Local Excellence Market Today
The array of great food, drink, craft and community stalls that is the Local Excellence Market is here today trading from 9am to 2pm in the Market Place.
Please note that Abingdon Town Council and Information Centre will be closed on Friday 29th March 2024 and Monday 1st April 2024 and will re-open on Tuesday 2nd April 2024 […]
This town website is the official site of the town of Abingdon-on-Thames..
This site has input from all parts of town. Any individual people are able to submit events for the diary for the year ahead so that it is the town centre and every part of town represented in the town diary. This Autumn and Winter when the crisis over the virus is affecting events, Abingdon Michaelmas Fair has been cancelled. Many activities which were supposed to have opened up may have to move back on line. So, reading this please look at the directory of clubs and societies own sites and social media to see the latest situation.
Instead of the usual sixty plus events and print copies available in town there will be less here but there is always something going on.
Abingdon Museum has lots of activities and on line quizzes. The Old County Hall building is a main focus using the intercom to ask a question or to gain entry. Volunteer townspeople are working all the time on the excellent history section of this site and add information throughout the year. Do you have any unique knowledge from the recent or distant past? Let’s make the information on people and places as complete as possible.
New initiatives will be offered throughout the year and into 2021. The town’s Visitor and Community Information Centre at Roysse Court ground floor on Bridge Street is currently unable to open its doors. Information on how to spend your leisure time can be sent to you electronically or by some arrangement, contact info@abingdon.gov.uk Print will be available again one day.
The array of great food, drink, craft and community stalls that is the Local Excellence Market is here today trading from 9am to 2pm in the Market Place.
The annual Crafts for Christmas show has got under way in the Abbey Buildings this week. Tomorrow (Sunday) the Charter multi-storey car park will be open until after the show has closed so that the visitors who come from miles around to see this show will be able to find parking in the town.
The show will follow its usual programme, closing on Sunday evening for a three day change-over and re-opening on Thursday 23rd for its second run which lasts until Sunday 26th.
Mark Thornton of Mostly Books in Stert Street has written a very detailed piece about the threats faced by independent booksellers which is featured on Shiny New Books, a new blog site for booklovers. Independent Booksellers Week is just over and Mostly Books has turned 8 years old but the challenges are very real…in a town lucky enough to have two bookshops we have to bear in mind the need to keep them supported if we don’t want to lose them. This applies to all of our independents but these guys are up against Amazon and the growth of reading by Kindle…
Read Mark’s article by clicking here
The department for Communities and Local Government have confirmed that the team putting together a Business Improvement District proposal for the town centre have been awarded their next tranche of funding. Choose Abingdon Partnership will receive another instalment in the total package of £33 000 which is available if the BID plans come to fruition, bringing the total received to date to over £7 000.
The BID Team consisting of business representatives organised into various groups under the oversight of the Choose Abingdon Partnership is drawing the “ideas” phase to a close now and are writing the draft plan for the five year BID to work to. Businesses will be able to discuss and amend these plans up until the end of August when the final version of the plan will need to go to the printers so that a ballot can take place. If you are an Abingdon town centre business look out for a detailed letter with the draft proposals arriving through your door next week. If you have not received one by 28th July please email heather.brown@chooseabingdon.co.uk to request the letter and feedback form. (or leave a message on 07568 564109)
This is the week when the annual census of the Queen’s swans on the River Thames takes place. The boats carrying the Swan Uppers who are either Royal or belong to one of the ancient guilds (Vintners and Dyers) are expected to be near Abingdon Bridge at the end of the week at around 5pm on Friday 18th but any times given are always approximate. The swans have been in royal ownership since the days when they were an important part of any high status banquet, although the focus nowadays is on protection, conservation and education with schools invited to meet the Swan Uppers at various points along the river.
Bands and fun on the Market Place this Saturday. Come and join the festival atmosphere and enjoy the music!
More information here
This Thursday the business owners and managers of Abingdon-on-Thames have a chance to get some real facts about the progress of the Business Improvement District (BID) project. For the past few months businesses have been contributing ideas and suggestions to the BID team to make up the BID proposal. This meeting is to explain how a BID could work, what areas could be involved, and what projects the BID would be likely to undertake. Previous meetings held by both Abingdon Business Alliance and Abingdon Chamber have given their members a chance to discuss this relatively new way of managing town centres which has been tried in 170 other places around the country and members of both organisations are involved in the BID Team.
The BID project is working towards a ballot of all the business rate-payers in the town centre which will take place in October-November over a period of 28 days. The votes are counted both on the basis of simple majority and on the basis of weighting the votes according to the rateable value of the business premises. Only if a Yes vote majority is achieved on both counts can the BID go ahead so it is not an easy ballot to win. The BID can only last for 5 years and then it has to be reballoted again.
The real aim of a BID is to create a single organisation, properly funded, which can act on behalf of an area and the businesses within it, without compromising the business agenda. Each BID sets its own areas of interest according to the what their local businesses tell them. Many BIDs also gain funding, grants and sponsorship to increase their ability to provide good marketing, cost reductions and collaborative purchasing arrangements. The difference between a BID and the present Choose Abingdon Partnership is that the BID would be entirely under the control of the business rate payers rather than council-funded and council-led.
In towns where BIDs have been successful the driving force is usually the independent businesses who are able to use their talents and local knowledge to run the BID Company, using a budget that is mainly made up of contributions from the chain stores. (The funding is generated by a levy based on a percent of rateable value and this therefore means that the large stores with the highest rateable value pay the most.) It tends to be the independents who are best placed to take advantage of the collaborative benefits of the BID so the services are sometimes referred to as “Robin Hood services” because the smaller businesses are basically helped by the larger ones.
Bringing in a BID is not a simple exercise as a procedure has to be followed as set down in the act of parliament of 2003, with a strict timeline and a ballot that must be run by the Local Authority. The only way to do it is to take it step by step and there are many steps still to go in the process. At this stage this is only a consultation to see what kinds of work the businesses might like a BID Company to focus on.
The meeting is at 6.30pm at the Guildhall.
The Local Excellence Market is up and running and there’s a couple of special features today- the Town Council are selling wristbands for Music in the Park which is just ONE WEEK away, and our regular stall The Chocolate Tree is running mini-chocolate-workshops for kids at their stall in the centre of the market. White and milk melted chocolate looking so delicious!
Huge amounts of fresh asparagus also available on local farm stall!
Trading until 2pm so come down and join us.
It’s a full Market Place tomorrow with the return of the largest Abingdon market with craftworkers, home and farm produce, community stalls and a chance to buy your wristbands for Music in the Park which is only a week away!
It’s a 6am start for us market managers but with breakfast at the bun stall followed by breakfast at the pie stall, we still look forward to it!
Stalls start trading at 9am. The Market closes at 2pm.
The Choose Abingdon AGM takes place at the Guildhall this Tuesday evening. Community Group members can combine this with a tour of the Guildhall and a chance to find out about the excellent package prices for community hire of the Guildhall. For more information click here.