Sponsors support Cornish communities with online event

The Cornwall Club welcomed more than 200 guests to a virtual reception on Wednesday evening to showcase the support the Foundation has provided to Cornwall in the pandemic and highlight the challenges that remain for many people. In previous years the reception has been hosted in London.

The Cornwall Club is an opportunity for people who have an affinity with Cornwall, but who live or work elsewhere, to support communities in need in the county. More than half of the private donations received to support our £1.7 million coronavirus crisis grant-making was from donors who live outside Cornwall.

Daphne Skinnard DL, a trustee of the Foundation, compered the event, interviewing in-studio guests, introducing pre-recorded videos by people who received help in the crisis and joining a live cookery demonstration by Michelin starred Cornish chef Nathan Outlaw. The event was hosted by The Cornwall Channel.

Opening the evening with Daphne, Chairman Jane Hartley DL,  thanked the donors who had made the Foundation’s work possible and highlighted the difference their donations have made to 100,000 people across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Guests also heard from Alan Milliner MBE who manages White Gold Cornwall, a project that supports disadvantaged young people, about how the crisis had threatened their organisation’s work and how grants from us had meant they could continue to support their young people throughout the crisis.

Monique Collins, Manager of the Drop In and Share Centre (DISC), explained how DISC goes about providing food and financial support for hungry people in and around Newquay. Two people who had been helped by DISC when they had found themselves in very challenging circumstances described how they were now volunteering for DISC to give something back in thanks for the support they received.

Jane Hartley DL, says, “Although, as Chairman of the Foundation, I see the plight of those struggling because of the pandemic in Cornwall, I and all those who attended the Cornwall Club virtual event could not help but be moved by the amazing community project guests and the people they have helped. We are so very grateful for the generous support of our donors and Cornwall Club members who have enabled us to support 200 projects like White Gold Cornwall and the Drop In And Share Centre.”

The Cornwall Calling 2021 event was possible thanks to the generous support of sponsors Savills and CCLA Investment Management.

Chris Clifford of Savills commented, “We were delighted to support the Cornwall Calling 2021 online event and to have donated to the Foundation throughout this difficult year. The event was a great opportunity for Cornwall Club donors to see how many lives have been transformed thanks to the hard work of the Foundation, as well as to learn more about the extent to which poverty and hardship continues to affect our community.”