The Brunel Swindon is delighted to see shoppers returning to the town centre following the second national lockdown of the pandemic.
The shopping centre introduced extended opening hours for December in order to help people avoid peak times and plan their shopping trips, a move which was also supported by Swindon Borough Council introducing a flat rate car parking fee of £1 after 4pm daily.
Charlotte Jarrett is Centre Manager at The Brunel. Charlotte said: “Our first week post-lockdown 2 has been really positive. Of course, safety remains paramount and we want to reassure everyone that we continue to open within COVID secure measures. There are 2m distance markers around the centre to remind people of the need for social distancing and hand sanitizers available on all of our entrances.”
Each retailer and food operator has their own opening times so visitors should plan ahead and check individual opening hours. One store that’s had a busy return to trading is The Entertainer toy shop in Havelock Square. Store Manager, Tony Rees, said: “It has been great to be back open, the store is fully-stocked and ready for all our customers. We have introduced more space to browse and have clear guidelines for shopping safely. We also offer click and collect at the Swindon store, which is free when spending over £15.”
Lee Mulholland is co-owner of gift shop Something Different. Lee said: “It has been great to welcome customers back to the store helping new and familiar faces pick their gifts for loved ones this Christmas. Trade has gone really well since coming out of Lockdown 2.0. Of course, safety continues to be a top priority for us and we’re keeping wide walkways in the shop by minimising stock on the shop floor and are reminding everyone to look after each other, wear masks and keep to the 2m distancing rule and if the shop gets busy we ask people to queue outside.
“Something Different continued to trade during the recent lockdown, we introduced click and collect in store and our website is always available to all our customers near or far. So if customers want to just come as far as the door to collect their purchases, that’s fine with us!”
12 Heroes of Christmas
The Brunel will also be celebrating truly amazing people through the festive season. With their 12 Heroes of Christmas competition, they are asking Swindon to nominate their heroes.
No matter how big or how small the hero the initiative is all about giving back and spreading some positivity this December. Each day, for 12 days, a winning hero will be chosen to receive a gift from one of the centre’s retailers. The first winner was five year old Kayne who was nominated by his mum, Emma Tischer. Emma said: “My hero is my son Kayne. He’s gone through so much and still more to come. With chromosome duplication he’s had everything against him, but he’s still a happy boy and my hero.”
Kayne and his mum have won a gift hamper from Something Different gift shop. You can see Kayne and our latest winners on our Facebook/Instagram and for details of how to nominate someone for the 12 Heroes of Christmas find everything you need on The Brunel’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TheBrunelSwindon. Entries will be open until the 17th of December, with the last Hero announced on the 21st of December 2020.
