Love Wimbledon gets a YES!

The businesses of Wimbledon Town Centre have confirmed their support for Love Wimbledon BID with an 85% majority YES vote in our renewal ballot, enabling our activities and support to continue for another five years.

This will provide an additional £2.5m worth of investment into the town centre for projects including: greening, events, marketing, crime reduction, cleaning and place-making.

Love Wimbledon continually aspires to make Wimbledon a better place to visit; from family-friendly trails to our Christmas Tree, murals to Hartfield Walk, our popular markets to Winter Wonderland, and our Big Screen Tennis to Autumn Arts activities. It is about making Wimbledon more active and attractive, and creating a town that people want to visit and work in. Delivering events is just one of our key objectives, and probably is the most publicly recognised.

Love Wimbledon Business Improvement District (BID) is a not-for-profit organisation that is paid for and run by local businesses within our Wimbledon Town Centre BID boundary. Businesses fund the BID through an annual levy. All Business Improvement Districts must go to ballot every five years to secure support from the business community.

Receiving a ‘YES’ result, means that our BID businesses have supported Love Wimbledon’s work to continue, and their funding will allow us to continue to deliver for our next five year term (2022-2027). Our three aims for the next five years are to:

  • Create better places, spaces and experience
  • Promote and support business
  • Become greener and more sustainable

A big thank you to you all, the businesses and the wider community of residents, visitors and employees, who have supported us through the last five years.

Together we can ensure a brighter future for Wimbledon Town Centre.

 

Spotlight On: Fielders

Having been recently awarded Best Arts and Crafts Store in South West London (in the 2021 UK Enterprise Awards hosted by SME-News), we’re shining a light on small, independent and family owned business Fielders. With eye-catching window displays that add a pop of colour and character to Wimbledon Hill Road, find out more about the go-to destination for DIY and crafty inspiration.

1) Tell us more about Fielders and how you begun..

Fielders was founded in 1928 by brothers, Ernest and William Fielder who bought a small booksellers and stationers in Wimbledon for their wives. Most of the photographs of ‘Old’ Wimbledon available in the archives of the Wimbledon Museum and Merton Library were taken by these two brothers and their father George Fielder. The company is now run by one of George’s great grandsons, Ian Fielder and is the oldest retail business in Wimbledon that is still under the same family ownership and management, as when it began.

2) What kinds of products do you offer?

As a destination for quality fine art materials, Fielders stock an ever-evolving range of craft materials and a have a brilliant in-house framing workshop staffed with 3 professionally-qualified framers. Find everything inside from crochet kits, acrylic paints, sketchbooks, pretty ribbons, face mask fabrics and lots more.

   

2) With Halloween around the corner and Christmas fast-approaching, what can we expect to see in store?

We are running a Pumpkin Decorating competition for kids this Halloween and kicking off the Love Wimbledon Hocus Pocus trail from our front doors. Pop inside for lots of black-and-orange-themed crafts and keep an eye out for our upcoming Christmas Wreath Decorating Challenge. Pick up our wooden stags and deers (made from brown paper) and have a go at decorating them in your own festive way – whether with paint, decoupage or décopatch paper.

With great quirky products available such as seafood-themed crochet kits and timber modelled oceanic scenes, you’ll never struggle with DIY inspiration for any events when at Fielders – however strange or wonderful!

3) Can you provide any creative ideas for upcycling?

There really isn’t much that cannot be freshly painted with sprays or acrylics! How about an old bike painted in neon pink for a Cancer Research charity ride? Add a pop of colour to a plain bedroom wall with hanging origami art or create your own macrame wall decor. Our staff are always on hand to help our customers’ creative ideas so pop down and have a chat with us.

4) What are some of the most interesting things that you’ve seen your customers create, using products from your store?

Recent “makes” have included painting tree stumps in Wimbledon Town Centre, making bug brooches from Origami paper, and our framing department is currently framing some rock fossils. Last week we were asked to frame a “green man” latex mask, a Grayson Perry silk scarf and a Watford football shirt!

 

Fielders is located at 54 Wimbledon Hill Rd, SW19 7PA and offer 10% off to students and NHS staff. #LoveLocal and visit the store today.

 

Half Term and Halloween Fun

Whether you’re looking for family-friendly entertainment for the kids this half-term, some spooky seasonal adult fun or just great autumn events to welcome in the colder months, Wimbledon has an abundance of activity this October.

For the kids and free

The Wimbledon Hocus Pocus Trail kicks off on the 16th October (until 31st October). Dust off your broomsticks and hats and join Love Wimbledon’s FREE video-led trail around Wimbledon Town Centre. With your wands at the ready, begin at Fielders Art Shop and look for the Hocus Pocus poster. Scan the QR code, watch the videos of our wonderful wizard Merlin to find clues and solve the riddle. Be sure to make a stop at Multea Choice and Polka Theatre along the way for a special treat and pick up your certificate at the end of the trail!

 

For creative fingers, enter in a Pumpkin Decorating Competition before Monday 25th October for a chance to win a mystery prize at Fielders, or head down to Centre Court Shopping Centre’s No Carve Pumpkin Station on 30th October (11 – 4pm) with themed games, stories and demonstrations. Plus the opportunity for children to have a go at dressing pumpkins using crafty goods, including bandages, glitter and more.

Wolves have seized power at Polka Theatre! Inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, discover the world of RED and voyage across Polka, through woods and swampland in an adventure like no other. Book your tickets here for this exciting visual and physical storytelling production and follow the action along with actors, exploring the brilliant new Polka Theatre building! Running until October 31st.

Why not make a day of it? Explore the wonderful newly-redeveloped Polka venue, featuring indoor and outdoor play spaces, a friendly café, a colourful kids shop stocked with children’s toys (puppets, creative kits, etc.), and a book corner to read with your child. The theatre is also hosting a Halloween Shadows creepy craft workshop on Tuesday 26th October, an Autumn Senses multi-sensory storytelling workshop on Friday 29th October and a Power Poets spoken word masterclass on Thursday 28th October.

Wimbledon Library has a Multi-Sports Sessions for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) on Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th October from 9 – 10am. Advance booking is required.

For adults

Enjoy free Prosecco (or Nosecco) while taking part in Centre Court Shopping Centre’s autumn floristry workshop, Pumpkins and Prosecco. From 6.30 – 8.30pm on 21st October, join the session to choose a pumpkin from the locally sourced selection and be taught how to create a stunning autumnal floral display that you can take home beautifully gift-wrapped. All materials and equipment included. Finish your evening in Queen’s Rd Market bar with bespoke cocktails and live music on a Thursday night.
Limited tickets are available.

Up for a night out? Many of the pubs and bars in Wimbledon are celebrating Halloween with special drinks or events.

Trick or treat yourself to a deliciously frightening evening at plant-based café Lu-Ma for their Halloween Supper Club, featuring canapés, cocktails and a 3 course meal: Friday 29th October, 7 – 9pm.

Fancy skipping the Halloween buzz? We’ve got you covered..

Listen to the soothing sounds of jazz in the tranquil surroundings of Lu-Ma café whilst enjoying your favourite meal and tipple, on Saturday 23 October 6-9pm for a very special Jazz Night with saxophonist Andy ‘Bones’ Shaw.

Indulge in foodie haven at our Local Market on The Piazza (Saturday 30th – Sunday 31st October, 11am – 6pm) located in front of Wimbledon Morrisons. Try superb street food, savour the aromas of freshly-baked bread or dive into decadent desserts, olives and cheeses – all whilst browsing unique art, bespoke jewellery, homewares and accessories from independent makers and creators.

Held in the intimate setting of the Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre, hear a unique and unusual story about friendship, love and loss, set to the sounds of live epic pop songs : Epic Love and Pop Songs is running from Saturday 19th October – Saturday 23rd October.

Laugh it up with live comedy every Saturday either at Queens Rd Market (7.30 – 10pm) or Tunnel 267 (8 – 10pm), or giggle away at LGBTQ+ venue CMYK every Tuesday for their Late Gay Comedy Show (9 – 11pm).

See what else is on this October in Wimbledon via our What’s On pages.