There is a new project coming to Bodmin for September – the Community Cooking Club. Bringing the community together through food is something that Beth, our Cafe Manager feels really passionate about and is what she and her team will be focusing on while The Old Library Cafe is shut and the building undergoes renovations.
Beth is collecting details from anyone who is interested in saving money, sharing skills, and using up surplus food with preserving, batch cooking, no waste cooking and group cook ups. There will be lots of trying new foods and recipes!
If you are interested in joining then let Beth know by emailing cafe@intobodmin.co.uk or pop into Shop 14 (next to Oggy Oggy) and see Shannon on a Mon, Weds or Fri between 10-12pm.
Hospital Rooms is running a series of fun, creative workshops in collaboration with intoBodmin for people with lived experience of inpatient mental health services.
These workshops are part of a project that Hospital Rooms is running with Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Twelve artists have been commissioned to create brand new, site-specific artworks for the inpatient wards in Bodmin and Redruth, and would like to provide an opportunity for you to share your ideas and experiences about what could make these spaces better.
The workshops will be taking place at The Shire Hall on Mount Folly Square, in the centre of Bodmin. Each session will last two hours with a break in the middle. They are completely free and include all art materials, and tea, coffee and cake. You are welcome to sign up to as many of the workshops as you like.
For more information about the workshops and accessibility, and to sign up, please head to the Eventbrite page
If you have any questions, access needs, or would like some help with registering, please contact izzy@hospital-rooms.com
intoBodmin team secure building’s future for the local community
The team at intoBodmin are celebrating having bought The Old Library at the top of Bodmin’s high street, which has been their base since 2017. The sale, which was confirmed on 4th July 2023, is the result of having achieved a total £640k of grant funding which the Community Interest Company will also use to fully refurbish the Grade II listed John Passmore Edwards library.
The Old Library is home to a vibrant community hub run by intoBodmin. The building hosts a community café, shared co-working spaces and rooms for hire, plus a licensed venue with a varied events programme. However, the historic building is in poor condition and expensive to run: over the last year, it has cost £120 a day to cover the building’s basic overheads.
Initially raising £115k from Arts Council England, and £60k from Cornwall Council’s proposed devolution deal with the UK Government to purchase the building from Cornwall Council, the intoBodmin team have been awarded a further £465k from the Architectural Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, and the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Cornwall Council has been chosen by Government as a Lead Authority for the fund and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The fund has provided £180k for the Old Library project.
Director Fin Irwin said “From the very beginning, our ambition has always been to purchase The Old Library to secure it as a community space – and owning the building means we’ve been able to win this vital funding to invest in the library and give it a more secure future. It will also allow more of our income to be re-invested into the our community work, rather than paying high running costs”.
Nema Hart, Arts Council England, South West, Director of Place, Economy and Partnerships, says: “It’s fantastic to be supporting the development of The Old Library, a building with a rich legacy, for the creative community and residents of Bodmin. At the Arts Council, we value access to shared spaces for learning, creative engagement, and collaboration – so we’re pleased to see The Old Library in the capable hands of intoBodmin, who are committed to transforming it into a venue that’s open to all, and fit for the future. We can’t wait to see the positive impacts it will bring.”
Repairs and upgrades will focus on making the building warm, watertight and welcoming, as well as reducing its carbon footprint and running costs. The overall facilities will be improved, and energy efficient lighting and heating systems installed – including solar panels donated by Clean Earth.
The building will close for up to 6 months while the refurbishment breathes new life into the iconic building in Bodmin’s town centre. The intoBodmin team and their programme of community activity will be moving to Shop 14 on Fore Street while the redevelopment takes place.
Irwin continued, “This purchase and renovation is such a great opportunity for Bodmin and our organisation. In 1897, the great Cornish philanthropist John Passmore Edwards opened this building as a free library for the people of Bodmin. 126 years later and intoBodmin are able to repair the fabric of the building and make it a community resource fit for the 21st century. We are proud to be able to build on the legacy of The Old Library building, and excited to share this space with all the wonderful people who use it and those who will discover it in the future.”
intoBodmin is an arts and community organisation, which was set up in 2017 by Bodmin local Fin Irwin when the town’s public library provision was moved to a new location and the Public Rooms were sold – all of which threatened to leave Bodmin without a home for culture and the arts. After taking on The Old Library’s lease from Cornwall Council, over the past five years intoBodmin have developed the building into the thriving community hub and arts venue it is today.
Tash Arnold, Co-Director and project lead for the purchase and refurbishment, added “We are so grateful to all our funders – particularly the Architectural Heritage Fund, which has supported our project from the very beginning. Many different teams at Cornwall Council supported and advised us throughout the process, as well as our local councillor Pat Rogerson, and our local MP, Scott Mann.”
The programme of works will begin in July 2023 and are due to be completed in 6 months, with the building reopening in January 2024.
IMAGE CREDITS
intoBodmin 1: The Knit-and-natter group, organised by intoBodmin’s Craft Lead Julie Griffen, which meets at the Old Library every Wednesday, celebrate outside The Old Library. In the centre are intoBodmin team with supporters and representatives of funding bodies, including Pat Rogerson, Cornwall Councillor (St Mary’s and St Leonard); Fin Irwin, Founder and Co-Director; Tash Arnold, Co-Director; Steve Facer Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Team; Calum McGrath, Senior Parliamentary Assistant to Scott Mann MP; Michael Muldowney, Senior Communications Officer to Scott Mann MP.
intoBodmin 2: The intoBodmin team on the steps of The Old Library, celebrating with supporters and representatives of funding bodies. Front row, L-R: Pat Rogerson, Cornwall Councillor (St Mary’s and St Leonard); Fin Irwin, Founder and Co-Director; Tash Arnold, Co-Director; Steve Facer Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Team. Back row, L-R: Calum McGrath, Senior Parliamentary Assistant to Scott Mann MP; Michael Muldowney, Senior Communications Officer to Scott Mann MP.
Last week the intoBodmin team packed up The Old Library building and relocated to Shop 14 on Fore St.
This is because, despite looking good for it’s age the building is over 120 years old and needs some renovating and TLC. It will be closed until the New Year when we hope to re-open with a warmer and greener building!
You can now find the intoBodmin team down in Fore St at Shop 14 – next to Oggy Oggy Pasty. Our email addresses and phone have all stayed the same emailus@intobodmin.co.uk | 01208 811185
We will continue to run a regular programme of events as best we can and without The Old Library as a venue we will be popping up all over Bodmin using some familiar and new venues.
It can be a little daunting getting to grips with a new venue but don’t worry! You will also still be met with a member of the intoBodmin team as usual. If you have any further questions concerning access needs or anything at all, then please do email: events@intobodmin.co.uk
Lots of you are used to popping in and seeing the team throughout the week and this will be a bit harder to do in Shop 14 but the intoBodmin team will be here in the office every Tuesday.
Not only does our Beth Woolley do an amazing job of running the Old Library Cafe, she also heads up Plastic Free Bodmin!
This means that Bodmin has joined a network of communities across the UK who are leading the way to tackle throw away plastic at source. The town has been awarded Plastic Free Community status by marine conservation charity, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), in recognition of the work it has done to start reducing the impact of single-use plastic on the environment.
Beth started the campaign in November 2021, after she struggled to source plastic free items during lockdown. She decided that rather than just complain she should use her frustration to try and make a change locally and was amazed at how many people in Bodmin were interested in environmental issues and wanted to be a part of the journey.
Registering with the SAS Plastic Free Communities movement, Beth pulled together key organisations and businesses in the town to put in place a five-point plan. The objectives include; setting up a community led steering group, instigating the SAS Plastic Free Schools education programme, getting local council commitment and working with local businesses, organisations and community groups to spread the word and minimise the amount of disposable plastics they use.
Beth has been delighted by the results she has had with this campaign and describes the overwhelming response from a diverse range of organisations in Bodmin as “ an inspiring community action”. Currently there are over 25 Bodmin based community groups, businesses and organisations signed up as supporters of the project who are also committed to making changes to their own use of disposable plastics in the future. As well as environmental organisations such as the Bodmin Tidy It Team, there are allies from groups supporting young people, such as Miss Elvy’s Curious School of the Wild and all Bodmins primary schools, Bodmin and Callywith College are signed up to the Plastic Free Schools initiative. Local publications, Bodmin Life and Bodmin voice have helped spread the word, and long established local organisations such as The Rotary Club of Bodmin are also on board. Bodmin Town Council passed a resolution supporting the plastic free journey, committing to taking action itself and supporting plastic-free initiatives within the Town. Beth also has support from a number of local businesses that have become ‘Business Champions’ who have made sustained changes to their business to reduce their single use plastic, including Celtic Produce, Oggy Oggy Pasties, and Sustainability Award winning Discovery42.
Plastic Free Bodmin have been promoting the campaign and plastic free alternatives at various local events, including PandaFest and Bodmin Town Council’s monthly market on Mount Folly to raise awareness amongst the community and in a joint project with Bodmin Way is set to reduce the amount of single use plastic at the town’s annual St Piran’s Day parade. In sponsorship with Proper Cornish, each child who participated in this year’s parade was given a reusable drinking bottle rather than a disposable one- featuring a design from the winner of a recent competition for local school age children illustrating the connection and importance of Cornwall and environmental sustainability.
Beth is overjoyed that the town has now been awarded plastic free community status and sees this as just the start of the journey. Beth states that “its not about doing plastic free perfectly, but about many people making small changes for the greater good of the community we live in”, she is keen to continue to work with local groups, schools and businesses to reduce the town’s plastic use even further and develop a more environmentally sustainable approach as a community. Plastic Free Bodmin is only getting bigger and more impactful and welcomes any interested volunteers, groups or businesses to support their goals- please get in touch!
Hi – I’m Rebecca and on this page you can find out all about the sustainable fashion workshops I’m running in Bodmin. These sessions are for people looking to learn new skills and create new clothing. You need to be aged 16+ to attend.
My idea to do this project came from the fact we have a lot of charity shops in Bodmin and a lack of mainstream shops to buy current fashion and trends. I care about the environment and also where I live and work and I wanted to do something to change this. I love to learn new creative things.
From the 7th March there will a series workshops; x5 workshops where you can learn a new skills and x7 practice and make sessions. A workshop leader will lead each skill session and you will need to book in. In these sessions materials will be provided.
In the practice and making sessions you will be able to practice the skills you have learnt so far. I’ll be there to support you so if you’ve missed the skills session you can also join in. You will need to bring your own materials for these sessions and if you want to bring your own project you are welcome to!
Workshop Details
Tuesday 7th March 5pm – 7pm Skills Session – Natural Dying Workshop Lead: Sian Cornish All materials provided. You will need to sign up here as spaces are limited.
Tuesday 14th March 5pm – 7pm Practice and Making Session – Dying There will be no workshop lead but this will be a chance to practice your own dying skills. We can share our skills and help each other. You will need to bring your own materials. This session is drop in.
Tuesday 21st March 5pm – 7pm Skills Sessions – Plastic Flowers from a bottle Workshop Lead: Rebecca All materials provided You will need to sign up here as spaces are limited.
Tuesday 28th March 5pm – 7pm Skills Sessions – Embroidery Workshop Lead: Lucy Whittaker All materials provided but you will need to bring your item of choice for embroidery. You will need to sign up hereas spaces are limited.
Tuesday 4th April 5pm – 7pm Practice and Making Session – Embroidery There will be no workshop lead but this will be a chance to practice your own embroidery skills. We can share our skills and help each other. You will need to bring your own materials. This session is drop in.
Tuesday 11th April 5pm – 7pm Practice and Making Session – Embroidery There will be no workshop lead but this will be a chance to practice your own embroidery skills. We can share our skills and help each other. You will need to bring your own materials. This session is drop in.
Tuesday 18th April 5pm – 7pm Skills Sessions – Keeping with the Trends Workshop Lead: Rebecca All materials provided, there will be sewing machines available to use. You are welcome to bring your own sewing machine and also items of clothing if you wish. You will need to sign up here as spaces are limited.
Tuesday 25th April 5pm – 7pm Practice and Making Session – Keeping with the Trends There will be no workshop lead but this will be a chance to practice your own sewing skills. We can share our skills and help each other. You will need to bring your own materials. This session is drop in.
Tuesday 2nd May 5pm – 7pm Practice and Making Session – Keeping with the Trends There will be no workshop lead but this will be a chance to practice your own sewing skills. We can share our skills and help each other. You will need to bring your own materials. This session is drop in.
Tuesday 9th May 5pm – 7pm Skills Sessions – Patchwork Workshop Lead: Amanda Young All materials provided, these sessions will focus on hand sewing techniques. You will need to sign up here as spaces are limited.
Tuesday 16th May 5pm – 7pm Practice and Making Session – Patchwork There will be no workshop lead but this will be a chance to practice your own patchwork skills. We can share our skills and help each other. You will need to bring your own materials. This session is drop in.
Tuesday 23rd May 5pm – 7pm Practice and Making Session – Patchwork There will be no workshop lead but this will be a chance to practice your own patchwork skills. We can share our skills and help each other. You will need to bring your own materials. This session is drop in.
This project is supported by Feast, Arts Council, Cornwall Council
Thanks to Bodmin Lions £200 for materials for workshops intoBodmin – creative space and office and mentoring support techneopro – for their donations of materials Plastic Free Bodmin – for support on this project
George Ellis was a photographer based in Bodmin, he captured the everyday lives of people living in the Town. We’ve been running a creative workshops over the last couple of months, which has been exploring his collection of extraordinary Bodmin photographs from the 1930’s to 1980’s.
We’d like to invite you to our event to share with you what we’ve created!
There will be a display from both our BodZine project and Henwyn Collective. The BodZine team have been making a DIY, collaborative ‘scrapbook’ of imagery and opinion and the Henwyn collective have been exploring interests in photography and printing techniques.
We can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with alongside a display of George Ellis photographs of Bodmin.
The event is on 11th March at 2pm in The Old LIbrary Cafe and is free to attend.
Brief for Artist Led Community Engagement: The George Ellis CollectionintoBodmin and Kresen Kernow
Introduction
We are looking to engage creative practitioner(s) to create an exciting, interactive series of engagement activities/workshops working with individuals and communities in Bodmin celebrating the work of photographer George Ellis and the local area.
intoBodmin is a community interest company established in 2017 to bring about greater community cohesion and local pride through arts and culture. Working in partnership with Kresen Kernow, home to the world’s largest collection of documents, books, maps and photographs related to Cornwall’s history (with financial support from Historic England and Arts Council England).
The activity will be designed to engage people from the local area to select, interpret and present untold histories captured in the images, culminating in a celebration event produced by intoBodmin for the wider community.
The Brief
This brief is to deliver a series of workshops/engagement activities and form part of a project sharing event in Bodmin:
The workshops/engagement activity is to be designed for young people and people experiencing loneliness or isolation following the pandemic, as well as the wider community through activities or sharing the project outcomes.
Its aims are to:
Support groups of people from the local community to select, curate and interpret unique images of Bodmin’s people and places, uncovering new or forgotten stories.
Celebrate the extensive work of George Ellis, generating an interest to access the archive further through interpretation of the images of Bodmin, its people and places.
Create opportunities for people, including young people, to socialise and enjoy themselves while exploring their town’s heritage and learning new skills.
Provide opportunities for people to creatively share these stories to engage other people in their communities.
Celebrate the less well-known and diverse elements of Bodmin’s history and contribute to pride and enjoyment in its heritage.
Enable people to connect with the history of their community and, importantly, with each other through workshops and events.
Specific details
The activity should be aimed at a groups of approximately 12-20 people, depending on approach and levels of support needed.
Creative leads should hold the appropriate Disclosure and Barring assessments and provide risk assessments for their planned activities.
As contribution towards the project sharing event, activity will be inclusive and open to all.
Budget
We are looking for proposals to deliver a series of engagements. We are open to considering proposals from individuals to engage with one or both groups, likewise for groups/collaborators to apply:
Creative practitioner (Community)
£2,100.00
Creative practitioner (young people)
£2,100.00
Equipment and materials for workshops @ £500 per group/activity
£1,000.00
How to apply
Your application must be no more than two A4 pages of text and should include:
The design and delivery of community engagement/workshop activity: Methodologies on how the engagement/activity is to be achieved and materials to be used − Inclusion of your understanding of risk controls and appropriate checks and measures.
The creative response has an emphasis on health and wellbeing outcomes in an exciting, innovative, and creative way, enhancing positive mental and physical wellbeing enabling people to feel good and function well. It must actively engage local communities in the development of the project for them producing high quality engagement activity that will enhance the wellbeing of participants for the future.
The engagement must focus on the community of Bodmin, including residents that have specific physical and mental needs.
All text, physical labels and panels produced should meet present guidance and policy on accessibility, style, and appropriateness.
A summary of your creative practice and experience, including any images, information, or links from past projects that you think will be relevant to your proposal.
An indicative breakdown of how you will use the budget.
We require all applicants to complete an equality and diversity form which you can link to here
Project schedule
The deadline for applications is: 9am November 7th 2022
The successful applicant(s) will be confirmed and contacted week commencing 14th November 2022
The successful commission will start week commencing 21st November 2022
The work will be completed, and all information will be submitted to go towards the evaluation week commencing 20th February 2023
Shortlisted creatives may be contacted for further information. The selected applicants will be invited to a meeting to discuss the proposal and contractual arrangements.
We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and actively encourage people from a wide variety of backgrounds, experience and skills to join us and influence and develop our working practice. We particularly encourage applications from Black candidates, candidates from diverse ethnic backgrounds, and disabled people.
All disabled candidates who demonstrate that they meet the essential criteria will be invited for an interview, in line with the Equality Act 2010.
Applications should be sent via email or post to: Michael White, Creative Projects Lead, intoBodmin, The Old Library, 10 Lower Bore Street, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL30 4DA. Email: michael@intobodmin.co.uk
We are looking for hosts for the musicians and actors coming to perform with intoBodmin.
Do you love meeting new people? Are you a great host? Do you have a spare room?
We have a small handful of supporters who have accommodated a whole host of artists over the years and they’ve had a great time hosting people like the bassist in the Gorillaz and Radio4 presenter Ritula Shah.
We are now looking for more supporters to do the same – could this be you?
What we’re looking for:
People who can offer at least one spare bedroom, free of charge. It doesn’t need to have an en suite bathroom, but needs to be a private space – i.e. not shared.
People who are happy to host at least one artist for usually one night. We can’t guarantee they’ll be famous!
In return, you’ll get two free tickets to that event and a whole lot of gratitude from us and the artists!
If you’re interested in going on the list, then please contact Mimi –mimi@intobodmin.co.uk
