CHATLINK was started with a grant from the National Lottery in July 2000. It enabled us to rent premises at the Old School House and provide the necessary equipment to start up the original one stop shop for information and resources. It was about bringing services to Torpoint so that they could be easily accessed by the people on the Rame Peninsula as in the past this had been very problematical with lack of transportation to the West of the County and our proximity to Plymouth, which is in another County. Funding has always been an issue for this ‘Forgotten Corner’ because of the location of this border town as we rely on many services provided by Plymouth with this in mind we brought the Benefits Agency, Job Centre, Citizens Advice and local services under one roof for the benefit of the local community. We also offered photocopying, laminating and binding, help, advice and signposting on almost anything and built up of information to pass on to enquirers. Telephone one of the CHAT team if you need one one of these services, or email.
Over the years CHATLINK has moved with the times and agencies and users of the building have evolved. One of the biggest problems has been the withdrawal of the main statutory organisations which has had a very negative impact on the community. We continue today enabling Counselling services and a toenail cutting service, along with more sociable groups such as the Craftlink and Crochet group. New for 2022 will be a bereavement group and another Relaxation 4 Life course subject to funding. We can offer room space for practitioners and also a small conference facility, feel free to contact one of the team. We are always looking to expand our services to the community. If you don’t use this valuable resource we will lose it for the future.