We’re delighted to announce that we’re beginning work on our ambitious Boscawen Education Skills and Heritage Activities Project in Truro, Cornwall, thanks to a grant of £99,919 awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Everyone the project reaches, whether people we support, staff, volunteers or visitors will gain a richer understanding of the local area and its heritage.

Working in partnership with the Tregothnan Estate, who are providing pro-bono support, we will open up a new world of opportunity for the people we support and reach out to the wider community with a range of heritage activities.

We will do this by:

  • Training people with learning disabilities in our dedicated training kitchen to make traditional Cornish foods like pasties, saffron and Hevva cakes, and demonstrating these techniques to visitors. This will give the people we support transferrable skills in the hospitality industry, and keep these traditional skills and recipes alive.
  • Formalising our heritage offer on the farm, including local country crafts like hedge-laying, heritage cookery, felting (using wool from our own sheep), wooden bowl making and basket making. Training people we support in these skills, and selling the products to support the sustainability of the farm, on-site and online.
  • Creating a way-marked heritage trail passing by the Wheal Busy Engine House, alongside a digital version of the trail. The trail will signpost visitors to view the many significant structures around the area, whilst encouraging them to understand the links with the past.
  • Developing an outdoor learning, storytelling and meeting space, housed in a new under-cover yurt where stories can be re-told and memories captured in a peaceful environment.

What’s next?

We are in the process of recruiting for a Project Manager and Project Support Officer to bring this exciting project to life, and will be drawing on volunteer support from the local community.

Next, we’ll be reaching out to local volunteering and business communities for support and sponsorship opportunities.

More updates coming soon.