A creative schoolgirl has seen a mascot she designed brought to life after winning a competition hosted by The Rock.
Earlier this year we launched a competition to design its first ever mascot. The competition was open to local school children who had the chance to submit a mascot design.
The winning design ‘Rocky the Rhino’ was submitted by seven-year-old Chantelle Simbo from Whitefield, Bury and was chosen by the competition judges from more than 60 entries.
Now, after two months production, the mascot has finally be unveiled, and Chantelle, a pupil at Ribble Drive Community Primary School, was the first customer to see it.
Chantelle, who also won a £200 spending spree at The Rock, said she couldn’t sleep the night before the unveiling because she was so excited. When she saw Rocky she said: “I’m so excited. He looks exactly like my drawing.”
It was down to some good luck and a kind postal worker that Chantelle’s entry made it to The Rock after it was accidentally posted without a stamp.
Mum, Natalia, added: “I’m so proud of Chantelle. She’s very creative and she was so happy when I told her she’d won the competition. School have made a really big fuss of her and she’ll be sharing the prize with her sister, Jasmine.”
Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, added: “We were blown away by the entries to the competition but Rocky the Rhino was the favourite of all our team. We could see so much effort had gone into Chantelle’s design and we hope she is just as pleased as we are with the final product – it’s so very similar to her entry and we are thrilled with the finish result. Rocky the Rhino will be making appearances at The Rock on several occasions and we hope he brings a smile to our visitors’ faces.”
The Rock is on the hunt for a new partner charity.
We are looking for a local charity to partner with and support with fundraising events over the next 12 months.
Submissions opened on May 1st and will run until May 17th. To nominate a charity to be considered the nominator must work for or be heavily involved in the charity and have its permission to enter.
Since July 2018 we have worked with Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary and have raised over £3,000 through various fundraising events.
We’ve enjoyed a very successful partnership with Bleakholt – but the time has come to renew our charity partner.
Once the nominations are received a shortlist of three charities will be made by The Rock and an online vote will run for two weeks in June – the charity with the highest number of votes will become The Rock’s new partner charity.
The new charity will become The Rock’s charity of choice from July 2019 to June 2020.
Do your children love reading? Are they creative and imaginative?
Then there’s the perfect free event for them at The Rock, Bury, this Easter weekend – featuring children’s favourite The Gruffalo, plus a host of pirate-themed, Treasure Island fun.
The shopping centre is hosting a two day ‘Reading Rocks’ extravaganza on Good Friday (19th April) and Saturday 20th April.
Taking place in a large marquee in the heart of the shopping centre, there’ll be character appearances, a read and relax area and a creation station where children can make book marks and treasure maps.
Each day there will also be a Reading Rocks Quest taking place at the centre where visitors must find all the reading related images in the shop windows and complete an entry form for the chance to win an Easter prize, there will be prizes for the best fancy dress each day and goody bags for visitors .
On Friday 19th April, children can come and see the Gruffalo at 11am, 12pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm and 3:30pm.
On Saturday 20th April we’ll be joined by Jonny Depp lookalike Captain Jack for personal appearances at 11am, 1pm and 2:30pm. Plus there will be story time sessions at 12pm, 2pm and 3pm.Events will be held on a first come first served basis.
Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “We know finding ways to keep the children entertained can be difficult so that’s why we’re hosting these free events for our visitors They promise to be both fun and educational.
“Once you’re here there’s plenty on offer for a full day out – we have a number of family-friendly restaurants and are home to a cinema and bowling alley. Plus there’s Easter chocolate for our visitors too. We look forward to welcoming you over the Easter weekend.”
It’s time to announce the winner of our Design The Rock’s Mascot Competition.
We’d like to say a big THANK YOU to every single person for participating! It has been a great pleasure receiving these mascot designs, they were all amazing with so much effort put into them.
🥁The winning design is ROCKY THE RHINO, designed by Chantelle Simbo🥁
Chantelle has won £200 in vouchers to spend at The Rock and her winning design will now be brought to life and will be making its first appearance in a few months time.
A Bury podiatrist has realised his dream of opening a private clinic in his home town – and aims to create five new jobs this year.
Bury Foot Clinic, owned and operated by Bury-born Andrew Mayo, has opened its doors at The Rock Shopping Centre, promising a ‘relaxed and modern environment’ offering customers ‘exceptional treatment and care’.
The new clinic is located on Rock Street, close to St John’s Gardens at The Rock and its services include routine foot care, diabetic foot assessments, biomechanical assessments, orthotics, nail surgery and more.
The new clinic is the third in Andrew’s portfolio. He has clinics in Lytham and Walkden but says he always wanted to return to Bury to open a practice.
Andrew, 32, worked for Bury NHS when he graduated from Salford University in 2007.
The former Tottington High School pupil said: “It feels great to be returning back to home soil. I’m looking forward to seeing all my regular patients from the area and meeting new patients.
“I’ve always wanted a private practice in Bury. The Rock gives us a fantastic opportunity to join big high street names and be a part of a very busy development.”
He added: “As with my other practices, we have always strived to bring foot care to the high street with a modern look and feel, making it more appealing to all generations.”
Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Andrew to The Rock and we feel that Bury Foot Clinic is a great addition to our offering. We wish Andrew every success.”
A wedding dress shop owner who worked in a store at The Rock Shopping Centre when it first opened has gone full circle and opened her own boutique at the shopping destination.
Steph Davison, 28, has opened ‘Alice Ada Bridal’ at The Rock offering ‘a modern and relaxing environment’ for brides-to-be.
The new store is located on Rock Street, close to St John’s Gardens at the centre.
Steph studied Law at Leeds University and worked in Debenhams when the centre first opened in 2010. She said: “I wanted to open in Bury because it’s my home town, I worked on The Rock when it first opened and with Bury being one of the biggest shopping areas outside of Manchester city centre it made perfect sense.”
The former St Gabriel’s High School pupil has worked in the wedding industry for a number of years, including at a wedding dress shop and also as a wedding coordinator at a local venue.
Speaking about Alice Ada Bridal – which is named after both her grandmothers – Steph, said: “We offer a full experience at Alice Ada Bridal, we don’t just want our customers to buy a dress we want to give them the full wedding dress shopping experience and be able to help them with anything else wedding related they might need.
“We want our brides to have such a good time that they want to stay in touch and in the future they recommend us to other brides.”
Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “Alice Ada Bridal is a great addition to The Rock and Bury town centre as a whole. We’re sure that brides visiting the store will enjoy a wonderful experience and we wish Steph every success in her new venture. We’re thrilled Steph decided to open here at The Rock having worked here almost nine years go.”
Shoppers visiting The Rock will be able to get their hands on prizes hidden in stores as we spread the love this Valentine’s.
On Saturday 9th February there will be 50 golden envelopes hidden in shops, restaurants and leisure units as part of our ‘Love from The Rock’ Valentine’s Day campaign.
Visitors who find a golden envelope will win a voucher for the store they found it in. Full terms and conditions apply and there is only one prize per person.
We have teamed up with Tower FM to run the activity, which will take place from 11am until 3pm. (Or until all vouchers are collected).
The treasure hunters must take their golden envelope to the Tower FM street team to claim their prize and register their details.
Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “We wanted to share the love this February and give something back to our visitors who are out shopping to buy something special ahead of Valentine’s Day on February 14th. We hope this will encourage visitors to have some fun on their visit with the chance of winning a store voucher. There’s 50 vouchers around the centre so we’ll be able to put a smile on 50 people’s faces!
“And while you’re here there’s plenty of places to pick up a gift for your loved one, find the perfect outfit or head to one of our restaurants for a date.”
To find out more and read the terms and conditions click here.
Star line-up announced for The Rock’s big switch on
The face of some of children’s television’s biggest shows will switch on the Christmas lights at The Rock this year, the shopping and leisure destination has announced.
Andy Day from Cbeebies and his band The Odd Socks will take to the stage for the big switch on on Thursday 8th November 2018. The star line-up will also feature R&B singer Lemar and there will be a family trip to Disneyland Paris up for grabs.
The centre’s Christmas Lights Switch on, hosted by Tower FM, will run from 5:30pm until 7:30pm and will also feature a number of local acts, including groups from the Carol Godby Theatre Workshop and of course an appearance from Santa himself.
Andy Day is one of the most popular children’s personalities in the UK and widely known for his antics tackling dinosaurs, investigating baby animals and being on safari.
At Glastonbury 2017, Andy launched his brand new rock ‘n’ roll band for kids, ‘Andy and the Odd Socks’. Aimed at primary school children of all ages, Andy and the Odd Socks are all hugely individual and entertaining characters whose message to children is simple: be proud of who you are and be accepting of one another.
Meanwhile, Lemar is one of the most successful male British solo artists of the last decade, having had seven UK Top 10 singles and selling over two million albums worldwide.
His awards include three Mobo awards and two Brit awards for Best British Urban Act.
Lemar featured on ITV’s Dancing on Ice in 2018 and is currently hosting a weekend Breakfast soul show on Magic FM. He is currently finishing his eighth studio album and will be releasing new music this autumn.
Throughout the evening a competition called #ChristmasUnwrapped will take place – where the prize is a family trip to Disneyland Paris. On the day visitors can enter by collecting one of 1,000 silver gifts from the Tower FM street team. Entrants must keep hold of these until the presenters say they can be opened. One lucky gift holder will win the prize. The silver gifts will be given out on a first come first served basis. Once the 1,000 have gone, they’re gone.
The switch on event is free to attend and in this week (October 22nd – October 27th) a competition to find Andy Day’s odd socks around the centre will be held, with the winners given the chance to attend a special meet and greet with the star before he takes to the stage on the night.
The event marks the beginning of the Christmas season for The Rock. The centre’s Santa’s Grotto will officially open on Saturday 24th November following the Santa’s Arrival parade in the morning and The Rock Express will return in December to transport festive shoppers around the town until the end of the month.
The Rock’s centre director, Arnold Wilcox-Wood, said: “Our Christmas Lights Switch On is one of the biggest events in our calendar and once again we’re aiming to pull out all the stops to make it a wonderful night to remember.
“Following the success of last year’s event, we’re really excited to welcome two hugely popular names to The Rock. We’re sure Andy and The Oddsocks will be a huge hit with the children and Lemar will be a great crowd pleaser too. We hope to see lots of our shoppers from near and far on the night – remember there’s just 1,000 silver gifts available for the Disneyland competition so arrive early to avoid disappointment.”
School’s out for summer, but have you heard about The School of Rock?
We have got a host of fun, free educational and experiential activities planned for every Saturday during August – and there’s plenty to keep everyone entertained!
We have teamed up with Tower FM to host it’s packed summer calendar of events where there’s a chance to walk among dinosaurs, meet Titan the Robot, dig for fossils, win prizes and more.
The fun kicks off on Saturday 4th August where there’s a chance to meet, touch and have photos with baby dinosaurs and their keepers, dig for fossils and enjoy our dinosaur fact sheets and colouring station.
On Saturday 11th August, enjoy T Rex shows throughout the day and have your photo taken in a dinosaur egg. Grab a prop and show us your loudest roar for the chance to win a small prize.
Then on Saturday 18th August, gather round and watch the Velociraptor’s energetic and mischievous performance. Spin our prize wheel for a chance to win a family ticket to Walking with Dinosaurs at Wembley.
And, on Saturday 25th August, watch Titan the Robot perform and end the school holidays in style. Show Tower FM your best dance moves for a chance to win a back-to-school shopping spree.
The beach will also be returning to St John’s Square at The Rock, along with water ball walkers, bungee trampolines, a children’s ride and grill house.
Arnold Wilcox-Wood, centre director at The Rock, said: “We’ve pulled out all the stops this summer to make sure we’ve got wonderful attractions to keep our visitors entertained. We know finding fun and free activities for the children during the summer holidays can be difficult and that’s why we’re running this summer of fun.”
Visit our What’s On page for the full event schedule and performance times. Please note, all activity will take place in the space outside Racconto Lounge.
After a two week-long public vote we’re pleased to announce our new charity of choice for 2018/19 is Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary.
More than 1,200 votes have been cast and the Edenfield-based charity was the cause which received the highest number of public votes.
Our new partnership with the charity will begin from July 1st and we’re very much looking forward to working together to raise much needed funds.
We were overwhelmed with how many applications we received and it was a tough task getting to the shortlisted three charities and we’re really grateful so many people took the time to have their say in the public vote.
Over the past three years we have worked very closely with The Joshua Wilson Brain Tumour Charity and I’d like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Josh’s mum Dawn, his grandad John and their wonderful army of volunteers.
We have thoroughly enjoyed working together and over that time we have raised more than £16,000 for the charity through various fundraising events including our Super Heroes for Super Josh Day each August and by collecting donations from passengers enjoying our famous land train, The Rock Express, at Christmas.
Thank you also to our shoppers who have been so generous with their donations to the cause over this time and to our retailers for getting on board with any fundraising events we have held.
We wish SuperJosh the best of luck going forward.
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