NEETSIDE Community Centre in Bude will host an open house and coffee morning to showcase over 20 local community and voluntary groups this month.

Opening its doors to the public, local groups, clubs, societies and volunteers, Neetside Community Centre has been a welcoming space for community activity, events and services since 1996, when it was purchased and transformed by a group of trustees from a drill hall to a community centre.

Since then, numerous organisations have found a home at Neetside and on average it hosts 50 different groups and organisations a year with an estimated 8,000 people visiting the centre annually. Yet one of the most said sentences to the Neetside team is, ‘I never knew you did this’.

Recognising a need to connect people, support local community groups and help promote the wealth and variety of opportunities in Bude, the Neetside team have decided to host an open house and coffee morning event on Friday, November 15 from 10am to 12pm. Everyone is invited and alongside the organisations present there will be a second-hand book stall, raffle and pop-up cafe serving tea, coffee and cake, all run by volunteers.

Cathy Bowley at Neetside Community Centre said: “We wanted to highlight and showcase all the amazing activities, groups and offers that are happening in Bude at the moment. It’s easy to become isolated, or just to miss things that are happening right on your doorstep. By having an open day we want to help our community make some of those connections to important organisations in the area. We’re inviting everyone to come down and join us for a cup of tea and cake and find out more about what’s happening in our local community.”

Neetside Community Centre is the base for many organisations in Bude, including Age Concern Bude, Pluss (employment charity), Healthy Cornwall, Outlook South West (counselling), The Women’s Centre, Audiology, Bude Area Toy Library and, soon to be joining the community centre, Mid-Cornwall Lifestyles — all of whom will open their offices, as appropriate, for the morning, inviting visitors to drop in and see what services they provide.

Many of the groups and organisations who regularly meet at Neetside will have a presence at the open day, including Citizens Advice, Linda Moran (herbalist), Bude Canal and Harbour Society, Cornwall Lip Readers Et All, Repair Cafe Bude. In addition, many local and county-wide organisations will also be at the centre, including Volunteer Cornwall, Bude Carers Support, Kernow Carers and Bude Walking for Health group.

Louise Pearce from Neetside Community Centre, said: “We’re delighted by the response of people wanting to be involved in the event and very excited that someone from the grants team at Cornwall Community Foundation has also agreed to attend to highlight their various grant programmes. Now we’d like to invite the public to come along to meet the groups, find out about volunteering opportunities, link up with organisations and generally celebrate the fantastic community sector here in Bude.”

Miranda Clarke, manager of the community centre, continued: “There is a great sense of community in Bude and everyone knows everyone. But at a recent community event it was noticeable, and surprising, that many of the people attending, although knew each other, didn’t know the role or organisations each other were there representing. By far the biggest feedback from the event was we needed more time to network and learn more about what was happening already in our community, out of which came Bude Together and the idea for Neetside to host an open day.”

Hilary Workman, chair of trustees at Neetside Community Centre, added: “It’s a great opportunity for organisations to showcase the work they do in this area and promote any volunteering opportunities they have. People come into our building and ask about volunteering on a regular basis. The open day will also be a great way to make those connections and put people in touch with opportunities to support their local community.”

The open day coincides with the national fundraising day for Children in Need and a donation from the day’s events will be given to support this charity.

For more information bout the event, call 01288 353 403 or email [email protected].