In 2012 the government gave Mid Devon District Council £100,000 through the High Street Innovation Fund to support projects that improve the vibrancy of town centres and reduce the number of empty shops.

At that time only £60,000 of the ‘pot’ was awarded to successful bidders, leaving £40,000 to be allocated at a future date as phase 2. Mid Devon Council has now awarded the remainder of the fund.

Sixteen bids were received, shortlisted to 12 and then each of the bidders were asked to make a presentation to the selection panel. The panel considered each proposal in detail, based on its merit and overall impact of improving the town it represented.

Awards have been made as follows: Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life – £10,000 for a ‘tivvy bumper’ sculpture trail.

Cullompton town team – £7,000 for festival development projects.

Bampton Business Group – £1,275 towards producing the Bampton Business Guide Age UK – £5,000 for a dementia accessible Tiverton project.

Cullompton Farmers Market – £9,500 for a community shop.

Crediton town team – £2,300 towards the Crediton flag project, £1,500 for town entrance signage, £1,500 for designing a canopy for the Town Square and £1,912 for a pop-up food festival market.