Kehelland Trust’s first town centre greengrocers and refill station will open its doors in January, as part of a project to support people with learning and physical disabilities find meaningful activity, training and work experience. 

Located on Trelowarren St, the new shop will be run by Kehelland Trust, a charity which supports young people and adults with disabilities to develop vocational skills in the areas of growing, harvesting and retailing produce. 

The shop will be Camborne’s only greengrocer and refill station and will sell a range of fresh vegetables and herbs, produce, groceries, milk, honey, eggs and preserves.  

This will expand on produce sold by the Trust every week at Camborne Produce Market and wholesale to other retailers.  

The shop will open from Jan 13 on a phased basis, starting with a period of public consultation alongside Kehelland’s existing product range. The space aims to meet the initial needs of the Camborne community, before refurbishing, adding new stock and opening with the full range of products.  Kehelland Trust is an independent education and day service provider set across 16 acres of green space in Kehelland, northwest of Camborne. 

The trust currently offers 150 day service and 30 education placements each week to learners and trainees who come from across Cornwall. The focus is on independence, purpose and integration.  The site is home to an extensive plant nursery, Cornish apple orchards, vegetable and herb plants a range of herbaceous wildlife-friendly perennials and native flowers.  A newly funded community tree nursery produces native trees from seed and Cornish heritage apple trees.  

The maintenance team on site support learners and trainees to produce a wide variety of insect houses, bird boxes and other wooden gift items. An onsite kitchen allows trainees to gain valuable life skills in hygiene awareness, food safety, meal planning and preparation.

Trainees work alongside trained staff to process site-grown fruits, vegetables and herbs to sell to the public, including around 2000 bottles of apple juice a year, as well as plenty of jams, preserves, dried flowers and wedding confetti. The trust benefitted from a £5000 grant from the A-Void scheme, which will go towards opening the shop.

The scheme intends to refurbish Camborne’s townscape with a focus on filling empty commercial properties, helping pop-ups, scale-ups and start-ups. The greengrocer will employ up to two Kehelland Trust staff and support up to two trainees a day, who will be supported in all aspects of running a shop.

Dawn Frisby, Kehelland Trust's Sales Coordinator, said: “We’ve already got a really good following for our Friday markets. We know we've got customers who love our produce, our story and enjoy meeting people from the trust. We believe it's really important that everybody is part of the community because it keeps people safe, and it helps to break down barriers.” 

“It's an amazing opportunity for the trainees but it's also safeguarding 16 acres of green space, which is cared for in a really empathetic way to the environment and nature.  “It's also a good employer for the local area - we’ve had trainees work in cafes, hotels and shops."  

Camborne Mayor, Cllr Zoe Fox, said: “I am delighted with the news that Kehelland trust will be providing jobs and training opportunities by opening a much-needed greengrocer in the town. “Having access to fresh local food is fundamental to our health and well-being and this initiative helps keep our town and our planet healthy too. I’m really looking forward to shopping there.