UPDATE ROYSTON F1RST UPDATE | SUMMER 2022
Royston celebrates the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and crowns a winner! Jubilee weekend During the Jubilee weekend, there were several fun activities taking place in Royston. There was a themed market with live music and a 40-ft pop-up café serving cakes and an all-day breakfast. On Sunday, people brought their picnic baskets and blankets to the Priory Memorial Gardens to join the Platinum Jubilee Picnic in the park, organised by Sarah Dingley and the Royston Events Partnership. Royston town businesses also joined in the celebrations by decking out their storefront windows with Jubilee themed displays. There was
a prize up for grabs for the best decorated shop window, which was a bottle of bubbly and a voucher for a lovely meal at Flintshack. The Mayor of Royston, councillor Mary Antony and Cath Boughton, a Director of Royston First, had the difficult task of judging all the excellent window displays. In the end, it was No3, a craft supplies business, who were crowned the winners. The window itself looked amazing, with red, white and blue wool on display, with a handcrafted crocheted Jubilee crown taking centre stage! This was an incredibly wellsupported weekend and thank
The Jubilee Trail Over half term and Jubilee weekend, children were on the hunt to find the crowns hidden in the shop windows of businesses in Royston town centre. There were two prizes up for grabs, two picnic baskets filled with cakes and treats from local merchants’ Days, Ladds and Royston Food Centre, perfect for an afternoon tea. Congratulations to 8-year-old Charles and 3-year-old Bethany, who were selected at random and crowned as the competition winners for the Queen’s Jubilee trail. A big thank you once again to all the shops that took part in the trail!
you to the businesses who took part in the window competition, everyone’s efforts made it a weekend to remember and a great way to celebrate our Queen. Look out for details to decorate your shop windows for the Royston Arts Festival week, 18th to 25th September.
02 Royston First | UPDATE
Christmas plans and upcoming events Royston First and Royston Town Council have been working hard behind the scenes, since March, to make Christmas extra festive this year, by ensuring the town has a bigger Christmas lights switch on after the positive feedback received from last year. There will be a light switch on event on Friday the 25th November from 4pm to 8pm, and we are hoping more shops stay open this year so we can add them all to the marketing literature to help with their promotion. Please let us know if you would like to stay open and help get the town into the Christmas spirit!
Festive window decorations
Royston Arts Festival
The town always has a festive feel during the Christmas period, partly due to the fantastic window displays created by Bespoke Signs.
Following the success of our decorated Jubilee Windows earlier this summer, we are running a Best Decorated Window Competition for the Royston Arts Festival weekend, which takes place 18th – 25th September.
To prevent disappointment this year, we have started collecting requests from businesses to have their window decorated on the third week of November in time for the Christmas lights switch on. If you haven’t already, please let us know if you would like to have your windows painted this year. We are planning to have the windows painted before the lights switch on, and we will need to know the numbers of shops and the number of days we need to book. Please, could you make sure you have confirmed your place by October 1st. Contact us at info@roystonfirst.com to be added to the list, if you haven’t already.
We are asking businesses to decorate their store windows from Sunday 18th, and our judges will be out on Saturday 24th September enjoying walking round town and choosing the winner. You’ll have a chance to win a hamper packed with food and treats sourced from local merchants to share with your team! This year, ‘Circle of Life’ is the theme for the 2022 Royston Arts Festival, and businesses are invited to interpret the theme to create a window display that includes the Circle of Life and relates to your business. A tricky challenge for you! Keep an eye on our socials for our suggestions on how you could interpret the Circle of Life for your business. On the 24th September, Royston Town Mayor Mary Antony and Chair of Royston First, David Smyth, will judge all the shop windows and select the best decorated display. Let’s make this Arts Festival extra special and celebrate the town that we all love!
Become a plastic free champion or ally The Royston Environmental Group was formed in 2020 and has joined a Plastic Free initiative led by Surfers Against Sewage. Royston is striving for plastic free status. To do this, we need businesses and organisations to remove THREE items of single-use plastic from their business. Royston is very close to being accredited as a Plastic Free Town now, so please support this initiative. If you need more information, you can contact Royston Environmental group at chairman@roystonenvironmentalgroup.org.uk
Industrial Estate We have been working on improving the signage on the Industrial Estate to help courier drivers locate businesses more easily. A new map layout that divides the Industrial Estate into sectors has been developed. The initial designs have been shared with the Directors and the Steering Group Committee and have been well received. We are now going to move onto the next stage of the project. Stay tuned for more updates!
Hanging baskets have arrived! After months of working behind the scenes to get permission in place, the hanging baskets have returned after a 15-year hiatus! They have instantly brightened up our town and will remain up for the rest of the summer.
Royston First | UPDATE 03
Town Maps We’ve recently updated both the town centre and town maps of Royston to reflect the changes in our growing town. These updated maps have been distributed to Royston hotels and estate agents, so general members of the public can find their way around and, of course, promote Royston to visitors.
To download the updated maps, scan the QR code below
CRIME CORNER
Thursday Night Project For over a decade, Hertfordshire Constabulary have worked to engage with the young people in Royston. They have now joined with Limitless Academy of Performing Arts to create a monthly event - the Thursday Night Project - that provides a safe and fun environment for the youth to socialise and connect with the community. The aim of the Project is to invest in young people now to encourage more positive life choices as they grow older. The first of these events took place on 21st July and will continue on the second Thursday of every month. The hope is that this event will lead on to to bigger projects for young people in Royston. Special thanks to Wetherspoons for supplying pizza and Johnson Matthey for providing snacks and beverages for the event. Royston First, along with Herts CC, were pleased to provide funding for performance equipment for these sessions, as we firmly believe that investment for the youth of our town now will directly benefit Royston’s economic prosperity in the future.
Greenfields Security Following break-ins on the industrial estate, Royston First have been in contact with the Crime Prevention Officer for Hertfordshire Constabulary and had a walk-around visit on the Estate.
Jobs page Since launching the job page on the Royston Town website, we have had a number of businesses promoting their job vacancies. If you are a premisesbased business in Royston, you can advertise your jobs for free. Email your job description over to us at info@roystonfirst.com.
Historic Town Trail leaflets The three missing town trail arrows have been replaced and all cleaned to make them more visible on the pavement. We have started to actively promote the shortened and longer town trails. The leaflets are in the library but if you would like to have some for your business, please email us and we will get some to you.
Due to the openness of the site, there is little that can be done on an estate-wide basis, but recommendations were given for some simple steps that individual businesses can take to help protect themselves: • Use security-rated products for doors and windows to make them more burglar-resistant. • Make sure your CCTV is operational, provides facial recognition as well as good quality images, and covers any vulnerable areas. • A well-maintained exterior free of rubbish and graffiti will reduce the likelihood of your business being targeted by criminals. If any graffiti appears on a nearby wall or structure, call the local council, who will send their specialist team.
Relaunching Operations Artemis Operation Artemis - whereby Royston First fund additional policing activities - is being considered ahead of the World Cup in Qatar to ensure the safety of people and businesses during the tournament.
04 Royston First | UPDATE
The market is open on Wednesdays & Saturdays from 8am to 3pm
MARKET MANAGER CORNER
Royston Market is enjoying an incredibly busy summer The Queen’s Jubilee was marked by stalls decked in Union Jack flags and bunting. The market’s resident ukuele band (pictured) raised the already buoyant mood with a great set of rousing tunes. The Queen even made an appearance... well a 5-ft cardboard cut-out had to suffice! The Royston Twinning Association joined the market in July to celebrate French cuisine. Traders responded by theming their pitches accordingly, with Backstreet Catering putting on a Gallic-inspired cooking demonstration. The Honest Fig, which specialises in French cheeses, contributed by serving exceptional French wine courtesy of Cambridge Wine (Royston) to wash it all down.
selection of natural, preservative-free doggy treats and Asian street-food from an eye-catching converted Citroen van, complementing the already excellent food offer for which the market is renowned. Royston Market operates every Wednesday and Saturday between 8am to approximately 3pm. We look forward to seeing you all there!
Enquiries from businesses wishing to work on the market have remained consistently high. In the coming weeks we will welcome new craft stalls, a trader selling a huge
News from the street Royston Museum reopens After two years of closure during the pandemic, Royston Museum has finally reopened! The museum celebrates the town’s 2,000-year history, which includes the presence of the mysterious Royston Cave, a medieval priory, an ancient crossroads, and King James I’s royal palace. The museum’s aim is to become Royston’s centre of culture. The museum is free to enter and is open every Thursday through Sunday from 10am to 4pm.
Information Centre The Royston Information Centre in the library was opened in 2015 and has re-opened following the pandemic. The information centre is a great resource of Royston knowledge, including a brand-new video showing off the local attractions. Check out all the information leaflets you will need about everything to see and do in Royston, including the Clubs and Associations, of which there are more than 160. If you are looking for a walk, you can find trail maps that will help guide you around the town centre streets and enable you to discover the rich history highlighted in the Town Trail. The library is open Monday to Wednesday and Friday from 10am to 5:30pm, from 10am to 1pm on Thursdays, and from 9am to 4pm on Saturdays. SCAN ME
ROYSTON F1RST c/o Town Hall, Melbourn Street, Royston SG8 7DA 01763 878 242 info@roystonfirst.com Royston First www.roystonfirst.com
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