Thousands handed to community groups across Cornwall from lithium firm's fund
Grants will fund everything from wheelchair ramps to brass band instruments
A brass band, a pantomime group and a china clay museum are among 14 Cornish organisations sharing £21,739 in grants from a lithium company's community fund.
Cornish Lithium has awarded the money through its 2026 Community Fund, which Cornwall Community Foundation administers on the company's behalf.
The fund gives grants of between £250 and £2,500 to local clubs, charities and activity groups near the company's operations.
These currently include the Trelavour Lithium Project near St Austell and the Cross Lanes Geothermal Lithium Project near Truro.
Cornish Lithium says it encourages applications from projects that:
- upskill, educate and engage people, with a focus on earth sciences and Cornwall's mining heritage
- advance environmental protection and the UK's transition to net zero
- improve the local landscape and social facilities to boost wellbeing
- A panel recently assessed all the applications.
A panel recently assessed all the applications.
The successful groups are Chacewater Players, ClayTAWC in St Dennis, Cornwall ScrapStore in St Stephen-in-Brannel, Fraddon Village Hall, Gunners Kids CIC, Indian Queens Band, Indian Queens Pit Association and Lowender CIO in Redruth.
The others are Really Lovely Projects CIC, TECwomen CIC, The Tregargus Trust, Wheal Martyn Trust, Whitemoor Recreation Ground and Whitemoor Village Hall.
Heritage and learning
Indian Queens Band, which was established in 1856, plays the music of Cornwall's Clay Country and teaches brass band music to people from all backgrounds.
It will use its grant to buy an additional cornet, replacement mouth pieces and new sheet music for its training band.
The Methodist preaching pit at Indian Queens is described as one of only three created out of mining hollows.
It hosts religious services, fetes, charity fundraisers, concerts and plays.
The Indian Queens Pit Association will spend its award on electronic equipment for its community building.
It hopes this will increase bookings from groups needing conference facilities and bring in income to maintain the historic site.
Lowender CIO celebrates Cornish heritage and builds links with the wider Celtic world.
Its award will buy a shared bank of costumes, inspired by bal maidens and miners, for Gwerin, a traditional troupe that performs choreographed dances.
Really Lovely Projects CIC will develop a Clay Country song with children from St Dennis Primary Academy.
The pupils will perform it at the village's Christmas Tree Light-up and Lantern Parade.
TECwomen CIC will use its award to fund an eight-week TECgirls programme in five Cornish primary schools.
The programme introduces Cornwall's modern mining and minerals sector through hands-on activities and meetings with role models.
The Tregargus Trust looks after a 35-acre wooded valley near St Austell and educates visitors about its quarrying history.
It will use its grant to create a website, replace signs, print a leaflet on the valley's significance in the 18th and 19th centuries, and promote the site to a wider audience.
Wheal Martyn Trust runs Wheal Martyn Clay Works, which it describes as the UK's only china clay mining museum.
Its award will subsidise 1,200 half-price educational visits for local primary and secondary schools.
Village halls and community spaces
Chacewater Players perform pantomimes, plays and musicals in the village hall.
Its grant will pay to upgrade the stage lighting to energy-efficient LED.
Cornish Lithium says this will cut maintenance costs and carbon emissions and help sustain the venue.
Fraddon Village Hall offers activities ranging from indoor athletics and ballet to quilting and karate.
Its grant will pay for two wheelchair ramps to improve accessibility.
Whitemoor Recreation Ground has a children's play area, tennis courts and exercise equipment, and is run by a small volunteer committee.
The committee will use its grant to buy a picnic bench and a waste bin, pay for a safety inspection, and contribute to utility bills and upkeep.
Whitemoor Village Hall is raising funds for a new community space after the village's original hall was demolished because it was derelict.
In the meantime, its committee has renovated a second-hand portable building, which opened earlier this year.
The award will pay for replacement flooring in one room, which the hall says will improve safety so more dance classes can be added.
Families and community services
ClayTAWC in St Dennis is a community hub offering training, education, skills workshops, voluntary projects and social activities.
It will use its grant towards setting up and running a new weekly toddler group called Clay Tots.
Cornwall ScrapStore collects surplus materials from businesses and supplies them to schools, charities and groups for creative activities.
Its award will help with the charity's running costs for one year so it can expand its mobile service.
Gunners Kids CIC supports families in Cornwall where a parent or caregiver has a terminal illness.
Its award will provide tailored sessions for two families and contribute to travel expenses and volunteer costs.
Reaction
Penny Bulkeley, ESG engagement lead at Cornish Lithium, said: "The Cornish Lithium Community Fund exists to benefit residents in our project areas, strengthen communities and create an enduring legacy for Cornwall. We are immensely proud to fund so many projects that improve leisure and welfare facilities, inspire learning, conserve Cornish cultural heritage and increase social interaction, and hope that the grants we award will make a positive and lasting impact on local lives."
Tamara Sherston-Baker, development director at Cornwall Community Foundation, said: "Many of these groups run on small budgets and a lot of goodwill, so a modest grant towards a wheelchair ramp, new band instruments or safer flooring can make all the difference. It is also good to see the fund supporting Clay Country's past and its future side by side, from a brass band founded in 1856 to girls in local primary schools learning about careers in modern mining."
About Cornish Lithium
Cornish Lithium is a mineral exploration and development company focused on extracting lithium from hard rock and geothermal waters in Cornwall.
Lithium is used in batteries that power consumer electronics, electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems.
The company says it aims to build a secure domestic supply for UK industry.