Community groups team up to promote market town as a ‘great place to visit’
The Dereham Carnival parade in 2017 which attracted hundreds of visitors. Picture: Antony Kelly - Credit: Antony Kelly
A new partnership has been created to showcase the many things Dereham has to offer locally and nationally.
The Dereham Carnival parade arrives in the centre of town to cheers from crowds lining the streets. Picture: Antony Kelly - Credit: Antony Kelly
More than 70 voluntary and community organisations were represented at a meeting to create an initiative that will be known as 'About Dereham'.
The goal of the partnership is to promote the town as 'a good place to live; a great place to visit'.
The meeting included a presentation by Stefan Clifford from Breckland District Council, who discussed how the scheme could work with the Market Towns Initiative that was launched in 2017 to support towns within the district.
About Dereham chair, Mike Webb, said: 'Putting together a viable plan for a scheme to improve Dereham and working together with Breckland through the Market Towns Initiative is one of our first priorities. We are excited to see what we can achieve together.'
The Market Towns Initiative was launched by Breckland District Council in 2017 to support towns within the district and make them attractive to new businesses and visitors.
Dereham was identified by the council as one of the key market towns within the district due to its ability to attract shoppers from across the region and it being the second largest market towns in the district, with a population of 20,651.
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Among numerous objectives laid out for the About Dereham project, they said they would aim to raise the profile of the town locally and nationally, provide information about activities and attractions, and act as a network within the community.
They plan to hold a formal launch event in the autumn but a date has not been finalised.
Voluntary and community organisations are being encouraged to get involved in the scheme by becoming a member, which entitles them to have their own listing on the About Dereham website and attend quarterly partnership meetings and AGMs.
It is the second initiative setup in support of the town. In April the Dereham Community Support Centre was renamed to Love Dereham, a charity which is focussed on projects that make a difference to residents.
Their biggest project so far has been establishing a community fridge, which is hosted by the Green Pastures Bookshop.
For further details visit the About Dereham website and the Love Dereham website.
