STAR of the hit BBC Series Beyond Paradise, Zahra Ahmadi, is returning to the real-life Shipton Abbot on Thursday, March 19, to open a new community centre in Looe.

The Meeting Place, a new space run by local youth and community charity Boundless Trust, will host a community larder and welcome space three times per week, as well as community cooking classes and a hub for Liskeard and Looe Foodbank.

Boundless Trust is a youth and community charity, operating in Looe and the surrounding villages. Amongst other services, it provides weekly youth and children’s clubs, community meals, and a community larder.

This January marked their five-year anniversary and has coincided with them expanding operations from their youth centre, the Haven, adding the Meeting Place as a dedicated space working to support people experiencing social isolation, homelessness, and food poverty.

Community coordinator for Boundless Trust, Sara Barron, has seen first-hand the importance of spaces like this to bring people together.

She said: “Looe is a beautiful town, but like many small coastal communities, when you scratch beneath the surface there are lots of people living in poverty and isolation. The Meeting Place will bring people together in a safe and judgement-free space, where everyone is welcome, to serve and support one another.”

Looe is the primary filming location for the fictional Shipton Abbot in the popular series Beyond Paradise. Zahra Ahmadi plays DS Esther Williams alongside other stars including Kris Marshall, Sally Bretton, Dylan Llewellyn and Felicity Montagu.

This project has been directly supported by Looe Town Council.

Cllr Stephen Remington, mayor of Looe, added: “Looe Town Council is delighted to be associated with Boundless Trust. I thank them for all they do and hope that the relationship between us will build so even more can be offered to our community, where and when it is most needed.”