Cllr Mike Tagg is a man whose military background stands him in good stead in his current role of portreeve and mayor of Callington, writes Aileen Moore.

Mike is a highly motivated and well-organised person who is a natural leader; he can plan and organise things with ease. In a world of talkers, Mike is a doer, as he has most recently shown as the brains behind the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations planned for this coming June.

Mike’s working life in the Services has seen him travel all over the world and of all the places he and his wife Shez could have chosen to settle in, they chose Callington.

Mike and Shez are very much embedded in the community and are active members of many groups and organisations; they are recognised as a willing pair of hands and are always happy to help out whenever possible. They share a love of our community and a strong desire to see it thrive.

Mike is a very keen supporter of the work of the Town Team (of which he is vice chairman), a group within the town council working to promote the town. In particularly he supports its work with local universities (Exeter & Plymouth), the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, regional agricultural and environmental organisations, Duchy College and other research centres.

This collaboration aims to see the development of a world class innovation centre at Duchy College. This, Mike believes, would create many skilled jobs for local people and many training and upskilling opportunities for the community of Callington and the surrounding area.

Mike has been a town councillor for nine years: he was deputy portreeve for 2019 and 2020 and is currently portreeve and mayor. We all hope that he will be our portreeve for many years to come; his focus on providing opportunities for our community and his ability to make things happen is just what our community needs.

Mike joined the Merchant Navy at the age of just 15 and went on to serve as a Royal Marine Commando for 22 years, a lot of them as a troop sergeant. After that followed a second career as an operations manager for a very large organisation.

If that wasn’t enough for one lifetime, Mike then embarked on yet another career, this time at Dartmoor Prison.

Mike and Shez have been married for 50 happy years and have two children and five grandchildren.

In Callington, Mike is a member of the Royal British Legion, the U3A (Baking Group) and the Freemasons and is also the coordinator for the Neighbourhood Watch Broadmead and Glebelands.

As well as being portreeve, Mike chairs Callington Town Council’s finance and general purposes committee, focussed on getting value for money for residents. He has worked on many projects, including the refurbishment of the murals around the town. He has successfully raised funds for various projects, including upgrading the CCTV in the town centre. He also liaises between the council and the town’s police team.

Mike has a strong desire to improve the town centre for the community to make it more attractive to visitors and locals alike. He has been instrumental in the planning and organisation of the 2022 Platinum Jubilee celebrations which will run from June 2 to 5 over the four-day bank holiday weekend. Four organisations in the town are each organising one day of activities.

There will be an official proclamation by town crier Cllr Tony Stentiford, the lighting of the beacon on Kit Hill by the Old Cornwall Society, a children’s and seniors’ street tea party, a cream tea in the town hall while viewing the official ceremony relayed from Westminster Abbey, an upmarket food fair, a parade of giants, street food, music and a Proms in the Park event. This four solid days of free entertainment for our community will, no doubt, be Mike’s lasting legacy of his time as our portreeve. Thank you Mike for your dedication and service to our community. You are an inspiration to all others who follow in your footsteps. With you and Suzan Tolman at the helm, Callington is in safe and hardworking hands.