Following on from the news that Michael Sells has been appointed the new Head of Programming and Operations, The Flavel’s Chair Ian Downing updated us on other developments at the centre.

He said: “During quite a difficult time when trustees have had to face a real challenge of how to balance the books, we’ve been planning projects which raise capital funding through grant applications.

“We’ve recently heard that the planning for the solar panels has been approved although strictly speaking we didn’t need planning approval.”

It means now they can get the grant applications in through the Flavel Forever fundraising and have managed to raise sufficient funds to provide capital to put towards their projects.

Ian then turned to education telling us: “We’ve been reaching out to other parts of the community through links to the schools.

“We have a member of the trustee staff who has been talking to school staff who are really enthusiastic about getting involved in more projects here involving drama and music.

“We have the conductor of a local choir who is interested in developing a youth choir based at the Flavel so lots of exciting things that are happening programme-wise, lots of potential positivity around projects that can help us to reduce our costs.”

The energy bill came to £48,000 in the last financial year and they hope that the solar panels will slash this amount.

You can donate, become a volunteer or become a Flavel Friend and to find out more the contact details are below.

If you would like to visit the address is: The Flavel, Flavel Place, Dartmouth TQ6 9ND

The phone number is: 01803 839530