Penzance Chamber of Commerce

The AGM scheduled for Tuesday 1st February had to be postponed due to the fact that insufficient numbers of members attended in accordance with our Constitution. The meeting has been rearranged for Tuesday 1st March commencing at 7.30 pm in the Penzance and Newlyn Rugby Football Club in Alexandra Road.

Good Old Furniture Available

GOFA started out from a committee which was formed in 1992 to provide a sleepover for the homeless, and which adopted the name GOFA (Good Old Furniture Available) in 1994/5 as it evolved into a furniture project. It has continued to receive donations of furniture and household items up to the present day. These are disseminated, often through referrals from a variety of agencies, to people on low incomes within Penwith in return for small donations to the charity.

The charity is staffed solely by local volunteers form 10-4pm every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at our site located at The Former DLO Premises, Ellis Square, Voundervour Lane, Penzance led by George Ostins our volunteer warehouse manager of over 10 years. The volunteers at the site are supported by a board of trustees and a management committee. Further support comes from Penwith District Council, including rent and rate rebates, as well as from Cornwall Waste Action and Cornwall SOFA, with management and development input.

GOFA is currently being restructured, in part because of the imminent retirement of George and a desperate need for a suitable delivery vehicle and essential improvements to the premises. The management committee has submitted several grant applications in the last year and have received a generous award of £3,000 towards the cost of a new vehicle from the Co-op to date. We are hopeful of receiving a further award from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund soon but we would welcome donations from local people and businesses or help with fundraising – we’ve had some local church fundraisers and would welcome ideas for similar events! It is hoped through all our efforts we will be able to put GOFA on a more sustainable footing for the future so we can help more local people.

Due to the restructuring we are not accepting donations of household goods until March to allow space for the refurbishment, so please keep any spare goods until then. We will particularly need cookers, fridges, microwaves, sofas, wardrobes, beds (doubles), table & chair sets and small electrical items such as kettles and vacuum cleaners – really all the basics.

However, we are still continuing to supply local people with household goods from existing stock throughout the restructuring so please do not hesitate to contact us – details below; if you need help.

For donations of household goods, to arrange a viewing or enquire about receiving household goods please contact George Ostins on 01736-369847. For further information about GOFA or to make financial donations please contact Justin Olosundé on 0845-458-9937 (local rate number). If you are interested in becoming a volunteer please contact Penwith Volunteer Bureau on 01736-330988.

Cornwall RYLA Course 2nd–9th July 2005

Can you remember having lessons at school in leadership, confidence, motivation, self-belief, dealing with relationships and goal setting? For most of us the answer is no, yet in every area of our lives these skills are the most valuable commodity we can possess.

Rotary have been running the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) for over 10 years. We believe that the RYLA is the most powerful course in Great Britain today and that is has the power to positively change the lives of young people.

Candidates are nominated and sponsored by Rotary clubs in Cornwall . They are aged between 18 and 28 and spend a week at Brimpts Farm near Princetown on Dartmoor . They undertake a powerful programme to improve their leadership skills, confidence, motivation and life skills. The candidates partake in team development exercises and listen to inspirational talks by Jack Russell as well as world class explorers such as Pen Hadow, solo to the North Pole; Jim Shekhdar, first man to row the Pacific unaided and Nick Arding who organised the highest ever rescue on Mount Everest. They also receive first aid information from air ambulance paramedics and take part in a simulated emergency rescue. Candidates then put the theory they have learned into practise on outdoor leadership challenges such as climbing and abseiling, navigating and camping on the moor. The outdoor element cements the life skills that have been learnt with fantastic results – fears overcome, goals achieved and an eagerness to start the rest of their life feeling empowered, motivated and driven.

The results of RYLA courses are breathtaking and life affirming. The development of confidence and leadership skills is phenomenal and the feedback we get from the candidates is quite overwhelming.

The total cost of the course in 2005 is some £530. The Rotary Club of Penzance is willing to consider sponsorship of a suitable candidate. If you would like to nominate a suitable candidate please contact Roger Sparrow – 01736-710652 or E-mail roger.sparrow@swnet.co.uk

Genius Loci, the spirit of place in Cornwall

The Chamber are delighted to welcome their newest member - Genius Loci are a new creative company based in West Cornwall, run by partners Phil & Sue Aston, Genius Loci have already established themselves with a good client base across Cornwall. Phil has a background in marketing, senior management, Yoga and life coaching and Sue is a professional violinist and composer.

‘The company started in 1999 and at the time we were based outside of Cornwall’ said Phil. ‘Our initial purpose was promoting Sue Aston’s Cornish CDs and our love of Cornwall ’s landscape and heritage’. However, it was not before long that the Genius Loci website was attracting large numbers of visitors and was also getting requests from Cornish artists and organisations wanting to find out how genius loci could help them.

Our diverse level of skills certainly works for us in Cornwall , for example for a leading hotel in the area we have :-

set up and run yoga weekends,
provided website design and hosting
Web marketing
training and staff coaching
staff selection and recruitment
put together a new marketing strategy,
photography
design and supply a new advertising campaign,
and supply our Classical Strings String trio for their civil weddings

This integrated approach is very cost effective for our clients and is helping us to be seen as a one stop shop for personal and organisational creative goals. As genius loci has grown we have given some of our main services their own ‘shop window’

‘This decision has given us the freedom to develop the network so clients and customers can find what they want quickly.

We are very lucky that we have the support of many local and well established Cornish businesses and are very proud to be helping to bring in additional revenue into Cornwall. To find out more call 01736-719342 or Email contact.us@geniusloci.co.uk

New Licensing Laws

When you apply for the renewal of your license under the Licensing Act 2003, you will be required to supply your local Council with a copy of your Operating Schedule. Without such a document, your application will NOT be considered. In the event that you submit an application without an Operating Schedule or one that is not considered to be suitable and sufficient, you will be given a maximum of 2 months to produce one that is suitable in all respects.

The Operating Schedule should include a Policy Statement, premises use, opening hours, amenities etc as well as detailed consideration of the following issues (amongst others):

You may also need your Health & Safety Policy, Risk Assessments, COSHH Assessments, Manual Handling Assessments, Food Hygiene Policy, HACCPS, DDA Access Audit and so forth!

It should be noted that Operating Schedules must be specifically written for the premises concerned, it is not possible to obtain a generic schedule neither it is acceptable to merely adapt such a document from another licensee. The Operating Schedule will be used by the Licensing Officer to conduct an inspection of your premises prior to the awarding of a licence, if it is inaccurate or does not correctly represent what facilities are provided to ensure the health, safety and welfare of your staff and clients then your licence could be jeopardised.

Safety UK Ltd are proud to announce that they are the ONLY firm of Health & Safety Practitioners currently offering a full service to Licensees that includes the production of their Operating Schedule. For further information contact Safety UK Ltd on 01736-361007.

Xmas Lights

Hazel Trembath’s fundraising efforts continue apace, she has now stopped smoking for 4 weeks and has saved £80 towards the Xmas lights, in addition she has received sponsorship of a further £20 as a result she presented the Treasurer with a cheque for £100 at the last Chamber meeting to be allocated to the Xmas lights account.

Mrs Trembath has also organised another Chinese Banquet to be held on Wednesday 16 th March, proceeds will be divided between the Xmas lights and the Swimming Club – anyone interested in attending should contact her direct on 01736-361378.

The Chamber is greatly indebted to Hazel for her outstanding fundraising activities.

Join the Chamber

The Chamber of Commerce represents the interests of local business with the County, District and Town Councils, Government agencies and public bodies. It actively campaigns on issues affecting the business community as well as issues affecting the community as a whole. This requires finances and direct involvement by committed people, and deserves the support of every business in the region.

Our Chairman is coordinator of the West Cornwall Group of Chambers and the Cornwall Business Partnership. He is a member of the Priority Management Group 3, which approves Objective One funding in the area of Learning and Skills development He is also a member of the Penzance Regeneration Steering Group that has worked on the submission of an Objective One bid to greatly enhance the prosperity of the town and its inhabitants. Other members represent the Chamber on such bodies as the Police Consultative Committee and Tourism Committee.

All businesses have problems from time to time, and it has been proved that representation from a Chamber Officer on behalf of the member concerned can greatly enhance the prospect of a satisfactory conclusion. With major issues, such as the enzance Regeneration Project, West Cornwall Hospital, Objective One and so on needing input from the business community there has never been a better reason for all businesses to become Chamber members - the greater our membership, the bigger our voice. JOIN NOW!

We invite membership applications from individuals and businesses large or small. For further information, visit the Membership Enquiry or Membership Application pages on this site.

Forthcoming Meetings

The next monthly Chamber Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 1st at 7.30pm at the Pirates Rugby Club, Alexandra Road, Penzance. This Meeting will be PRECEDED by the Annual General Meeting.

All members and non-members are urged to attend. Let’s make 2005 the year that all businesses in the district actually start working together for the benefit of everyone.

The Voice of Business in West Cornwall

Chamber Monthly News - February 2005

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Good Old Furniture Available

Cornwall RYLA Course 2nd–9th July 2005

Genius Loci, the spirit of place in Cornwall

New Licensing Laws

Xmas Lights

Join the Chamber

Forthcoming Meetings

Previous Newsletters

PENZANCE - THE PLACE TO BE