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Wellingborough Christmas Market

Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for Wellingborough Town Council, because they have organised a Christmas Market tomorrow (Saturday 11th) from 8:30am until 3pm on the Market Square. We spoke to Emma, Projects Officer at Wellingborough Town Council, who said “There will be a variety of stalls selling gifts, decorations, food and more at Wellingborough Christmas Market, plus we have lots more exciting festive events in the Town Centre too.” Stalls at Wellingborough Christmas Market include:

  • Mystical Mosaics
  • A Touch of Wax
  • Artlenock Artistry
  • The Daylight Centre
  • Izzys bakes
  • Cashew the Cactus
  • Grumpy Brands
  • LDM Leisure
  • Lulu Belle Loves Paper
  • Scented Dreams
  • June Plum
  • The Food Barn
  • Sparky’s Snack Box

And many more! Shoppers at Wellingborough Christmas Market will also be visited by some of Santa’s real reindeer between 11am and 3pm, pop along and say hello? Plus whilst your in the Town Centre, so why not have some more festive fun at the other events:

Santa will be in his snowy grotto at the Swansgate Shopping Centre from 10am until 4pm, and what’s even better is that entry is completely free! You will be greeted by Santa’s cheeky elves before you can talk to Santa, have your photo taken as well as receiving a free gift for every child! Pre booking for the grotto is recommended but not essential. There will be two queues on the event days, shoppers in the pre-booked queue will be made a priority. Book your tickets here!

The United Reform Church on the High Street is hosting their first ever Christmas Tree Festival. There will be over 35 trees on show, decorated by schools, businesses and individuals from the town, look out for Wellingborough Eco Group’s Wellie Womble Tree! Visit on Saturday from 10am until 4pm or on Sunday from 1pm until 4pm. Entrance is £2 per adult, accompanied children are free, all proceeds will go toward their Hub project . Refreshments will be available. More about this on tomorrow’s Advent Calendar…

There is a Christmas Craft Market at the Tithe Barn! With cards, candles, pinnies, jewellery, bags; all sorts of unique gifts and accessories; there is something for everyone! Pick up out of the ordinary gifts this year, locally made; something special and different! Join in the tombola fun, in support of Cats Protection. Plus a chance to decorate or dedicate a Christmas Tree bauble, to be hung on the tree in town. Open 10.30am until 4pm, admission is free, refreshments served all day.

And to finish off with, All Hallows Church and the Town Council have teamed up together to provide a Christmas Carol Concert in the grounds of All Hallows Church after the Christmas Market, at 3pm. Everyone is welcome to join the celebrations. Do come along and enjoy a mince pie and non- alcoholic mulled wine.

Wellingborough Town Council was formed following a Community Governance Review in 2018. It consists of 23 councillors who were elected for four years on 6th May 2021. Wellingborough Town Council will aim to provide some local services in tandem with other local authorities within the area. It is a community focused council, striving to make Wellingborough a better place to live, work and play.

Wellingborough Christmas Market has been organised by Wellingborough Town Council with North Northamptonshire Council using the Welcome Back fund. North Northamptonshire Council is also using this fund for their Hi Street campaign to promote our High Streets, and look, even Santa is shopping locally this year:

Did you spot Santa when he visited Wellingborough while doing his Christmas shopping? Perhaps tomorrow is the day you you can join him? Emma, Projects Officer at Wellingborough Town Council, told us “Wellingborough is the festive place to be this Saturday. Come to Wellingborough Christmas Market, shop locally, join in the celebrations and have a great time.”

Glamis Hall Christmas Festival

Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for Glamis Hall For All, because it’s their Christmas Festival on Saturday! Entry to the festival is free, the fun starts at 9:30 and finishes at 4:00. You can meet Santa for just £5 and have your face painted for £2.50, plus there’s lots of other stalls, a café, a raffle, a tombola, and Wellingborough Eco Group has a Swap Shop and a pocket money games stall too!

Glamis Hall are requesting that you book Santa in advance via Ticket Source to avoid disappointment. Children visiting Santa receive a Christmas stocking containing Christmas-themed activity sheets, treats and a stationary set. Reindeer food and hot chocolate cones are available to purchase on the day.

Jo, Centre Manager, tells us all about the Christmas Festival at Glamis Hall

A Christmas market for the grown-ups includes food & drink stalls, handmade and specialist gift stalls include candles and crackers, pickles and jams, handmade items, and sweets. Don’t forget to visit the tombola and raffle stalls to try for a prize.

About Glamis Hall

Glamis Hall is a community centre on the Queensway Estate in Wellingborough. Run for the community, by the community, their motto is Glamis Hall for all. Home to a day centre for older people, a youth club, football and GLJ Theatre. Hall & rooms for hire. There plenty of free parking or take the W1 bus from Church Street in the town centre.

Glamis Hall consists of a wellbeing centre for the over 50s, a large sports hall with a kitchen and servery, a community meeting room, and sports changing rooms. After being closed by Wellingborough Borough Council in 2014, Glamis Hall reopened as a charity run by volunteers and relatives of clients in January 2015. The Hall’s many daily visitors, who range in age from 51 to 103, help to decide the programming.

Regular activities include a Monday to Friday lunch club, yoga, raffles, and bingo. They have a shop on site and host visits from hairdressers, optometrists and district nurses– making it easy for their clients to access the services they need with minimal travel. Glamis Hall’s mission is to provide an affordable community hub for the residents of the Borough of Wellingborough and the surrounding areas.

Glamis Hall also host Wellingborough Eco Group’s Repair Cafes, Swap Shops and Tuesday Tidy Ups with Wellie Wombles, plus we are looking at more projects in the New Year! But let’s get Christmas done first, see you on Saturday at Glamis Hall, 9:30-4, for some festive fun for all!

Shoots and Spores

Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for Shoots & Spores, a new mushroom shop that has opened at Nene Court and the first shop of its kind in Northamptonshire. They grow many different types of mushrooms including unusual varieties such as Lion’s Mane at the shop, which has a viewing window inside, allowing visitors to see the mushrooms growing and being harvested.

Founded in 2020, Shoots & Spores have been offering a home delivery service to customers and decided to expand into retail premises in October to meet the growing demand for their amazing mushrooms. We popped in on a recommendation from a Wellingborough Eco Group member and met the shop’s owner, Dom, who showed us what they do, so we videoed him for you:

Dom also said: “There has been a huge interest in these amazing ingredients and many studies are ongoing into the possible health benefits. Mushrooms are very delicate and have a short shelf life, so we know our customers appreciate the quality they receive when buying from Shoots & Spores. We have had fantastic feedback; visitors are impressed with the produce and enjoy the experience of seeing the growing room.”

Visit Shoots & Spores today at Units 2-3, Boxpark, Nene Court, The Embankment, Wellingborough, open every Wednesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm. They also offer a local delivery service across Northamptonshire. For more information find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or email shootsandspores@gmail.com.

Wellingborough Swap Shop

Today’s Advent Calendar Window opens for Wellingborough Swap Shop because we have two of these this week! Today as every Tuesday there is a Swap Shop in Glamis Hall’s Community Room from 2:00-6:00; and on Saturday there is another Swap Shop at Glamis Hall’s Christmas Festival from 9:30-4:00!

Wellingborough Swap Shop is a free and local exchange where members of the public can pass on things they no longer want, in exchange for something they need. You could describe it as a kind of cashless bring-and-buy sale. Participants do not need to bring anything in order to take away goods, and vice versa. Our ‘Swap Shop’ recognises that things no longer wanted by someone, might be another person’s treasure. By reusing things we cut down on the amount of waste that goes into landfill and reduce the amount of resources that we use in manufacturing of new products. And it saves you money!

Wellingborough Eco Group originally set up Wellingborough Swap Shop last year as a Facebook group (join in!) so items can be swapped or shared with others; and in February we started hosting Saturday Swap Shops at the Victoria Centre on Zoom with the One Wellingborough Plus project. In September we started hosting in person Wellingborough Swap Shops at Animals in Need’s Open day. This proved to be very popular, so we decided to have weekly Swap Shops in Glamis Hall’s Community Room during our Tuesday Tidy Ups with Wellie Wombles.

This Tuesday’s Swap Shop promises to be bigger and better than ever! With food surplus from Glamis Hall and Redeem Funds, plus produce from our Community Allotment there’s lots of stuff for all. In Glamis Hall’s Community Room from 2-6 it’s all for swaps or just take anything you want, it’s all free!

On Saturday we have another Wellingborough Swap Shop at Glamis Hall’s Christmas Festival, where we will have a selection of books and other items to swap or give away. We will also have pocket money games for everyone including a ‘reindeer race’ and a ‘find the seeds’ game, just for fun. Entry to the festival is free. You can meet Santa for just £5 and have your face painted for £2.50, plus there’s lots of other stalls, a café, a raffle and a tombola. Glamis Hall are requesting that you book Santa and face painting in advance to avoid disappointment.

Swap with Wellingborough Swap Shop, see you between 2 and 6 on this afternoon in Glamis Hall’s Community Room and from 9:30 until 4:00 on Saturday at the Christmas Festival in Glamis Hall; we look forward to welcoming you!

Lunar Tree

Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for a shop door that will soon be closing. The independent gift and homeware store called Lunar Tree, which specialises in unique, handcrafted and ethical goods will close in Wellingborough for a new life.

The count down is on as Christmas Eve will be the last day trading for the Lunar Tree shop. Owner Amy is closing her shop to concentrate on her hair business which will keep the same name.

Amy said “So much will be missed here but I feel if I don’t follow my heart I run the risk of living with regret. I finally got the narrow boat I’ve been dreaming and working towards, I plan to close the shop to pursue a more simple life on the canals and continue my dreadlock work from there.”

Until then, Lunar Tree is selling its fairly traded, local and ethically sourced goods. Everything they have in stock is 100% Vegan Friendly & Cruelty Free! Here Amy, the shop’s owner, shows you around her shop:

They stock a huge range of incense, candles and other smellies including bath bombs, soaps & brulee’s that smell & look good enough to eat. Other Products include:-

  • Crystals
  • Hand Crafted Jewellery
  • Ethnic Clothing & Tapestries
  • Wall Hangings, Mirrors & Figurines
  • Salt/Crystal Lamps & Candle Holders
  • Oil Burners & Oils- Handmade Cards
  • Crazy Colours Hair Dye
  • Boxes & Trinkets

Additionally if you’re thinking about having dreadlocks, this is the place to be. Amy offers customers new dreads, dreadlock maintenance, permanent dreadlock extensions and temporary dread extensions. Amy and Lunar Tree will keep doing the dreads after the shop closes, find them on Facebook to keep up to date.

So pop into Lunar Tree on Cambridge Street and find those special gifts for Christmas. They are open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 – 17:30, but be sure to get there on or before 24th December for all this lovely stuff and a bunch more nice things to make your family and friends feel ZEN!

Adkins Cycle Store

Today’s Advent Calendar opens for C. E. Adkins and Sons, your local independent bicycle shop and cycle repair experts. Trading since 1923, Adkins are one of, if not the oldest retailer in town. On the face of it, not much has changed in their 98 years, which is good, because it’s hard to find good ‘old fashioned’ customer service like you do at this shop.

Gerry, grandson of the original Mr Adkins, showed us around. He and his father Dave run the shop. They do have a selection of bicycles for sale but are mainly fixing bicycles at the moment, mainly due to a shortage of bicycles caused by the pandemic. Gerry (pictured below) hopes that these supply issues are sorted soon, as he expects to have sold out by Christmas!

Repairs start from just £9.50 for a puncture, £12 for a bent wheel and £25 for a gear and break service. They also have parts and accessories available.

C. E. Adkins & Sons stayed open throughout the pandemic as an essential repair service at the request of Wellingborough Council. They also support the monthly Critical Mass cycle rides to encourage people to swap four wheels for two, plus are very positive about our Repair Cafes and are happy for us to refer people who need cycles repaired to them.

Visit Adkins Cycle Store at 8a Cambridge Street or call them on 01933 222678. Their opening hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10am until 2pm. Do pop in for all of your bicycle repairs or if you fancy something new to ride on.

Wellingborough Library

Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for Wellingborough Library who are hosting their Christmas Fair today!

There’s always something happening at the Library and the staff were very keen to tell us all about it, so we videoed them for you. On the video, Sophie, Dee and Jen tells us about Wellingborough Library and the exciting things they do, plus all about today’s Christmas Fair!

The Christmas Fair opens at 10 and finishes at 2. There will be a visit from Father Christmas, a few raffles, lots of craft stalls, some live music and plenty of pocket money games. Entry to the fair is free and it costs just £2 per child to see Father Christmas, which includes gift! Bring family and friends for a festive treat!

Watch now to discover the activities at Wellingborough Library

About Wellingborough Library

Wellingborough Library is a large, busy library in the heart of town, offering a wide range of services to customers: from business support to children’s activities. Staff are friendly and happy to point you in the right direction. The library is always kept clean and presentable. There is also disabled access via a lift and disabled toilets.

As well as having thousands of books, they have computers to use and meeting rooms for hire. The Library shop sells a selection of greetings cards, gift items, children’s toys and educational material. They are also the place to find out about local tourist information.

Opening hours

​​Opens​Closes
​Monday​​9am​​6pm
​Tuesday​​9am​​6pm
​Wednesday​​9am​​6pm
​Thursday​​9am​​6pm
​Friday​​​​9am​​6pm
​Saturday​​9am5pm
​SundayClosedClosed​

You will find them at Pebble Lane, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN8 1AS. They also have a busy Facebook page that shares lots of posts about their activities. Visit Wellingborough Library at any of the times above, or if you can for their Christmas Fair today!

Happy Birthday Food for Thought!

With today’s Advent Calendar, we are opening a new window for a fabulous shop, that is celebrating its first anniversary with a party tomorrow. Happy Birthday Food for Thought! We featured them on last year’s Advent Calendar on their opening day, and we’re really excited to show you around again a year later…

Food for Thought have food, cleaning, personal hygiene products and accessories for sale. Kerry, the shop’s owner, gave us a tour of her emporium, and we videoed it for you. Here is Kerry telling us all about the products available at Food for Thought, including lots of new ones:

Say hello to Kerry and packaging free food

Kerry has opened her ‘zero-waste emporium’ in Nene Court, Wellingborough, to reduce plastic pollution & celebrate locally made. Their motto is more joy with less waste!

At Food for Thought, you can buy loose and eco friendly goods, such as food stuffs, self-care and cleaning products. You simply fill, weigh and pay for what you need. So save your jars and bottles. Wash them out and refill at Food for Thought!

Here are some photos of Food for Thought:

So if you’re looking for great food and cleaning products with zero waste, find Food for Thought at 21 Nene Court, Wellingborough, NN8 1LD

Opening Hours

Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 8.30am-12.30pm
Wednesday: 10am – 3pm
Thursday: 11am – 7.30pm
Friday: 10am – 5pm
Saturday: 10am – 5pm
Sunday: Closed

+44 (0) 7912 696097

Find out more at https://www.foodforthought.shop/

Green Drinks

Members of Wellingborough Eco Group are already working at local events, to help improve our borough’s environment, to reduce, reuse and recycle items that would otherwise end up in landfill, and to help local people reduce their carbon footprints; and some of us work with other local groups tidying up our communities too. But it is hard, often dispiriting work, and renewing and making new friendships, in a relaxed setting is a great way to chill.

That’s where Green Drinks comes in!

Wellingborough Eco Group are hosting Green Drinks evenings, and these events are open to everyone. We are simply running friendly group meetings every month, over a drink in an old Wellingborough pub. The aim is to create a space where people who care about the environment can chat.

Join us to chat, network and to discuss the issues

Do join us for networking, news, chat and new friends; and be part of a growing global network where local people push for and build a sustainable future. Everyone is invited, there is no agenda, this is all about you and what we can do environmentally locally in a friendly and positive way.

We meet on the first Tuesday of each month at the Queens Head, Broad Green, Wellingborough NN8 4LH. The next one is on this Tuesday. We start in the lounge area, on the left as you come in the main entrance, from 6:30pm… Let us know you’re coming on the form below, on Facebook or just turn up!

Scope

Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for Scope’s charity shop in Wellingborough, because they are urgently requesting donations of good quality clothing, bric-a-brac, electricals, toys and shoes and bags. Don’t throw your unwanted items, give them a new life by donating them to Scope, the disability equality charity in England and Wales.

To help, Wellingborough Eco Group have Scope donation bags at our Swap Shops and Repair Cafes if you need them. Every donation of a pre-loved item helps them to fund their vital advice and support services; and it stops usable items ending up in landfill:

  • Scope provides practical information and emotional support to disabled people when it’s most needed, through a telephone helpline and via an online community forum. They also provide a range of employment and child sleep services, community engagement programmes, partnerships and more.
  • Scope are campaigning to create a fairer society with their Everyday Equality strategy. For the last 5 years they have campaigned for social change, on issues about fairness, justice and rights at home, at school, at work and in our communities; so that the 14 million disabled people in the UK have equal opportunities.
  • Donating items to charity shops like Scope for re-use, diverts millions of usable items from landfill and into low-income households, tackling poverty, saving hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2, and supporting a vast, growing network of people through volunteering, employment and training opportunities.
Your guaranteed a warm welcome and plenty of bargains at Scope Wellingborough

There are no limits on number of bags you can donate and you don’t need to make an appointment at the Wellingborough Shop. Just drop off at your convenience to 26/27 Silver Street, Wellingborough, NN8 1AY. They are open Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and closed on Sunday.

The Scope Wellingborough shop sells a wide range of new and second goods including: clothes, shoes, homeware, accessories, furniture, CDs and DVDs, books, toys and much more. They offer discount prices, with tops for £1, bags and shoes for £2, dresses for £3 and jackets for £4. Call 01933 227001 or visit https://www.scope.org.uk/ for more info.