Skip to content

Bude's Pearl Exchange numbers grow in new home

BBC A building with a sloped pointed roof painted black with letters in white at the top spelling out The Pearl Exchange. There are three windows, two have large multi-coloured stars in them, There's a noticeboard with a pink and green posters on the wall and the door is open.BBC
The new headquarters for The Pearl Exchange opened in the centre of Bude in July after £56,000 fundraising

A charity supporting young people's mental health said it had been growing fast after fundraising more than £50,000 to renovate a new home.

The Pearl Exchange was set up in memory of Pearl Bamford who died in 2019.

Since 2020, the creative hub was based in a small building overlooking Bude's seafront, but moved into a town centre building in July.

Fliss Loxley, managing director, said over seven months this year 450 people have used their services, compared to 478 in the previous full year.

A young man with reddish short hair and brown eyes looking directly at the camera and half smiling, he is also wearing a blue t-shirt
Dominic Oates takes the bus from Tintagel to join in with activities and meet new people

The organisation offers free studio space, workshops and skill-sharing for people aged 18 to 35 with an interest in the creative industries, as well as one-to-one counselling.

Dominic Oates, 28, lives in Tintagel and has been getting the bus to various sessions like Arty Fridays over the last few months.

He said: "For me it's mainly just about interacting with other people, that I don't get to normally as I lead quite a sheltered life.

"There is not a lot of places I can find around here where I can freely mingle with other people my age apart from pubs."

Liam Barber, 27, from Holsworthy, also gets a bus to the Pearl Exchange where he said it was good "not to feel judged".

"I've been trying to find for a while somewhere pretty much exactly like this but there was nowhere.

"There are lots of social groups for kids and older people but as soon as you leave college there's nothing for you," he explained.

A lady with blonde hair cut in a short bob, she has brown eyes and is wearing red lipstick and gold hoop earrings. She is looking directly at the camera and smiling, and is wearing a black jumper with stars on it.
Fliss Loxley said the charity was permanently fundraising to keep up with growing demand

Ms Loxley said the new location was raising their profile.

"People just pop in or use our landline, and say I know somebody who needs some help can they come to you? Or if someone is struggling to find friends and needs to meet some people there's just more of a realisation we are here," she said.

The trustees of the charity recently discussed a five-year strategy and in the "long term" would like to find somewhere else to replicate the charity's model.

Ms Loxley said: "The issues we face in terms of youth unemployment, mental health and social isolation is not specific to Bude so we'd love to be able to help another area do something like this."

Follow BBC Cornwall on X, Facebook and Instagram. Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].

More on this story
Related internet links