Westbank Community Health and Care is best known for the broad range of programmes, initiatives and activities the charity provides across Devon to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals and combat loneliness and social isolation. But did you know that we also bring people together by providing first-class conferencing and hospitality services at our Healthy Living Centre at Exminster, near Exeter?

We have recently increased the number of rooms available to hire. We now offer three main function rooms and three treatment rooms and are in the process of renovating another space - a large board room - which will soon be available. All of these rooms have recently been refurbished with a uniform colour scheme. New furniture and infrastructure has been installed in some suites, for example, Barco dongle connections to allow people to plug in their laptop and show files on our large projection screens.

Our three event spaces are suitable for training sessions and conferencing: our Balcony Room has lovely open views across the estuary, our largest room - the Events Studio - can seat up to 100 people theatre-style, and our newly renovated Activity Room can accommodate up to 50 guests theatre-style. We have increased the number of treatment rooms too, and we now have three available.

Not only is there the bonus of on-site parking and on-street parking, but our Exminster base is easy to reach by public transport on the No 2 Stagecoach bus which stops at Exeter railway station and the city’s bus station. What’s more, profits made from Conferencing and Hospitality are ploughed back into our numerous self-funded community initiatives to support people’s health and wellbeing. This is a valuable income stream to support Westbank’s extensive programme of guided group Health Walks, held across Devon. and our Exercise Referral Programmes, delivered by our brilliant gym team.

Our fantastic building at Exminster is one of Westbank’s biggest assets. Reorganisation and closer integration of some of our service delivery teams has allowed us to repurpose some rooms that were previously underused. We’re also investing in the expansion of our hospitality team and are delighted to have welcomed our first hospitality apprentice late last year. 

Welcoming new visitors to our site provides a valuable opportunity for us to connect with local businesses and like-minded organisations, many of whom have gone on to become regular clients. Current users include Devon Partnership Trust, Devon Education Services, Force Cancer Charity and numerous other non-profit organisations and businesses who run training sessions and conferences here. Our therapy rooms are regularly used by a physiotherapy company, a local health visitor, Exminster midwives, Ide & Exminster Community Nurses, and a counselling service that treats veterans with PTSD. Many of our supporters consider it an added bonus that the income they generate goes back into our charitable causes. A win-win all round!

As you would expect, we offer a range of refreshments from tea/coffee and biscuits to breakfast with pastries and buffet lunches, all tailored to our clients’ needs and budget.

If you’re looking for hospitality with a heart, why not give us a go? We’d be delighted to have a chat with you about your requirements and our offering isn’t confined to office hours. Our recent expansion means we are now able to accommodate evening and weekend events across all available rooms. Interested? We look forward to hearing from you.

www.westbank.org.uk/Pages/Category/your-events

This article was first published in The Moorlander