WORKSHOPS have just started for the fourth Crediton Flag Project, to make yet more stunning flags to decorate the town this summer.

The workshops are running throughout March at No 21 High Street, an empty shop which was the former premises of Gee’s Electrical.

As in previous years, they are being led by local artist Charlotte Turner with her team of talented volunteers.

Do pop in if you are passing to watch them at work and see how they help local people turn their ideas from rough sketches into large-scale fabric flags bringing colour and cheer to the High Street throughout the summer.

The project, initiated by Crediton Arts Centre as part of the 2013 Crediton Festival, has so far involved more than 60 local businesses and voluntary groups, each making their own flags to represent their work or role in the community.

In 2014 the Town Team took over managing the project and this year the plan is to add eight more flags to the collection, which will be installed in the Christmas tree holders above the shops from mid-June to mid-August.

Admired by locals and visitors, the flags are not simply a celebration of our community’s creativity, but by making the town more attractive, they have a more serious purpose of increasing footfall and trade in the town.

Originally inspired by the Moretonhampstead Flag Festival, Crediton’s flags have in turn been imitated by other towns in Devon and beyond.

As well as making some new flags, there are also plans to take the project in a new direction this year by inviting community groups to make large patchwork banners, which can be used to decorate empty shop windows, not just in the summer but throughout the year.

The banners, made from the same ripstop nylon used for the flags, will give more people the opportunity to take part in the creative process.

In its first year the project was paid for by Mid Devon District Council through the High Street Innovation Fund (HSIF), a government grant aimed at regenerating town centres.

This year the Town Team is delighted to have received a further grant from the HSIF, in recognition of the important role played by creativity in keeping our High Street alive.

The Town Team is also grateful for the support of Crediton Town Council and the Chamber of Commerce.

Alan Quick