The Poly

24 Church St, Falmouth : 01326 319461
The Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society

What's On Calendar

Have a look at the calendar text here to see what's coming up.

Our Trustees

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Sue Radmore

Sue has been a Trustee and volunteer since 2013 and was Chair of The Poly Board for several years until April 2022.

Sue is passionate about ensuring The Poly achieves its shared vision as a place where everyone feels welcome to be entertained, engage with culture and be creative. Her roles as a trustee include leading on building and sustainability issues and supporting the work of the Finance and HR Committees.

With a background in social housing and community regeneration at a senior level, Sue's family business invests in commercial property that will make a genuine difference to town centres in Cornwall through property improvement, job creation and support for fledgling businesses. Sue is a qualified horticulturalist and garden designer, having studied at Rosewarne and Falmouth University. A Falmouth resident for 15 years, she now lives with her husband Bill in Penzance.

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Amanda Rundle

Amanda was an active volunteer at The Poly for many years, supporting the development of the History Group including writing a development plan, budget management, organising Fun Days, Schools' Poster Competitions and the award-winning Falmouth History Week in 2017. She was actively involved in the development of HR processes. Her background is leadership, management and development in the voluntary, community, social enterprise and education sectors.

Sadly, a brain haemorrhage in 2018 has left her with limited mobility and whilst she can no longer access the building, she remains committed to the organisation. She is keen to help to re-establish The Poly as a respected and vibrant centre for the arts, science and history in Cornwall and encourage a wider range of people to get involved.

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Louis Turner

Louis has been involved in The Poly for many years, and has served on both the Finance Committee and the Programming Committee.

Louis is a specialist on Asian technology, having run high-level semi-official conferences with Japan, China, Korea (and Russia, Singapore and the Czech Republic). He was a long-time staff member (and Board Member) of Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs).

He has also written over ten books on various aspects of the global economy. Since moving to Cornwall, he has been a trustee of the Poly (Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society).

For 5 years he ran the 3D Kernow campaign to bring 3D Printing to Cornwall. He is currently researching and lecturing on the history of the Cornish Tourist industry, with the aim of writing a book on this.

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Tim Parnell

Tim was elected as a trustee in 2016 and currently serves on both the Board of Trustees and the HR committee.

With a life-long interest in the Arts, Tim is particularly interested in helping The Poly to reach new audiences with an innovative offer in improved premises and in engaging Poly members in shaping the future.

As a trustee Tim brings a range of experience and skills gained during a varied career in Further and Adult Education (teaching and management), self-employment as a Quality Improvement Consultant and as a Director of a small company, including strategies to engage the wider community, programming activities and events, working collaboratively using good interpersonal skills, recruiting, training and working with volunteers, staff recruitment and management and development and successful refurbishment of a listed building.

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Colin Midson

Colin Midson has worked with books throughout his adult life. He started out as a publicist at Bloomsbury Publishing before working as a commissioning editor at Simon & Schuster. He set up his own publishing PR consultancy, Bookshaped, in 2013 and has worked with authors including Gloria Steinem, Khaled Hosseini, Jeffrey Eugenides, Buzz Aldrin, Eleanor Catton and William Boyd.

He was Creative Director at the Port Eliot Festival where he programmed the literary line-up and compered many events, and has also hosted author talks at Latitude and the Henley and North Cornwall Book Festivals.

Colin is the director of the Falmouth Book Festival, which launched in autumn 2021. He’s also the Creative Producer-in-Residence at the School of Communications, Falmouth University, and Associate Programmer for the Charleston Festival 2022.

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Lauren Hogan

Lauren Hogan is currently Deputy Director of the iconic Arvon writing centre at Totleigh Barton. Prior to this she has held positions as Head of Marketing and Communications at Tate St Ives and the the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, and previous marketing roles at National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Eden Project, Visit Cornwall, and Eden Project, after several years in marketing, communications and CSR at The Body Shop.

Passionate about Cornwall, access to arts and culture for all, and the importance of arts and culture to wellbeing and local communities, Lauren is keen to support The Poly through it's next phase as a vital part of Falmouth's community.

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Tom Ingate

Tom has been a photographer and teacher in Cornwall since graduating from Falmouth College of Art in 2003. With 18 year’s experience in education, he has delivered photography workshops in primary schools, worked as a classroom teacher in secondary school, and taught on BA and MA courses. His current position is Senior lecturer on BA(Hons) Press and Editorial Photography at Falmouth University.

He has particular interests in participatory photography, visualising networks in the environment and designing activities that help engage communities with local archives.

Tom is also part of the Environmental Futures research programme at Falmouth University and a member of Art.Earth in Dartington.

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Dr Virginia Button - Chair

Ginny has been Chair of the Board of Trustees since April 2022. Valuing creativity as a form of empowerment for everyone, she believes that access to creative and cultural experiences enables fulfilled lives, promotes social mobility and a sense of belonging. The Poly occupies a special place in the heart of our community for learning and thinking, for debate and innovation as well as entertainment and enjoyment, and Ginny is honoured to serve this much loved institution which seems as relevant today as it was back in 1833.

Ginny is a freelance art historian, writer and academic, with expertise in modern and contemporary British Art, art education and museum practice. She has worked with artists for over 30 years, initially as a curator at the Tate Gallery and Senior Curator, Tate Britain (1991-2001), and since then in Cornwall’s cultural sector. She held a number of leadership roles at Falmouth University, and was Director of Falmouth School of Art until 2018. Ginny has over 10 years’ experience of serving on Boards, and is also a Trustee of Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange.

Photo credit: Steve Tanner

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Rod Clarke

Rod recently moved into retirement following a career working with large global businesses. He acted as secretary to commercial and charitable organisations over the years and he is currently acting as Secretary to the Council of the Trevithick Society – the Cornish industrial archaeology charity. His administration and governance background means he can provide effective support to The Poly, enabling others to focus on cultural leadership without distraction from the administrivia that many people find tedious and/or frustrating.

Rod is a consumer, rather than producer, of all forms of artistic activity and has been a frequent attendee at Poly events for many years.

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Jo Browse

Jo is a climate scientist and an expert in Arctic climate change, currently a senior lecturer at the University of Exeter based on the Penryn campus. She is a computer programmer and an avid defender of coding as both a key skill and a creative outlet.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to work as a trustee to both maintain and expand The Poly and widen participation - as I think it's an essential part of our community. I believe that art and creativity should be available to all, particularly in the current cost of living crisis. I'm also very interested in supporting and developing workshops, projects or events that link science and art.

Outside of work I am an amateur artist. Most recently I’ve been experimenting with anthotypes, although I think I’m going to need more sun to be successful.”

Perfect Days (PG)

Hirayama works as a cleaner in Tokyo's public toilets and seems content with a simple life. Outside his highly...

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Papercut Greetings Cards

Emma from The Paper Otter will teach her papercutting technique, then show you how to create beautiful colourful...

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Portrait Drawing in Charcoal

Charcoal is a very forgiving medium, and is the perfect preparation for painting in oils, but without the complication...

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Contact us:

T: 01326 319461
E: info@thepoly.org

Address:

The Poly, 24 Church Street, Falmouth, TR11 3EG

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© The Poly - The Poly is the trading name of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society Limited, a company limited by guarantee and incorporated in England and Wales with company registration number 03909555 and registered charity number 1081199, with its registered office at 24 Church Street, Falmouth TR11 3EG