Local business women Leah Halliday and Kirsten Scott are over the moon to announce that their not-for-profit social enterprise organisation, The Guild (Dumfries) CIC have been given the opportunity to present their very first Dumfries Makers Market at the Christmas Lights Switch-on event on Sunday 2nd December. Working in partnership with Dumfries & Galloway Council, their team at Youth Work Services and Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust, to bring a spectacular Christmas experience to the streets of Dumfries to celebrate the Year of Young People and the forthcoming launch of Moat Brae.
“We are looking forward to collaborating with the Christmas Lights Team, Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust and Drawing For Enjoyment, a group offering photography, drawing and art workshops and other local businesses and organisations to play a part in delivering a unique and memorable event in Dumfries town centre which will be enjoyed by all. We’ll reveal lots more details over the coming weeks, but we hope people will take to the streets of Dumfries and enjoy this festive experience”.
“We will be announcing details of how to apply to be a trader later this week when we launch our website plus details of volunteer opportunities and sponsorship information. Keep following our Facebook page to find out more.”
They are feverishly working away on the finer details, so they can announce details of when their applications for this event will be open.
“If you’re a modern makers, designer, indie biz owner, artisan food and drinks producer or street food vendor we would love you to get involved. We want to support fledgling business, showcasing new talent alongside more established businesses. We want to provide an inspiring, lively, unique and vibrant experience within Dumfries town centre. A welcoming and inviting destination for the community to meet and greet the makers, food producers, independent businesses and even their neighbours.”
The women have also been given the green light to host another Makers Market on 2nd and 3rd February next year and be working in partnership with Big Burns Supper, the world’s biggest Burns night celebration next year. The Guild Dumfries can’t wait to work together and organise a market as part of this hugely popular festival. They feel its the perfect platform to showcase Dumfries and the rest of the regions creative community of makers, food & beverage producers and home grown brands.
“We have been working around the clock to come up with proposals for each event which not only reflect what the public have told us they want from a market, but an event that will benefits the town centre as a whole.”
“We both have our own businesses to run but spend vast amounts of time and energy dedicated to building The Guild and Dumfries Makers Market so that we can do something positive for our town”.
“We want to thank everyone for their continued support and encouragement, we are delighted that our passion, determination and resilience have paid off!”
To help raise funds & awareness of Dumfries Makers Market campaign Leah and Kirsten have designed an exclusive hand screen printed t-shirt so people can wear their support and help spread the word, but it’s only available to pre-order for the next 7 days. The design features a positive slogan ‘Make it Happen’ which was voted for by members of the public on social media along with the final colours and styles. All profits go to The Guild (Dumfries) C.I.C and will help pay for market stalls, insurance, legal fees, signage, marketing and training for traders so The Guild Dumfries can bring our community the market they want, to the streets of Dumfries.
“We decided to create our campaign on Mercht, so we don’t need to waste funds on buying lots of stock and different sizes. We sold our first ten t-shirts, which guarantees they go to print on the first 24 hours of launching.
“We hope that the people of Dumfries will once again get behind us and lend us their support so that we can raise some much-needed funds to help us bring our Christmas market to life.”
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