BODMIN Town Council has heard calls for support from two organisations involved in projects in the town as well as from Cornwall councillors hoping to see a new care home constructed.  

The KBSK performing arts group was keen to emphasise the need for a dedicated centre for the youth of the town, while Football Foundation representatives were promoting a scheme at Coldharbour.

Cornwall councillors Pat Rogerson and Leigh Frost, meanwhile, detailed the urgent need for a care home, which could be built by Sanctuary Housing. 

The town council heard over £1-million had been secured in funding for separate projects to build a youth centre on a disused tennis court at Priory Park and to make improvements to facilities at the Coldharbour football pitch.

KBSK founder Adie Dove warned there was a risk the town could lose the opportunity to have a new youth centre.  

She said: “Bodmin has been awarded £700,000 to invest in a safe space for our young people and children. 

“Now, I understand we have to ‘dot the Is’ and ‘cross the Ts’ but I stand here today with the fear that if we don’t work together and lose the priority of this, Bodmin will lose this opportunity.  

“I know you’re probably fed up of hearing about this, but the reason I have been persistent is because Bodmin deserves this opportunity.” 

Adie handed over to the chair of KBSK’s youth committee, Emerald, who gave a passionate plea which was applauded by councillors. 

Emerald said: “KBSK isn’t just a place where we dance. It is also a place where I feel heard, can be myself, not judged. It is my home, it is my family. 

“I remember when I first joined six years ago, nine-year-old me was terrified. I had no confidence in myself and I never imagined then I would be here today standing talking to you all and I am doing that because of KBSK and the amazing teachers I’ve had.  

“It is a place where peers can become comfortable with themselves, become connected with friendships, and see physical and mental improvement of all members.

“This proposed building gives us opportunities in a permanent safe space, a place for communities, to create the foundation for careers.” 

Councillors then heard from representatives of the Football Foundation, who detailed plans for a £350,000 investment into a new changing room pavilion at Coldharbour, owned by the council, to replace a dilapidated facility.

A third project seeking support and co-operation from the council is a £10-million plan to build a new care home on the site of the former Athelstan care home on Priory Road.  

Cllr Rogerson said: “We hope this plan can be supported and moved forward. They (Sanctuary) are an organisation that can build anywhere so it’s an opportunity we have in Bodmin.” 

Cllr Frost said that if the current plan is given support as a matter of urgency, there was a possibility it could be built within three years, whereas ongoing delays could see Sanctuary build elsewhere, meaning a three-year lead time could become a decade. He added this was something Bodmin could ill afford, given the pressing need for more care facilities.