The King's Chronicle - October 2019
By: Stephen Willmore
Added: 31 October 2019

From the Chairman:
Dear Reader,
The Building Contractor is making excellent progress with the restoration of our Tudor building. As previously advised the building work was set as a 20-week programme by the builder and judged on current progress their work will be complete by the year end which will be immediately followed in January by our volunteers doing internal painting and other finishing off jobs. This programme will complete phase 1 of our project which is the restoration of the Tudor building sufficiently to open the Art Gallery and let out the four Artist Studios upstairs in February.
Although the construction work is now the visible major activity, be assured that in parallel we are continuing to work very hard on many plans with our consultants on heritage recording and phase 2 detail design for cinema/theatre and café/restaurant, garden area, kitchen and toilet block.
We are also continuing to work very hard on fund raising from grants organisations and other potential sources to raise the funds for the subsequent phase of the development and welcome any fundraising ideas you may have, and indeed additional donations are always welcome. Please contact me directly at stephen.willmore@paradiso.org.uk or 07710 300 897 if you would like a personal meeting should you wish to discuss this matter.
Thank you for your continued interest.
Stephen Willmore – Chairman
ART Competition
The Directors of Bovey Paradiso were delighted to see the number of entries for the ART Competition on the theme of buildings. The judges had a difficult decision but the winners, as announced at Nourish, are as follows:
Category 1 - 11 years and under
1st prize - Kameri Penfold
Runners up - Mimi Clayton; Megan Frost-Howe; Elena Marks; Caitlin Nock
Category 2 - 12 to 18 years
1st prize - Alexander Still
Runners up - Kathryn Bright
Category 3 - Over 18s
1st prize - Margaret Kite
Runners up - Annie Harper; George Dunne
Thank you to Susan Bradshaw who organised the competition, our judges Erica Steer and Nicole Alexander, the volunteers for manning the stand at Nourish and for our sponsors who provided some amazing prizes:
Homenaturally
Serendipity
Devon Guild of Craftsmen
Escape the Game
Pom Stitch Tassel
The winning artwork will be on display in the completed Paradiso Arts Centre.
Paradiso will be producing Christmas cards from the winning artwork, we'll be announcing where you can purchase these from very soon.
Funding News
We will be completing the first phase of the project over the next few months but we still need funds to continue with phase two, which is the cinema/theatre and cafe bar. Currently we have several grant funding applications out there with various funders. In connection with our funding applications we are looking for volunteers, shareholders and others who have connections with groups and organisations that can benefit from engaging with Paradiso Arts. These groups include those supporting people who are carers, single parents, those at risk from loneliness or isolation, people with mental health illnesses, dementia, disabilities, people in recovery, those seeking employment, young and older people. We are interested to hear from you and how we can work with your group, if you represent a group not mentioned here, get in touch anyway. Please email us to arrange a discussion.
Sharing the Heritage of the King of Prussia
Susan Bradshaw continues to co-ordinate our heritage engagement. In addition to the Art Competition reported above, other activities have been taking place. Volunteers have so far recorded six oral histories of Bovey Tracey residents. These will be edited and made accessible via an interactive screen in the gallery of the Paradiso Art Centre when it opens next year. More oral histories will be recorded and edited over the coming months. Other events are in the planning stages, we'll update you soon.
AGM
Tasmin Little Concert
We have a great treat in store for 2020. Ian Wellens of Cheese Shed and Nourish fame, has arranged a concert by Tasmin Little to take place at the Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury, Bovey Tracey in support of Paradiso Arts.
The great British violinist recently announced that, after a long and exciting career, she would be retiring from the concert stage in the summer of 2020. We are delighted to announce that, as part of this farewell concert tour, she will be visiting Bovey Tracey.
The concert with be taking place on Thursday 2nd April at 7.30pm
at St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury, Bovey Tracey
To find out more and to book your tickets visit our Events page using the link below. Tickets can also be purchased (cash only) at The Cheese Shed, Bovey Tracey.
https://www.paradiso.org.uk/Events/
What's Ahead for Winter 2019
- AGM on 25th November Cafe 3 Sixty.
- The builders will continue their 20 week schedule to completion.
- Volunteers will be contacted to take part in decorating the Paradiso Gallery and studios.
- Funding bids continue.
- Work on gathering and editing stories and memories of the King of Prussia and as part of the oral history project continues.
- The winners artwork from the ART competition will be framed in readiness for display in the Paradiso Gallery.
More news
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Opera comes to Bovey Tracey
Experience the magic of Opera Paradiso—an unforgettable gala performance by the young stars of Devon Opera, led by acclaimed Concert Pianist and Musical Director Pavel Timofeyevsky.
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Meet our new patron - Josh Widdicombe
We’re delighted to share that comedian Josh Widdicombe is joining the Paradiso family as our new Patron for Comedy! As many of you will know, Josh grew up in Devon, went to South Dartmoor Community College, and has recently moved back to our great county, so it feels especially lovely to have someone with such strong local ties supporting this strand of our project.
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Free Family Craft Session
Free Family Spring Craft session at Bovey Paradiso.
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Share offer closes as we welcome 2026
Thank you! Our third share offer has now closed and we're looking forward to the next chapter.
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2025 Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Bovey Tracey Paradiso Arts Limited for the financial year ended 30 June 2025 will be held on Monday, 15 December 2025 at 7 pm at: The Riverside Community Centre, Station Road, Bovey Tracey TQ13 9AW.
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Complete our survey: Arts activities at Paradiso!
They say you can't please everyone in life but we want to try! We want to involve as many people as possible in shaping our entertainment programme.
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New art groups at Bovey Paradiso!
We are delighted to bring new, creative opportunites to Bovey with a programme of art classes! Our very first Life Drawing class took place on Monday 3rd and there are 3 future dates during November if you missed out on the first one.
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Thank You
A big thank you to everyone who supported our recent MacMillan coffee morning.
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A New Way to Book at Bovey Paradiso
A New Way to Book at Bovey Paradiso! We’re delighted to announce that we’ve introduced a new ticketing system — TicketSource — to make booking your tickets for our events easier than ever.













