Community Engagement

Watched the Armed Forces Parade in Truro yesterday and visited the displays on Lemon Quay.  Later went to the Tremough Campus Community Day and, apart from being impressed by the wide range of activities on offer for visitors, was disappointed that there were only three of us at the informative lecture, 'From Climate to Landscape: Imagining the Future' deliveried by Professor Catherine Leyshon.

The common theme, for me, across these two events was the relative lack of engagement either seemed to achieve amongst the vast majority of the population.  OK, so the weather was excellent so there was a big draw to the coast.  On the other hand both events had great appeal (the first being an opportunity to acknowledge the commitment of our Forces; irrespective of whether or not you feel we should be in Afghanistan) and the second an opportunity to find out more about what goes on at the Combined Universities.

The Parade followed on from a service in Truro Cathredral.  Once again raises the question as to why the Anglican Church is involved in such a major way in something which is supposedly about all in society and not just those who choose to believe in Christ. 

I watched the Parade from Boscawen Street and it was clear that the audience was measured in hundreds rather than thousands.

At Tremough there were few visitors on site in the afternoon - I'm told there were rather more there in the morning - however the feeling was of a relatively poorly attended event.  Was it promoted sufficiently locally?  A few days ago a number of Cornwall councillors from the Falmouth & Penryn area met with the University College Falmouth Rector and senior staff.  We agreed to work towards building stronger links between the local community and Tremough; perhaps for subsequent Campus Community Days we need to work jointly to encourage greater attendence at what is, after all, a Cornish success story which will likely play an important role in Cornwall's future.