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Great Torrington Town Council

Chance for people out of work in Devon to become keyworkers

Service Manager, Georgina.

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.

Lloyds Bank Mobile Branch service

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 6th December 2021 and Monday 20th December 2021 .

Remembrance Parade & Service 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.

Armistice Day 2021

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. 

Great Torrington Bug Hunt – Competition Winner

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.

Silent Space

Great Torrington Town Council’s Dementia Friendly Community working group has been working with the national Silent Space project (https://silentspace.org.uk/) and the Great Torrington and District Community Development Trust to create a Silent Space in Great Torrington.  This is a national project to create areas where people can find peace and tranquillity in natural settings, to switch off from technology, avoid talking loudly or be silent and enjoy nature.

The new Silent Space is located in the Secret Memorial Garden behind the Castle Hill building in Sydney House car park.  The Secret Memorial Garden is a magical space in Great Torrington tucked away behind the town centre shops and main car park.  It was created in 2002 from an original design by Jo Winterburn as a memorial to five young boys, evacuees of the Second World War, who tragically lost their lives in a fire close by at Sydney House. In the centre of the garden is a bronze statue of a boy reading a book; a touching tribute to the boys who lost their lives. There is a central knot garden containing herbs such as marjoram, cotton lavender, sage and thyme, all planted in compartments between low box hedging.  Benches are scattered through the garden so that visitors can relax and appreciate this special oasis in the middle of the town centre.

The garden will be designated a Silent Space on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between the hours of 1:30 and 3:30pm each week.  The Dementia Friendly Community working group hopes that by designating the Secret Memorial Garden as a Silent Space on these days, people living with dementia and their carers will find respite from the busy world we live in.

Great Torrington’s Silent Space launch

Great Torrington’s Dementia Friendly Community working group were delighted to be able to launch Great Torrington’s Silent Space on Tuesday 26th October 2021 in the Secret Memorial Garden behind the Castle Hill building in Sydney House Car Park. 

The Silent Space Project is a national initiative to create areas where people can find peace and tranquillity in natural settings, to switch off from technology, avoid talking loudly or be silent and enjoy nature: https://silentspace.org.uk/ .   The idea for a Dementia Friendly Silent Space was put forward by Chris Porter, one of the founding members of the Dementia Friendly Community working group following a similar project her daughter worked on as part of her PhD. Chris and the working group thought having a Silent Space specifically for people living with dementia would be a great asset to the town as it works towards becoming dementia friendly. Very sadly Chris passed away suddenly last year so the work she did initially with this this project was put on hold temporarily and was recently completed by the Dementia Friendly Community working group. 

At the launch the Chair of the working group, Cllr Di Davey, welcomed Liz Ware, Founder of the Silent Space Project, Cllr Doug Smith, Mayor of Great Torrington and Colin Porter, Chris’s husband who helped the Mayor unveil the new signage for the space.  The garden will be designated a Silent Space on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between the hours of 1:30 and 3:30pm each week. 

The working group would like to thank everyone involved with making this launch possible, including the Torrington and District Community Development Trust who have kindly allowed us to use the Secret Memorial Garden for the Silent Space, their volunteers who maintain the garden so beautifully and Roger Davies for creating the new sign.  The Dementia Friendly Community working group hopes that by designating the Secret Memorial Garden as a Silent Space on specific days, people living with dementia and their carers will find respite from the busy world we live in.