Latest news

Phoenix bucks the trend and expands its services!

Thu 24th February 2011

We are proud to announce the purchase of a property in Tor Point to be known as Oakwood Court College (Torpoint/Cornwall Campus). This annex to the main college will eventually provide education and training to 27 students both residential (15 maximum) and day students (12 maximum). There will also be a number of short courses available for young people in the community who have a learning disability and want to develop their individual social and living independent skills. The college will work closely with partners in the surrounding area to offer a diverse range of opportunities to its cohort of students.

We are always looking at ways to meet identified needs, this is how we are going to survive and prosper in the difficult financial world we are currently part of. When we were asked to look at providing services for young people with Learning Disabilities in Cornwall and at the same time approached by Plymouth asking if we could offer any ‘day programmes’ to the same client group from that city, we looked at ways we could do this.

Around the same time a property came onto the market in Tor Point and after viewing it I became very excited at the prospect of opening an annex to our main college site in Dawlish. Further investigations and some hard number crunching by Paul Cann and a business plan was drawn up which both met the needs of Cornwall and Plymouth and was a financially sound investment for the organisation.

We are now in the process of refurbishing the property, which was and aged persons home which had closed down. The refurbishment will be in 4 key stages with the first stage almost complete and allowing us to show the potential of the college to prospective students and their commissioners. Stage 2 will then see the ground floor classrooms and all downstairs bedrooms developed in time for the first influx of students in September. Later developments will see the upstairs of the main building becoming further beds and including 4 learning flats for more able students.
We are very excited about this addition to our services and it again builds on one of the core principles of Phoenix which is to meet individual needs by offering diverse services.

Further information about the college and the new Tor Point annex can be obtained from Paul Collings (Principle) E: pcollings@oakwoodcourt.ac.uk T: 01626 864066.

Keith Burley

Chris & Abi Race for Life raises over £250

Tue 14th July 2009

Chris and Abi Burley (mother & daughter) ran the race for life on Sunday y (12th July 2009) and raised an incredible £250 with more money coming in every day. Chris who continues to fight cancer herself made it around the course in just over an hour, Abi who has lost both her grandparents to cancer made special tee shirts celebrating life and supporting her mum.

The race for life is an annual event with money being raised for cancer research, thousands of women (it’s not open to men!) walk, jog or run 10km wearing the names of friends and family who are fighting or who lost the fight to cancer. Abi found many of the notices very upsetting but they inspired her to try harder to raise money for this great cause.

After finishing the race they both drove down to Woolacombe to watch Keith Burley captain the Phoenix Sandcastle Team to an outstanding third place in the National Sandcastle Building competition.