Social entrepreneur John Lakey tells the story behind Poly Rhythm, an innovative, free musical instrument library founded during lockdown to serve the Bodmin community.
For many of those who just travel through Bodmin, those going to holidays homes on the North Coast, to surf the wild Atlantic waves at Polzeath or to fine dine at Rick Stein’s, for many, they will look at Bodmin through an up-turned nose.
For those who live here though, we still carry with us that sense of pride, we are ready to defend the community and will fight both online and offline to do so. The likes of Doc Martin doesn’t help much, when, in the first episode of the eponymous TV drama show, he coined the phrase “Gone Bodmin” to mean a bit mad, after our claim to fame hosting the mental health hospital that was once the largest in the South West of England. I know it’s a joke, but living in Bodmin we know we have much more to offer. The likes of Thomas Flamank and Michael An-Goff who led a march and uprising to London spring to mind, as does our real claim to fame of the time, we hung the mayor for trying to scrap the use of the Cornish Language and the written word through changing the bibles to English.
Now, we find Bodmin in an area of real deprivation and this was before Covid struck. How to make the change is a difficult thing to do but I believe it starts from street level, a level I feel totally at home in.
“I guess my journey in community activism started when I became a parent and realised that if no one is going to make those changes needed, then I could at least try.”
I guess my journey in community activism started when I became a parent and realised that if no one is going to make those changes needed, then I could at least try. I started getting involved with community organising in a voluntary position and found this gave me a great chance to connect with the community and try to help make the changes they wanted to see. Over the next few years I ran a couple of events, helped run a children’s youth club on one of those estates that had been written off by just about every agency or so it seemed. To give you an idea of the place, I once watched 17 drug deals whilst washing the dishes after a youth night, 17 deals within half an hour. The parents have the biggest task out of this though, I mean, how do you raise aspirations from that?
“The death knell of the high street was ringing loud and clear – to me, capitalism was killing it and we shouldn’t look at those that led us here to lead us out!”
In 2016, I set up a Community Interest Company (CIC) called Cultivate Cornwall whilst I was at University and undertaking an entrepreneurial degree. I wanted to “do business different” and while studying I discovered the likes of Otto Scharmer (“Leading from Emerging Future”) and James Martin (“The Meaning of the 21st Century”). Both helped me gain a perceived glimpse of the future and gave me ideas of where I could fit in and bring the community to benefit alongside. Around the same time, the death knell of the high street was ringing loud and clear – to me, capitalism was killing it and we shouldn’t look at those that led us here to lead us out. I was working with textiles at the time, so our CIC set up a micro industry in an empty shop on the high street making beekeeper suits. We had invested quite heavily on six new sewing machines, tutors to teach those that described themselves as often “unemployable” due to age and inexperience. We had orders, we had the team and we had created a high street revolution in my eyes. Then Covid struck! Everyone got sent home and our part of the project closed down. (NB I am glad to say that since Covid restrictions have lifted, some of the people involved with the manufacturing side of things, took it on themselves and are now making suits and working along the same lines of thought and employment. We simply inspired them to continue.)
“We had gained the community’s trust and support over the years and many turned to us to help them from early on in the Covid restrictions.”
During Covid we found ourselves with great communication channels open to the community. We had gained the community’s trust and support over the years and many turned to us to help them from early on in the Covid restrictions. Within a month of closing down our shop we moved to food as this was the biggest need in our community and little did we know at that time, that we would go on to distribute some 274 tons of food over the next eighteen months, supporting 68 families in our town and 7,500 people per week through our network in Cornwall. An artic lorry turned up with supplies every Tuesday and we had to send it all out, all 22 pallets, by Friday.
As we have good connections in our community, we seized on the chance of the extra Covid funds that were available at the time and we simply asked our community, “How could we offer further support?” Many of our youth came back with “music” as during school closure there was no access to instruments or lessons. Taking action on this and with previous experience of setting up the first Library of Things in Cornwall prior to Covid, support came at this time via The National Lottery Covid Fund and this enabled us to set up and open a Music Instrument Library – Poly Rhythm. We found we could offer instruments as home delivery through our food delivery system, online support and the inventory was online through shareware and free to community groups. It was a project we could offer quickly and gauge how it goes if we enable the community to lead it.
“From the early days of Poly Rhythm we knew we have done the right thing.”
Poly Rhythm was born in September of 2020 and as part of the Cultivate Cornwall CIC. By March of 2021, almost all our funding finished … the food, the textiles and Poly Rhythm, all funding ended. We did have reserves and we did have choices and I took a few weeks off to weigh up my future. In June 2021, I registered Poly Rhythm as a CIC and handed over Cultivate Cornwall to the other director who wanted it to continue. For me, this was the best option to take as this way both projects had best chance of surviving the pandemic and helping the community grow back. Where we had council business rate support, we spent that money on paying a year’s rent in advance to give it the best chance we could. We asked for support from the community in the way of instruments and time and I faced my biggest challenge of finding a manager for the library and shop due to the simple fact that I can’t actually play an instrument and that I have no musical knowledge whatsoever.
From the early days of Poly Rhythm CIC we knew we have done the right thing. We now have 182 active members of the library (if inactive for six months they get booted and must re-join if they need the services again). We have an average of 21 loans each week, over 60+ people come through our doors each week that this week saw 22 for guitar lessons, 24 in a jam session, six using the studio, two for repair work and two with donations of instruments. This is without the people who come through the door to just play for a while, share tea with us and tell a tale or two and borrow instruments. We know our community well and because of this can do what we do. In the eighteen months we have been going we have had two thefts and then the guy came in a few weeks later, so guilty and offered to pay us back the value of the items of which he has done. We understand what barriers can do to inclusion and we set out to break them down, our services are free to use.
To ensure we are community led and not just an idea from the directors, we have installed a Poly Board. The Board of Poly Rhythm meet each month and like a normal business, they have an agenda, board members and discuss the direction of travel. The board is made up of two from the shop, two youth members and two volunteers as between them, they are the ones who spend most time interacting with the community. They are our eyes and ears and from these board meetings, they feed back and direct the directors. The directors then take action if it is within the aims and means of Poly Rhythm. This works for us; its helps make the music flow and it brings harmony into the workplace. Every voice is heard and the directors are held to account. As an example of the power of the Board, it was fed back to the directors that we had dead space upstairs in our shop and that the youth wanted to turn it into a recording studio. They listened to the community, gathered the information and presented it to the board. Funding was found to kick start it and over Christmas holidays the two directors went in and built a sound booth. Shortly after it was equipped with the computers and monitors needed and now we see it in almost daily use. A radio station has started from this space as are podcasts aimed at helping mental health issues and more recently, recording our youth playing their music. Let’s not forget, this is all free to use. It on our community’s high street and open to all as part of our library services and we can even provide sessional players if need!
“The reason we chose the high street is not so well known to our service users.”
The reason we chose the high street is not so well known to our service users. To them, we are central and we offer the things that they want to take part in. For us, it’s much more than our service users, it’s the wider community. If people are spending money in town, it’s not with us because we sell very little. We are not in competition with others and our aim is to support other businesses in our town. We simply want to attract extra footfall and we hope that if they come and if they do spend money, then it’s with others. So far, so good. Our cafes have picked up trade, our music shop is making extra sales and even donate to us and slowly but surely we feel, harmony is being restored.
This summer 2022 is going to be a bumper summer for us and is a big part of our sustainability plan as we know that we do need income from somewhere and can’t always look at funders to 100% keep us going. This year we will be attending five festivals ranging from How The Light Gets In (Hye – on – Wye) to Tropical Pressure (Cornwall). It will also involve a road trip with six of our youth who are running workshops on “Portable Solar Projects” with other youth groups in Gatis, Wolverhampton and DD8 music in Kirriemuir Scotland. We are really proud of this. We are leading the project that will see our young people take the lead on climate action, teaching other young people and helping them take action in a hands-on, positive way that teaches lifelong learning skills.
“This is taking those youth from those estates and investing time in them – it creates the things they want to be part of and it’s exciting to think that they are now influencing and inspiring others in positive ways.”
I guess, when I think about raising aspirations, this is it – this is taking those youth from those estates and investing time in them. It creates the things they want to be part of and it’s exciting to think that they are now influencing and inspiring others in positive ways. I always thought about our youth as our future and how we engage with our future leaders. I like to think that we are not only engaging, but we are helping to create those leaders and all from our little shop on the high street.
If our summer is busy, we really hope that our future is too. In reality, we need to find support and sustainable ways going forward. The instrument library is not like beekeeper suits which offered a great return on investment, we are not selling much at the moment (deprivation, rising cost of living, mental health issues on the rise). The reality is we have enough funds in reserve to see us through until November 2022. We have reached out to funders to support us. Our community is 100% behind us as can be seen in donations and volunteer time. We are looking at `paid for` services in some way and we are looking at online sales that will all help towards making us more sustainable. Sadly though, I think we will always need some sort of funding in place, but we are one of those good causes and much, much more than a library. Using entrepreneurial ideas, we are determined to find a way. If you have ideas, or better still cash, then please send to … Poly Rhythm, 1 Market Arcade, Fore Street Bodmin PL31 2JA.
Our door is always open so if you find yourself passing through Bodmin, don’t look down your nose at it, pop in the shop, pick up a guitar and have a jam with us, you might just enjoy it.
