COMMUNITY groups and projects in Cornwall have received a total of more than £14,000 from a mining business in the county.

Cornish Lithium, a mineral exploration and development company, has awarded £14,280 from its community fund which gives out grants of between £250 and £2,500 to support the work of clubs, charities and activity groups in the areas it covers.

These currently include the Gwennap, Chacewater, St Day, Carharrack and St Agnes Blackwater parishes; the China Clay Area and Luxulyan Community Area Partnership districts; and the Redruth Tolgus area.

Each year, Cornish Lithium invites applications from projects that will upskill and educate, upgrade social welfare facilities, support industrial heritage and mining history, deliver positive environmental impacts or promote health and wellbeing.

The recipients of the summer 2025 awards are: ClayTAWC, St Dennis; Crofthandy Village Hall, St Day; Indian Queens Victory Hall; Mills Hall Trust, Carharrack; Resilient Orchards Cornwall, Redruth; Royal Institution of Cornwall, Truro; St Dennis Ukulele Club; and the Farming Mother CIC, near St Austell.

The ClayTAWC organisation in St Dennis provides courses, social gatherings and recreational activities, and is a thriving hub for local people. Its award has enabled ClayTAWC to combine its memory cafe with its Pasty Pal initiative to create Lunchtime Friends, a new fortnightly group that offers fun things to do and a tasty pasty to help forge new connections.

Crofthandy Village Hall will use its grant towards the purchase and installation of a battery for electricity storage. This will not only reduce its operational costs but also benefit the wide range of groups who use the amenity.

Indian Queens Victory Hall will use its funding to arrange chair yoga for elderly residents and a history talk about the impact of the Second World War on the area.

The Mills Hall Trust runs Mills Hall in Carharrack which stages concerts, lectures, educational classes and social functions for residents in the district. The trust will install replacement windows with its grant to increase the energy efficiency of the building.

Resilient Orchards Cornwall is a not-for-profit organisation that supports the development of new orchards and builds a network of people with orcharding skills to create stronger and more resilient communities. Its award will support a community orchard in the North Trenoweth ward of Redruth and fund four workshops to teach traditional orchard maintenance skills.

The Royal Institution of Cornwall is the charity that runs the Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery in Truro. It was founded in 1818 to promote excellence in science and art, and the world-leading industries for which Cornwall was renowned. Today, the charity and museum continue to promote learning, creativity and sharing knowledge through exhibitions, events, and schools and community outreach, and by conserving its collections. The institution will use its grant to fund free rocks and minerals workshops for 300 children from 10 schools in Cornish Lithium’s project areas to develop their understanding of the county’s mining heritage and industrial future.

St Dennis Ukulele Club not only improves mastery of the instrument but also encourages people to meet kindred spirits and make new friends. The club will purchase more equipment with its award to enhance its public performances.

The Farming Mother CIC, based near St Austell, is a safe haven for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Based on the belief that nature and animals have a healing effect on the mind and body, it delivers an array of farm-based activities that are tailored to meet the needs of each child and nurtures them in a supportive environment. The Farming Mother will use its grant to achieve a specialist diploma in adult and community education (ASDAN) qualification.

Zoe Carter, of Cornish Lithium, said: “Cornish Lithium Community Fund panel members were inspired by all of these schemes to stimulate social interaction, improve energy efficiency, encourage learning and promote wellbeing in the areas where our lithium exploration and extraction projects are located.

“We are immensely proud to support them with awards made through our latest funding round and look forward to learning about the positive impacts that these initiatives will have on our local communities.”

The Cornish Lithium Community Fund is administered by the Cornwall Community Foundation.

Tamas Haydu, foundation chief executive, said: “It is wonderful to see the diverse range of community initiatives being supported through this partnership with Cornish Lithium.

“From educational workshops that celebrate Cornwall’s mining heritage to projects promoting health, wellbeing and sustainability, these grants embody the spirit of community-led positive change that we champion at the Cornwall Community Foundation.”

Details of the 2026 Cornish Lithium Community Fund will be published on Cornish Lithium’s website towards the end of this year.

Cornish Lithium is a pioneering mineral exploration and development company focused on the environmentally-sustainable extraction of lithium from geothermal waters and hard rock in the historic mining district of Cornwall.

Lithium is critically important to the manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs), grid-scale electricity storage, rechargeable industrial batteries and battery-related defence applications.

The company has secured agreements with the owners of mineral rights covering a large area of the county and is using modern technology to re-evaluate the region’s potential to produce lithium and other vital technology metals in a low-carbon, low-impact manner.

A secure domestic supply of such metals is considered crucial to the success of the government’s industrial strategy as the UK moves towards net zero and the production of batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage.

The Cornwall Community Foundation is an independent charity that invests in communities to improve the lives of others in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The organisation mainly supports community groups who are making a positive impact in helping to overcome the challenges of disadvantage, exclusion and poverty for all ages. Since 2003, the foundation has awarded more than £20-million, supporting more than 8,000 local organisations.

The foundation promotes, assesses and awards targeted grants to Cornish grassroots community groups supporting the people that need it most. To discuss application criteria, contact: Lucy de Glanville, grants officer, Cornwall Community Foundation – [email protected]