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Martyn Lewis to officially open The Elms

05.07.11

Former national newsreader Martyn Lewis is to officially open The Elms, which is rapidly becoming a popular community, voluntary and social enterprise hub for Cornwall.

The opening event, on Friday (July 8^th) will be based around a tribute to Blair Thomson, who died earlier this year. A book dedicated to him and intended to be filled with stories about individuals with individual life stories will be begun – with Martyn Lewis opening the first page.

The event is also part of the tenth birthday celebrations for CN4C (Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change) and CN4C chair Beth Semmons will start proceedings. Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, will also be speaking, telling her own valued story about Blair, who before he died in January, was Chair of the Board of Trustees for Cornwall Voluntary Sector Forum.

Ms Kelemen said, “A beautiful but derelict building has been turned into an iconic asset of hope and aspiration for the community. Opening its doors to people from all walks of life and local businesses this proud facility will allow them all to make their individual contributions to their working lives and to Cornwall and the economy.”

The sympathetic restoration of The Elms – formerly the Ministry of Labour – was led by CN4C and cost £1.6 million with more than £1 million coming from ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Convergence. Contributions were also received from The Clothworkers' Foundation, The Arts Council and The Social Investment Business. A mortgage was also taken by CN4C from Unity Trust Bank. Other key partners include Cornwall Council and Coastline Housing Ltd.

Facilities include office space, a VCS hub for knowledge exchange, IT suites and a social enterprise and self employment facility. Since it opened, in January, it has become more and more popular. As the rooms have become populated so has the wall and floor space with artwork created by artists and members of the community including an entrance hall mosaic and a stunning metalwork sculpture depicting Redruth.

Individuals are welcome to drop in to have tea or coffee, to look around or to just sit. Those already using the Elms include Redruth Community Radio, run by Stu Williams; Jane Jiwa, who uses office space for her social enterprise Smart Savings; the Visibility Group, which supports people with visual impairments, Brandon Trust, which supports people with Learning Disabilities

Tarn Lamb, CN4C Chief Executive, said, “For me the really exciting thing is to see people coming into the building and starting to use it. The whole idea is that this place is open to anyone and people can use the IT and meeting spaces if they want. One of CN4C’s key messages has always been if you put quality, community facing buildings into the most disadvantaged areas, right on the social housing estates, you can spark change.”

COPY ENDS.

For further information please contact:

Tarn Lamb, Chief Executive CN4C. Tel: 01209 310610 or 07837 246205

Clare Morgan, Media Relations Manager for the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Tel: 01872 223439 /07973 813647.

Email: cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk

EDITORS’ NOTES:

Martyn Lewis, Chair of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, was of the UK's most successful newsreaders, working for 16 years on ITN's News At Ten followed by 13 years reading the six o'clock news for the BBC. www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/

The Elms: Situated at 61, Green Lane, Redruth, The Elms offers services for individuals and community groups including information, advice and guidance; learning from skills for life to chunks of degree courses; pathways to employment and community development activities for all ages.  Over a five year period 16 jobs will be created directly as a result of the delivery of this project.  It will also support the growth of the VCS as a sector in Cornwall’s economy by giving security of tenure to CN4C, and other smaller voluntary sector organisations.  It enables the sharing of key back room resources such as ICT, HR and finance. It has created a community resource to support the most disadvantaged in the area to gain skills and create employment opportunities.

Convergence:

For further information see: www.convergencecornwall.com

Convergence helpline telephone: 0800 0280120.

In Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly the Convergence programmes are made up of European Regional Development Fund (£374 million) and European Social Fund (£153 million) and will run until 2013.

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