A BERE Alston charity is providing support for the locals in the Peninsula.

The Bere Alston Regeneration Partnership (BereGen) is a non-profit charitable organisation originally formed in 2005 in partnership with the parish council to look after the parish hall and its facilities.

By gaining charitable status in 2007, BereGen was able to apply for funding to renovate the hall and now the main hall, conference room and a meeting room can be hired out at competitive rates and provide extra income for the village.

However, in recent months, the BereGen board has had a reshuffle and there are new ideas in the forefront aside from upkeep of the hall. The new focus of the charity being community outreach.

Isabel Saxby, Chair of BereGen said: ‘We’re trying to update BereGen so it’s more relevant. I was thinking we can do more community outreach. There is a need in every rural area. I want to make sure this community that I’m part of is staying above water.’

BereGen ran a Bere Business Fair in June that was a success and tried to run a recent employment initiative but due to a lack of sign-ups the initiative was postponed.

‘We will be running a Community Conversation soon so we can target projects to what the village needs rather than just hoping for the best’, Isabel said.

Isabel aims to get the word out about BereGen in hopes to encourage people to use the hall and to get people involved with the BereGen initiatives that are funded and there for the local community to make the most of.