Mayors News

I was invited to visit the Youth Genesis group on Friday at the Calf Street Skate Park where the group were involved not only with skating, but also with Graffiti painting.  I was most interested to find out how responsible they were in not over painting other peoples’ work, and the respect they showed to the venue was brilliant.  It really opened my eyes to this whole trend.

Saturday was my first time back in the Plough for ages, this was a very different experience.  This time the youngsters were more focussed on the Skate and Scooter boarding, which was truly inspirational to watch.  They were astonishingly talented and were having so much fun. My great fear was that I might be asked to demonstrate my own skating skills on the floor, but I managed to creep away in the nick of time, thanks to my ever mindful Beadle, Andy.

This year is certainly running away with us! I do hope you are continuing to keep well and are adjusting to the changing rules and the situation we find ourselves in. So far, we have been extremely lucky in Great Torrington, but we must continue to be vigilant; I want to thank everyone who is keeping us safe and to our local traders who are doing all they can to ensure we can continue to shop in safety.

On the 16th of September, I was thrilled to finally be able to hand over my Mayor’s Good Citizen Award to the “Knit and Natter” Group. I met with Rose and Marg, who received the award on behalf of the group. I thanked them both for setting up and being a part of such a fantastic group. We all remember the brilliant display of Poppies that donned the Town Hall last November for Remembrance, of which I was very humbled to unveil. The group has brought lots of people from both the town and the outskirts together and has created strong friendships; something I think everyone values, even more so in these strange times.

Whilst times are uncertain, I have been very pleased to see two new shops open in our lovely town. Firstly, I visited Deborah at Lilian Rose Interiors on the 24th September and took a look around her beautiful shop. Definitely worth a visit, especially if you enjoy lovely interior design.

In early October a new business “Polish me Pretty” opened in the Pannier Market. Sarah and Anna are offering something very different which adds to the great variety of choice available. I wish them both all the very best for their new venture!

It is just over a year now since I launched my Mayor’s Challenge to, “love your town and shop local”. I have been excited to see people taking part and realising how much we really do have to offer here in Great Torrington. I am continuing with this challenge and I recommend that everyone visits our town centre at least once a week and visit our shops, businesses, cafes and Pannier Market. We can play a part in keeping our local economy strong by supporting “local” as much as we can. I always love the saying “when you buy from a small business, the owner does a little happy dance” – lets create more happy dances!

Finally, I want to thank everyone who joined our Torrington Town Tidy over the weekend of 26th and 27th September. It was slightly different to our usual event but I felt sure that you would all do your bit and help to keep our town beautiful! I was especially delighted to see some young people joining in; they are our future and it’s amazing to see how much they care about their community at such a young age. My thanks also to Cllr Clayton who helped me organise the event and started a week early by cleaning the outside of the Great Torrington Heritage Museum – we are one team at the Town Council and I am very proud of how well we all work together.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you need anything.
Cllr Keeley Allin – Mayor of Great Torrington
[email protected]

I hope you have all had an enjoyable Summer, although times may be different at present, it has been lovely to be able to see more of you out and about and also to see visitors enjoying our lovely town.

I am thankful to have finally been able to do some official duties. On Saturday 15th August, I was proud to lead a small group in commemorating the 75th anniversary of VJ Day. It is extremely important that we continue to remember these important dates and ensure we always pay thanks to those who gave so much for us. My thanks go to Nick Megson from Torrington Silver Band and everyone else who was able to join us, albeit we were restricted to how many could be there due to Covid19 restrictions.

I was finally able to hand over the Town Council’s Howe Plate award for Community Service to Pauline Baker for all she has done for the Great Torrington Mayfair and Carnival Committee. Pauline humbly reinforced that she was accepting the award on behalf of the whole committee and for the joint effort in all of the hard work that goes into organising our special day – it really is a team effort but I know all members will agree that we would be lost without Pauline and all she does.

On the 19th of August I was delighted to unveil the new gate at Jubilee Wood and the new Bridge just below. Cutting the ribbon with a pair of shears was a first for me! These have been two projects that have been progressing for quite a while and it was lovely to see them come to fruition and a big “thankyou” to all those who have worked so hard. Special thanks to Alan Williams and volunteers working on Jubilee Wood and to Al Mitchel and the Commons Conservators for the fantastic new bridge. We are very lucky to live in such a beautiful area and be surrounded by people who care so much about keeping it safe, protected and looking its best.

It feels like so long ago now, but I am pleased to report that I completed my charity tandem skydive at Skydive Buzz Dunkeswell on Sunday the 19th of July. The event was made even more special as it coincided with my lovely Nan’s birthday! It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and I want to thank everyone who sponsored me. Since the event took place, I have received an additional £700 which will be divided between both of my charities from last year.  This now takes the total funds raised for 19/20 to £5,200. I cannot thank you all enough for your support.

Whilst we continue to adjust to the “new normal”, I have been really pleased to see so many people shopping local and supporting our independent traders; including shops  in our Pannier Market on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. We have so much to offer and I am excited about progressing with our new Marketing Working Group so that we can begin to really shout about what we have here in Great Torrington!

Please do not hesitate to get in contact with me if you need anything or would like my support.

Keeley Allin – Mayor of Great Torrington

I am actually completely speechless and cannot describe how incredible it felt jumping out of a plane at 15000ft! The free-fall was probably the most intense thing I have ever experienced, traveling at up to 120mph, but one of the best feelings ever.I then had around 5 minutes of floating back to to earth taking in all the views – I can’t thank my instructor enough for making that experience so amazing, doing spins and generally keeping me calm and making the whole experience less nerve wracking (If anyone is ever thinking of doing a skydive, I cannot recommend the team enough, put at ease straight from the start!) I’m genuinely sad that it is now over but can’t thank everyone enough for supporting me and sponsoring me – I will update a final total soon.Lastly, thank you to my family and friends that came along with me today, for waiting all morning for the cloud to clear and then being there to see me safely to the ground – especially little Reggie, who was just great all day!All monies raised for my skydive will be going to my 2019/2020 charities, The Torrington Police Amateur Boxing Club and The First Torrington Scouts