan Williams have retained their Winchester Eastgate, Itchen Valley, Winchester Westgate, and Bishops Waltham seats respectively.
- In the Winchester City Council elections, it has been a strong result for the Liberal Democrats who won 13 of the 15 seats elected this time round, gaining 4 more seats which had all previously been held by the Conservatives. The Green Party held their seat in Central Meon Valley, and an independent has retained their seat representing Colden Common & Twyford.
- The overall make-up of the 45 seats on Winchester City Council now stands as: 36 Liberal Democrats, 4 Conservatives, 4 Greens, and 1 independent councillor.
- Tubbs Hall in Kings Worthy is the weekly meeting place for the ‘Winchester Women’s Shed’. Derek Palmer spoke to recently-joined member and volunteer, Jill Richards, to find out more about the project.
- News-in-brief:
- Winchester Pride takes place this Saturday, starting with entertainment on Broadway from 11am, and with a parade through the city centre from 2pm. The Mayor of Winchester will join the event, which is also being supported by both Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council. The aim is to promote equality, inclusivity and diversity for everyone living in the Winchester area.
- Police are appealing for witnesses and dash-cam footage, after an incident in Littleton. A car, described as a light blue hatchback, collided with a pedestrian on Main Road last Friday morning. The pedestrian – a woman in her 40s – suffered minor injuries. The car driver failed to stop at the scene. Some local residents are now calling for more safety measures along the road.
- A team from our local maternity departments is taking on a tough challenge this weekend – the group of 19, including staff from both Winchester and Basingstoke units, is taking part in the Tough Mudder obstacle race, through muddy trails and steep hills, designed to test strength, teamwork and determination. The team is raising funds to provide upgraded equipment to support expectant mothers.
- After more than 5 years of planning and building work, the new River Park Community Pavilion is now open. The building, costing £2m, has been funded by developer contributions, grants and money from the local councils. It was first used last weekend during cricket matches, and is now available for various sports activities, including the weekly ParkRun events, and also as a community hub with a café space.
- Chesil Theatre has announced that actor, writer and director Prasanna Puwanarajah will join the theatre as it’s new Patron. Prasanna is known for his versatile career across screen and stage, with well-known TV roles including “Doctor Foster”, and the Netflix series “The Crown”. He said he’s proud to support Chesil Theatre, and described community theatre as central to British creative life.
- The Theatre Royal in Winchester is looking for local performers to audition to be part of this year’s pantomime, “Sleeping Beauty”. It wants to hear from talented performers with a flair for dancing, acting and singing, who want to volunteer to be part of the show’s Community Ensemble. The opportunity offers performance and industry experience, alongside established professional actors. Auditions will take place next month.
- Dementia Action Week events (18 to 24 May):
- 14 members of this ‘Dementia Friendly Winchester’ action group network, will be volunteering at the Winchester Parkrun on Saturday 16th May, and there will be take-away literature on upcoming events for the week’s activities to share with you.
- The Winchester City Council offices on Colebrook Street in the city-centre will have an information table available throughout Dementia Action Week for you to pick up support leaflets with details of the week’s activities.
- St. Clement’s Surgery in the city-centre will have a drop-in event from 10am to midday on Tuesday 19th May, where members of the NHS Social Prescribers team will be on hand to answer your questions and help guide you to local support available.
- A Dementia Fair, organised by the dementia nursing team at Hampshire Hospitals, Mon 18th May, taking place from 10am to 2pm within the Education Centre, at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester. There will be a wide variety of organisations with people on hand to speak to including teams from Hampshire Hospitals, local charities, businesses and groups that support people living with dementia, and helpful leaflets to take away. No need to book – just turn up.
- A Dementia Aware & Share event, Mon 18th May, 5:30pm to 7:30pm at Winchester Baptist Church on City Road in Winchester. There will be a range of organisations on hand who support people living with dementia, that you can go along and speak to about local services and activities. Again, no need to book for this event – just turn up.
- The “Dementia Bus” will be parked up outside the Guildhall on Wednesday 20th May, from 10am to 4:15pm. This immersive experience takes 6 – 8 minutes. It can be quite emotional for those who do it, but if you are caring for a loved one with dementia, or you want as a business to be able to better understand and support customers or clients who have dementia, it is very worthwhile doing this. No need to book, just turn up on the day.
- A short dementia-friendly church service, on Sunday 24th May from 10am at Winchester Baptist Church. Everybody is welcome, and refreshments will be served afterwards.
- Shout-outs:
- To the talented young people and families of the Winchester Cathedral Choir, for hitting their massive £38,000 fundraising milestone! Thanks to the phenomenal generosity of the local community, the boy choristers headed-off to France last week for their first major international tour in over ten years.
- To all those who participated in the Winchester Chamber Music Festival last weekend. There were over 60 children and a chamber orchestra taking part in the schools’ concert. And the festival’s first Young Musicians Platform saw a full house cheer-on outstanding performances from young people from local schools and colleges.
- To the two local businesses celebrating Kings Awards for Enterprise this week: RJM Corporation (EC) Ltd, a specialist engineering consultancy headquartered in Parchment Street; and Crystal Spring Consumer Division Ltd, a family-owned, manufacturing business based in School Lane, Chandlers Ford.
- To Peter and Maggie Lippiett from Littleton for setting up the Christian Aid Week Plant Exchange. This week, the local community were able to head over to St Catherine’s Church to swap their favourite garden greens, grab some fresh plants, and leave a donation for a wonderful cause.
- To the dedicated volunteers from the Friends of St Giles Hill Park, who launched their 2026 activities with a beautiful Dawn Chorus Stroll in April! Thank you to everyone who woke up early to support our local ecosystem!
- There was plenty of fun in the city-centre on Bank Holiday Monday at the big annual Running Day of the Friends of King Alfred Buses. Anna O’Brien spoke to some of those out-and-about on the vintage buses that day: Aiden, Alan, Billy, Bob, Greg, Ian, Jason, Jennifer, Julie, Marie, Maureen, Michael, Lesley, Lynn, Sharon, Vera, and Yolan.
