The range of leather goods saddler Martin Hughes can make in Camborne has just got bigger.
Thanks to a grant of £3800 from the Town Deal Project A-Void funding pot administered by BID Camborne, Martin now has a brand-new industrial leather sewing machine.
Based in ‘Up Memory Lane’ in Trelowarren Street, Martin, who trades as M R H Saddler, is able to make handbags, gun bags, horse harnesses, waterproof canvasses and other leather goods in a fraction of the time it took him to laboriously make them by hand before.
“I can now take on much larger work commissions and that’s making a big difference,” he said.
“It means I can now mark up and make something like a shotgun cartridge bag in around half an hour and turning an old saddle into a handbag takes under two hours.”
Martin is one of the last business owners to benefit from Project A-Void grant funding to help improve the town centre. Caitlin Kingston, who opened her ‘Enchanted Ink’ tattoo parlour this January, is another.
“The money I received has gone towards a new window and signage and that’s made a massive difference to the shop frontage,” said Cat.
“The business is going really well, and I can honestly say that opening it in Camborne has been the best decision I ever made.”
More than 100 Camborne businesses have been awarded Town Deal grants of up to £5000 each – including Vox Dance Studio which was awarded a grant for new barres in April.
“Our hundreds of dancers range from walking age through to adults and we have been based in Camborne since 2015,” said Director and Founder Nichola Reynolds.
“This grant has enabled us to upgrade our studio by adding a further 8 metres of professional ballet barres - meaning our dancers have more space and facilities to improve their technique and dance ability.
“It also allows us to be even more efficient in our class training with more dancers able to use the facilities at any time. We are so very grateful to be awarded this grant it’s improved our studio and enabled us to provide the best facilities possible.”
Camborne was awarded £23.7m in Town Deal funding – the highest amount in Cornwall. Eleven projects are being developed that include a multi-functional community hub, a state-of-the-art co-working facility, street and public space improvement, a contemporary crafts club, better cycling routes, a fibre park, a skatepark, a food and farming hub and renovating the rugby ground.
“We’re delighted to have spent more than half a million pounds helping businesses improve their premises since 2020,” said BID Camborne manager Anna Pascoe.
“Our focus now is on delivering the new branding and signage element of Project A-Void by July.
“As a Camborne resident myself, I know how proud local people feel about our close sense of community and how much this town means to us all.
“That’s why it so wonderful to see the impact Town Deal funding is having and why I’m excited about all that is to come.”
For more information, visit www.cambornetowndeal.com