23rd December 2020. The St Ives National Coastwatch Institution station has been gifted £1,000 by Persimmon Homes Cornwall through its Community Champions scheme. The volunteers will use the funds towards the costs of maintaining the station in St Ives and to help meet the annual £7,000 bill for running the service.

Trevor Peake, who made the successful application on behalf of the service, said: “We are all volunteers and at St Ives NCI our duty is to act as the link between HMCG Falmouth and the local RNLI and be the eyes and ears around the coast in St Ives Bay. As well as having to meet our annual running costs we are raising funds to repair the roof of our station and renew equipment such as our telescope and fuse box. We are grateful to Persimmon Homes Cornwall for the support and are delighted to have been selected as a Community Champion.”

Jane Cartwright, Sales Director for Persimmon Homes Cornwall, said: “The service these volunteers at St Ives NCI offer has the potential to save people’s lives. They give their time freely and we were pleased to support their activities.” Persimmon Homes’ national match-funding programme Community Champions seeks to support groups and charities working to improve the quality of life for local people. Each month the Launceston-based builder donates up to £2,000 to community groups across the region.