Fundraiser Updates

In order to develop a new village hall which will continue to serve the community for years to come, we are launching a fundraising campaign, which will include the Big Village initiative.

Some might remember the Big Village as a community event that attracted huge support locally. This initiative is being brought back to life for 2025 and 2026, enabling every group and organisation in the village to work together to raise as much money as possible to re-build the village hall.

The more we can raise locally, the more likely it is that grant funding will be attracted, so we would love as many people as possible to get involved, either through your own events, supporting village hall events, or any of the events organised as part of the Big Village.

As part of this, we are launching a JustGiving page which will allow you to donate directly, or link fundraisers to the main fundraising effort. Visit the JustGiving campaign here to donate, or to launch your own fundraiser that will contribute to the overall effort.

The target for this JustGiving fundraising campaign has been set at £50,000.

We have already had some great initial support from user groups of the Village Hall, as well as local organisations and individuals who have been either pledged or fundraised already. Thank you to the Cricket Club for your donation. We’re also delighted to announce a hugely generous donation from an anonymous benefactor of £20,000 which we are incredibly grateful for.

We will be shortly publishing further information on how you can support the project to develop the village hall, as well as fundraising ideas to help as many people as possible get involved. All donations and fundraising monies will be ring-fenced for the development of the new village hall and we will be sharing our targets and totals as we go.

We need your help!

Below is an appeal that is appearing in the Perran News – but we can always cope with more pairs of hands, so whenever you read this, if you can help we’d love to hear from you.

As you will know by now, we are hoping to create a new, improved village hall to replace our current ageing hall, in order that generations to come will be able to use this valuable facility in the same way the community has for the past 50 years. 

In order to do this, we need your help to raise funds to make this a reality. We’ve been working behind the scenes to build a fundraising strategy which will include local and national funding and other sources of support. But a key area will be support from the community. Following a positive launch event to user groups of the hall and playing field last spring, we have been so encouraged by the fundraising activities already taking place – from individuals selling plants at roadside stalls and making generous personal donations, to community groups organising concerts and clothes swaps – that we want to build on that with a coordinated fundraising drive. 

We have broken down our anticipated fundraising activities into four different areas (below). In all of the teams, there will be opportunities for people who just have a few hours to give and for those who are able to give more time or make a regular commitment. At this stage, we are mainly interested in knowing who is interested and helping and what they might be able to offer. Please note that everyone and anyone connected with Perranwell – residents, wider friends and family and former ‘Perranwellers’ are all encouraged to get involved in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

Here are the four teams we envisage, and a suggestion of the kinds of people the teams might suit (please note that volunteers would not need to fit all the points listed to make an effective contribution). We are also keen to hear from people who can help administrate our JustGiving campaign (someone with experience of JustGiving would be a huge help) as well as those with a love of admin, who might like to maintain an email database to keep the community and our supporters informed and updated.

Grants and Trusts team

We expect that a significant proportion of our total will come from charitable trusts, foundations and public schemes. We would love to hear from anyone who can help identify, research or create strong applications, such as preparing community evidence or referencing local and national policy. There will also be smaller tasks e.g. specific areas of research, applications to smaller grant schemes, sourcing relevant datasets.

May be for you if you:

• Like attention to detail, have good writing skills
• Have an understanding of charity funding processes or public funding schemes
• Enjoy working with data and doing desk research

Corporate and Sponsorship team

This team will engage local and regional businesses to secure sponsorships, donations and in-kind support, either for the project itself or for community fundraising activities. They will develop sponsorship packages and recognition opportunities. There will also be micro-volunteering opportunities for people to research and apply to company schemes such as the Tesco blue token scheme, Amazon charity scheme or local press initiatives. 

May be for you if you:

• Have local business experience or local connections
• Have an understanding of tax and charitable donations
• Enjoy approaching people and can advocate for a good cause – either in person or digitally

Philanthropy team

This team will talk to and respond to interest from people who may like to make a personal donation. They will organise personal thank-yous and keep patrons up to date, also presentations and recognition opportunities as required. We would also like this team to investigate longer-term support such as legacy gifts, standing orders, or memorial donations. There are also some very specific tasks for this team, to help develop other community-wide giving projects. 

May be for you if you:

• Have strong interpersonal skills and ability to nurture relationships 
• Can work discreetly with community members who may wish to make a contribution
• Have an understanding of tax and charitable donations
• Enjoy approaching people and can advocate for a good cause – either in person or digitally

Community Fundraising team

We anticipate that this will be the biggest team, and encapsulates our grassroots fundraising efforts, from sponsored fun runs to silent auctions, to events at the hall itself. The Big Village has become the umbrella group for coordinating all community activities that are fundraising for the hall this year (https://www.perranwellbigvillage.co.uk), so any groups able to organise an event can share their details there and get support with logistics, resourcing and publicity.

Individuals could also get involved by planning and delivering events such as quiz nights, community tea parties, or food-themed evenings – a community fundraising pack will be published on our website soon, to give you ideas and inspiration! People in this team will act as representatives for the fundraising campaign within their street, club or school – sharing updates, distributing materials, organising events and collecting donations. It’s a great way for many people to get involved with minimal time commitment.  

May be for you if you:

• Are organised and good at planning, perhaps with event or project management experience
• Have a special skill or talent that would lend itself well to a fundraising event
• Are a ‘people person’ and can encourage others to get involved
• Are part of a local group and could organise something with your members

For all of these teams, we need someone to act as Lead Member, to keep track of the team’s progress and liaise with the Fundraising Committee (The Perranwell Centre trustees). We also need a Volunteer Coordinator, who can maintain a record of offers of volunteer help and match people up with the most appropriate volunteer task.

To let us know you’re interested in helping, please email the chair of trustees at j19frankland@icloud.com. Please tell us which one, or more, of the four teams you’d like to be involved in, and how you might be willing to help. We are confident that we have a plethora of skills and talents within our community, and every contribution will be valued in helping achieve the next iteration of our wonderful community venue. 

If you are reading this and are still not sure how you’d like to support the fundraising campaign, then please email us anyway and we’ll keep in touch as more specific opportunities become available. If you have questions or other thoughts and ideas on the fundraising campaign, please also get in contact!