The community of Torpoint excelled themselves on Sunday, July 16, with a fantastic turnout for the annual civic service and parade.

Led by Torpoint Sea Cadets – T S Ramehead Cadet Band, mayor and mayoress of Torpoint Cllr Gary Davis and Mrs Victoria Davis were accompanied by the town mayor’s deputy consort Master George Davis.

Dignitaries attending included the High Sheriff of Cornwall Toby Ashworth, Commanding Officer Captain Jane Roe from HMS Raleigh and Sheryll Murray MP accompanied by Bob Davidson. Councillor Pauline Giles, chairman of Cornwall Council accompanied by her consort, also the Plymouth Lord Mayor accompanied by the Plymouth Lady Mayoress. Also, visiting mayor’s from Launceston and Saltash, the deputy mayor and Portreeve from Callington, plus the deputy mayor of Liskeard. Honorary Freeman of Torpoint Mike Pearn MBE, Honorary Burgess of Torpoint Mike Crago, the chairman of Antony Parish Council, the chairman of Sheviock Parish Council, plus the vice chairman of Millbrook Parish Council were supported by Torpoint town councillors, the town crier, plus Cornwall councillors Kate Ewert and John Tivnan BEM. Additionally, former town mayors attended and paraded to the church.

The Reverend Michael Woodall, the mayor’s chaplain and the Reverend Annabel King led the service at St James Church, with a beautiful performance from the children from Torpoint Nursery and Infant School.

Councillor Rachel Evans BEM presented the Civic Awards for 2023. Friends of Thanckes Park was awarded the Organisation of the Year, for successfully organising a myriad of events and collaborating with other organisations, to ensure that our wide and diverse community continue to enjoy and benefit from one of Torpoint’s real gems, the Field in Trust, Thanckes Park. Cllr Evans continued, highlighting the group tirelessly strive to renovate, develop and maintain the park. Come rain, shine and the occasional set back, this wonderful group of volunteers have, over the years, devoted hundreds of hours into improving, ‘The Lawn’, turning it into the incredible space it is today.

The Person of Courage Award was awarded to Katie-Marie Martin. Cllr Evans explained that 18 months ago this beautiful young lady was about to embark on an exciting new promotion in a job she adored when, unexpectedly, she became unwell. Unfortunately she was diagnosed with a spinal tumour known as Sacral Chordoma. For those that do not know, Chordoma is a cancer, diagnosed in one in a million people around the world, more commonly aged 40 to 75 — she was 23!

Cllr Evans continued that she is in total awe of how Katie-Marie has dealt with this from the beginning. Tackling it head on, she began a video diary of her journey, not only to give herself focus, but to help others and raise awareness. For those of you that haven’t seen it, ‘Chordoma and Me, I have cancer’ can be found on YouTube.

Cllr Evans has sponsored a new Youth Achievement Award, as during her years as mayor, she recognised there are many young people in our community quietly doing great things and she wanted to continue to encourage them to be the best they can. Awarding Ernie Eastment the award, Cllr Evans highlighted that Ernie is a great ambassador for young people in our town, someone who constantly displays values such as integrity, respect and care. As a special patrol leader in the Scouts, he has been described as the epitome of a great Scout, a valuable team player who is extremely supportive of his peers and leaders. His assistance has been described as invaluable when integrating new Scouts into the troop. His scouting ethos shines through and these qualities are the reason he was chosen as one of two scouts from Torpoint to represent Cornwall at the World Jamboree in South Korea next month.

The Citizen of the Year Award was presented to Jenny Hughes, who is always first in the queue when it comes to volunteering, tirelessly putting themselves forward to help any organisation that needs an extra pair of hands as well as organising many fundraising events themselves. Over the years Jenny has raised thousands of pounds for a variety of organisations and charities and has been the lead fundraiser and champion of getting life- saving defibrillators across Torpoint. Jenny has devoted over 27 years to the Scouts, giving young people an opportunity to enjoy fun and adventure whilst developing skills to last them a life time. She is also the founder of the Community Cinema and a fellow Pink Lady at the Torpoint Street Market.

The mayor said: “Thank you to everyone for coming along today and supporting my Civic Service and the procession through the town. I am immensely proud of everyone in our community and all the organisations they represented.”

Summarising the projects currently being undertaken in the town, the mayor explained the church collection will be going towards the Mustard Tree and All-Weather Pitch project; £319.80 was collected at the service, this will be added to the Mayor’s Charity Fund and distributed at the end of his term of office.

On Saturday, July 15, Torpoint town crier David Green took part in The Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers Annual Championship Competition in Calne, Wiltshire.

Twenty-eight town criers from across the UK and from Australia, Bermuda and Canada too presented a First Cry of ‘My home town’ and a Second Cry with the theme ‘Cry me a river.’

Having competed for and won awards in local crier competitions, this was David’s first guild championship attendance and first competition representing Torpoint. He was eligible for entry to the prestigious National Award of the Bob Walker Trophy and took first place.

Town mayor Cllr Gary Davis was delighted to present the Trophy Shield to David at the Torpoint Civic Service on July 16. David’s next competition is a three-day event, The Sir Francis Drake Armada Cup, commencing July 21 in Plymouth and on consecutive days in Kingsbridge and Dartmouth.