ORGANISERS of a one-day festival in Tavistock due to be held this summer have been boosted by a near £10,000 windfall from the National Lottery.

One of the organisers, Tavistock town councillor and businesswoman Trudy Eperon, said this year’s Ecofest would not have been as large as is planned without the lottery cash.

The £9,900 award will be spent on paying towards the day’s attractions which will mean the event will be free of charge to the community.

Cllr Eperon, who organised the event on Saturday, July 16 with fellow councillor Ursula Mann and musician Rosie Swayne, said: ‘We want to give big thanks to the lottery and we were surprised we actually got it.

‘We couldn’t do it the way we want to do it without the lottery funding and it would be a smaller event. It means that it will be free of charge for anyone who wants to come along.’

She said Ecofest, first staged in 2019 then shelved because of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be a one day festival that brings together businesses, charities, local community groups, activists, artists and musicians to promote sustainable action driving forward the climate change goals of our community.

The aim is to inspire climate change action, creating and continuing lasting relationships with the common purpose of educating about climate change and finding solutions to living sustainably.

The event, which runs from 11am to 5pm in the Meadows, will include musicians and children’s activities and is being staged just before the carnival procession.

Cllr Eperon said in 2019, festival participants demonstrated that sustainable choices are both attainable and enjoyable and they would continue to support these projects and generate new ones.

She added: ‘We have teamed up with Tavistock Lions to promote the event alongside Tavistock Carnival, where we have a large influx of visitors to the town for the evening procession. Our hope is to encourage both education and behavioural changes that will support a sustainable local economy. Many community groups and businesses in Tavistock have been adversely impacted by covid, so the festival this year will lend the opportunity for them to promote their sustainable services and products as some normality returns to the town, particularly as the carnival has not run for the last two years either.’

Supporters include Tavistock BID, Transition Tavistock, Tavistock Community Gardening, Tavistock Scrapstore, Precious Plastic Plymouth and Tavistock, the Lions Club of Tavistock, and individual artists, musicians, speakers and business owners.