Representatives from various organisations in Bude were in attendance at the Parkhouse Centre on Monday, January 7, to talk about how they have used funding from the Cornwall Councillor Community Chest award.

Each Cornwall Councillor has a small grant fund to assist projects run by voluntary and community groups in the area they represent.

The grants can be used for a wide range of groups and activities, including helping vulnerable children or adults, helping young people, providing facilities for older people, supporting community facilities, local environment projects and helping projects to tackle community safety issues. Grants range from a minimum of £100 up to a maximum of £1,000. 

Members of the public were invited to hear about the work of the local groups around Bude, and the projects that have been delivered as a result of the funding.

Adrian Parsons from Bude Life Saving Club said: “The finance we received was a massive help in purchasing equipment that we needed.”

One of the items Adrian held up was a junior mannequin, which was purchased using the money given to them from the grant.

“The mannequin has been a great help for us, being able to teach the Nippers invaluable surf live saving skills.Through this funding, it allows us to keep running our organisation and for us to continue educating the youngsters, which is what we are all about.”

Next to present was Kirsty Sampson, chair of the Bude Sharks swimming group.

With the £500 given to them, they have purchased an underwater GO Pro filming device and a Samsung Tablet, which has enabled them to further enhance the group’s swimming skills.

Kirsty said: “We are able to identify more areas that individuals can improve, as we can assess their swimming techniques from within the water. The kids are really excited about it all and are loving seeing themselves swim.”

The swimming club from Bude encourages its members to enter competitions suitable to their level of expertise and the group has 17 swimmers going to the county championships this year.

Kirsty said: “This is something we are all really pleased about and with this new equipment we can really add value to their training.”

Another recipient of the funding was the Marhamchurch Christmas Committee.

Chair, Sarah Short, and Susie Butler said: “We used the money to purchase a Christmas tree for the village square. This year the whole community got involved in our project, based around the tree.

“We ran a competition within the primary school to see who got to light the tree. We also had Magic Martin perform in the evening and had a huge crowd of people turn out.

“We then organised a quiz and a walk, from which we raised over £200. So we are hugely thankful for the grant money that kick started this wonderful festive year.”

Also from Marhamchurch was Peter Hillingham, who has helped orchestrate the revival of the village shop. He was overwhelmed by the progress made in recent months.

“The funding has given us a really good leg up. We started to get underway in July and are now due to finish at the end of January.”

Peter explained that the £400 grant awarded to them was a great help to enable them to build a unisex toilet, with disabled access.

Peter said: “Since 2010 we have been working hard to have a village shop in Marhamchurch and now we are almost there.

“It has been a real community effort and we have received tremendous support and help from the locals and the parish council who have given us ownership of the land the shop is on. My cup is now full.”

Bude Croquet Club also received a £400 grant, which has enabled them to purchase a set of four new balls. Club secretary Frances Hornblow, who was at the celebration, said: “We now have enough balls for people to come down and try croquet!

“We will show anyone how to play for free and want to encourage anyone interested to come down and have a go.”

She said: “The fund has been marvellous for us and we feel that the club is really moving forward.”

Chairman from Bude Cricket Club, Tony Greaves, was on hand to explain how the community grant has been a staple for the club. “We haven’t really spent any of the money given to us by the grant as we have only just recently fitted a new kitchen into the club house.

“We did purchase a couple of books, remarkable cricket grounds and remarkable village grounds.”

Representing the Bude and Stratton Fold Festival was Mike O’Connor. The not-for-profit, four-day folk festival will be holding its 13th event in 2019.

Mike said the £400 grant given to them has helped raise the profile of the event earlier, adding: “We can produce publicity material and pamphlets to spread the word about our fantastic event, early in the year.

“We also want to put local artists into schools to give students advice and support, but also to teach them about the art industry.”

The May bank holiday festival encourages arts of all genres: singing, dancing, painting — just to name a few.

Steph Jones-Giles of Bude Animal Friends was the last to speak about the money the organisation received.

Steph said: “This year we have helped fund a new diabetes research programme at Exeter, that has been groundbreaking.”

Bude Animal Friends is a local support group for animal free research and is run entirely by volunteers and donations from the local community.

The money used from the grant, has been used to produce literature informing people about the benefits of using human research and some truths about animal based research,.

Steph added: “What we don’t have is leaflets that are suitable for children, to educate them about animal testing. We also want to go into schools and host talks to children to explain what we do and why we do it, as well as creating banners and posters that will help to spread the message.”

For more information on the Community Chest scheme and how you can apply for funding, contact the Communities Support Assistant for your area.

Details can be found at: www.cornwall.gov.uk/community-and- living/communities-and-devolution/community-networks/