AGM, new patron and funding news!

Bovey Paradiso Arts’ Annual General Meeting took place on the evening of Monday 4th December at Bovey’s Riverside Centre. The 50 or so Members present on a cold and wet night heard encouraging reports from the Directors on the progress made with the project in the previous twelve months and plans for the 12 months ahead. 

2023 saw the completion of the kitchen for the café/restaurant, the erection of the glass roof over the atrium, the successful trial launch of the café/restaurant, the launch of the community events programme, and the raising of a further £250,000, taking the total raised to almost £1,400,000.  

2024 will see the external decoration of the building, the opening of the new main entranceway, the completion and re-opening of the café and restaurant, the building of the superstructure for the almost 100-seater auditorium and hopefully the raising of the final £300,000 needed to complete the project.  

Once complete Bovey Paradiso will provide a multi-purpose arts centre for all who live in Bovey and the area around it, with an art gallery, studios for artists, an auditorium for film, theatre, music and comedy as well as a café and restaurant.  

The AGM was addressed by  Paradiso’s first Patron, Patrice Naiambana, the actor and storyteller who lives in Bovey Tracey. 

At the AGM James Mann, a Trustee of both the Tracey Almshouses Trust and the Town Trust, presented David McGahey, Chair of the Paradiso Board, and Nigel Gillingham, Chair of the Bovey Players whose new “home” Paradiso will be, with a cheques for £40,000 from the former and £5,000 from the latter.