St Keverne Parish Hall has become Cornwall’s latest digital community hub following the installation of a new ultrafast full fibre broadband service by Wildanet, delivered as part of its rollout under the UK Government’s Project Gigabit programme.
The upgrade was formally marked at a special reception attended by representatives from Wildanet and members of the St Keverne community. During the event, a commemorative plaque was presented to Parish Hall Chairman, Barry Sherriff, which will be installed on the exterior of the hall.
Wildanet has installed a full fibre 500Mbps broadband connection at the parish hall as part of the company’s recent roll-out bringing full fibre connectivity to more than 750 homes and businesses in and around St Keverne, at speeds of up to 2Gbps – up to 26 times the speed of the old copper connections.
The new service delivers fast, reliable Wi-Fi access throughout the building, supporting a wide range of community uses, and will be provided free of charge to the parish hall for an initial period of three years.
As a well-used local facility, the parish hall hosts a variety of regular activities and the improved connectivity will make it easier for groups, residents and event organisers to stay online – whether for streaming events, hosting virtual sessions or enabling digital payments at community fairs and stalls.
Simon Hughes, Wildanet Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We are delighted to support St Keverne Parish Hall with access to fast, reliable broadband as part of our work through Project Gigabit. Improving connectivity in rural communities is at the heart of what we do and this installation helps ensure that important shared spaces like this can offer reliable digital access for the people who use them.”
Barry Sherriff, St Keverne parish councillor and Chairman of St Keverne Parish Hall, said: “Improved digital connectivity for the village opens up more opportunities for people to access services and take part in activities online, making everyday life more convenient while helping to reduce unnecessary travel and costs.”
“The parish hall is a busy facility, hosting everything from classes to church services, and this upgrade will benefit everyone who uses it.
“On personal note, I’m one of those in the village who will be taking advantage of the new full fibre service at home and I am looking forward to being connected by Wildanet in the coming months.”
St Keverne marks the 14th community venue to benefit from similar connectivity upgrades delivered by Wildanet through the rollout of its full fibre network and through Project Gigabit. Previous installations include St Constantine Church near Falmouth, Wadebridge Sports Centre, Mullion Village Hall, Probus Village Hall, Liskerrett Community and Arts Centre in Liskeard and Callington Town Hall – with more community sites set to follow as the rollout continues.
