An organisation designed to support young people in Bude has found itself a new home.  

The Pearl Exchange was founded in 2020 following the death of 19-year-old Pearl Bamford in 2019. Her parents, Rose and Johnny, felt compelled to assist the younger generation of North Cornwall and Devon and help them ‘build more positive futures’.  

The organisation now offers an open and inclusive space which encourages social interaction and gives young people opportunities to learn new skills, broaden their horizons and increase their confidence while ensuring creative engagement with high-quality mental health support and mentoring.  

However, recently The Pearl Exchange announced it was moving to a new base within Bude — a gallery in the centre of the town.  

Fliss Loxley, managing director of The Pearl Exchange, said: “We’ve been leasing the Pitch n Putt since 2020. Heaving this space has allowed us to grow as an organisation.

“As a first home The Pitch n Putt has been a great base in which to grow but it has also presented a number of challenges. 

“We’ve always had to renew the lease annually which hasn’t given us the security we’d like, it has made it difficult to be strategic in our planning. 

“Space; we’re growing and while that is an amazing thing and we are very proud of the speed in which our reach is increasing, we need another room and more storage space to run our programme to its fullest! 

“To really build our identity and offer a programme reflective of the growing needs we require more freedom and autonomy, and a space which we can run in alignment with our vision. 

“The location, while wonderful in the summer, it’s a little too far out and isolated for the darker winter months. It can be very daunting to walk down that long drive in the wind and rain at night! We’ve always felt a more central location would be hugely beneficial giving us real visibility and allowing people to feel more confident to drop in to use our space. 

“With that in mind, when the council notified us in October 2023 that they were opening up The Pitch n Putt building and course for Expressions of Interest, given all of the above we felt it was time to look elsewhere.”  

Searching for options, a local artist, Nina Brooke, offered her gallery space to the organisation.  

Fliss added: “We started looking at options and were honoured when local Artist Nina Brooke said that she would happily rent her gallery space, Joy Editions, to The Pearl Exchange for an incredibly generous annual rent, in support of our work!” 

This space offers a variety of benefits which meet the needs of the organisation, however, the site is in need of some work.  

“It is a brilliant empty shell but it needs renovating in order to be fit for purpose,” Fliss explained. “Nina, our landlord is about to start work on a new roof and insulation but in order to make it sustainable for us, we need to renovate the downstairs space, adding insulation and a new heating system. To date the downstairs has not been used for public facing work. All the work that we wish to undertake is to make it affordable to run and in the longer term, to reduce utility bills and provide us with an adaptable space which works for our needs. 

“Our aim is now to raise £50,000 to undertake this work and have the building ready for spring/summer 2024!” 

The organisation is now in the process of launching a capital appeal to fund works, and has also set up a site for residents to donate towards the move: thepearlexchange.org.uk/our_new_home

Until works are complete, the organisation’s counselling and programme will continue to operate at its current home.