October Newsletter

A warm welcome to all our residents, businesses and visitors. This is the first of our regular planned monthly Newsletters, aimed at keeping everyone informed of all matters pertaining to Barnstaple Town Council. As it is our first issue, we’ll take a little longer to look back at some of the year’s news and events…

Summer summary…

So many enjoyable and well attended events have taken place this summer, including our first ever Maritime Exhibition at The Guildhall.

Rock Park has seen some special days including celebration of the King’s Coronation and Armed Forces Day.

The fourth and biggest ever Taw river clean received not only local and regional media coverage, but Barnstaple went international! The BBC filed a piece for the World Service and contact was made as far afield as Canada and Fiji from those who watched the news report.

The Guildhall remains one of our prize assets, and this year’s Theatrefest made tremendous use of the facility by staging the play ‘False Witness’. The play featured the trial of a 10-year-old Barnstaple girl from mid-Victorian times. She had been accused of stealing at the newly opened Pannier Market! Based on a real-life case, the very same courtroom as the proceedings actually occurred in provided a most dramatic setting.

Many other summer events have taken place, including the regular Yoga sessions which have been taking place in Rock Park every Sunday morning. The weather hasn’t always been kind, but the turnouts have been remarkable.

The Fair opening and Proclamation went ahead as planned on 13^th September. All the traditional elements of the day took place with luncheon being held at the Barnstaple Hotel. There was excellent coverage in the local media.

Last weekend saw the Fun Day in Rock Park including a Skate-a-thon along the Tarka trail from Bideford to Barnstaple. The event was well promoted, the weather was kind and the turnout was fabulous! More funds were raised for the Mayor’s charities as well.

Town Clean…

In addition to major events such as the Taw river clean, a consistent and concerted effort has been made to make Barnstaple an attractive place to live, work and visit.

Our team of Rangers have been busy clearing the town of litter, graffiti, overgrown weeds, etc, as well as maintaining flower beds and green spaces. Various benches have been repaired and restored and many of the town’s bollards have been repainted in liaison with advice from the RNIB.

The Town Council has received some very positive feedback from local residents and visitors, who have clearly noticed all the hard work which the Rangers have undertaken. It’s good to see such positive feedback for their efforts.

Plans are afoot for a major refurbishment of The Guildhall, and there will be more on this in forthcoming newsletters.

A new public space, known as The Shambles has also been put to good use. The indoor area adjacent to the Pannier Market entrance has been used to host a number of Community Café events, including advice sessions from our own local Councillors and various stakeholders.

Mayor’s Charities…

This year the Mayor is supporting three local charities, The Veterans Charity, North Devon Hospice and Barnstaple in Bloom

Various fundraising events are held throughout the year to support these charities. It’s the generous support of the pubic that keeps them all afloat, and donations are always welcome.

If you have any fundraising ideas or ventures, please consider supporting our Mayor’s chosen charities. You will be making a significant and positive contribution to our community.

Warm Spaces

With autumn approaching, and the cost of living crisis still affecting many, we’d like to highlight the sterling work being done by local groups and volunteers, including the Freedom Centre in Barnstaple. Recipients of a grant from the Town Council last year, the Freedom Centre operates an open access day centre and supported housing accommodation.

The open access hours for the Freedom Centre in Barnstaple are Monday -Thursday 11.30am -1.30pm. Hot food is available on those days between 12 and 1.

Specific appointment times are also available outside of these hours. For further details please visit freedomcommunityalliance.org.uk

Public Access Defibrillators

We currently provide four defibrillators and will be installing a fifth very soon. They are vital devices for anyone showing symptoms of cardiac arrest. There are instructions on how to use these on the defibrillator boxes. An emergency call handler, via 999 or 112, will always help by talking you through how to access and operate a defibrillator in an emergency. For further information on the whereabouts of our defibrillators please see our website.