Preparing for 2022 and some brighter days ahead for us all
AS we prepare to leave 2021 behind us and head into 2022, it’s been another testing year for us all as we’ve continued to live with the challenges of the Covid19 pandemic.
This time last year we were hoping that 2021 would bring a brighter start and that we would see the first signs of recovery and a cautious but gradual return to pre-covid living.
Those hopes were dashed when the country headed into a further lengthy national lockdown in January, once again restricting lives and reducing social interactions to the minimum.
Covid19 is still with us and the omicron variant has brought new challenges and put back hopes that the pandemic will soon be behind us.
What we’ve learned since March 2020 is that out of adversity comes opportunities and that our collective instinct is to look for the positives wherever we can.
At The Cheltenham Trust we’re looking ahead to a busy, and exciting, year in 2022 and we’re focusing on brighter days ahead.
In 2022 we’ll be reopening The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum in the spring after a major refurbishment creating a community arts gallery, vibrant arts café on the ground floor and ancillary spaces, and artists’ studios.
The refurbished spaces will be complemented by a lively cultural programme making The Wilson a destination of choice for the community, and visitors, to enjoy and participate in, with talks and exhibitions, workshops, live music and events and children’s activities.
This year the trust created a new artisan market at Pittville Pump Room where local creatives, producers and makers could showcase their products to the community. The first event was so successful that the market is rolling out from February 2022 as a monthly Sunday event, and with a special Christmas market in December and for the switch on of the festive lights and trees at the pump room.
2022 will bring even more live music, dance, events and activities across our venues and in June we’ll be staging the trust’s first two-day festival, Retro Americana, marking the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the American forces at Pittville Pump Room during World War II.
Our cafes and events, particularly the Heritage Deco café at the pump room, will continue to grow and to provide opportunities for the community to interact safely while the pandemic is still with us, and to be positive outlets making a real difference to the collective health and wellbeing of the community when it’s most needed.
Here at the trust we wish you all a peaceful and healthy 2022 and brighter days ahead. Wellbeing is engagement in culture and leisure and, as the lead provider in Cheltenham, in 2022 we’ll continue to serve and support the health and wellbeing of the community.
Whether that’s through exercise and taking part in a fitness class at Leisure at Cheltenham, learning and experiencing through our cultural events and activities, or interacting with others at our cafes and enjoying the benefits that socialising brings, we’ll be ready with our vibrant venues, sporting and cultural events programme to lift everyone’s spirits until the pandemic is behind us all.