Bodmin CIC awarded £180k

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L-R: Fin Irwin, Scott Mann MP and Councillor Louis Gardner

IntoBodmin CIC has been announced as the first project in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly to receive a share of the region’s £132 million Shared Prosperity Fund.

The community and arts organisation, formed in 2017, has been awarded £180k to refurbish The Old Library which serves as a cultural and community hub for the town, including co-working and business workspace, performance area, café and community room.

It will also use the funds to launch a new community skills development programme to provide the opportunity for six volunteers to receive training and establish place-based groups to develop community opportunities.

Councillor Louis Gardner, Cornwall Council portfolio holder for the economy, said: “This is a great example of a project that can deliver on our good growth ambitions and make a difference at the heart of the community where it’s needed most. IntoBodmin is the first of many fantastic projects in line to receive shared prosperity funding, which will give residents access to new jobs and training and see investments made to improve local communities across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.”

Fin Irwin, director at IntoBodmin, added: “We are so excited to finally transform The Old Library building, that has been at the heart of the Bodmin community for the last 125 years. Accessing the Shared Prosperity Fund will allow us to safeguard it for the next 125 years!”

Scott Mann, MP for North Cornwall, said: “North Cornwall didn’t get as much EU investment as other parts of Cornwall so it is great news that the first Cornish recipients of the Government’s flagship replacement programme, the Shared Prosperity Fund, are an organisation in Bodmin.”

IntoBodmin CIC received £180k from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund as part of the UK Government’s levelling up agenda. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have been allocated a total £132 million to spend on local investments over three years until March 2025.

Applications for the first round of funding opened in August 2022. IntoBodmin was successful in the “Culture and Heritage-Led Regenerations and Skills” open invitation.

All current opportunities for funding are available on the Good Growth website, with more opportunities ready to be launched in 2023.