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.
On Saturday 16th June we are joining forces with Tower FM and hosting a Giant Panini Football Sticker Swap here at The Rock.
So if you’re looking for a particular player for your collection, or have multiple stickers to trade come down and swap with the Tower FM team for free.
We will have thousands of stickers available and some great fun on the day too.
It runs from 11am-4pm outside Racconto Lounge.
Plus – on the same day we’re running a competition for you to win £500 to spend at The Rock for your dad this Father’s Day.
We want to hear your bad dad stories.
Look out for the Hits Radio street team, Saturday 16th June from 11am until 4pm at the Rock, and tell us why your dad is the best at being BAD to win £500 worth of vouchers to spend here at The Rock Bury.
Visit the bus between 11am and 4pm in St John’s Square, outside Debenhams, to enter.
The Rock, is on the hunt for a new partner charity.
The centre is looking for a local charity to partner with and support with fundraising events over the next 12 months – and submissions open on May 1st.
The nominations will run until May 18th and 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 2015 The Rock has worked with The Joshua Wilson Brain Tumour Charity and has raised £15,000 to date through various fundraising events.
Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “We’ve enjoyed a very successful partnership with SuperJosh but the time has come to renew out charity partner. There’s so many good causes out there we know it’s going to be a hugely difficult choice to pick who that partner will be and that’s why, once we have a shortlist of three charities, we will be opening it up to a public vote through our website to give the public the final say on who our charity of choice for 2018/19 will be.”
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 be announced on 15th June and become The Rock’s charity of choice from July 2018 to June 2019.
A couple who went on their first date in a Bury town centre pub more than 30 years ago will have a piece of the venue’s history forever after being gifted it’s sign by The Rock shopping centre.
Debbie and Sean Newell, of Bolton, went on their first date at The Flying Shuttle pub on January 24th 1986.
Earlier this year Debbie, 48, contacted The Rock to ask if the couple could have the sign, to mark the start of their romance all those years ago.
She said: “Every time I go past with the children I tell them that’s where I met their dad – and every time they say ‘yes we know!’ I took a photo of it and I just thought, I would really love to have that sign and give it to Sean as a surprise.
“It’s a piece of history and I’m so happy we’ve got it. We don’t know exactly where we will put it yet, but it is going up on the wall in the house. The children think it’s really romantic. We’re so excited to take it home.”
The couple who married in 2002 have three children, Luke, 23, Emily, 19 and Eve, 14.
Sean, 50, added: “We met while working at John Kay Builders’ Merchants. Debbie was an office junior and I was an apprentice. Bury was always a good place to go out, Debbie lived in Tottington and I lived in Radcliffe so it was a great place to meet. We went to The Flying Shuttle many times over the years.”
Recalling the first date, Debbie said: “I remember Sean being 10 minutes late and thinking I’d give him another five minutes before leaving. When he arrived I just remember knowing right away he was the one – and as they say, the rest is history.”
The pub, which was hugely popular in its heyday has been closed for five years and is now owned by The Rock shopping centre. It will eventually be demolished to make way for further development.
Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “When we received the enquiry from Debbie we were only too happy to help. We’re sure The Flying Shuttle was home to many first dates over the years and it’s wonderful to meet a couple who still treasure that first visit to the pub. We’re thrilled to be able to give them a small piece of history for them to forever remember that first date.”
** OUR EGGSPERIMENTAL EASTER WORKSHOPS ARE NOW FULLY BOOKED **
However, there’s still free activity on the day which you don’t need to book for – Join the Tower FM team and don’t miss your chance to win an incredible science party for up to 20 children each day- plus there’ll be entertainers, chocolate giveaways and so much more!
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Get ‘Eggsperimental’ with free family fun at The Rock this Easter
Is there a budding young scientist in your house or a lover of all things space?
Then there’s the perfect free event just for them at The Rock over the Easter weekend.
The shopping centre is hosting two days of free and fun Eggs-perimental activities on Friday 30th March and Saturday 31st March.
Over the two days there’ll be a series of ‘Eggs-traterrestrial (Space) and Eggs-plosive (Chemistry) workshops hosted by Mad Science.
The workshops are suitable for children aged between 5 and 11 years old and will be held in a covered marquee at the shopping centre.
Activities will include egg themed experiments with children learning about gravity and having their own egg with different materials to protect it when falling from different heights and egg themed experiments with children learning about mass and elements – there’s even an experiment where a whole egg is sucked in through the small hole of a bottle intact.
There’ll also be chocolate giveaways and the chance for visitors to enter a competition to win a children’s party hosted by Mad Science.
The centre will be joined by space and science themed characters and on Saturday 31st March The Band and Corps of Drums of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (Lancashire) will be playing.
Pre-registration for the workshops is required and can be online here.
Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “We know finding ways to keep the children entertained can be tricky, that’s why we’re hosting these free workshops. They promise to be both fun and educational. We’re expecting it to be busy so please register for your place online.
“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.”
The Rock made sure that mums were the centre of attention at its special Mother’s Day event.
The shopping centre teamed up with Tower FM for a day of free family fun at the centre on Saturday – including voucher giveaways, a sunflower planting station and a free pamper zone.
Radio competition winners were invited to take part in the centre’s take on Higher or Lower in its ‘Pots of Love’ game where shoppers guessed if the plant in the next pot was higher or lower than the previous one.
Georgia Farrance from Bolton, Chloe Evans from Bury, Coral Goulding from Bolton, Kirsty Lawlor from Bolton and Craig Tanter from Stetford had all nominated their mums in the radio competition and were invited to collect their £50 voucher to spend at The Rock.
They could then take their chances to gamble the money in the Pots of Love game to win upto £250.
Georgia Farrance walked away with £150 vouchers and Chloe Evans with £100 in total. The rest of the winners left with their £50 stake.
The game was then opened up to the general public where more than £300 of vouchers were given away to lucky winners.
Meanwhile there was a hugely popular free sunflower planting station where children could plant a sunflower and write a special message on the pot before taking it home for mum for Mothering Sunday.
And running at the same time was a free pamper zone for mums – including a nail station and beauty station with free treatments being offered throughout the day.
The centre was also joined by The Joshua Wilson Brain Tumour Charity who offered free Mother’s Day card making and crafts, raising £73 through donations.
And Bury College were on hand giving away flowers to visitors to the centre.
Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “We really wanted to make sure that mums felt special when visiting The Rock this weekend and we’re thrilled so many people were able to make the most of our free activities – the pamper zone and sunflower station were very popular – and it was great to see so many winners walking away with vouchers for our stores.”
The Rock is pulling out all the stops to make sure mums are the centre of attention this Mother’s Day.
We have teamed up with Tower FM for a day of free family fun at the centre on Saturday 10th March 2018 – including voucher giveaways, a sunflower planting station and a free pamper zone.
Listeners to the radio station who register online at www.towerfm.co.uk have a chance of winning £50 in vouchers to spend at The Rock if they’re called back and answer the phone with ‘Mum’s the word’.
They’ll then be invited to the centre to collect their voucher, where they can take a chance on The Rock’s Pots of Love game – a higher or lower game, where shoppers guess if the next plant is higher or lower than the previous one – where they’ll have a chance of walking away with up to £250 to spend at The Rock.
The Pots of Love game will also be open to shoppers visiting on the day with a range of spot prizes and vouchers up for grabs.
Meanwhile from 11am-3pm there’ll be a free sunflower planting station where children can plant a sunflower and write a special message on the pot before taking it home for mum for Mothering Sunday.
Running at the same time is a free pamper zone for mums – there’ll be a nail station and beauty station with free treatments being offered throughout the day, on a first come, first served basis.
Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “This Mother’s Day weekend we really want to make mums feel special so we hope they’ll visit to enjoy our pamper station and that the children enjoy planting a sunflower to take home. This free activity is open to all our shoppers and is our way of helping them celebrate the important women in their lives.
“Plus, The Rock is the perfect shopping destination to buy your mum that something special or take her out for a meal in one of our many restaurants.”
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