TAUNTON has been declared a Town of Compassion after the mayor, deputy mayor, and local business owners signed The Charter for Compassion.

On Saturday, September 28, Taunton officially became the third town in the UK to be declared a Town of Compassion as town officials signed the Charter for Compassion at Taunton Minster.

The charter was signed by Mayor Vanessa Garside, Deputy Mayor Martin Straus, Vicar of the Minster Rev’d Tobie Osmond, The Lord High Sheriff Rob Beckley, and local business owner Andy Spragg.

Andy, from The Sangha House, a Holistic health centre on Taunton's Tower Street, has been gently working with the Council for five years towards this signing.

The charter is a commitment by the Town Council to undertake decisions and policies with a compassionate perspective, embodying compassion in all its decisions. It was first signed by the United Nations in 2009 and has since been rolled out all over the world.

Andy Spragg is a UK representative for the Charter for Compassion and now has the task of rippling the charter down through the town and out into wider Somerset.

Visit compassionatetaunton.co.uk to follow Andy’s progress and find out how to sign the charter.

Andy encourages people across the town to sign the charter and help to drive compassion into our companies, social organisations and at an individual level, right through the town.