Families and friends gathered in St George’s Square for the official launch of Luton town centre’s all new skating rink.
Footballers from Luton Town Centre Football Club Luke Wilkinson and Sean Long were invited by Luton Business Improvement District (BID) and kicked off proceedings, cutting the ribbon and meeting crowds of fans to sign autographs.
The duo also took the opportunity to present a giant sized cheque to a group of shoppers who were unveiled as winners of the Luton Christmas Cracker – is yours the winning ticket?
The prize draw is giving away over £2,000 worth of prizes in the run-up to Christmas, and just three prizes remain, due to be drawn next Wednesday, 16th December.
The skating rink, previously used in the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, is in place until Christmas Eve, and open daily from midday to 8pm. Skating sessions will start on the hour, last 45 minutes and cost £5. It has been funded by Luton Business Improvement District (BID) as an extra-special Christmas attraction for visitors to the town centre.
Ed Smith, marketing and communications manager at Luton Town Football Club, said: “We’re thrilled to be able to support the town centre and Luton Business Improvement District, and like the BID we are passionate about helping to create a vibrant and exciting town centre. The club gets a fantastic audience of supporters from the town every week who are always hugely welcome, so we’re very excited to meet as many as possible at the skating rink.
“We’ve also got strong links to Luton town centre with our shop in The Mall, so we’re looking forward to seeing more events and attractions from the BID in the months ahead.”
Gavin O’Brien, Chair of the Luton BID Board, said: “Christmas is all about spending time with friends and family and we hope that everyone will head down for a spin on the skating rink. Luton Town FC is an important part of our town centre – I’m a season ticket holder myself – so we’re delighted that the players are celebrating this new attraction with us. It’s a good chance for me to try and improve my terrible skating skills too!”
Luton BID is organising a host of events this month and the BID’s new skating rink will be open to the public from Thursday, 10th December. For details about this event and more visit the BID website www.lutontowncentre.org or contact a member of the BID team by calling 01582 510657 or emailing info@lutonbid.org.