Fourth Torbay Champions event

Last night we held our fourth Torbay Champions event and thanks to the Hampton by Hilton Torquay for hosting us.

50 Champions braved the not very nice weather to come along to hear from the Chair of the Torbay Place Leadership Board Jim Parker and three speakers who shared their connection to Torbay and why our place is unique and right for them.

Our first speaker of the evening was Peter Tisdale from THAT Group who are the investors who brought the Hampton by Hilton hotel to Torquay. Their speciality is to invest in mixed use commercial developments across the South West, particularly in seaside resorts. Peter was also involved in the Abbey Sands development on Torquay seafront. Peter went on to share why they chose to invest in Torbay, which was because it ticked many boxes for them, including being a great visitor attraction and having high quality buildings that could be developed. Peter shared that Torbay is a special place for him, especially the opportunities it gives of being a premier marine and natural environment. Peter now really hopes that following their investment others will follow and that this will bring further funds and opportunities to Torbay.

Our second speakers were Kate Rudman, one of the founders and Directors and Jack, the Innovation Lead, from Sound Communities CIC who kindly brought some of their young people along who interviewed some of our Champions, asking them what they love about Torbay. They will be sharing this on their Ocean Radio Station soon. Sound Communities started in 2010 in one room at Parkfield and now have two premises in Paignton that have recording booths, radio rooms as well as a Boom Bus, which is a mobile production and broadcast studio. They do what they do as they want to create communities of empowered, confident and resilient young people to help them build a better and fairer future.

Our final speaker for the evening was Tracey Cabache, the Director for Torbay Community Development Trust. They are a local charity who have about a £2Million turnover and employ 50 staff who work across the whole of the Bay. They bring people together focussing on what's strong not wrong in Torbay. Tracey shared the many strands they are involved in, which is mainly about bringing local communities together to help them better the place they live in. They also work with and enable a wide range of other voluntary sector groups, which there are over 700 off across our three towns. Tracey said the Torbay Story is important to them as everyone has something to contribute and are promoting it from the grassroots upwards.

The evening was recorded and will be available soon for you to watch. To make sure you don't miss it, and to hear about the next Champions event, along with the other positive work happening across the Bay, sign up to the Torbay Story newsletter