On Thursday 7th February, the Soper Hall in Harestone Valley Road, Caterham was the venue 'for a 'Town Team Initiative' workshop attended by over 30 delegates. The delegates came from 15 towns including Caterham, Whyteleafe and other towns across the South East. The event, organised by Action for Market Towns (AMT), has been taking place across the country to help towns consider how they can implement the types of initiatives recommended by TV shopping guru Mary Portas.

The workshop featured topics such as 'Creating a Town Team' through helpful examples and approaches from other towns and talks by guest speakers from Hitchin and Bedford.

The event, sponsored by 'A Better Caterham', was formally opened by the ief Executive of Tandridge District Council, Louise Round. Graham Tapley then gave an initial talk on the town's battle to secure the transfer of the Soper Hall building for community use and the exciting plans for its future.

AMT's Chiefe Executive Officer, Chris Wade, then covered the workshop's policy context and the common challenges faced by smaller town centres. He also mentioned the need to 'rethink' the town centre and a peek at new policies available to help people make their towns sustainable.

The next session discussed the importance of 'knowing your town' and 'understanding your town's offer' as recommended by the Portas Review and took a look at how this could be achieved. Further sessions discussed who could lead initiatives such as forming a Town Team and how they could best be set up or strengthened.

Knowing how beneficial it can be for towns to learn from the experience of other towns, delegates also had the opportunity to hear directly from towns who are already implementing the type of initiatives recommended by the Portas Review. For example, one of the Portas recommendations is that towns should set up or improve existing street markets in order to increase footfall.

Speaking about the event, Chris Windridge said: "People came from many places and many useful contacts were made and ideas exchanged. In Caterham itself a follow up workshop is being arranged."

Links to the day's presentations can be viewed on the AMT website at:

Links to the day's presentations at AMT's web site

• Rethinking the Town Centre

• Understanding your Town

• Town Team Development

• Hitchin (BID & Market)