Changemakers: Creating a legacy of community development

In Cornwall, three villages – Par, St Blazey and Tywardreath – form one of the 150 areas that received funding through the Big Local programme. As chair of Par Bay Big Local, Sonia Clyne shares how they have spearheaded projects, including developing a community centre, a garden and a skatepark – and how her work is continuing beyond Big Local.

Sonia’s story

Our area of Cornwall used to be thriving. There was a huge china clay industry with the prosperous Par harbour exporting it all over the world. Gradually over the years, those jobs were lost. About 20 years ago, the company processing the china clay moved everything to Brazil as it was cheaper. Par harbour is now derelict.

It’s been difficult for the area to recover. There aren’t many jobs here, which leads to poverty and crime. Parts of where we live fall into the top 10 per cent of the most deprived areas in England, particularly affecting young people and older people.

Before Big Local, there was poor community cohesion and people didn’t cross into different villages.

What I liked about Par Bay Big Local was the fact that it was run by the residents, for residents.”

I’ve lived in the area since 1972 and spent 33 years teaching locally, including as head of languages at a comprehensive school in St Austell. I’ve always been involved in local projects, having set up our community association with a friend and been a member of Friends of Par Beach.

Par Bay Big Local was created in 2010 to support our three villages. It was one of the first Big Local areas. I was invited to join the partnership as a volunteer in early 2011, about six months into the project. What I liked about it was the fact that it was run by the residents, for residents.

I started getting involved through community consultations and bringing the ideas of the residents to the partnership board. Then I joined as a trustee and in 2015, I became chair.

People wanted somewhere to bring the community together with lots of activities going on.”

For the first three years, we gave around 60 grants of up to £1,000 to uplift local organisations already doing great work, like the Scouts, Brownies and local carnival. It gave us an insight into what support different groups needed.

We had three consultations with the local community to understand what they needed. Each time at the top of the list was a community centre. People wanted somewhere to bring the community together with lots of activities going on.

It’s about bringing people into the community centre, where they have a lovely time, and leave feeling so much better, with a smile on their face.”

A local auction house was being sold, so we bought the building for £230,000 in 2015 to turn it into a community centre. It was totally dilapidated; everything was condemned and it needed a lot of work.

I imagined what a vibrant community hub would look like, and it’s been a huge amount of work to get there. We’ve had a new roof and converted the space to include a community room and studio conversion, making it all fully accessible. The centre, called Cornubia, is our cornerstone legacy project.

It hosts a huge number of activities for all ages. For children and young people there’s ballet, street dance and martial arts groups. For others, there’s chairobics, quizzes, art club, Knit and Natter and lots more.

It’s about bringing people into the community centre, where they have a lovely time, and leave feeling so much better, with a smile on their face. This helps improve people’s health and wellbeing, as well as develop their skills. Residents have told us how much better things are since our community centre opened.

We got funding from the NHS to create a Warm Hub at Cornubia in November 2022. It was set up to help isolated older people have somewhere safe and warm to come together amid soaring energy prices. The hub has been a huge success, with over 2,000 hot meals provided in 12 months.

Par Bay Big Local’s community centre ‘Cornubia’. Photo: Local Trust/Charlotte Sams

There was a great demand for a skatepark because there was nothing for children and young people to do in the area. We awarded £40,000 to this project, which evolved from a skatepark into what’s called the Pump Track.

It’s a free community space for BMX bikes, skateboards and scooters, which is suitable for wheelchair users too. The track has helped draw people’s attention to our community and it supports both children and parents.

We wanted to create an accessible space for both young and old to enjoy.”

Another key project is our community garden. I had in my head exactly what we needed. We wanted to create an accessible space for both young and old to enjoy. We grow fresh vegetables in raised beds and work alongside other local groups to promote gardening. It’s a wonderful space which we can all share.

To help tackle the lack of employment locally, we’ve funded a social enterprise in St Blazey called MPower Kernow, which provides practical training opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

It’s supporting people from disadvantaged backgrounds to gain hands-on experience restoring important Cornish heritage infrastructure. They’ve restored a train turntable and railway track, which has allowed steam trains to come down to us from Bristol. It’s an incredible project that is creating future employment for years to come.

There’s so much happening here now and a real feeling of optimism, community and looking after each other.”

I’ve always believed that children are the future, so when youth workers came to us in 2015 because their funding was being pulled, I knew we needed to help. Since then, we’ve funded a number of their projects to engage and support children and young people.

There’s a toddler’s stay and play, where around 60 young mums gather for support. There’s a group for girls aged eight to 12, one for children with special needs and another for boys. All making a positive difference to children and young people in the area.

There’s so much happening here now and a real feeling of optimism, community and looking after each other. For me, it’s always been a good place to live but I think Big Local has connected us all. There are still people isolated, which is what the Warm Hub is all about, and we’re gradually pulling them in one by one.

What we’ve done has been a catalyst for further investment. For example, Big Local activity helped us secure investment from Creative Civic Change, which has allowed us to develop a group called Par Bay Creatives. This group is using the arts to bring people together, especially younger people.

Our community garden was awarded further funding through the National Garden Scheme to extend it. What we’re doing has brought attention to the area, which has the potential to add a huge amount to the community for years to come.

My hope for the long term is that the trust will always be run by the community, for the community.”

Par Bay Big Local closed in 2023 and we set up a charity to continue its work. The move over to the trust has gone well, however, things were tough when the energy crisis hit. If it hadn’t been for the huge leap in energy costs, we would’ve been breaking even by now. But we’re working on getting solar panels installed in the community centre which will help.

We hope that funding from the NHS for the Warm Hub will continue. We also rent out four tenancy spaces at the centre, including a shop front where 40 local artisans display and sell their work.

A local NHS diabetes team works out of our offices upstairs. We’ve also converted the centre’s garage into a community pottery.

We’re aiming to break even soon. My hope for the long term is that the trust will always be run by the community, for the community. I’ve most appreciated the fact that Big Local is resident-led and that we’ve been given the freedom to follow things through.

Looking back, I feel so proud of what’s been achieved.

Interview by Elspeth Massey.

Read more changemakers stories from the people delivering Big Local on our Voices page.