The countdown to Christmas is well and truly underway in Ruddington . . . with a little help from Nottinghamshire County Council.
Thousands of people flocked to the first-ever Ruddington Village Christmas Market on The Green on Saturday to help spread some festive cheer and enjoy the magical Yuletide atmosphere.
The Christmas special was organised by the Ruddington Village Centre Partnership (RVCP), with sponsorship from William Davis Homes and Thomas James Estate Agents, and support from the European Regional Development Fund.
Nottinghamshire County Council also played a key role in helping the event take place by contributing £5,359 of funding from its *Local Improvement Scheme (LIS).
The money was used to cover the costs of buying five gazebos, a stage, PA system, walkie talkies, transportation and storage for the equipment – all of which were used on Saturday – and to enable the RVCP to also hold regular markets on The Green.
In total, the cost of the project was £10,715 and included contributions from other grant making bodies.
Councillor John Cottee, Chairman of the County Council’s Communities Committee, paid tribute to the work of the RVCP for helping to strengthen the sense of community spirit in the village.
He said: “I was delighted to go along to the Christmas market in Ruddington on Saturday and soak up what was a truly fantastic festive atmosphere. It was great to see so many people in attendance and thoroughly enjoying themselves.
“The Local Improvement Scheme was introduced and designed to provide financial support and assistance to organisations such as the Ruddington Village Centre Partnership, which puts the health, wellbeing, and economic prosperity of the community at the heart of its work.
“I would like to also pay tribute to RVCP’s volunteers who are going above and beyond to help make Ruddington a better place to live and work, especially in what has been and continues to be an uncertain time for everybody due to the pandemic.”
Councillor Reg Adair and Councillor Matt Barney, who both represent the Leake and Ruddington Division at the County Council, were also in attendance at Saturday’s festive event – which featured around 120 stalls dotted round the village – as well as Rushcliffe MP, Ruth Edwards.
He said: “Ruddington Village Centre Partnership should be applauded for the work it carries out in the local community and I was only too happy to support the volunteers with their application to secure funding via our Local Improvement Scheme.
“I thoroughly enjoyed seeing so many people enjoying themselves at the Christmas market and I would like to wish everyone at the RVCP every success for the future, because they certainly deserve it.”
Councillor Barney also hailed the work of the RVCP, saying: “I cannot praise enough the work the Ruddington Village Centre Partnership is carrying out in the close-knit community and the support it is providing to help boost the profile of shops and businesses, especially at what has been an increasingly difficult time for many.
“It was great to see so many people at Saturday’s Christmas market and I have every confidence that the RVCP will continue to go from strength to strength, which can only be good news for the people and businesses of Ruddington.”
The Ruddington Village Centre Partnership was formed in 2018 and originally launched a monthly market at the White Horse Inn in February 2019 to maintain a strong local economy, strengthen the sense of community and to encourage villagers to spend locally.
It is made up entirely of volunteers, who not only put on the markets each month, but also organise workshops for local businesses, promote local traders and run a Young Entrepreneurs programme to nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Now, thanks to the funding, the RVCP has been able to relocate the market to The Green in the village, a much larger area which enabled it to offer greater opportunities to local food and drink producers and further improve the quality of life of residents.
The gazebos offer a flexible space for smaller producers, not only at the monthly market, but also at seasonal events such as Saturday’s Christmas market – and will also be available to local schools and other community groups.
Mark Pinks, vice-chairman of the Ruddington Village Centre Partnership, said around 3,000 people in total attended the market on Saturday.
He said: “It couldn’t have gone any better. It was a real team effort, and the community came together not only the day but to help set everything thing up and I’d like to say a massive thank you for that.
“The reason why we exist is to encourage footfall and improve the economic health of the village.
“We’ve also had good, positive feedback from within the village businesses and shops who have said they had positive uplift with their takings on Saturday.”
Mark also said the funding from the County Council had enabled the RVCP to ‘step up and improve’ the work it carries out in the village.
He added: “If you’re an organisation that has aspirations to build a vision of something bigger than what you are now and you need funds to realise that, then what was the Local Improvement Scheme is a fantastic opportunity to ensure that for sure.”
- *The Local Community Fund (LCF) has now replaced the Local Improvement Scheme. For more information about the LCF and for details about how to apply for funding, go to www.nottscc.gov.uk/LCF.
