Our Mayor

On Monday 11th May 2026 Councillor Simon Gibson was elected as Mayor for the year 2026/2027.

I am looking forward to focusing on the volunteers that make Verwood tick. We are still a relatively new town, without the grand buildings of other areas, however I would not swap our community for that of any other.

I want to visit with as many community groups as possible, especially groups or organisations that we do not always engage with. As well as celebrating and promoting the groups that knit together our community, I want to celebrate the unsung heroes that quietly and diligently give their time for many years. On behalf of the town, I want to find new ways to say thank you and encourage a new wave of volunteering that many of our groups desperately need.

In the year ahead, I want to work more closely with our businesses. Verwood has great and innovative businesses that employ many local people and it isn’t easy out there. I want to build strong links and work with Colleagues across the council who are interested and involved in this work already.

I am intending to reinstate the Mayors fund as the beneficiary of any fundraising activities during the year. The Mayors fund aims to provide small one-off grants for events, groups or ideas that make the parish better with a particular focus on reducing loneliness and building a stronger community.

Finally, I want to focus on how the Council communicates with our residents. There is much that this Council does to support our community and as the very nature of communications change, it is vital that the Council changes too. The Council and the public will benefit from understanding more about what we do, what we don’t do and why we do it. It is my belief that we have a well-run and dedicated Council here in Verwood and Three Legged Cross and I look forward to spending the year getting into every corner of our community to listen, to explain and work alongside Verwoodians to make the Town even better.

There is much to do and I am thankful for the opportunity to serve in this role again.

This year the Mayor has chosen to raise money for small community grants, supporting local groups and initiatives to help the local community.

Our Deputy Mayor is Councillor Carol Traves