Momentum is gathering on funds to make changes to our building, alongside the construction of a new stand-alone training centre...
Cornwall Samaritans operates from a building owned by the charity. Centrally located in the middle of the county in Truro, the site is easily accessible via major roads and public transport for volunteers, partners and service users. However, a 3-story “town house”, the building is problematic, not fully accessible and no longer fit for purpose.
We must undertake major capital work to release its potential, enabling us to reach more beneficiaries, grow our services and make our charity more sustainable.
With feasibility studies and architects’ plans complete -
- We will make alterations to our building which will enable our charity to conduct all our operations on the ground floor – made accessible to all. A new entrance will lead to a new gallery/reception area, linking the Emergency Control Room and a new office, a breakout room, a sleeping room and toilet.
- The first and second floors will be converted into separate, rentable accommodation, providing income - enabling our charity to become more self-sufficient and financially stable long-term.
- We will also build a new, separate, self-contained Training Centre within our grounds, for our volunteers, partners and the community’s use, incorporating a lobby/ breakout area, 'Space to Change' toilet and mini-kitchen, utilising sustainable power.
The Benefits & Impact:
Increased accessibility, diversity and reach – our services and facilities will be improved, increased and accessible to existing and new volunteers and beneficiaries. We will undertake our capital developments of the ground floor and Training Centre with the utmost attention to accessibility, taking advice from Disability Cornwall.
Our main building’s ground floor will be fully accessible for our volunteers to run and provide our services, which will in turn be accessible for our service users – particularly our ‘walk-ins’ or ‘face-to-face’ users. We will be able to attract new volunteers so that we can remain open more hours, embrace new technology and offer more outreach into the community. This will increase our volunteer numbers and diversity in all areas of our work, enabling us to reach beneficiaries when they need us, and how they need us.
Our new Training Centre will provide improved meeting and training facilities for our volunteers and enable us to work in partnership with a greater number of other organisations in the field of preventing suicide, through space for meeting and collaborative working, to widen our reach.
We will also be able to support our community by offering quality and accessible space, leading to further awareness of our services through increased footfall to our location.
Energy efficiency & sustainability – we will achieve an energy efficient, low maintenance, cost efficient Branch, to ensure expenses are controlled and that funds raised are focussed on the provision of service and not on maintenance or overheads. Ground-source or air-source heat pump, roof/wall insulation, energy efficient windows, heating and lighting systems, vehicle charging points and cycle racks are just some of the high spec incorporations to ensure maximum energy efficiency and low costs, as well as accommodate the future move away from fossil fuels.
Income generation - rental income from the private accommodation, alongside income generated through hire charge of the Training Centre will generate new and sustainable income streams for the charity. This will help us to safeguard for the future, resulting in different types of income, making our charity more self-sufficient and financially stable long term.
Phased Construction, timing and fundraising strategy – the Training Centre will be built first, then temporarily house our operations whilst the work to the main building takes place. This will limit interruption to service provision as well as allow a phased fundraising and building approach to minimise risks. Developments are under the charity’s control, without the need to bid and relocate to another property or building plot. Having searched unsuccessfully for the past 4 years, relocating is not an option.
The Outcome:
Our capital developments will help save and change more lives. We currently respond to over 20,000 calls for help each year via phone and webchat, feeding into a national network where the first available Samaritan responds. We reach many more thousands of adults and children through our proactive awareness and preventative work with our community, as well as our “on the ground support” when a suicide has occurred.
With more accessible space and better operating facilities, we will be able to increase our volunteers and therefore our number of beneficiaries. Already reaching many tens of thousands of people locally and nationally each year, our capital development will facilitate further reach directly via our Cornwall Samaritans initiatives in Cornwall, as well as working in partnership more widely with others.
The demand for our charity is growing, with the need for mental health services in Cornwall exceeding what is available. So it is vital that we not only continue our work, but build and expand our reach.
The result of our capital development, in the short term, will be optimum facilities to train the Samaritans of the future and ensure the future of our branch at Treyew Road; in turn ensuring the presence of the Samaritans in Cornwall for generations to come, supporting hundreds of thousands of people directly and indirectly for the next half a century and beyond.
Every contact has the potential to save a life; the legacy of the redevelopment will provide the structural and financial stability to enable and ensure these contacts long into the future.
Where we are now:
Costing just over £1million, we have been working hard to raise over £875,000. The latest boost to our total is with thanks to The Duchy Health Charity for their grant of £15,000 alongside £495,000 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Duchy Health Charity is a grant giving organisation, supporting non-profit organisations that contribute to healthy lives across Cornwall, Duchy Health Charity.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperityfund-prospectus.
We are so grateful to both of these organisations and to everyone that has supported our capital appeal as we continue to raise the remaining funds needed to reach our target. We look forward to sharing further updates as soon as we are able.
Get involved! If you would like to know more, or to support our appeal, please contact [email protected]