Boost for Downham Market heritage centre’s gingerbread project

Funding from a supermarket scheme will help a town heritage centre launch a new community initiative.

The Discover Downham Heritage Centre is being included in the next round of the Tesco blue token scheme which gets underway this month.

The centre at the former fire station in Priory Road, will receive either £500, £1,000 or £1,500 depending on how many people vote for its ‘Love Your Gingerbread Town’ project via tokens at the Downham store.

Downham has long been referred to as “the Gingerbread Town” due to the distinctive yellowish brown carrstone buildings.

The aim of the project is to enable local children to get better acquainted with the heritage of their town and the exciting Fen land that surrounds it in a fun and interactive way.

The Tesco funding will mean the centre can redesign its children’s area to accommodate the growing number of families, schools and youth groups who visit.

There will be a new designated work station with an interactive screen for children to engage with local history in a more child-friendly way and the children’s section of the library will be expanded.

The current Fen display will be replaced with a selection of handling objects from the museum’s own collection and a new interactive display will be created, detailing the wildlife of the area. The activity boxes will also be updated to relate more closely to the school National Curriculum.

Trustee and volunteer Zowie Sweetland said: “We have seen an increase in local young people wishing to visit the centre to learn more about local history and the wider area.

“There has also been an increase in local families dropping in. So we want to build on what we can offer to keep them coming back. We are incredibly grateful for this grant, which will enable us to really upgrade our facilities for children.”