by Alan Quick

CREDITON’S newly rejuvenated Chamber of Commerce is delighted to announce it has donated £3,000 towards the Christmas in Crediton Fairytale-themed Christmas parade, decorations and Light Switch-On event on Friday, November 27.

Historically the Chamber have been involved in the Christmas events, and indeed many town events, and the new Chamber team would like to re-connect these links.

The Christmas in Crediton committee, a sub-group of Crediton Town Council, says its intention is to use the money to install the lighting infrastructure to the lamp posts on the Town Square.

It said this would be a permanent arrangement so that the Town Square can be lit up for future Christmas events and other events, if required.

The new Crediton Chamber of Commerce team includes Tara Conabeare as new chairperson.

She is the owner of Evans News and was previously chair of Crediton Traders Group.

Vice-chairman is Leigh Arthur, the owner of Crediton Pet Shop, vice-chair of Crediton Traders Group.

Bruce Evans was appointed treasurer. He is the owner of Crediton’s finest wine store, Grape and Grain.

David Oliver is secretary of Crediton Chamber of Commerce. He is the owner of Oliver’s Bakery and was actively involved in setting up the Traders Group.

Crediton Traders Group was set up as a pro-active group, working with the other groups in Crediton. Its aims are to promote the town as a whole, to work together rather than as independents and to raise the profile of Crediton, not just the High Street.

The Traders Group has been running for a year and many of the Traders Group members are now members of Crediton Chamber of Commerce.

Tara Conabeare, chairman, explained that the Traders Group joined Crediton Chamber of Commerce as a sub-group in May.

She added: “It was felt we could operate as a sub-group and sit under the umbrella of Chamber which would give us some authority and support.

“At the AGM the current board resigned and we saw it as an opportunity to resurrect the Chamber.

“We have already had a lot of positive feedback and also new member requests.

“We feel Chamber needs a new lease of life - we would like to move forward in a positive manner and get involved along with all the other groups in town to promote Crediton but also to deal with any issues that may arise that the Chamber can effectively help resolve.

“We aim to ’re-invent’ Crediton Chamber of Commerce completely by bringing it up-to-date, having a better on-line presence, by being totally transparent, re-doing our logo and constitution, making public our goals and aims, working with other groups in the town, working with traders on Lords Meadow Industrial Estate as one united team, working to re-build the membership and encourage them to get involved and use the Chamber to be pro-active and effective.”

Tara added: “We are looking to the future and hope to make a difference to the future of Crediton

to re-launch Chamber positively and make sure Crediton has a bright future.”

If you are a business and would be interested in joining, please contact Crediton Chamber of Commerce by email: [email protected] .