Penryn Pathways connects town, gown and performance with Penryn

A symbolic event took place on Thursday 28 October 2010, to herald a new era in terms of the partnership between University College Falmouth (UCF), Penryn College, Penryn Town Council and the residents of Penryn.

Pupils from Penryn College who had been involved in lantern-making, cake-baking and dance workshops throughout half-term processed from Penryn College to the bottom of the old drive at the Tremough Campus, and participated in an inter-generational dance, together with local residents and UCF students, culminating in a celebration of community performance at the University College's new £19M Performance Centre at the Tremough Campus.

"Entitled Penryn Pathways, this site-specific, processional dance performance formed part of the launch of UCF's contemporary performance programme, Platform," explained UCF's Performance Producer, Lesley-Ann Eaton.  "With a cast of all ages drawn from Penryn College and the local community, it was led by Dance Artist and PhD Choreography student, Ruth Pethybridge. Accompanied by singer, Cheryl Brendish, this performance marked a metaphorical as well as physical journey as the dance explored different ways of travelling as a unified group.  Symbolising a new era at UCF, this piece explored rites of passage and new beginnings, and celebrated important links between Penryn College, the town of Penryn, UCF and Performance."

Platform is supported by RELAYS, the Regional Educational Legacy in Arts and Youth Sport initiative that is designed to inspire young people and their communities to participate in, create and promote cultural and sporting activities in South West England.

Prior to this, there was a tea party at Penryn College for all the pupils and students who had been involved in the lantern-making, cake-baking and dance workshops for their parents/carers and teachers.

UCF contributed a celebratory cake to Penryn College's tea party to thank the College for its major contribution to this historic event.

"Penryn College is delighted to be working in collaboration with the town and UCF," said Assistant Head Teacher, Ros Bastian.  "It gives our students a whole new range of creative opportunities to explore and will undoubtedly raise the aspirations of our youngsters and inspire them for the future.  We look forward to many more ‘Pathways' events."

At the same time as Penryn College's event, representatives from Penryn Town Council and local residents gathered at UCF's Performance Centre to view the impressive new facilities and welcome the arrival of Penryn Pathways.

UCF's Rector & Chief Executive, Professor Anne Carlisle, welcomed the assembled audience  and spoke of the importance of community partnerships.  "Penryn Pathways signals the arrival of song, dance and music, which is what you will now hear reverberating around the grounds of Tremough.  This Performance Centre is not meant to be a citadel, but a community partnership that is fundamental to our future.  We thank our friends in the community of Penryn for sharing this important event with us today.  Please work with us and use this absolutely wonderful facility."

"Partnerships are what it's all about," added Mayor of Penryn, Cllr Mary May.  "Without them, we wouldn't make progress.  Today we have seen the outcome of a partnership that began twelve months ago.  I hope that some of the children who have processed up that path today will be students here in the future.  This pathway now joins the College, the Town and the University together.  I wish the Performance Centre well."

Penryn Pathways was followed by performances from Helston Community College's award-winning 20-piece Jazz Orchestra, West Cornwall-based arts charity, Shallal and Camborne dance charity, the TR14ers, as part of an ongoing project supported by Arts Council England, as well as by a full programme of contemporary performance under the banner title of Platform.

UCF's £19M Performance Centre has been made possible as a result of a £12,266,667 investment from the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Convergence Programme and £3M from the South West Regional Development Agency's Single Pot Fund, with the remainder having been been contributed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England's Strategic Development Fund.

The Performance Centre includes some of the finest resources of its type in Europe, including an industry-standard recording studio complex linked to numerous live spaces; dance rehearsal and performance studios with harlequin sprung floors; high-spec theatre and music spaces, including a music performance space with capacity for 150 people and a theatre performance space with capacity for 268; and numerous practice and rehearsal studios.

The Performance Centre facilities are available for hire at multiple rates for a wide range of uses from community initiatives to corporate events.  Please contact Performance Centre Manager, Pete Hooper, on 01326 370400 for further information.

Ends

For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby Dip CIPR MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792, or email:  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk 

Notes for editors

About University College Falmouth

UCF is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the right to award degrees in its own name. The University College has two campuses - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns and jointly manages with the University of Exeter).

UCF's merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008 created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Dance, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.  The Dartington-based courses have now relocated to the impressive, high-specification £19M Performance Centre at the Tremough Campus, which has just launched.  The ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Convergence Programme invested £12,266,667 in this development which will prepare performance students for success within the creative industries.  The South West Regional Development Agency's Single Pot Fund contributed a further £3M, with the remainder being invested by the Higher Education Funding Council for England's Strategic Development Fund.

The Performance Centre is the latest phase in UCF's ambition to create a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2013/2014 that will be unrivalled in the South West.

UCF is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One and Convergence), the South West Regional Development Agency and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

About Penryn College

Penryn College has as its motto ‘Achievement through Challenge' which is at the heart of all we offer our young people.  Designated as a specialist Sports College in 1998 and an Applied Learning College in 2006, we give our students every opportunity to experience learning both through the curriculum and through a diverse programme of enriched learning which takes place both on and off site during study support time.  In 2004 we were designated a ‘Leading Edge' School tasked with helping to transform the face of education followed in 2005 by being officially categorised a ‘High Performing Specialist School'.  The College is very proud of the achievements of its students, OFSTED has twice judged the College as ‘Outstanding' and last summer's GCSE results were the best ever achieved.  In September 2008, the school was rebuilt as a ‘School of the Future' and now has fantastic facilities which offer areas of learning each with its own exciting, purpose built spaces.

Penryn College is fully used by the local community who have access to the facilities throughout the week and after school hours; particularly popular are our creative performance areas and sports facilities.  We value the relationship we have with our community and are delighted to have been involved in the setting up of ‘Penryn Pathways'.  We see this as an ongoing initiative for creative links across the community which will inevitably further opportunities for our young people. Nick Sanders is our ‘Penryn Pathways' Co-ordinator who can be contacted at Penryn College.

Tweet