Local Action in Cornwall

Porthcurno Post Office

Small Grant for Business & SOcial Enterprise Grant £4,091

A re-opening of this much loved and respected local village store and Post Office, with the nearest amenities being 4 miles away it was an important part of the West Cornwall Local Action Group strategy to support this local isolated community. As a new business the store owners are introducing new innovations to support the local residents along with the influx of holiday makers. Local suppliers will be sourced and a hot food service are amongst many ideas that the new proprietors are planning to set up.

Cornishwear

Small Grant for Business & Social Enterprise Grant £6,280

 West Cornwall Local Action Group invested in a new micro business using local workers and developing a traditional local garment “The Cornish Smock”.   Cornishwear has worked hard towards making and retailing these unique garments. The grant aid has meant that Cornishwear could attend more trade shows, establish a web presence (www.cornishwear.com) and work with local retailers. The Cornish Smocks are designed and cut by the business owner and manager and then sewn by self employed local people.

Lavender Essential Oils

Small Grant for Business & Social Enterprise grant £2,421

This business is setting up the only field based lavender plantation in the area and is situated opposite a Cornish Mining World Heritage Site, it is also on the “Tinners Way” walking route and has a great passing trade.  The entirely home grown product will be used to produce essential oils, dried flowers and soap and links the land with the tourism trade.  The company sells its products through its local shops and at trade shows and fairs through out the country. A soap workshop is next in line for this company and its pilots have been well received by visitors.  The investment by the West Cornwall Local Action Group enables this business to develop these diverse and niche areas of its business.

Bosavern Community Farm

Local Action Grant Programme £25,000 in May 2010

Hugh Taylor is a farmer who has spent the past few years working on an organic farm in Spain.  Hugh is now using this valuable experience to benefit communities in West Cornwall by helping volunteers and workers on a farm near St Just to take part in a new farming experience. 

The idea behind the Bosavern Community Farm is to get as many volunteers, local groups and schools involved in working on the farm as possible.  They will grow organic vegetables and keep chickens and pigs, with Hugh on hand to show people the ropes as they work together to make the farm a valuable resource for their communities. 

The grant of £25,000 from West Cornwall Local Action Group has enabled the Lands End Peninsula Community Land Trust to get this community farm started and for a farm manager/trainer to be recruited. 
For more information on progress at the farm go to www.bosavernfarm.co.uk

Trowan Allotments Borehole

Small Community Projects Grant £4,427

There has been a strong and persistent demand for allotments in recent years and the St Ives Town Council aims to meet this demand and exceed the quality standards required by sourcing water on the site.  The 3.25 acre site near Trowan is now established with 46 keen potential allotmenteers signed up for plots.

The site is designed to minimise landscape impact, and field margins will be widened to encourage wild flora and fauna to flourish.  By providing local people with the space to grow their own food, ‘food miles’ will be reduced and plot-holders will have the opportunity to participate in some healthy outdoor activity alongside others from their local community. 

 West Cornwall Local Action Group grant of £4,427 was made to the site managers St Ives Town Council and will pay for the costs of drilling a borehole to provide a sustainable water supply for the allotments, a key element in ensuring the long term viability of the site.  The grant will also cover the purchase and installation of an environmentally-friendly solar-powered pump to bring the water to the surface.

Furry Youth Cafe Helston

Furry Café hops out of the Burrow at Helston
Young people in Helston have helped turn a disused shop premises in the High Street into a vibrant ‘youth cafe’.

Small Community Projects Grant £15,000.  Thanks to a grant from West Cornwall Local Action Group they have been able to furnish and equip their chosen premises – over Warren’s bakery - and transform it into an appealing, vibrant venue to meet, socialise and learn new skills. 

 Under the guidance of a Project Manager and local business mentors, young people will run the cafe as a social enterprise under the Young Enterprise Scheme.  It is expected that over 100 young people per year from south kerrier will benefit from using the Burrow’s facilities and learning and practising business skills in a safe and supportive environment.

The cafe will also serve as a venue for information, advice and guidance sessions specifically for young people.  The cafe will source food and drinks locally as much as possible, to support other local businesses and producers.

Ruby Junes Indian Kitchen

Small Grants for Business & Social Enterprise, Grant £8,400

Ruby June’s Indian Kitchen is run by June and Andrew Hornby from their home in Nancledra.  The business specialises in Punjabi inspired curry sauces and snacks using locally sourced ingredients. Currently available from four local farmers’ markets and farm shops, the business has grown dramatically over the last 12 months.

 “The business has really taken off in the last 12 months.” Explained June, ”We have a very loyal customer base and there is demand out there for our products, but we just didn’t have the money to take the business to the next level. With this funding we will now be able to package, market and sell the sauces to more customers through an e-commerce website – which is the next obvious step for us to take.”

The project is exactly the kind of business the Local Action Group has focussed on with their support because Andrew and June produce high quality food using other local suppliers and they want to take the business to the next level – which means employing people and helping to develop a strong rural supply chain.

West Cornwall Farmers Market Coordinator

Local Action Group Grant Programme £59,996

There are already 12 successful farmers’ markets running across West Cornwall, although the majority are held in the far west. 

Farmers markets are run by local people from the community and supply food from local producers.  It’s really thanks to committed local people in each village and town that these markets work and new ones open. There is a lot of work that goes into starting a market and the committees of people involved do a great job of encouraging new producers, finding local suppliers who may not already trade at farmers’ markets and making sure things run smoothly on the day.

West Cornwall Farmers Market development officer Victoria Amran said “We have seen a significant rise in the number of people attending farmers’ markets over the last 15 months. Thousands of people shop at the markets every week. Having local markets is a huge help to the small rural businesses who depend on them for a large part of their income.”

This innovative project sees dedicated support from outside the market volunteers to help them with promotion, training, coordination of effort to get started or continue to develop their markets.  The South Kerrier Alliance run this project across the whole of the West Cornwall Local Action area.

Victoria Amran
Development Officer
West Cornwall Farmers’ Markets
Visit the website wcfm.org.uk

South Kerrier Food Guide

Small Community Projects Grant £4,612

Right across South Kerrier local businesses produce a range of foods enjoyed across the whole of the UK. Yet many who live in this part of Cornwall, or who visit this beautiful part of the world, do not know where to find this wealth of fresh, local food.  

Transition Helston, the team behind this project, decided to produce a South Kerrier Food Guide in order to encourage local people, and visitors to the area, to purchase some of this delicious locally produced food by creating the source information covering the range of foods, and where to buy.  As well as being environmentally friendly and more sustainable, increasing the amount of food bought locally will provide a very valuable boost to the local economy and jobs for local people.

This project met West Cornwall Local Action Group’s priority of funding projects that will develop local supply chains, in order to benefit the local community.  The project received 100% of the costs of printing the Guide, while, additionally, enormous voluntary effort was put into research, database, website and distributing the guides.

The artwork and design for the booklet were created by Art & Design students from Helston Community College and it was printed on recycled paper in Helston.

Western Discoveries

Small Grants for Business & Social Enterprise £2,750

This company provides bespoke services for walking holidays following Cornwall’s coastal paths, taking in the many villages and local attractions throughout Cornwall. A dedicated website allows excellent planning for a hassle free camping holiday. www.cornwallcampinghire.co.uk

The company set up its Hassle Free Camping project including website, new equipment and marketing with assistance from the West Cornwall Local Action Group Small Business Grant.  The camping equipment allows the company to offer bespoke service with all the equipment necessary for a camping holiday, along with additional services of camp site set up and dismantling

With project costs of £5550, and a grant of £2750 from West Cornwall Local Action Group, the new Hassle Free Camping encourages rural tourism activities, attracting visitors to the regions campsites, coast paths and coastal towns. Associated benefits include camp fees, local spending in restaurants and local attractions. Based in the heart of Penwith, this project demonstrates both rural innovation and enterprise.

Cornish Country Flowers

Small Grant for Business & Social Enterprise
Marketing the flower business

This is an established micro business growing a range of flowers for wholesale and retail customers operating at a small scale in rural west Cornwall.  

The grant from West Cornwall Local Action of £5,676 has enabled this company to increase its marketing effort and increase the range of products.  Investment in new workspace and a larger refrigeration unit has dramatically reduced waste and improved the business.

The business manager had assistance from Agri Business Information Point to work on a detailed plan to develop this new customer base and organise the business to increase its turnover.  This plan helped to set up the systems and to organise the business to make a case for the grant. www.cornishcountryflowers.co.uk

Ki Design - Office Upgrade

Small Grants for Business & Social Enterprise, Grant £4,477

Ki Design is a small local graphic and web design business being run from a small office at a local industrial business park. The company designs and publishes promotional bespoke branding, printed literature and websites for its clients and advises on web marketing.

With grant support from West Cornwall Local Action Group, Ki design has expanded into its own office space rather than sharing with another business.  This enables the partners to expand productiveness and give professional approach as a sustainable business. Our business is local and provides other local businesses a professional hub for all their design, print and web needs.

The company work closely with local business and community groups particularly food products from the area.  And so the benefit of this business expands to the whole of the Lizard in a critical rural sector.

A total grant of £4,477 towards the total cost of the project of £8,984 has enabled Ki design move to a larger more professional office, which welcomes all sizes of clients groups. New and innovative software means that Ki design compete in a highly competitive industry and provide up to the minute media. 

Mounts Bay Gig Club

Small Community Projects Grant £5,000

 During 2011 Mounts Bay Pilot Gig Club created an exciting and innovative heritage project to offer local school children a unique chance to see at first hand the craft of gig building, and learn more about the history of this important and traditional craft which led to the growing Cornish sport.

 Throughout the project local children have recorded the building of a new gig for the Mounts Bay club by craftsmen on the Isles of Scilly, as well as interviewing older people with memories of past exploits of gigs in the bay, and taking part in workshops and visits from specialists. 

 The new gig was launched with much excitement on a wet and windy Sunday 12 June 2011.  Due to the weather the ceremony was held in the gig shed, overseen by Lord St Levan, who, although now aged over 90, has attended all 7 of the Club’s launches as President, and wasn’t going to miss this one.

 Also pictured here are the Forever crew at the Scillies launch – so named because they each donated towards a seat and have a brass plaque on that seat that will stay with the gig forever.

 The West Cornwall Local Action Group invest in this project as they recognised that the wider links of a sports club with the community and the heritage is an important networking and development opportunity.