Funding boost for new adventure attraction

BF Adventure has launched a new adventure tourism attraction in Cornwall, supported by a grant from the BIG Productivity fund.Via Ferrata Cornwall, the trading subsidiary of BF Adventure, allows participants to enjoy climbing, traversing cliff faces, crossing high-wire bridges, zip lining and taking on challenges.Situated on the same 60-acre site, near Penryn, as BF Adventure, Via Ferrata Cornwall is Italian for ‘iron path’. More than 1,500 people tackling the course since its launch.BF Adventure has been operating for more than 30 years. Through its outdoor education centre complete with four water-filled quarries, the charity uses the outdoors to support disadvantaged young people.Adrian Richards, chief executive of BF Adventure, said: “Via Ferrata Cornwall is new to us and we wanted to create a unique, strong offering for the tourism adventure market in order to make a profit, which we can plough back into our charitable endeavours. We are tuned into the regional business networking organisations and learned about BIG Productivity through that.”BIG Productivity is a £3.1m fund that offers grants from £2,500 up to £150,000 to qualifying small and medium-sized businesses in Cornwall to boost their productivity. It is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Programme, and is delivered by Cornwall Development Company.Via Ferrata Cornwall was supported in its application by Access to Finance, another ERDF-funded project, which is delivered by Oxford Innovation. It also received initial funding from Resonance, a Bristol-based social investment tax relief fund.