This Is Our Wellington 12

This is our 

LOVE 

Wellington 

WELLINGTON: TWINNED WITH CHÂTENAY-MALABRY 

Inside 

Wellington secures 

huge ‘Levelling Up’ 

investment 

Charter Day 

in Wellington 

Local businesses feel 

the love and support 

Follow Wellington’s 

Easter Bunny trail 

Issue Number 12 | April 2023 

This Is Our Wellington 12.indd 1 17/03/2023 19:56


Town Council 

www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk 

How to contact Wellington Town Council 

Civic Offices, Larkin Way, Tan Bank, Wellington, 

Telford, Shropshire TF1 1LX 

Ward 

Councillors 

Do you know which Councillor represents 

your Ward? See list of Councillors below, 

contact details are via the Town Council. 

ARLESTON WARD 

Telephone: 01952 567697 

Email: wellingtontowncouncil@telford.gov.uk 

Cllr Joan 

Gorse 

Cllr Angela 

McClements 

Cllr Giles 

Luter 

www.facebook.com/WellingtonTCShropshire 

COLLEGE WARD 

twitter.com/WellingtonTCI 

Wellington Town Council Officers 

Cllr Dorothy Roberts 

Mayor 

Karen Roper 

Town Clerk 

Andrew Roberts 

Deputy Town Clerk 

Cllr Lee 

Carter 

Cllr John 

Latter 

Cllr Usman 

Ahmed 

Caroline Mulvihill 

Communications and 

Events Manager 

Paola Armstrong 

Wellington Festival and 

Love Wellington 

Steve Warwood Wellington Town Crier 

Sally Themans 

Love Wellington, Wellington 

Regeneration & This is our 

Wellington Magazine 

DOTHILL WARD 

02 

www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk 

www.lovewellington.co.uk 

Cllr Phil Morris- 

Jones MBE 

Cllr Karen 

Tomlinson 

Cllr Lisa Jinks 

Important Contacts and Numbers 

ERCALL WARD 

Rubbish and Recycling team – bins 

Email: recyclefortelford@telford.gov.uk 

Telephone: 01952 384384 

Planning and Development 

Telephone: 01952 380380 

Email: planning.control@telford.gov.uk 

Housing Solutions team 

Telephone: 01952 381925 

Neighbourhood and Enforcement 

Services 

Email: envmaintcs@telford.gov.uk 

Telephone: 01952 384384 (office hours) 

03451 559955 (out of hours) 

Roads and Highways 

Highways Maintenance team 

Telephone: 01952 384000 

Email: highways@telford.gov.uk 

Cllr Miles 

Hosken 

Cllr Dorothy 

Roberts 

HAYGATE WARD 

Cllr Sylvia 

Hall 

Birth, deaths and marriages 

Telephone: 01952 382444 

register.office@telford.gov.uk 

Abandoned rubbish - Neighbourhood 

and Leisure Services 

Telephone: 01952 384384 (office hours) 

or 03451 559955 (out of hours) 

Email: recyclefortelford@telford.gov.uk 

Child sexual exploitation 

Telephone: 01952 385385 

Citizens Advice Telford & The Wrekin 

Telephone: 0300 330 1165 

Telford and Wrekin Community Help Line 

01952 382030 

Family connect 01952 385385 

Job Box 01952 382888 

Mind 0300 1240365 

Maninplace 01952 248248 

Steer Clear knife crime 01952 214747 

Street Link – homeless 0300 500 0914 

Dog Fouling Telephone 01952 384384 

(office hours) 03451 559955 (out of hours) 


Noise - Public Protection team 

Telephone: 01952 381818 

Email: 

environmental.health@telford.gov.uk 

Pest Control 

Telephone: 01952 384384 


Citizens Advice consumer helpline 

Telephone: 0808 223 1133 

Wellington Library 

Telephone: 01952 382990 

Email: wellington.library@telford.gov.uk 

Wellington Leisure Centre 

Telephone: 01952 382720 

Email: wellingtonleisure@telford.gov.uk 

Cllr Graham 

Cook 

PARK WARD 

Cllr Chris 

Brittain 

Cllr Stephen 

deLauney 

Cllr John Alvey 

Cllr Julie 

Pierce 

SHAWBIRCH WARD 

Cllr Pat 

Fairclough 

Cllr Crispin 

Barker 

Cllr Paul 

Davis 

Cllr Anthony 

Lowe 


Welcome 

A letter from the Clerk of Wellington 

Steps forward and positive 

news for all of Wellington 

This is our Wellington has 

been designed and printed by 

Plus Two Media Limited. 

Plus 

Media 

Limited 

All text copyright 

© Wellington Town Council 

2023 / Love Wellington 

Photographs supplied by Love 

Wellington and Wellington Town 

Council additional pictures from 

Wrekin News / Plus Two Media 

Limited archive. 

For more information about 

newsletter and brochure design 

and printing please contact James 

Baylis, Telephone: 07977 481186 

or email James: 

james@plus2media.co.uk 

www.plus2media.co.uk 

The views expressed in This is Our 

Wellington are those of the individual 

contributors and not necessarily the 

views of the Wellington Town Council, 

Love Wellington or Plus Two Media 

Limited. 

I have the honour of writing to you for this 

edition of This Is Our Wellington because all 

elected members are subject to pre-election 

period rules at this time. 

As This is Our Wellington goes to press 

we welcomed the fantastic news that 

Wellington has secured £9.8 million 

from the Government’s Levelling Up 

Fund to support the regeneration 

of Wellington Town Centre. This funding will 

mean that there will be further investment in 

the market and in the Orbit to create an exciting 

eating, shopping, cultural and arts destination 

in our town. There will be more details to 

come, and some of the plans are outlined in the 

regeneration pages of this edition, but needless 

to say the future is looking bright for our town 

and we thank those involved for persevering 

with the funding applications. 

As the civic year draws to a close we need to 

acknowledge and thank all of the volunteers, 

town councillors and staff who put so much into 

our community and who work so hard behind 

the scenes. 

One such volunteer, who was recently 

presented with a ‘Mayors Award’ is Kath 

Howard. Kath set up the Friends of Bowring Park 

some years ago to enable local people to get 

the very best out of this wonderful facility and, 

together with other volunteers, has worked to 

get trim trails, bug boxes, benches, new planting 

and noticeboards to name but a few installed in 

the park. We thank you Kath, and there are so 

many like you who quietly work towards making 

Wellington a better place in which to live, work 

and shop. 

One of the most exciting steps forward from 

the Town Council’s perspective is the purchase 

of the freehold of the Wellington Orbit building, 

which is explained in further detail on page 5. 

Annual Town Assembly 

This marks a significant investment both from 

the community, shareholders of the Orbit and 

Wellington Town Council. We look forward to 

a great future for this facility, which has, as 

mentioned, just taken a huge step forward with 

the announcement of the Levelling Up funds. 

You will have noticed there are significant 

improvements in Market Street, and we thank 

the traders and shoppers for their patience 

while these works have taken place. We also 

have our fingers crossed that work will shortly 

begin on the ‘Wilko’ Car park on Market Street, 

which has been facilitated by Telford & Wrekin 

Council. 

On Thursday 4 May we will hold elections and 

for the first time voters at polling stations will 

be required to produce photo ID. For further 

explanation see page 14. 

In May we will be commemorating the 

Coronation of our new King. There are plenty of 

ways this will be celebrated in Wellington, with 

a Brass Band concert in the Market Square on 

Saturday 6 May, and neighbourhoods coming 

together with street parties and garden parties 

to celebrate together and ensure that our 

communities continue to flourish. 

Another exciting project for Wellington will be 

the creation of a new orchard and wild meadow 

area near to All Saints Church, masterminded 

by Rob Francis and supported by both Borough 

and Town Councils. This seems a truly fitting 

way to further enhance our town and mark this 

momentous occasion. 

I wish you all well and hope that you enjoy 

this edition and continue to enjoy living in 

Wellington. 

All members of the Wellington community are invited to the Annual 

Town Assembly, which will take place on Tuesday 25 April 2023 at 6pm 

at Wellington Town Council Offices - it would be super to see as many of 

you as possible and you will be most welcome. 

Karen Roper 

Town Clerk 

03 

@LoveWellington 

@LoveWellington1 

lovewellingtonshropshire 


LOVE 

Community News 

04 

WELLINGTON 

HISTORY 

GROUP 

TALKS 

● 18 May 

‘Cinderloo’ by Pete Jackson 

● 20 July 

Walk - Dothill/Apley Area - 

earlier start at 6:45pm 

Meet at public car park 

Apley Castle TF1 6RH 

● 21 September 

Oral History by Jan Doody 

● 16 November 

Christmas in the Market by 

Stewart Braddock 

All talks are held at Wellington 

Library at 7:30pm 

WELLINGTON 

COMMUNITY 

PULLS 

TOGETHER 

Rabia Eser and friends 

from the Telford Turkish 

Community Association 

got to work quickly to pull 

together a fundraiser 

for the victims of the 

devastating earthquake 

in Turkey and Syria in 

Wellington’s market square. 

Assisted by the Interfaith 

Centre and Wellington 

Orbit, with gazebos lent by 

Wellington Town Council 

and live posts from Love 

Wellington, the first event 

raised £5,500. 

WELLINGTON OPEN 

GARDENS 2023 

After the success of last 

year’s open garden event 

in Wellington, local charity 

Community Resource is 

delighted to be returning with 

Wellington Open Gardens 2023. Taking 

place over the first weekend in July, the 

event will see some of last year’s most 

popular gardens re-opening as well as 

some exciting additions to the trail. 

Sunnycroft will once again be open 

to wristband holders over the weekend. 

Community Resource are looking for 

additional gardens, singers, groups or 

performers to be involved with this year’s 

event and are asking anyone interested 

to email stacey.teece@communityresource.org.uk 

for more information. 

Amazing players 

donate to charity 

The Crown Players, a Wellington group of 

keen amateurs who have produced an annual 

Pantomime since 1981, staged their first panto 

since the pandemic with performances of 

‘Jack and The Beanstalk’ at the Charlton school 

over February half-term. The successful 

run raised £6,000 for the Midland Air 

Ambulance Charity – keeping up their 

tradition of fundraising which has seen the 

group donate over £134,000 to local good 

causes in the course of their history. 


This is our Wellington | www.lovewellington.co.uk 

Town Council helps secure 

Wellington Orbit’s future, 

levelling-up funding will 

take it to a new level... 

Wellington Orbit, the 

community cinema and 

arts centre based in the 

former HSBC bank in 

Wellington, is celebrating 

two major steps forward: the full acquisition 

of its premises thanks to a significant cash 

injection from Wellington Town Council, 

and the just announced levelling up funding 

from central government which will see the 

upstairs space fully opened up and cements 

the Orbit’s ambitions to deliver culture, 

cinema and arts to the heart of the town. 

The Orbit and the town council are now 

50% stakeholders each in the freehold 

and the full purchase marks a significant 

milestone providing future security of this 

community owned asset. 

“Owning the freehold gives three major 

advantages” explained Ray Hughes, director 

at Wellington Orbit. “First of all, we will make 

significant savings in rental payments. It also 

adds long term security as it means that 

there is no risk of the landlord selling the 

property and undoing all our improvements 

and good work. Finally, it gives us the 

opportunity to develop the property as we 

see fit, including any structural alterations, 

which might have hitherto been refused by 

the landlord.” 

The funding from the town council marks 

the biggest financial decision in the history 

of the council. Public consultation about 

the loan and how it would best benefit 

Wellington took place through This Is Our 

Wellington in Autumn 2021 with an online 

survey which returned a 96% approval for 

the loan from the community. 

Ray said, “This achievement is not only 

a milestone for Wellington Orbit, but also 

for the town of Wellington as it solidifies 

the cinema and arts centre as a vital hub 

of renewal and growth and we are grateful 

for the support of Wellington Town Council, 

who played an instrumental role in helping us 

reach this achievement.” 

Clerk of Wellington Town Council Karen 

Roper commented that the councillors were 

delighted to provide the assistance to this 

excellent and much needed communitybased 

organisation. The investment provides 

stability to the Orbit and has cross-party 

political support. 

Wellington Orbit opened in May 2019 

following years of community support and 

fundraising through the ‘Save the Clifton’ 

campaign. It opened with a 63 seat-cinema 

and café with phase two now in the pipeline 

to redevelop the upper floors creating a new 

multi-use studio and arts, exhibition, and 

meeting spaces for the community. 

In addition to financial contributions 

from the public, Wellington Orbit received 

support of £150,000 in its set up stage from 

Telford & Wrekin Council as part of the 

‘Telford 50’ campaign. 

Coronation weekend in Wellington 

Wellington looks set to celebrate the King’s Coronation in style in May, with 

Wellington Town Council staging an open-air performance by Wellington 

Brass Band in the Market Square on Saturday 6 May, with special coronation 

cupcakes for attendees – please bring a chair to sit on. 

LOVE 


runners in 

memory of Alan 


residents Nicola 

and David 

Butmaro have 

been selected 

by the Severn 

Hospice to run 

the TCS London 

Marathon 

together in 

April. Nicola said, “Neither of us 

are particularly good at running, 

however we are doing this in 

memory of our dad Auryel, known 

as Alan, who ran Alan’s Barbers in 

Ketley for many years and was a wellrespected 

pillar of the community.” 

Sadly, Auryel passed away last 

September and the hospice 

provided care, so the siblings 

are keen to show their immense 

gratitude pledging to raise £10,000 

to support this local charity and have 

already had generous donations 

from DB Roberts, Harwoods and 

Dampguard and Plastering. Good 

luck to you both in the marathon. 

Wellington’s 

‘Italian job’ 

returns 

On Saturday 3 June a repeat of last 

year’s successful Italian Scooter Day 

looks set to return to accompany 

a plethora of upcoming events in 

Wellington; Saturday 10 June will 

see the town celebrate with its 

traditional Midsummer Fayre. 

Coupled with the ever-popular 

late night openings in Wellington 

Market, the Six Saturdays in the 

Square over the summer (see festival 

pages) – it looks set to be a busy 

spring and summer for Wellington! 

05 


LOVE 

Love Wellington News 

BASKETBALL 

FOR ALL 

Interfaith Basketball is a noncompetitive 

basketball session for 

ages 16+ which started up at Telford 

College to encourage individuals to 

come and meet likeminded people 

and enjoy some fun communal 

exercise. 

Wellington businesses 

feel the love and support 

06 

Founded by Hezron Otley, over the 

last year the session has grown to 

the extent that the group now runs 

a second session at Hadley Learning 

Centre from 7 till 9pm on a Tuesday 

- alongside the Monday sessions at 8 

till 9:30pm at the college. 

Ben Morgan from the scheme 

says, “The group is open to men and 

women of all ages and we just get 

on and play. We really emphasise 

the fact that it isn’t competitive and 

welcome everyone – whether you 

have played the sport previously or 

are just looking to run around and 

have a bit of a laugh.” 

The first session is free and £5 

thereafter. Everyone is welcome to 

just turn up to the sports hall. 

● Pictured: Telford Interfaith 

Basketball supported by Raj Metha of 

the Interfaith Hub in Wellington. 




Love for our local Wellington businesses was in the air in February as members 

of the community showered local businesses with messages of love and 

appreciation in the Love Wellington Valentine’s campaign. “It was a great 

chance for people to thank the shops, pubs and cafes that they love, as well 

as for businesses to raise their profile,” said Sally Themans of Love Wellington 

“with all the messages appearing on social media and three lucky contributors, Pam 

Spellen, Vicky Stones and Gary Hay winning a voucher to eat at The Old Orleton, The 

Cock Hotel and The Walnut in Wellington respectively.” 


LOVE 

Wild Wellington: community 

orchard and meadow planting 

To mark the King’s 

Coronation there are plans 

afoot to plant an orchard 

and mini-meadow in the 

centre of Wellington. 

The project will start 

with the area behind All 

Saints Church, but the 

plan is to extend the 

work around the town to 

create a network of fruit 

and flower-filled spaces 

for people and wildlife to 

enjoy. 

Rob Francis of 

Wellington H2A and the Wellington 

Regeneration Partnership has secured 

financial contributions from Telford & 

Wrekin Council’s Coronation Fund and 

Wellington Town Council to kickstart 

the project. Later in the year local faith 

groups, community groups and other 

residents will be invited to help with 

planting here and potentially at other 

sites across Wellington. 

“All Saints is a fantastic starting point 

for this project because it’s so central 

and visible. 70 years ago, the lawned 

area in front of the church was created 

to mark the Queen’s coronation, so 

● Pictured above: All Saints at the Queen’s 

Coronation, pic thanks to A. Cox 

it’s fitting that at the other end of the 

churchyard we now mark the next 

coronation with something different, 

reflecting today’s concerns around 

climate change and biodiversity loss. 

By planting fruit trees and creating 

wildflower areas we can provide food 

and habitat for all sorts of birds and 

insects, as well as improving air quality 

and generally brightening the place 

up.” 

The legacy will benefit current and 

future generations and reflects the 

King’s own personal interest in and 

commitment to the environment. 

Easter trail around town 

From Tuesday 4 April to 

Saturday 8 April, it’s time for 

youngsters to follow an ‘Easter 

Bunny Trail’ in Wellington. 

The Great Wellington 

Easter Trail organised by Love 

Wellington and sponsored by 

Wellington Town Council, will 

see the return of the fabulous 

hand knitted Easter bunnies 

which have been kindly knitted 

by volunteer crafters and 

knitters and coordinated by 

Adrienne Taylor of The Daberhashery, displayed in various shop windows around 

the town. 

Children are invited to collect a trail map from the Wellington Orbit, find the 

names of the bunnies – and then return to the Orbit for a special Easter treat. 

Together 

we move . . . 

Wellington resident, Paul Kalinauckas, has 

been appointed as the first ‘champion’ 

of a new social movement – called 

#TogetherWeMove. The campaign is 

designed to encourage others to adopt a 

more active lifestyle, whether it be leaving 

the car at home more, taking the stairs 

rather than the lift through to joining more 

formal exercise groups. 

Paul (pictured above), established 

Shropshire Canicross for people who enjoy 

running with their dogs and developed 

Bowring Runners and Bowring Walkers at 

Wellington’s local park. He says; “Across 

Shropshire we have over 25% of the 

population who are inactive, and the 

#TogetherWeMove campaign aims to 

encourage everyone to adopt a more 

active lifestyle to improve their health and 

wellbeing.” 

Paul believes that the secret to getting 

more active is to find fun, social activities 

to join in and recommends getting started 

by joining local walking groups such as 

the ones you can find on the website 

walkingforhealthtelfordandwrekin. 

org.uk there is also more useful 

information on energizestw.org.uk and 

wellingtonwalkersarewelcome.org.uk 

07 


LOVE 

Regeneration News 

08 

TELFORD 

COLLEGE 

SHORT 

VIDEO 

Love Wellington have been 

working with Creative Media 

Production students at Telford 

College who have been tasked 

with making a short video to 

encapsulate just what Wellington 

has to offer. 

Creative Media Lecturer Joe 

Adams said; “We got in touch 

with Love Wellington to talk about 

possible subject areas for the films. 

They suggested looking at their 

‘100 reasons to Love Wellington’ 

campaign from 2020 as a starting 

place and even came to the 

college to share the ethos and 

background of their project and 

the Love Wellington brand. 

Our students have really enjoyed 

working with local businesses 

and voluntary organisations and 

have produced films on subject 

areas from the Wrekin and local 

history to the market hall and local 

charities.” 

Look out for the videos online on 

the Love Wellington social media 

platforms! 

ONE YEAR ON.... 

Celebrating their first birthdays 

are the following businesses: 

£9.8 million to support regeneration 

in Wellington Town Centre 

A bid led by Telford & Wrekin Council has 

secured £9.8 million from the Levelling 

Up Fund towards the regeneration of 

Wellington Town Centre. The successful bid 

was confirmed as part of the government’s 

Spring Budget. 

The money means that Telford & Wrekin 

Council can continue to build on the 

work to develop a thriving food court at 

Wellington Market by bringing the wider 

market into council ownership, refurbishing 

and improving it so that it reaches its 

potential as a modern, thriving, shopping 

and eating destination. 

As mentioned on page 5, this funding also 

means that plans can proceed at Wellington 

Orbit with full restoration of the building to 

create an exciting, vibrant new exhibition, 

arts and community events space. These 

are exciting times for Wellington. 

Love Wellington Business Group 

Wellington businesses met 

in January and March for 

networking and to share 

information and news. At 

the January meeting guest 

speakers included Wellington police, The 

E-Cargo bike delivery team and Mark Hooper 

from Visit Shropshire. The next meeting will 

be on 24 May at 6.30pm at The Boardroom 

Gaming Café – and all businesses are most 

welcome to attend. 

A useful tool to help businesses keep in 

touch with each other is the Love Wellington 

Business WhatsApp group. This enables 

traders, retailers and businesses to converse 

with each other and has proved to be an 

invaluable service. 

If you are a business and want to join – please send your details to Lovewellington2020@ 

gmail.com to be added to the list. 

● Zoe Trends on Market Street 

● Rosie in the Garden on The Brooklands 

● The Boardroom Gaming Café in New Street 

● Rachel Wyn in Duke Street 

● Garden Room Bistro in Market Street 

● The Cock Hotel on the Holyhead Road 

● Save it Discount Store on Bridge Road 

● Landau in Queen Street 

Congratulations to you all on achieving this 

important milestone… 



TOWN COUNCIL’S REGENERATION 

LOOKS TO THE FUTURE 

Alongside the exciting 

Levelling Up Funding 

news, and the successful 

investment and grants 

programme from Telford 

& Wrekin Council’s Pride in Our High 

Street programme, Wellington Town 

Council is determined to invest in 

Wellington’s regeneration and works 

closely, through the Wellington 

Regeneration Partnership, with Telford 

& Wrekin Council to fulfil this ambition. 

One of the objectives of the town 

council is to use a Public Works Loan 

to buy and renovate town centre 

property. The purchase of a 50% stake 

in the ‘Orbit’ building is the first such 

investment. 

In October and November 2021 

Wellington residents were asked how 

this investment could be used to boost 

the regeneration programme already 

underway in the town. The survey was 

launched online with 

paper copies available at 

the Wellington Library. 

Town Clerk Karen 

Roper of Wellington Town 

Council explained that the 

government loan was part 

of a larger redevelopment 

programme and it was 

important that local 

people had their say, 

“Wellington will benefit 

from the Government’s 

Towns Fund and Levelling- 

Up support, as well as the 

investment from the town 

council which will focus on the historic 

centre, including landmark buildings, 

and on Wellington’s retail offer, with 

the aim of increasing footfall and 

creating tangible, positive changes that 

benefit everyone.” 

Over 100 survey responses were 

received, with an overwhelmingly 

positive response (96%) to Wellington 

Town Council taking out the loan which 

will be used to make a real impact and 

make a significant contribution to the 

town’s continued revival. 

● Pictured below: A ‘Shopjacket’ on 

the former Planet of Beauty building 

is an example of regeneration work in 

progress. Telford & Wrekin council have 

bought the building and are undertaking 

work there. In the meantime it has 

been clad to make it more attractive 

– an idea originating at the Wellington 

Regeneration meeting. 

LOVE 

Generous 

donation marks 

first birthday 

The Boardroom Gaming Cafe on New Street 

recently celebrated its first birthday and had 

an amazing donation of 105 games to coincide 

with this. The games came from a single donor 

to bring their in-house games to 500 thanks to 

the generosity of Steve Briscoe, local gaming 

enthusiast, who wanted to downsize his 

considerable board-game collection and was 

looking for a venue where he knew the games 

would be loved and played with. After a quick 

search online he discovered the Boardroom 

Gaming Cafe. 

“We received a phone call from a very friendly 

gentleman looking to donate some games 

to our collection,” said Jon Drew, owner of 

Boardroom, “We were expecting maybe two or 

three games so when Steve offered us over 100 

we were amazed.” 

“We have been lucky to have developed such 

a supportive community around us in our first 

year,” added Jenni Drew, co-owner of the cafe. 

“Steve didn’t want anything in return other than 

to know his games are being loved and bringing 

enjoyment to others.” 

WELLINGTON TEAMS UP WITH VISIT SHROPSHIRE 

Wellington Regeneration Partnership has linked up with Visit 

Shropshire to get access to a wider, more national, audience 

and promote tourism and increase visitor numbers to the town. 

“This is a major development and marks the fact that Wellington 

is emerging into a destination place, noted for its food offer, 

fabulous walking routes, easy accessibility by train and beautiful 

surrounding countryside” said Mark Hooper of Visit Shropshire, 

which has a social media following of almost 85,000 and 

regularly hosts journalists from the national press. “It also 

means that Wellington will be marketed more actively by West 

Midlands Trains as a place to get out and visit. “We all know 

Wellington has seen huge improvements in the last couple of 

years – now it’s time to show our town off to the outside world” 

said Sally Themans of Love Wellington. 

09 


LOVE 

Wellington Climate Change News 


Cycle Delivery 

Scheme 


achieves ‘plastic 

free community’ 

status 

10 

This outstanding initiative, which owes thanks to 

the Shropshire Cycle Hub, started last October 

and has rapidly grown over the past few 

months. The team of dedicated volunteers has 

expanded to 11 cyclists, all of whom are eager to 

help the local community. 

This free service covers a 3 mile radius and 

operates on Thursdays and Fridays between 

10:30am and 2pm, and on Saturdays from 

9:30am to noon. 

Recent recipients of the service was an 

elderly couple who found themselves with 

too many groceries to carry when taking the 

bus home after shopping locally. They called 

the dedicated number for help, and the 

environmentally friendly e-bikes delivered their 

shopping directly to their door, completely free 

of charge. 

Since the scheme’s inception, the cyclists 

have made over 150 deliveries, resulting in 

almost 500 saved carbon miles. If you would 

like more information about this fantastic 

enterprise or to book a delivery, please call 

07398 136120. 




Wellington has successfully 

attained the status of a plasticfree 

community from Surfers 

Against Sewage. In 2022, the 

Climate Emergency Steering 

Group was established, comprising local 

Wellington businesses, community groups, and 

councillors. Wellington now joins a ‘Plastic Free 

Communities’ network which aims to address 

plastic pollution at its source. 

Keli King (owner of The Little Green Pantry 

who recently received their Silver Business 

Award), vice chair of the group, expressed 

delight at the level of community involvement 

particularly from businesses and community 

groups. Keli said, “The town had already 

implemented numerous initiatives that 

contributed to their efforts to safeguard the 

environment and it was heart-warming to 

see the community all pull together on this 

initiative.” 

Wellington had to complete several tasks 

including engaging 30 ‘community allies’ to 

reduce or eliminate various types of single-use 

plastic. 



LOVE 

Good for the planet 

and good for your 

pocket too 

The organisation ‘Save Our Shropshire’ is organising a series 

of workshops to help residents learn how to reduce their 

carbon footprint and monthly expenses. On Wednesday 

17 May they will be at The Belmont Hall to demonstrate 

how small actions can lead 

to significant savings. By 

making simple changes to 

the way we live, we can 

achieve warm homes, better 

food, and cheaper modes of 

transportation. 

By attending these funded 

workshops, participants can 

learn why saving the planet is 

crucial, but more importantly, 

they can discover how it can 

benefit their wallets. 

Thanks to the Telford & 

Wrekin Climate Change Fund 

these events are sponsored 

and free of charge, but 

registration is necessary to 

secure a spot, please register 

on eventbrite.co.uk/o/ 

save-our-shropshirecio-34235765467 

11 



27 th Year... 

The Wellington Festival marks its 27 th year in 

2023 and, as usual, there will be all sort of 

creative competitions for all ages – as well as 

the quest for our next resident poet! 

Wellington Festival 

moves with the times 

12 

The Wellington Festival has 

undergone many changes over 

the last 26 years and after 

listening to the feedback from 

residents, two main objectives 

have been decided for the 27th year – to 

bring the Wellington community together 

and to increase footfall in the town. 

At the time of going to press, we will 

be very near to the closing date of the 

competitions and we look forward to 

presenting the winners at a small ceremony 

at The Wellington Orbit in May. Details 

of the winners will be in the next edition 

of This Is Our Wellington, including the 

winning short story and poem from our 

new Resident Poet. 

‘Six Saturdays in the Square’ 

Over the summer, the festival 

will take the format of ‘Six 

Saturdays in the Square’ bringing 

a varied menu of acts to the 

market square. This will provide 

an additional reason to come 

into Wellington and enjoy the 

entertainment with coffee or 

lunch in one of our delightful 

eating establishments; do some shopping and perhaps visit 

businesses that you’ve never been to before. This year we are 

hoping to introduce our first ever Wellington Green Festival in 

August. 

More information coming soon... 

After the phenomenal success of last year’s Art Exhibition, with 

over 300 people coming to view the artwork, we will be hosting 

our second exhibition in collaboration with Welli Art, over the 

first weekend in August. 

More details of this event, and the ‘Six Saturdays in the Square’ 

will be added over the coming months on the Wellington Town 

Council and Love Wellington websites and social media pages. 

We look forward to seeing you and hope you enjoy this new 

format festival. As always, entry to everything is free so bring 

the family, friends and new visitors to Wellington and we look 

forward to welcoming you! 

Pictured above: Resident Poet Liz Carter (left) and Short Story winner Amanda Goode (right). 

‘Joseph and the Amazing 

Technicoour Dreamcoat’ 

On Saturday 13 May, there will be two performances of the 

community production, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour 

Dreamcoat’ at All Saints Church. Directed by Sue Pointon, with 

Lorna Parkhouse as musical director, the show will feature a 

diverse cast of all ages and backgrounds. Performance times 

for this dynamic production will be the matinee performance at 

2.30pm and then later in the evening at 7pm. Entry will be free 

and all are welcome. 

Call for entries... 

We’re inviting entries for the 2023 

Wellington Festival Art Exhibition, 

which will take place 4-6 August at 

Wellington Community Art Gallery, 

Creative Training Spaces, 8-10 Duke 

Street, Wellington. 

Everyone is welcome to enter, from as young as 5-years old... 

all the way to 105 and beyond! The theme this year is ‘The Great 

Outdoors’ and we’re inviting original 2-D wall art in any medium, 

whether acrylic, charcoal, collage, ink, mixed media, watercolour 

or photography. 

Look out for details on how to enter on the festival pages of 

the Wellington Town Council website. 

wellington-shropshire.gov.uk/wellington-festival-2022 

This Is Our Wellington 12.indd 12 17/03/2023 19:57

13 

wellington-shropshire.gov.uk/wellington-festival-2022 


Wellington Town Council News 

14 

WHAT’S 

ON IN 

TOWN 

4-8 APRIL 

Easter Bunny Trail 

around Wellington 

29 APRIL 

Late Night Opening, 

Wellington Market 

30 APRIL 

Heroes Day at Plough Pub 

6 MAY 

King’s Coronation - Wellington 

Brass Band in Market Square 

13 MAY 

Community production of 

Joseph and The Amazing 

Technicolour Dreamcoat All 

Saints Church, Wellington 

17 MAY 

Bayley Mile, Walker Street 

27 MAY 

Late Night Opening, 

Wellington Market 

3 JUNE 

Italian Scooter Day - Market 

Square & Central Wellington 

10 JUNE 

Midsummer Fayre, All Saints 

Church and Market Square 

THE BAYLEY MILE 

Wednesday 17 May 

will see Wellington 

youngsters run round 

Wellington competing 

in the annual ‘Bayley 

Mile’. 

The Bayley Mile 

started in 1996 when 

Jim Mostyn was 

marketing manager 

at Wrekin College 

and Gary Davies was 

mayor of Wellington. 

They decided to hold 

an event which would 

bring local schools together in a competitive 

environment, running round the streets of 

Wellington. This was a combined effort of 

Wellington Council and Wrekin College working 

together in a way John Bayley would have 

approved. 

Sir John Bayley was an educationalist, born 

a coal miner’s son in Ashton-under-Lyne, 

Manchester. At the age of 27 he founded his 

own school in Wellington, Shropshire. The 

school was renamed Wrekin College in 1921 

and was a great success. 

John Bayley was a friend of David Lloyd 

George, the liberal Prime Minister, who 

encouraged John to stand as a coalition liberal 

candidate in a Shropshire by-election in 1920 

where he was unsuccessful. In the same year 

he gave a wooden building to set up a club in 

Wellington for men who had fought in the First 

World War. He also helped to buy land for the 

club which was renamed the Sir John Bayley 

club in 1937 and continues as the bowls club 

today. 

John Bayley was knighted in 1921 for his 

services to education. He died in 1952 at the 

age of 99 and is buried on the Great Orme in 

Llandudno. 

It is always a pleasure to see the enthusiasm 

of the competitors as they run round the 

streets of Wellington and we look forward to 

another successful event this year. 

Local elections on Thursday 4 May -What’s New? 

For the first time on 4 May 2023, voters in England will need to show photo ID to 

vote at polling stations. This will apply to both local elections as well as UK general 

elections. If you don’t have accepted photo ID, you can apply for a free voter ID 

document, which is known as a Voter Authority Certificate. 

The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate for the local elections 

in England on 4 May is 5pm on Tuesday 25 April. You need to be registered to 

vote before you apply for a Voter Authority Certificate. The requirement to have 

photographic ID only affects people voting in person at a polling station. It doesn’t 

affect postal voters who have their identification verified by their signatures and 

date of births. 

For further information contact elections@telford.gov.uk or call 01952 383206. 

Path clearance 

by the WEST 

team… 

before… during 

and after! 


This is our Wellington | www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk 

The Big Health and 

Wellbeing Conversation 

Residents are invited to have their 

say to help improve local health and 

care services, and to get involved by 

attending upcoming public meetings. 

The Big Health and Wellbeing 

Conversation aims to understand local 

views on what is affecting their health 

and wellbeing, and what things would 

make the biggest difference to improve 

experiences of local health and care 

services. The feedback gathered at 

these events will help NHS Shropshire, 

Telford and Wrekin develop its plans for 

the future. 

“We really want people of all ages, 

genders, ethnicities and backgrounds 

from across Shropshire, Telford 

and Wrekin to come along to these 

sessions and tell us what they think” 

commented Edna Boampong, Director 

of Communications and Engagement 

for NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. 

To find out more about the Big 

Health and Wellbeing Conversation 

and to get involved, please visit 

shropshiretelfordandwrekin.nhs. 

uk/get-involved/events/bigconversation/ 


Walkers are 

welcome 

Meet your safer neighbourhood team 

We are a dedicated group of police officers and police community 

support officers (PCSOs) who work with local communities and partner 

organisations to keep our residents, businesses and visitors safe and to 

prevent crime and tackle anti-social behaviour in your locality. 

Officers can be contacted on the below numbers concerning community 

issues. To report a crime in progress call 999 and for non emergencies, 

report online at www.westmercia.police.uk/report. If you are unable to 

report online, you can contact us via the 101 non-emergency number. 

Inspector 

Matt Sanders 

Sergeant 

Peter Rigby 

15 

Hadley and Leegomery 

hl.snt@westmercia.police.uk 

Arleston and College 

arlestonandcollege.snt@westmercia.police.uk 

PC 

Kristian Day 

07811 761871 

PC 

Kate Medlam 

07811 762092 

PCSO Jordan 

Newborough 

07970 544954 

PCSO 

Alex Pittam 

07970 544940 

PCSO 

Steve Tyrer 

07870 168119 

(Safer Schools) 

PC 

Adrian Dobrin 

07929 722547 

PC 

Jess Hindley 

07811 762222 

Wellington North 

wellingtonnorth.snt@westmercia.police.uk 

PC 

Simon Webb 

07890 390734 

PCSO 

Lynn Harris 

07817 940156 

Wellington West and Rural 

wellingtonwest.snt@westmercia.police.uk 

PC 

Rob McNally 

07811 748260 

PCSO 

Zoe Beven 

07870 167791 

PCSO Ivan 

Collumbell 

07817 941151 

PCSO Luke 

Newborough 

07817 940260 

PCSO 

Trudy Jones 

07870 168046 

Whilst the information is considered to be true and correct at the date of publication, changes in circumstances 

after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of the information (February 2023). 

(Rural) 

PCSO 

Evie Dunkley 

07779 543156 

(Safer Schools) 

Sign up to receive alerts from 

your local policing teams 

www.neighbourhoodmatters.co.uk 

PCSO 

Tayyub Sultan 

07967 300421 

PCSO 

Gareth Rhodes 

07971 395039 

Wellington Walkers are Welcome aims to make 

Wellington a better place for walkers and to 

make Wellington better known to walkers 

from other parts of the country. The group 

organises a Sunday walk on the first and third 

Sunday of the month, normally leaving from 

the Leisure Centre in Wellington at 2pm and 

the walk explores the lovely areas around 

Wellington town. 

The group also organise an annual walking 

festival which attracts people from across the 

county and beyond. This year the Wellington 

Walking Festival will take place from Monday 

11 to Sunday 17 September and plans are in 

place to introduce new walks as well as some 

favourite rambles. 

Wellington Walkers are Welcome also 

have an excellent path maintenance team 

who carry out an important job keeping 

the paths around Wellington clear and well 

maintained. All information, as well as the 

latest walking map can be found by visiting 

wellingtonwalkersarewelcome.org.uk 


Charter Day 

in Wellington 

Wellington Charter Day 2023 was a huge success with the arrival of the 

King’s Messenger on horseback in the Market Square, the ‘Court Leet’ 

which saw the appointment of the Clerk of the Market, the Wellington 

Ale Taster and the Town Crier. A welcome addition this year was 

street games organised by the Boardroom Gaming Café 

which kept many bystanders amused.

This Is Our Wellington 12

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