Giving Tree

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Inspire Middleton is the charity that runs the Lighthouse Project, Middleton Central Foodbank, Lighthouse Money Advice and Lighthouse Pantry. These projects have been supporting local people during these challenging times and helping families in crisis.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but for many of the families they are working with it can be a difficult time, which is why they are appealing for your support . Your donation to their Toy Appeal will directly help a child in need a child that will have been referred to them through their support services or local schools.

Your donations will be used to purchase toys or gift vouchers for children aged between 0-16 years and will be especially welcomed where we have a child who has requested a particular toy on their list from Santa!

This year the Lighthouse Project has undertaken:

– Middleton Central Foodbank saw a 32% increase in people needing emergency support last year, with meals provided for 2935 adults and 1691 children

– Lighthouse Money Advice debt service has been helping our community deal with over £1 million of personal debt

– Lighthouse Pantry has been supporting 146 different families, providing savings of up to £1,494 on their annual food bills, leaving more money available for other household bills .

Thank you for supporting our local community, and helping us ensure that fewer children in Middleton will be without Christmas presents this year.

To donate to their Just Giving page click here.

 

Spooktacular Halloween raises over £600 for local charities

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On Friday 30th and Saturday 31st October Carrol and Jon from “All Season with Carrol” ladies underwear and bespoke bra fitting service presented a spooktacular scarefest exhibition in the Middleton Shopping Centre.

The scarefest was organised to support the local community and avoid children’s disappointment in not being able to trick or treat due to the ongoing COVID restrictions. The spooky walk through was free although donations to Oldham cats home or knitted knockers UK for breast cancer were warmly welcomed.

Jon from “All Season with Carrol” created a walkthrough Halloween masterpiece with his collection of American animatronics which included creepy sound effects, spooky skeletons, scary spiders, crazy clowns and heaps of other terrifying characters! People were encouraged to dress up for Halloween and warned that they may get a scare!

Marie Gribben, centre manager, was thrilled with the effort made by Jon and Carrol and said “this was a great way of showcasing Halloween to our shoppers and local community and Jon & Carroll’s efforts are truly appreciated. With the current COVID situation and trick or treating on hold this year, it was wonderful to see that we could still provide some spooky Halloween fun!”

Over the two days there were over 2000 visitors.  A total of £251.57 was raised for Oldham Cats Home and £397.34 for Knitted Knockers UK for breast care. A massive thanks to everyone involved for their support.

Hidden Disabilities

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Middleton Shopping Centre has signed up to the sunflower lanyard scheme that supports people with autism and other hidden disabilities.

The scheme involves people wearing a sunflower lanyard to highlight to staff that they might be in need of extra help. People with invisible conditions, such as autism and dementia, can collect and wear a lanyard from the customer service desk to signal that they may need more support during their visit.

It will act as a discreet sign to staff that the wearer could require help or a little more time with things like finding their way around a centre or store and getting access to a quiet space or close-by toilet facilities.

Demand for the initiative has soared since it was first introduced. It is one of a number of measures to create more accessible shopping and leisure experiences and was introduced ahead of Purple Tuesday on November 12 – a day devoted to the needs of disabled shoppers.

Marie Gribben, Centre Manager at Middleton Shopping Centre, said: “We want to ensure that Middleton Shopping Centre is an accessible and inclusive destination for everyone. Nobody should feel excluded. The measures we are introducing will help every visitor to feel welcome to enjoy a fantastic experience at the centre.”

Middleton Shopping Centre also runs regular quiet hours every Saturday from 9am to 11am and its staff are trained to support people with autism and dementia.

Happy to Chat bench

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Loneliness is a serious health condition, but unlike other ailments, the symptoms of loneliness can be hard to detect to everyone but the person having them. A new initiative in the UK aims to combat the problem by making it easier for people who feel alone to socialise with strangers.

For people who feel isolated in their daily lives, these benches are an opportunity to make a connection with someone new. They also give people who want to help the lonely members of their community a way to do so. Inspired by the original ‘Happy to Chat’ campaign, an existing bench has been selected and to signpost those looking for a chat, a large sign has been displayed above the bench near The Works, reading ‘Sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping to say hello’. The idea is a simple one that encourages visitors to the centre to strike up a conversation and make a connection with someone new; promoting happy and friendly communities in Middleton.

Marie Gribben, Centre Manager, said: “This is a compassionate, community-led initiative that has quickly spread around the globe, and although it’s not Middleton born, I’m really proud to be welcoming a ‘Happy to Chat’ bench in Middleton. Simply stopping to say ‘hello’ to someone at the Chat Bench could make a huge difference to the vulnerable people in our communities and help to make life a little better for them. If this is well received, we may well introduce another bench within the shopping centre or collaborate with the local authority to introduce one in the town centre. This simple idea of just giving people permission to stop and chat is a great way to help defeat loneliness and develop a keener sense of community.’

For more information on Time to Change and Time to Talk, visit their website: https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/.

Park Mark Award 2020

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Middleton Shopping Centre MSCP, has again achieved the coveted Park Mark, Safer Parking Award and the Disabled Parking Accreditation for a further a further year. These awards are credited to parking facilities that have achieved the requirements of a risk assessment conducted by the police and the British Parking Association. The Safer Parking Scheme is an […]

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Middleton Shopping Centre grotto raises money for Lighthouse Project

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Families visiting the Middleton Shopping Centre, donated a staggering £3,307.32 when they visited the Centre’s Grotto during the run up to Christmas – a 19% increase on 2018 when £2,790.08 was collected!

On Tuesday, 14 January, Marie Gribben, Manager of the Middleton Shopping Centre had pleasure in presenting a cheque to the Lighthouse Project team.

“We’d like to say a big thank you to all the Middleton families who visited our Santa and generously donated their cash,” says Marie. “Almost everyone we talked to was aware of the brilliant community work The Lighthouse Project carry out locally and were more than happy to play their part in supporting this charitable endeavour.”

The Lighthouse Project has been operating in the Town Centre for the last nine years and is a part of Inspire Middleton – a local charity.

More recently it moved into the Middleton Shopping Centre where it found a great space to develop the work and a willing partnership with the Centre to help the work grow.

Carl Roach, Development Manager for the charity says, “We are immensely grateful for all the support that the people of Middleton and Middleton Shopping Centre give to the Lighthouse; there are many people in the town who are struggling with the essentials of life, but through the support we receive from the community, we are able to put that to good use through the various projects, activities and services we offer to everyone who needs them.”

The vision of the Lighthouse Project is to provide a safe and welcoming environment where people can meet together, find support and access opportunities that are caring, social and educational. They have a passion for people, who are their focus, and for alleviating social hardship, exclusion, isolation, deprivation and inequalities.

The Lighthouse Project is a diverse and innovative community hub conveniently located where it is accessible right in the heart of the town. Using lots of volunteers it works at grassroots level and is designed to bring hope in disadvantaged and deprivation-stricken communities. They provide a wide variety of much needed free support services to those who would not normally have the opportunity or confidence to access.

Sensory Shopping

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Every Saturday morning between 9am and 11am we will be offering Sensory Shopping.

During these two hours we aim to provide a more comfortable shopping experience for visitors who suffer from sensory overloads. We will turn off music in the Centre, replace hand dryers with paper towels and make sure we have no planned fire alarms or tests. Look out for the Sensory Shopping logo in shop windows to find out which of our shops are participating

Middleton welcomes new Centre Manager, Marie Gribben

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Middleton Shopping Centre has welcomed a new centre manager who pledges to continue the great work in positioning the venue as a family destination, with a strong mix of retailers and exciting community-focused initiatives and events.

Marie Gribben joined the Middleton shopping centre management in October following five successful years as Centre Manager at Mill Gate Shopping Centre in Bury, Greater Manchester. Marie previously worked at Middleton shopping centre in 2010-13 as Deputy Centre Manager and therefore knows the centre very well. With her experience in the shopping centre industry and an extensive marketing background, she plans on elevating the centre’s offering further.

She says she has been bowled over by the town’s close-knit community. “This is my fifth week at Middleton shopping centre and it’s been brilliant” said Marie. “My focus is on finding out what encourages our customers to keep coming back and trying to deliver on that, and I’ve also been speaking with retailers to find out what their priorities are.

“Chatting to people who come here is incredibly important as I want to be able to cater to as many of our visitors’ needs and requests as possible and the same goes for our tenants, too. It’s a pleasure getting to know people – everyone has been so welcoming.”

Over the next 12 months, a key part of her vision includes continually showcasing the range of retailer products available at the centre, putting on an exciting programme of free, family events and providing a safe and clean environment for people to shop, which will help keep attracting regular and new visitors.

She continued: “People enjoy coming to Middleton shopping centre as it’s the perfect setting for meeting friends and family for a coffee and picking up the bits they need for the week ahead. The general feedback I’ve been receiving is that the centre is a real part of the community and the public want to see it flourish, and I’m really looking forward to exploring some brilliant opportunities with the local community and seeing what the future holds.”

Ashdown Phillips & Partners Ltd who manage the centre said “Centre management is a specialist skill. It balances business acumen with community spirit. It requires a commercial brain and a human heart. Our Shopping Centre Managers run the centre’s as if they were their own business, and we are proud of them for doing so.”

“They have to have their fingers on lots of pulses at the same time; every day they are liaising with local authorities, building relationships with shoppers, the local community and the wider general public. At the same time they are responsible for marketing and promotion, for social media and commercialisation and for nurturing the small businesses in their care, promoting their growth or expansion. They listen, receive feedback and make changes. Marie will fit in perfectly at Middleton and we wish her every success.”