In November 2020 Omnium Radio was granted £6000 funding from National Lottery to finance the opening and running cost of a community music hub in Plymouth for 6 months.
We were lucky to find an amazing venue called The Clipper based on Union Street.
Many of you would know it from being a 24-hour drinking venue.
On 2nd December 2020 Omnium Radio opened The Clipper doors to the public in the form of a community music hub. The music hub consists of a balance between support services, arts & performance workshops and a public cafe which helps to finances the projects we run with people living with additional needs.
The projects that Omnium Radio supplies at the clipper help so many individuals in many different ways, these included skills such as; art, cooking, social interaction, confidence building, organising, independent thinking in a safe environment where everyone is treated equally.
For some of the volunteers at The Clipper who live with additional needs and require a support worker throughout their day-to-day life, the cafe really helps them to form a sense of independence and working life, as they are able to help out with serving customers, cooking, cleaning, maintenance, and on our very popular Monday club night, they even DJ the event.
Shortly after we launched the opening of the community music hub on 2nd December 2021 in January the government announced that we would be heading back into full-lockdown and we were forced to close our doors for 3 months which was extremely saddening for most of our service uses that had just grounded their routines with working at The Clipper and also lead a heavy financial strain on the organisation as we no longer had an income from being able to operate the cafe.
Since being able to open the doors again in July we have been able roll out a number of projects helping people in Plymouth such as Art Club, Club Night, Games Nights, Introduction to radio, Hidden Lives BiPolar, Hidden Lives Support, Long Covid Support.
The cafe in the heart of Omnium Radio's funding for all those projects currently, and all proceeds go straight back into the projects, we serve great food at affordable prices. So why not come down and check us out, more details about the clipper can be found at www.theclipper.org
You can also donate towards Omnium Radio CIC if you're not hungry or live out of the area but would still like to contribute towards the work we do in both The Clipper and as a radio station with people living with additional needs.
So rare and so wonderful to find a place where - without fail, all are welcomed with genuine, heart felt smiles and openness. It’s a special place and has become a special home from home for many. 😊