From Dream to Reality: Behind the Scenes at Tumbly Hill

It’s been a little quiet on our blog and social media platforms — but behind the scenes, we’ve been extremely busy.

What began as a dream, in July 2023 — when our CEO Suzi Garrod first submitted a proposal to Devon County Council and Livewell Southwest, is now becoming a reality — thanks to two years of planning, persistence, and a great deal of hard work (and more than a few tears along the way).

Since sharing the news of our National Lottery development grant to save the former Tumbly Hill Day Centre from closure, we’ve been working steadily to bring the building back to life as Tumbly Hill Health & Wellbeing Hub.

While our website has been quietly evolving in the background — with new service pages and updated content gradually taking shape — most of our focus over the past few months has been on laying strong foundations.

Here’s just some of what we’ve been doing since the spring:

✅ Taken on the full operation and maintenance of the building
✅ Supported existing community groups to continue without disruption
✅ Relocated our own Next Steps Together (NeST) offices
✅ Installed new phone and broadband systems to support day-to-day operations
✅ Completed full health and safety audits and risk assessments
✅ Established new governance, compliance and booking systems
✅ Carried out site-wide accessibility and dementia-friendly checks
✅ Hosted informal coffee mornings to listen to local residents
✅ Delivered clinical open days attended by GPs, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, community nursing teams and social prescribers
✅ Built new partnerships to introduce services that reflect local need
✅ Developed strong working relationships with Livewell Southwest and Anchor Housing (who operate Kiln House)
✅ Launched our room hire offer for community groups and organisations
✅ Created internal systems to support volunteers, student placements and future staff
✅ Begun a soft launch of our activity timetable while planning for wider rollout

We’re now pleased to share that our activity timetable is up and running for July and August — with a wider programme launching from September. A monthly calendar of activities is available to view and take away: you’ll find printed copies at reception at Tumbly Hill, in community locations around town, or we’re happy to email you a copy on request. In the coming days, our events calendar will also be live on the website, with booking available through our new system for selected activities and sessions.

This includes:

🌿 Dementia support and reminiscence sessions
🌿 Counselling and emotional wellbeing services
🌿 Creative, therapeutic, and intergenerational activities
🌿 Gentle movement, strength and balance classes
🌿 Peer groups and social events
🌿 Volunteering and placement opportunities

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be posting more detailed updates — including spotlights on individual services, how to refer or self-refer, and different ways to get involved.

Thank you to everyone who’s supported us on this journey so far. It’s taken sustained effort and belief to reach this point — and we’re proud of how much has been achieved in such a short space of time. We can’t wait to welcome you into the new NeST at Tumbly Hill.

If you’d like to stay in the loop, you can follow us on social media or sign up to our newsletter for the latest updates, opportunities and events.

📧 Just email hello@nextstepstogether.org with the subject line Newsletter Sign-Up and we’ll add you to the list.

You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook for the latest updates, photos and opportunities — we’re at @nest4change on both platforms.