My Council

On Sunday May 7th we were delighted to host approximately ninety invited guests at Great Torrington Town & Community Hall for a Coronation Cream Tea.

The afternoon began with musical entertainment for all in the Town Square, provided by Torrington Silver Band; the sun shone and several members of the community came along to enjoy the brilliant music. We would like to thank those members of the band who gave up their precious time to entertain us on a Bank Holiday Weekend.

The cream tea followed; guests enjoyed a scone with jam & cream (whichever went first was fine by us!) and further musical entertainment from Kathy Ellis. The hall was decorated with bunting, floral displays, paperchains, and flags all in patriotic red, white & blue. The Town Hall Titans volunteered to serve teas and coffees throughout the afternoon and we would like to say a massive ‘thank you’ to them for their support, as the event could not have happened if they had not volunteered their time.

A big thank you goes to the Year 6 members of the Mayfair Entourage and their parents, who attended the event in their amazing Mayfair costumes. We know that you had a very busy weekend, and a very busy day on Sunday when you visited local care homes, did some doorstep deliveries of cream teas for people who could not attend, and then came along to the cream tea itself. It was lovely for our guests to see your costumes close-up, especially those who were unable to see the Mayfair procession. Congratulations on performing your duties at Mayfair so well, and thank you for your support with our cream tea – you all looked fabulous.

In organising this event council officers and staff worked closely with Great Torrington Bluecoat Primary School, social prescribers, and Great Torrington Town & Lands Charity who all helped with reaching members of the community to invite to the cream tea. We also worked with Torrington Rotary Club who provided the transport for many guests; these people would not have been able to attend without this valuable support and we sincerely thank you all for giving up your time to allow these people to access this event.

Community events take a lot of time and organisation behind the scenes, and this one involved working with different groups within the community to enable others to access a social celebration of this historic event. This kind of community coordination is something that Great Torrington excels at and we thank everyone who played their part in making it happen.

On Friday May 7th the Mayor attended Great Torrington Bluecoat Primary School to present the Pupil Council representatives with badges to commemorate the Coronation of King Charles III during a celebration assembly. Badges were distributed to all other children at Bluecoats from reception to year 6 later in the day.

Coronation themed books were donated to the Bluecoat Nursery and to Little Frogs Pre-School for the children to share and enjoy.

In a ceremony held today at the Great Torrington Town & Community Hall, Cllr Margaret Brown was awarded the title of Honorary Freewoman of the Town and Parish of Great Torrington.

During the ceremony, speeches were made to honour Cllr Brown’s long and eminent service as both a Town and District Councillor and she was presented a framed certificate by the Mayor. Following which, our Town Crier “Big Al” gave a talk about the Battle of Torrington and sang the “Torrington Song” which was enjoyed by the many invited guests.

Councillor Brown has dedicated herself to representing many causes in the interest of Great Torrington and its’ residents for many years. She became a Town Councillor in 1997, a District Councillor in 1999 and during her time serving on both the town and district councils, Councillor Brown has been Mayor of Great Torrington four times and Chair of Torridge District Council four times.

As you may know 2023 is an election year for the district and town councils with local elections taking place this year on Thursday 4th May. Our Town Council needs more members of the community to join the Council and represent local people.

Could this be you?

BECOMING A LOCAL COUNCILLOR

As a local councillor you can become a voice for your community and help make

real change. Local councillors are champions of their communities who

invest time in local projects and issues for the benefit of residents and the

neighbourhood.

Local councillors discuss local needs, work with local groups and businesses, collaborate with district and county councils to meet local needs, and progress vital projects to invest in the future of the community.

CAN I STAND FOR ELECTION?

To stand for election as a town councillor you must be:

• A UK or Commonwealth citizen; or be a citizen of the Republic of Ireland; or

be a citizen of another Member State of the European Union

• At least 18 years old

• An elector of the local council; or in the past 12 months occupied land or

other premises in the area the local council serves (as owner or tenant);

or work in the area the local council serves (as your principal or only place of

work); or live within three miles of the local council boundary

For more information contact Great Torrington Town Council Offices on 01805 626135 or [email protected]                   

The Town Council is excited to report that after the success of last year’s event, the Craft, Food and Drink Fair – A Taste of Torrington is happening again on Saturday March 4th.

The event has been commissioned to South West Event Management to organise and will see Great Torrington Town Hall, Pannier Market and Castle Hill Community Centre filled with lots of local traders’ craft, food and drink offerings from around Great Torrington and surrounding area.  The event last year brought a lot of visitors into the town and we hope that this year’s event will be equally successful and attract customers to the local shops, pubs and cafés as well as to the fair itself.  

As a taster, there will be offerings of watercolours, home-made candles, cakes, fudge, burgers, Indian cuisine, vegan offerings, stained glass, honey, candy floss, handmade soap, handmade baby clothes, vintage stoves, bags, handmade jewellery, locally produced cider, real ales, spirits, and cheeses with spaces for 70 traders! We are encouraging local charities to get in touch and take up the offer of a free charity space at the event. 

There will be a bar, serving local drinks and mulled wine.  Local shops and traders are being invited to offer special discounts/treats to shoppers on the day, any shops doing so, can contact Lucy to have the information shared on the event’s social media page. There will be activities for people of all ages throughout the town during the day. Some of the activities include taster therapy sessions, fitness activities, demonstrations, face painting, crazy golf and a bouncy castle. 

The Facebook event page is titled ‘A Taste of Torrington – sponsored by Great Torrington Town Council’, if you search for the page and give it a like you will be able to keep up to date with what is happening with the event and which businesses will be attending.

We hope this will be a great day with something for everyone and encourage all local people as well as visitors to pop into the town on the 4th March and pick up some local goodies.

For more information, please contact Lucy on 07518 066623 or email [email protected]

The Rural Services Network in partnership with the Citizens Advice Rural Issues Group has launched a Rural Cost of Living Household Survey  

Independent research commissioned by the RSN in summer last year shows rural areas are suffering more acutely from the cost of living crisis compared to urban areas.

To lend more weight to the argument for more funding for rural areas the RSN is calling on as many rural residents as possible to complete a Rural Cost of Living Household Survey. 

The purpose of the survey is to understand more about rural household budgets at, what is, a very difficult time for many.

Research has shown that those living in rural areas face extra costs and we now want to explore the impacts for households.

But we need your help and want to receive as many survey responses as possible, whatever your household’s income or financial position. This will help us to engage more effectively with Government Departments, MPs and other policy makers.

Please click here to complete the survey

We understand if you are unable, or indeed unwilling, to give answers to some of the questions, complete those you can.

Please forward the survey link to all your contacts, networks, family and friends living in rural areas – the greater the response the better.

The survey closes on 31 March 2023.