Plenty to do as Tamworth marks Civic Day this Saturday

The Mayor of Tamworth is getting out about in the town this Saturday as part of a variety of activities taking place for national Civic Day.

The event is being promoted and co-ordinated locally by Tamworth and District Civic Society as part of a national movement encouraging people to show they care about where they live. A number of activities are taking place for what is set to be a busy day in the town.

Tamworth Mayor, Cllr Richard Kingstone, will be joining in by opening the Town Hall for the day in conjunction with the civic society. People are invited to visit the historic building in Market Street between 10am and 4pm, where the Tamworth and District Civic Society will have a display, as well as providing tours and information about the civic venue and the items on display inside.

Free tea/coffee and cakes will be on offer in the Mayor’s Parlour, where people can also peruse the civic silver and mayoral regalia. Downstairs in the lower room, Have a Heart and Tame First Responders will be giving demonstrations on how to use the many defibrillators that are appearing in and around the town and surrounding villages.

The Mayor will also be helping to set up the Tamworth Urban Arts & Sports Festival, which brings some of the UK’s most talented graffiti and street artists to the town, who will be painting to the theme ‘Creature of the Skies’.

There will be a variety of pop-up art workshops in the Castle Grounds, plus beatboxing, scratching, professional breakdance showcases, dance performances, DJs, the annual 50/50 Skatepark Jam for BMX, skateboard and scooter competitions and have a go races with Tamworth BMX Club. For more information on this visit https://newurbanera.org/events/2019-06-22/.

At 11am, the Mayor will officially launch the Motor Neurone Disease Association 5km Walk from the Sir Robert Peel statue. The second annual walk is to support the work of the MNDA through raised awareness and funding in honour of local man Alan Ridgard, who is living with the condition. Alan will lead the walk on his mobility scooter.

At 12.30pm Richard will pop in to Tamworth Tap in Market Street, which will be decorated in Mercian bunting, to launch its range of four ‘civic’ brews, which can all be sampled together for the first time. The home-brewed dark and pale heritage ales ‘Ethelfleda’, ‘Our Aethel’, ‘Aelfwyn’ and ‘Aethelstan’ will all be on offer throughout the day.

Next the Mayor will be taking a climb up St Editha’s Church Tower, which will be open to the public as part of the Civic Day activities. This will be the first of three opportunities for people to climb the rare double helix staircase to see unparalleled views of the districts from the battlements, and visit the belfry and bell-ringing chamber. Refreshments will be available in the Comberford Chapel and the Book and Trade Fair Shop will be open.

Finally, Richard will be kicking the first ball in a charity football match at The Lamb between the club’s supporters and staff to raise money for Midlands Air Ambulance. He will return later to award the trophy to the winning side.

In between all the above commitments, the Mayor will be milling around the Town Hall to meet and chat to visitors.

Richard said: “National Civic Day is about encouraging people to show they care about their local community by getting involved. One of the great things about being Mayor is that you get to meet some of the many people who are involved in charities, groups, clubs and activities and giving up their time to make Tamworth a better place. I’ll be out and about supporting some of those groups on Saturday, as well as opening the Town Hall for the day and encouraging people to pop in and have a look around their historic civic building. There’s so much going on this Saturday, and I would encourage people to get out and about and join in the fun.”

Other Civic Day activities include traditional afternoon teas being served at the historic Tudor House Café and Tapas Bar (pre-booking required) and a free open day at Tameside Local Nature Reserve in Fazeley Road, where there will be lots of activities for the whole family between 10am and 4pm, as well as the opportunity to explore the great wildlife site.

There’s plenty to see and do in the town besides, including the first summer indoor market from Mercia Market Place and Coffee shop in St Editha’s Church Hall and the Tamworth Twangers Ukele Group performing in the Castle Grounds Bandstand at intervals from 1pm.

Funtopia, a jam-packed bouncy castle and play event for children, is on both Saturday and Sunday. There’s also a three-day cider festival running at The King’s Ditch pub in Lower Gungate from Friday to Sunday. For more information on all Tamworth-based events and activities, check out the Visit Tamworth website and Facebook pages.