A letter is in from Penny Mordaunt MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government… please let Jill, Alan and Hamish know what you think!

Dear colleague

TOWN CENTRES AND HIGH STREETS

In my new role as Minister for Town Centres and High Streets, I wanted to let you know about an opportunity for you to praise and publicise the hard work of your local High Street partners, giving them the chance to win a cash prize and further support, by participating in our Great British High Streets Awards 2014. You might recall that my predecessor wrote to you in June when the competition was launched, and I can now confirm that thanks to business partners (Boots, M&S, Costa Coffee, BIRA and others) we now have a cash fund available to the winning towns. I’m sure you’ll agree that as well as celebrating the amazing work going on in town centres and on high streets up and down the country, this money could be really welcomed by your local town.

Given this support from business, I wanted to take this opportunity to also extend the closing date from 1 August to 30 August, ensuring more time is available for those wanting to apply.

In addition, I’m keen to showcase your support for your local towns and so we’ve added a section to the Great British High Street online portal (www.thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk) that specifically highlights where MPs are supporting the campaign in their constituencies. If you want to pledge your support you can do so by sending your name to highstreets@communities.gsi.gov.uk.

We are not just looking for beautiful or historically strong centres, we want examples of innovation and collaboration, celebrating where local people are making a real difference. Therefore, this competition really is open to all high streets, including those undergoing or starting regeneration.

I hope you’ll get involved in this campaign and help showcase the good work that high street partnerships have done locally. Many of you will be out and about around the country this summer and I would encourage you to tweet and upload photos to the online portal of high streets you visit, as well as those in your constituency, and together we can celebrate their hard work and success.

If you would like further information or indeed a discussion about what is going on in your local area or help and advice that we might be able to provide, please do get in touch with the team Mark.Livesey@communities.gsi.gov.uk

PENNY MORDAUNT MP

Fox and Hounds pub with a vintage Routemaster bus passing by!