In January Fleet waved goodbye to its royal visitors! The ten 6’5” Nutcracker Kings who came to the town to help with the Christmas celebrations have now returned to their home in the north. The brightly coloured festive figures were hosted by businesses spread around the BID area and children were invited to complete a Nutcracker Trail to discover their location and names.
Many families took part and 387 trail booklets were completed and posted in the special post boxes provided in The Harlington and the Hart Shopping Centre. All the entries were then checked for accuracy and a winner drawn. Gareth S was the winning entrant and he is now the proud owner of a sparkling new mini iPad presented by Sue Tilley, BID Director, Nicola Frost from Sew Busy who hosted one of the nutcrackers and Bob Schofield from Fleet Town Council who helped bring the Nutcracker Trail to Fleet.
The trail was brought to Fleet by Fleet BID, the new business-led and funded partnership, focused on delivering projects to improve the experience in Fleet.
A representative of Brown and White Opticians, one of the Nutcracker hosts, was very pleased with her royal visitor, “I would certainly say we saw more people taking an interest in us, and we did register new patients who came looking for the Nutcracker. It was lovely welcoming them in from the cold, and seeing the children enjoying completing the Nutcracker trail. The Nutcracker Trail added more of a festive atmosphere for Fleet, and brought people together… Definitely a success..”
The owner of Sew Busy, Nicola Frost, was also thrilled with her guest; “Thank you for the loan!” she said, “He’s been a great draw and most definitely attracted new customers for us.”
Fleet BID’s Chair, Emma Molyneux, said “We are so grateful to the businesses who hosted these gorgeous figures, The Nutcracker Trail marked the start of a series of new BID projects raising the profile of Fleet and encouraging people into the town. We are really pleased that so many families complete the Trail booklets and spent the time exploring our town to really discover all we have to offer. The BID would like to thank Fleet Town Council for their support of this BID event and for hosting one of our Nutcracker Kings and a postbox as well!”
