Torpoint’s Our Town plan to build skills, confidence and pride

A teenager stands in a park in Torpoint holding up a sheet of paper. “I wish,” it begins, then the rest fills in: more interactive events, more shows and productions, more art installations, more chances for people of every age to get involved. She is one of more than 600 people whose answers to that same question have just turned into money and a plan.

What people told the consultation

Torpoint Artists Collective CIC (TAC) has been awarded £17,642 from The National Lottery Community Fund to turn the priorities identified by local people into a new 15-month programme called Our Town, covering creative skills, youth activity and community support.

The programme builds on the momentum of Torpoint‘s new Arts & Culture Strategy, developed after extensive consultation across the town. It drew more than 600 responses through surveys, interviews, community events, schools, youth groups and creative workshops.

One message came through particularly strongly. Torpoint has plenty of community and creative energy, but local groups, volunteers and organisers said they would benefit from more opportunities to develop the skills they need to communicate what they do, reach new audiences and make their activity more visible. Young people, separately, said they wanted more opportunities to be creative, develop skills and play an active part in shaping their town.

Turning the ideas into action

Our Town is how those answers start becoming something practical. From TAC’s community arts space at 61 Fore Street, the programme will run a series of free creative and digital skills workshops, alongside practical support for local groups, organisers and volunteers.

Sessions will cover design, digital tools, communications, storytelling and audience development, giving people practical skills they can use to promote their own projects, events and organisations.

Free workshops from 61 Fore Street

The space at 61 Fore Street already sits at the centre of TAC’s work in the town, and Our Town is designed to make more use of it as somewhere people can meet, learn and develop ideas. The National Lottery funding covers project coordination and delivery of the creative sessions, along with marketing, materials, participant support and the continued development of the space itself.

Giving young people a bigger voice

The funding will also let TAC continue developing opportunities with young people, building on work already underway through Love Fore Street and the earlier Mini Journalists and Story Gatherers approach.

Working alongside local youth partners including Action for Children’s Kernow Connect service, TAC hopes young people will increasingly have chances not simply to take part in projects, but to document their town, tell its stories, develop creative and digital skills and help shape what happens next.

That feels particularly relevant as Torpoint starts thinking more widely about its identity, its high street and how the town presents itself.

Building on Love Fore Street

Love Fore Street is already giving young people the chance to explore Torpoint’s visual identity, history, typography, colour and character. Our Town is meant to build on that momentum and connect it with the skills, ideas and creativity already present across the wider community.

Tony Walsh, Director of Torpoint Artists Collective CIC, said the funding grew directly out of those conversations with residents.

“We’re so delighted to receive this support from The National Lottery Community Fund. What makes it particularly exciting for us is that it comes directly from conversations we’ve been having with people in Torpoint,” Tony said.

“Developing the town’s Arts & Culture Strategy gave us a chance to listen to hundreds of residents, creatives, community groups and young people about what would make a difference. People told us they wanted more opportunities to learn from each other, develop practical creative skills and get better at communicating all the brilliant things already happening here.

“We’re a small organisation and still relatively new, so we’re really grateful to have the opportunity to help turn some of those ambitions into action. We hope Our Town can support the people already doing great things locally, give young people more opportunities to have a voice and help build confidence and pride in Torpoint as a creative place.”

Backing from the town council

Our Town closely supports the ambitions of the Torpoint Arts & Culture Strategy 2025-2030, which sets out a vision for a thriving, connected and creative Torpoint, one where arts and culture celebrate the town’s people, place and potential. Among its priorities are developing local creative skills, improving the visibility of cultural activity, supporting young people’s creativity and leadership, and strengthening Torpoint’s identity and pride in place.

Julie Martin, Mayor of Torpoint, welcomed the award.

“Congratulations to Torpoint Artists Collective on securing this funding from The National Lottery Community Fund. TAC is planning an ambitious 15-month programme of community skills workshops as part of realising the ambitions of the Torpoint Arts & Culture Strategy. I hope members of the community are encouraged to participate and get behind these plans, and I am looking forward to seeing the outputs of the Our Town project,” Julie said.

Rather than settling on a finished answer to what Torpoint’s creative identity should be, Our Town is built to create more opportunities for local people to be involved in discovering and shaping it together. The programme begins in autumn 2026, with workshops, youth activity and further opportunities to get involved announced over the coming months. Anyone who wants to find out more can reach TAC at [email protected].