Friends of Wadebridge Sports and Leisure Centre

Friends of Wadebridge Sports and Leisure Centre is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) established in June 2023 to rescue and steward the Wadebridge Leisure Centre in Cornwall, England, amid threats of closure from local government funding cuts. Its core mission is to hold, administer, and sustain the facility as a vital community asset, promoting health, well-being, social cohesion, and active lifestyles through inclusive sports, fitness, and leisure access. Governed by nine local trustees and owning the operational FOWLC Community Interest Company, the charity embodies community mobilisation, local empowerment, and proactive stewardship, with values centred on inclusivity, sustainability, and measurable local impact via staff retention, membership growth, and facility enhancements.

It directs all resources internally to maintain, upgrade, and expand centre activities, prioritising energy-efficient infrastructure for carbon neutrality, diverse fitness classes (including early/late sessions), new events, and broader participation for all ages—especially underserved groups in Wadebridge and surrounding North Cornwall parishes. Funding supports operational costs, capital improvements, and programming to boost community health and cohesion, rather than external projects.

Unsolicited applications are not accepted, as it offers no grants to third parties; eligibility is irrelevant for external entities, with no income/size rules, geographic expansions beyond local focus, or special criteria for outsiders. There are no grant ranges, deadlines, or application processes—resources are exclusively for the centre itself. Distinctively, unlike traditional funders, it exemplifies communal ownership to preserve threatened public amenities, rejecting grant-giving in favour of direct operation and internal investment for long-term viability.