Three local charities – York Food Bank, York Against Cancer and My Sight York – have today each received a donation boost of £500 from Make It York and the Shambles Market traders that stayed open during lockdown. Following the partial closure of the market in March due to government guidelines, Make It York worked with the fresh food and takeaway traders who were able to stay open during the lockdown period to waive their pitch fees and instead make a donation to charity.
The six traders who have contributed to the donation alongside Make It York are Sheila’s Greengrocers, Mannion’s Fruit & Veg, Taylor Made Kitchen, Stam & Maria’s Greek Street Food, Krep and Na Na Noodle Bar. The traders who reopened to provide fresh produce and takeaway meals to residents during lockdown, came together to agree on the three charities to make the donations to.
A total donation of £1500 has been split between three York-based charities. The money will go to help York Food Bank who provide emergency food supplies for those in crisis situations, York Against Cancer who offer care, support and advice to local patients and My Sight York, a charity working to help people with sight loss stay independent.
Shambles Market reopened to all traders in June with Make It York putting in place new processes and systems to ensure the safety of all customers and traders and aid with social distancing. Measures introduced include a new one-way system and re-configuration of the stall layout to improve the flow of customers and minimise disruption to traders. New signage and barriers have also been introduced into the space to aid with social distancing. The market space has also been brightened up and refreshed with new branded gable ends installed throughout.
Russell McCartney, Head of Commercial at Make It York, said: “During lockdown, Shambles Market continued to play a hugely important role in the local community – providing residents with a safe outdoor market space to purchase their essential fresh food. Make It York were keen to see how we could work with traders to support them during lockdown and waive stall fees – instead giving them the option to donate a proportion to charity. It is great to be able to help three fantastic local charities who do such important work – and we are delighted to be able to work with traders to give something back and support them in this way.
Now the market has fully reopened, we’ve had some fantastic feedback about the new systems in place and it has been great to welcome all the traders and customers back. We plan to continue to working collaboratively with our traders to ensure Shambles remains a safe welcoming environment for residents and visitors to enjoy.“
Cllr Andrew Waller, Executive Member for Economy and Strategic planning, said:
“The Coronavirus pandemic has been tough for everyone, none more so than charities who have seen donations drop significantly, when they are needed now more than ever. It’s great to see that several stall holders who provided a great service for residents throughout this time have extended their generosity and donated they fees that Make It York waived to these great causes.
I hope that people will continue to support the market traders, and support local businesses where possible to repay their support to the community during Lockdown. As always It’s important we all do our part to ensure everyone’s health and safety and follow guidance for wearing face coverings, where possible. We also must be mindful that not everyone can wear a face covering and be respectful of this.”
For more information on the Shambles Market traders visit: www.visityork.org/shamblesmarket and follow the Shambles Market social channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates.
ENDS
Image: Shambles Market Traders: Christian (Taylormade), John (Sheila’s Fruit & Veg), Sophie (Na Na Noodle Bar), Martha (KREP), John (Mannion’s Fruit & Veg), Nikos (Stam & Maria’s)
For further information please contact:
Amy Goodman, Consumer Communications Manager
Email: comms@makeityork.com
Notes to editors:
About Make It York
Make It York’s purpose is to develop and promote the city and its surroundings – nationally and internationally – as a vibrant and attractive place to live, visit, study, work and do business. Its mission is to grow the economic prosperity and wider wellbeing of York and its citizens. In practice, this means delivering a range of projects and programmes based around our four corporate strategic priorities. These are:
- City positioning and profile-raising
- Inward Investment and network building
- Ensuring an exciting city centre
- Delivering the city’s ground-breaking Cultural Strategy
