My Council

The Town Council would like to thank all involved in the Christmas arrangements. The Cavaliers for erecting the Christmas lights and tree at the end of November and dismantling in January, as well as assisting with the “Light Switch On” on the 28th November.
The “Light Switch On” event was very well attended despite the cold and windy weather. It was lovely to hear the community singing carols in the Square, accompanied by our fabulous Town Band and supported by Ploughcapella. It was also very special to have the children from the Bluecoat School parade with their lanterns; and then, the switch on revealing dazzling lights for all to enjoy! All topped off with a hot drink hosted by the Town Hall, and mince pies provided by the Chamber of Trade.
It was a lovely community event, arranged and supported by community and the Town Council would like to thank all those involved, and the community for its support.

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the inaugural “12 Days of Christmas” Window Spotting competition is Maggie Mc Nicholas!  Maggie was presented with her prize by Cllr Cloke along with Rose Purcell from the Knit and Natter Group.  A big well done for all who took part this year and we look forward to running it again for Christmas 2022!

A huge “Thank you” to the Knit and Natter group for all of the hard work which went into knitting all 78 festive creations.  We are sure you agree, they all looked beautiful as they adorned the various shop windows.

Photo shows Cllr Cloak and Rose Purcell presenting Maggie with her certificate and prize alongside her brother Albie.

Proud to Care Devon has launched a campaign to recruit 2,000 more Care Workers urgently in the county, particularly in domiciliary care and care homes. The campaign is encouraging those looking for training opportunities to consider if their skills and values are suitable for a career in care.

Proud to Care is offering free one-to-one telephone support to find out if a job in care is right for you. You don’t necessarily need qualifications or previous experience. What’s important are your core skills, values and your attitudes towards working with people who need care.

Furthermore, thanks to the European Social Fund, there are free and flexible courses training offers available to support people to find the right role, or to take a step up, in health and social care. The short courses and workshops are being offered by partners across Devon including Learn Devon, City College Plymouth, South Devon College, Exeter College and Petroc.

The Find Your Calling campaign aims to mobilise an army of new care workers in Devon, encouraging people with the right values and core skills to apply. The campaign calls for people to register their interest by completing a quick online form at www.proudtocaredevon.org.uk/findyourcalling/.

Applicants will get a call back and the offer of free one-to-one support to find out if a job in care and health is right for them.

Click here for Job Description, closing date 22nd January 2022:-

Lloyds Bank has informed us that after running a fortnightly timetable for their Mobile Branch service for some time on a temporary basis, they will now be continuing with a fortnightly timetable. 

You can find the latest Mobile Branch timetable by clicking on this link: https://www.lloydsbank.com/banking-with-us/mobile-branch/devon.html#top

To find out more about how Lloyds has made this decision, you can find more details of their Mobile Branch review here: https://www.lloydsbank.com/banking-with-us/mobile-branch/branch-review.html

Currently, the Lloyds Mobile Branch visits Great Torrington, Sydney House Car Park, on a Monday and for the remainder of this year is scheduled to visit on Monday 6^th December 2021 and Monday 20^th December 2021 .

Great Torrington’s Remembrance Parade was very well attended this morning by representatives from many groups and organisations in the town together with a large turnout from members of the public. Led by the Torrington Silver Band, representatives of the armed forces and the Great Torrington Army Cadets, the parade marched to the War Memorial at the Cemetery where a very poignant service was held. Reverend Rob Blackhall led the service with readings by Mayor Cllr Doug Smith and Mr Sidney Adams, Chairman of the Great Torrington Branch of the Royal British Legion.

This morning, the Mayor of Great Torrington, Cllr Doug Smith, laid a wreath at Great Torrington’s war memorial on behalf of the town to commemorate Armistice Day.  A small ceremony took place, led by the Mayor’s Chaplain, Rev Rob Blackhall.  The Mayor was accompanied by his Beadle, Andy Griffiths, and was joined by The Chairman and President of the local Royal British Legion branch, Mr Sidney Adams and Miss Sue Mills, respectively. 

This morning the Mayor of Great Torrington, Cllr Doug Smith, assisted Kim Insull of Really Wild Learning in selecting the winner of the Great Torrington Bug Hunt competition which ran throughout October.  Kim brought Elsa the Milk Snake along too to help the Mayor choose the winner!  The lucky winner was Allannah McConnachie and she will be awarded with a certificate and her prize later this week.  Well done to everyone who entered the competition – we hope you enjoyed taking part in this fun activity.