Schoolchildren rewarded with Festive window win

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Children from an after-school club at a Bury St Edmunds primary school have helped a town centre law firm take top prize in the hotly-contested annual most festive shop window competition. Users of the Our Bury St Edmunds LoyalFree app chose Hayward Moon property lawyers in Whiting Street as the overall winner with last year’s winner LOFT & SPIRES a runner up alongside another previous winner Javelin.

Town Mayor Peter Thompson and representatives of the BID made the presentation to the Hayward Moon team and children from St Edmund’s RC Primary School (photo: Our Bury St Edmunds)

The winning window was designed and created by pupils at St Edmund’s RC Primary School who have made a giant 3D advent calendar for Hayward Moon’s shop window, with materials for the project paid for by the company. The school has made and decorated the window for the last two years and in 2021 the business was voted a runner up in the competition.

Hayward Moon Associate Jane Voce-Long said: “The children worked so hard on this, making 24 windows with a different felt item in each one and we are all delighted that their efforts have been rewarded in this way. Christmas is all about children so I am really thrilled for all of them and the staff that helped, that shoppers and visitors to the town have voted us the winner and thank everyone who took the time to do so.”

The long-running competition for shops and businesses is organised by the Business Improvement District (BID) organisation Our Bury St Edmunds. Mike Kirkham from the BID commented: “We launched a trail on the town’s LoyalFree app featuring all the windows in the competition and hundreds of people took the trouble to vote. The businesses taking part had all worked very hard and once again the standard was extremely high and competition was fierce.

“The children have really done Hayward Moon proud with their Christmas designs and this window is a joy to look at especially as the days progress and more windows open. Using the app this year has allowed many more users to engage with the 366 BID member businesses who feature on it.”

Hayward Moon will be able to proudly display the prestigious Our Bury St Edmunds Shield for the next 12 months. It was presented to them along with some of the schoolchildren, by the Mayor of Bury St Edmunds, Town Councillor Peter Thompson. Three users of the LoyalFree app who voted for the winning business and runners up will also receive prizes of Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Cards at a later date.