ON one of the most beautiful days to see Cornwall, representatives from the Co-operative Party visited Penryn and Falmouth to see just a few of the many fantastic community projects and companies making a difference across the constituency.

I’m one of 43 Labour & Co-operative MPs - and the Co-operative Party’s focus on community ownership, shared power, and local benefit feels especially important at a time of increasing political division and rising loneliness.

Community is the glue that holds a place together. Our first stop was the Loveland Growing Project in Penryn, an eight-acre field rented from St Gluvias Church and part of the Falmouth Food Co-op. Once just a patch of grass, it now has around 1,000 trees, produces organic fruit and veg, plus supports a range of community-led activities.

We visited on a volunteer day, with people of all ages getting stuck in, turning compost, hoeing, weeding and preparing lunch together. Projects like this create opportunities to learn new skills, connect with others, and spend time outdoors, which is especially important for those without access to green space at home.

Loveland is exploring its own energy resilience. It would be great to align with the government’s Local Power Plan, a Co-op policy, which helps communities directly benefit from the green energy they produce.

We then visited the Princess Pavilion and Gyllyngdune Gardens overlooking Falmouth Bay. This well-loved venue, built in 1897, was once at risk, but the community rallied together and Falmouth Town Council stepped in. It now supports around 80 community groups, from theatre and music to dementia support, and remains busy all year.

It is a good example of Co-operative values and sits at the heart of community life in Falmouth. At the Cornish Bank, a Community Interest Company operating as a community-focused music venue, we saw the importance of protecting creative and inclusive spaces that support grassroots artists.

While the building is currently rented, there is an ambition to secure community ownership to keep the space open, accessible and affordable.

The Co‑operative Party’s Community Right to Buy policy that has been incorporated into Labour’s Devolution and Community Empowerment Act is designed to make that possible, giving local people a greater stake in the spaces that matter to them.

The last stop was Pendennis Headland, where the former Ship and Castles swimming pool closed under a Conservative-led Cornwall Council. Here, locals stepped in to prevent undesirable development, and Falmouth Town Council took on the site to safeguard it. Today, local trustees run a busy, largely volunteer-led community centre offering free classes and activities, keeping the site active while we continue to push for funding to restore a public swimming pool.

Co-operative policies, including the Local Power Plan and ambitions to double the size of the co-operative and mutual sector, run through our Labour government. The projects we saw in Penryn and Falmouth show what is possible when communities have real ownership of the places that matter to them. When people have a genuine stake in where they live, our places are more connected and more resilient.