Cornwall Rural Community Council

HRH the Duchess of Cornwall met with 75 trustees, staff and volunteers of the Cornwall Rural Community Council (CRCC) at a tea party on 12 July held at Lostwithiel Community Centre.

The afternoon was quite an event; the scene was set with a film showing how different life was in Cornwall in the 1940’s, followed by a chance for everyone to meet HRH and tell her a little about the vital work they deliver to Cornish community groups and individuals.

Among the guests, was Oliver Baines, former long serving Chief Executive, who started work as Field Officer in 1981 and went on to become Chief Executive from 1994 to 2005.  Oliver gave a fascinating speech running through the years in celebration of CRCC’s 65 years.

This was followed by Peter Jefferson, Chief Executive thanking Lady Mary Holborow, Patron CRCC for her support to the Charity for over 25 years both as trustee and for the last six years as its Patron.  She was presented a beautiful bouquet of Cornish flowers and as a lasting tribute in recognition of her support some trees would be planted near her home later in the year.

Peter Jefferson went on to thank June Hackett, (who unfortunately, was unable to be at the event), for her fantastic work within the voluntary sector over the past 20 years, she has been a CRCC trustee for 15 years and a facilitator of LINk in Cornwall, a service hosted by CRCC.

HRH presented flowers to Rose Wickett, a volunteer of CRCC’s mental health project for 20 years.  Rose had made a stunning celebratory cake, which HRH duly cut to a rapturous applause.

Peter Jefferson presented HRH with a gift of Cornish produce including a bottle of ‘An Howl’, ale produced by Penpont Brewery, a small local business, who supports the valuable work of CRCC by donating 10p from every bottle sold.

The event was topped off by Will Coleman playing the Cornish bagpipes and telling an entertaining Cornish tale.
The event was organised to celebrate CRCC’s work undertaken across Cornwall, supporting thousands of people, quietly and often in the background, promoting self-help and volunteering, reacting to local needs and lobbying government to make effective changes.

After the event, Peter Jefferson said

‘I am delighted with the fantastic support we received from everyone who attended, including the Mayor, Mayoress and Town Clerk of Lostwithiel, the staff at Lostwithiel Community Centre and our event organiser Heidi Taylor who helped it to run so smoothly.  A lot of planning went into the event and I am pleased that it was such a success.’

There are 38 rural community councils across England all sharing the aim of enhancing rural communities, the first being set up in 1920 as a way of addressing social problems in the countryside which arose following the end of the First World War.  CRCC was founded immediately after the Second World War in 1946.

Today the organisation is a large, modern charitable company which delivers a wide range of services supporting people of all ages and for a range of reasons, whether they are vulnerable, socially excluded, needing advice on setting up a group or to access funding.

For more information on the work of CRCC, please visit www.cornwallrcc.org.uk