Community News

Buying Local

Liz Abell from The Diverse Regeneration Company, explains how money spent locally creates a vital ‘circle of life’ that helps maintain our communities and longer-term local economic stability. A report from data agency Kantar, found that 65 per cent of UK consumers believe that ‘local shops and businesses are important to the community.’ Well certainly in the case of local food and farming, it means fewer carbon emissions from fewer miles travelled, will often be fresher, better quality, will taste better and is more likely to be ‘plastic free’ in terms of packaging. On top of all these benefits money is reinvested back into the local economy, creating more jobs and improving job security. A number of research companies have been taking a closer look at how money flows in and out of areas and have noticed profound economic impacts of keeping money within a community. This flow of money in and out can quite literally make all the difference to a community, town or even village’s survival. Research by The New Economics Foundation, found that twice the money spent in local shops or at a farmers’ market, in comparison to that spent in a supermarket, would stay within the local community. The community can then benefit by spending it on services, support facilities and investment in new businesses and jobs. This in turn also means money spent locally can help save our towns from losing local shops and services. Perhaps more surprisingly, buying local has implications on a global scale. Just a small increase in exchange rates or the rise of oil prices globally could see the cost of many imported products rising. Therefore by supporting our own producers and manufacturers, this gives us more resilience to cope with future global fluctuations. Another perhaps overlooked bonus to buying local, which we’ve particularly seen during the past few months, is its ability to give us a vital source of human contact, helping us all stay mentally and socially healthy. As you can see, buying local products, using local services and supporting our local manufacturers, gives us so much more than just a feel-good factor! As such I would urge you this year to support the amazing local businesses and food producers we have across the region. So please think local and buy local.

Liz Abell Managing Director, The Diverse Regeneration Company

The Diverse Regeneration Company, a not for profit CIC, supports rural and coastal businesses and community organisations; it can assist with securing grant funding for projects in sectors such as farming, forestry, tourism and community, and help with many aspects of business from project planning, diversification, bid writing and more.

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We would like to welcome locals and visitors alike back into Tavistock as coronavirus restrictions start to ease. We are blessed to have lots of open space to enjoy your visit to the town and you can be assured of your safety – with additional signage, hand sanitiser stations and renewed street graphics among some of the measures in place. Our businesses cannot wait to see you back! We are kicking off spring in Tavistock with the annual ‘Paint the Town’ event beginning on April 10th. This year, with many people having faced extended periods of isolation, the event involves the wider community as well as schools. Working with West Devon Art Workshops, some of the displays will incorporate light – signifying our hope that the worst is over and the town can re-open and thrive once more. We will be relaunching the Tavistock town app ‘Tavistock Local’ in the coming weeks. Along with the Visit Tavistock website, this will be an engaging source of useful information about the town and its businesses. If you haven’t downloaded it already, you can easily do so from Google Play and the Apple App Store. Don’t forget you can continue to support the high street by giving the gift of Tavistock – The Tavistock Gift Card. With over 50 places to spend it, this makes a great gift for any occasion throughout the year. You can purchase a card online at www. tavistockgiftcard.co.uk, or pick one up from Lawsons Tavistock, or load your own from any of the participating businesses.

BID Events

01 April – 17 April TAVISTOCK EASTER EGG HUNT

Another egg-citing and free trail brought to you by Tavistock BID. Collect your clue sheet and find all the eggs to earn yourself a prize. Collect your sheets from The Pasty House, Mime Café or download them at www.visit-tavistock.co.uk/ towntrails

From 10 April PAINT THE TOWN WITH LIGHT, TAVISTOCK

Local businesses, in conjunction with local primary schools and community groups, will create bright and wonderful window displays throughout town to bring Tavistock alive for spring. A seed swap activity will be taking place on Bedford Square. www.visit-tavistock.co.uk/whats-on

Do you want a DAA night landing site for Yelverton?

Devon Air Ambulance (DAA) has approached Buckland Monachorum Parish Council to use the Yelverton War Memorial Hall football pitch as one of its night landing sites, in case of a local emergency after dark, requiring DAA’s services to ensure the best chance of a successful outcome for the patient. Devon Air Ambulance now operates until 2am every day and aims to provide a 24-hour service. Operating and landing in towns and villages during the hours of darkness is different from daylight operation and to support ‘night’ operations, DAA is working with communities to create a network of community landing sites which consist of flat, open spaces with easy access and either existing or newly installed floodlighting that can be operated remotely. Using sites like this when it’s dark means DAA can land in the heart of a community and reach patients much more quickly and safely than if it had to land in a ‘dark field’. There are currently 164 operational community landing sites in towns and villages throughout Devon, with approximately a further 60 sites at various stages of development. The development of these sites is part-funded and managed by local communities. Floodlighting is an essential component for landing, take-off and the safe loading of a patient. While the charity would fund the installation of the lights, it cannot fund the actual equipment - two 150-watt LED lights are required which will be mounted on the Yelverton tennis club fence and only be switched on should a helicopter need to land. If Yelverton, as a community, wishes to have this facility, we need to find around £1600, so if anyone would be prepared to help by making a donation, could they please contact the parish council clerk on clerk@bmpc.info. If there is sufficient support, we might be able to, erm, get this project off the ground!

Ric Cheadle Buckland Monachorum Parish Council

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Hat trick of tourism awards for Devon Yurt

Devon Yurt, established in 2007, was a pioneer in the glamping world. Now entering its 14th year, it remains at the peak of its game and for a third consecutive year, owner Julia Martin has received news that they have reached the finals of the Devon Tourism Awards; last year they received the gold award for glamping and are poised this year for a further top accolade. They were also the silver award winners in the South West Tourism Excellence awards in 2020 and have a gold award from Green Tourism which is only awarded to businesses with a significant investment in green issues and sustainability. A closer look at Julia’s business explains why these awards are flooding in. With just two yurts in their own private paddocks on a beautiful West Devon farm overlooking Dartmoor National Park, guests have the benefit of both natural surroundings and luxury. Each yurt has its own firepit and logfired hot tub; the attention to detail is exemplary, with one guest likening it to a hotel, but with more space and privacy. Couple this with a plethora of stunning, rare breed animals to get to know on the farm, great places to visit in the neighbourhood, and a range of local food items that can be delivered to the door - from breakfast baskets, BBQ packs and new for this season, a pizza pack. Always thinking of ways to improve the visitor experience, Julia has even ordered a new barrel sauna, arriving later this season. If you want to sample a touch of glamping luxury without the risk of travelling very far from home this summer, use code LINKS21 to qualify for a free hot tub session during your stay. For further information visit www. devonyurt.co.uk or telephone Julia on 01822 870366.

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Spring symphony

As the days get longer, we can start to make the most of the lighter mornings and early evenings. Wildlife is also responding to this increase in natural daylight and warming temperatures, encouraging animals to pair up and prepare a safe space to raise their young. I’m sure many of you wake up to the sound of bird song, maybe a robin or wren is singing in your garden. Our resident birds are the first to start the spring chorus – male birds sing at first sunlight to attract a mate or defend their territory. Migrant birds join the choir later to create a melodious symphony culminating in May. Join others around the world to celebrate ‘International Dawn Chorus Day’ on Sunday 2 May at wildlifetrusts.org/dawn-chorus-day.

Common frog by D. Deveney Some bird species start to pair up earlier than others, so in February I started to survey the Burrator woodlands for one of Devon’s rarest birds, the Willow tit. It looks virtually identical to a Marsh tit - both are similar in size, have a black cap and favour damp habitats such as wet woodland or scrubby edges of Rhos pasture near streams and ditches, so spotting the difference is virtually impossible. The only reliable way of distinguishing between them is to listen to their song or

Wren in song by E. Scotney

contact calls – so we use a playback song/call and wait for a response. Unfortunately, no willow tits have responded yet but I did see a beautiful pair of Marsh tits, listened to a mistle thrush in song (sounds quite like a blackbird) and heard great spotted woodpeckers drumming to establish their territory. Another creature we associate with spring is the Common frog, when the males croak at night or early morning. I came across frog spawn in most of the wet flushes, and even saw a few worn out frogs enjoying the sun’s rays! The female frog lays thousands of eggs each spring to ensure survival – only 1 in 50 eggs makes it to tadpole stage and the odds are even lower to reach final adult stage. You can attract frogs to your garden by creating a small pond – it’s amazing how quickly they will find it. The pond should have gentle sloping sides to allow the frogs to climb out and a deeper area in the centre so they can hibernate at the bottom in the mud, but don’t introduce fish as they will eat any frog spawn. Freshwater Habitats Trust is collecting spawn data at freshwaterhabitats. org.uk/projects/pondnet/spawnsurvey2021 or for advice on how to create a garden pond visit freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/ pond-clinic/create-pond. I hope you can get into your garden or local green space and appreciate the beauty and sounds of nature in full song.

Deborah Deveney Burrator Biodiversity Officer, South West Lakes Trust

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