Helston traders cash windfall: How it will be spent

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Apprentices
The partnership has been given £10,000 to employ two apprentices for 12 months – £5,000 per apprentice, which it is hoped will come from the local area.
There is also £1,500 of government funding to invest in apprentices. One apprentice will start in the first quarter of 2013, with the second later in the year and the option of a third if the scheme is judged to be successful.  One will be in charge of the website, while the other will be responsible for boosting the town’s markets.
Mr Birkett said: “We rely very, very heavily on volunteers and we’re very lucky in Helston we have a very good group of businesses who are willing to make things happen. But to get continuity we have to balance that with officers as well.
“The idea is that after the 12-month period both should have generated enough income to justify the continuation of the roles. The aim is to not cost the 106 money at all.” Total budget: £10,000.

Town aesthetics and empty shops
All signs in the town centre will be checked to make sure they are clean and clear.  Small, independent shops will be encouraged to upgrade their cosmetic side, while empty shops will be made clean and tidy. Sponsorship will also be looked for.  A register of landlords will be created and they will be contacted in a bid to negotiate better deals.
The three main roundabouts in the town centre will become “destinations in their own right.”
Three ‘hotspots’ in the town centre will be upgraded to a high standard and used as an example to others.
A Town Tidy Week will be held, in which businesses, community groups and residents will be urged to clean up the town.
A list of local tradesmen will be put together, which businesses needing work carried out can draw from. In return the tradesmen will be asked to give a discount to local shops.
The Flower Power scheme will return for a second year, with the aim of adding another 100 hanging baskets, planters and window boxes to double the impact.
Total budget: £35,000

Marketing and promotion
The town centre website will mean Helston can be seen on a national level. Every business in the partnership will get their own page and profile, with information on what’s going on in the town.
A radio campaign will be run for three or four weeks prior to the launch. A business guide will launch in the new year and be distributed through January, February and March. A printed leaflet will form an events’ calendar.  Total budget: £40,000

Parking
A more detailed parking survey will be carried out, as results from the first one were inconclusive.
A leaflet will be produced telling people where to park. As part of this scheme £1,500 will be put aside for some kind of parking initiative, which will be determined once research is carried out around the county.
The ‘parking’ group of the business partnership will be broadened to the ‘transport’ group.
Total budget: £2,500

Markets
Between 15 and 20 market stalls will be bought in the early part of 2013. The Monday and Friday markets will be re-launched in February.
Saturday markets will then begin again just before Flora Day. 
The Midsummer Markets will return, but for two weeks rather the four held last summer.  Extend Christmas markets from two weeks to four weeks. Total budget: £11,600, including £2,500 of Portas funding.

Healthy Helston
A whole programme of making Helston “safe, healthy and positive” will begin with a defibrillator being placed in a central location in the town for use in emergencies.
It is hoped that at least one member of staff in every shop and businesses in the town centre will be trained on how to use the equipment.
Helston Town Council has agreed to £1,000 being spent on the initiative, with partners the British Heart Foundation part funding the defibrillator.

Click here for the Helston cash windfall article.