Southam F1rst celebrates its successes

In the eight months since its launch, the Southam First Town Centre Partnership has had some notable successes:  a very well-supported Fifties “Retro Revival" Day in September, a Deep Clean Day and then a series of themed “All I Want for Christmas" street fairs in December, all bringing a touch of glitter and glamour to the town.

The team also arranged the installation of brackets on the frontages of participating shops, brightening the town with Christmas trees, and ready to display union flags for the town's forthcoming Jubilee celebrations.

Southam First now has its own branded market stalls for use and hire at events and festivals. An electricity pillar has been installed on Market Hill to supply power for markets and street fairs – and this invaluable asset can be hired by community and voluntary groups and traders using Market Hill.

To help local businesses, one-to-one business reviews have been carried out, on request, by dedicated retail consultants; two business/partnership workshops were well attended with two more upcoming; five town centre businesses have worked closely with students from Southam College to create effective business plans and business owners have supported the College's mentoring days.

Alongside organising and staging events in the town centre, the first of their kind in the town, the partnership also commissioned a dedicated, bespoke website www.southamfirst.org  which aims to incorporate an up-to-date, easy-to-use business directory for Southam and information about the town and the partnership's plans. 

For community groups, a comprehensive activities directory has been prepared for those wanting to keep up to date with what's happening in Southam and this is now available in Southam Library.

Looking ahead to 2012, the Southam First team are already planning more exciting projects and community events with the aim of achieving its vision: “To make Southam Town Centre a place where people want to visit, shop and be entertained and where businesses can thrive in an attractive and distinctive environment."

These plans include:

• “Love Southam" – a Valentine's event
• Another Deep Clean Day
• “Easter Extravaganza" - street fair, bonnet parade and children's entertainment
• Farmers' Market development and expansion
• Art trail and exhibition opportunities for local artists
• Wedding show
• Diamond Jubilee street party and live music event
• Southam Games Day
• “Retro Revival" (50s & 60s themed Vintage event)
• Christmas street fairs
• Town Centre Heritage trail app (i-phone application)
• Shop Local campaign
• New signage for businesses and better notice-boards for community publicity
• More business reviews and workshops

Speaking about the many achievements of Southam First so far, Stratford District Council's Portfolio for Enterprise, Housing and Revenue, Cllr Valerie Hobbs said:  “I must congratulate Southam First for their work with the business community and local residents to promote the town, in an effort to encourage more people to visit Southam and spend more time and money locally.  Since its formation Southam First has been very proactive and industrious in its approach to the town, brightening up the shops and cleaning up the town and organising such interesting, imaginative and successful events  which is evident from the large number of people who attended the Retro Revival Day and Christmas Street Fairs.   

"I understand that several events have been planned for 2012 including celebrations to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee.  I hope that these are all well supported and that Southam First will continue to go from strength to strength.  Southam is a wonderful town and this whole project shows how the local people, the  business community  and Parish and District Councils can all work together for the good of all.  True partnership working and a reflection of the local community spirit.  Well done everyone and every good wish for 2012."

Stratford District Council's representative Cllr Jennie Ellard, a member of Southam First  said: “I am very enthusiastic about the whole project.  Southam has been a very special place because there are lots of people who are prepared to devote their time to many worthy causes. This project enables all those people to work together to ultimately achieve the best possible outcome for the town. I am very proud to be a part of this team. The town looks much brighter after the 'big clean' and it was wonderful to see the events so well attended.   None of these achievements would have been possible without the devotion of the members of Southam First. Unfortunately, there are too many people to list, but I would like to say 'thank you' to all those people who made this project possible and volunteered their time and energy.   We are all looking forward to seeing more people visiting Southam, for recreation and shopping so we can show them what a great part of the world it is."

Southam First is a group of local people from diverse backgrounds who all care about Southam.  It is managed by a Board of voluntary directors representing businesses, community and voluntary interests, residents and local authorities.  The Board is currently considering plans for the sustainability and growth of the Southam First team.

Anyone who is passionate about Southam and the continuing vitality and viability of the town is welcome to join Southam First.  For further information, contact Katherine Geddes, Business, Enterprise & Tourism officer at Stratford District Council on 01789 260102 or email: katherine.geddes@stratford-dc.gov.uk