Pickering Town Community Interest Company (PTCIC) is going from strength to strength with volunteers on several community projects in the run up to Easter.

The non-profit organisation set-up by a board of volunteers as a social enterprise will celebrate the first birthday of The Mindful Mile, hold its first artisan market and host its second community Earth Day.

Pickering Town CIC has been running for two years and was last year given Community Anchor Organisation status by North Yorkshire Council – the only town in Ryedale to receive the accreditation.

“As a Community Anchor Organisation, it is our role to listen to those working in communities and bring people together, helping groups and organisations to develop and collaborate – and with these projects, we are certainly ticking those boxes,” said Carrie-Anne Brackstone, Operations Manager of the CIC.

“Two groups sprang out of our Community Earth Day last year which itself was a collaboration between Pickering Environment Group and Beck Isle Museum; those groups, the Pickering Yarn-bombers and ‘The Sew n’ Sews’ are both working hard on craft displays and bunting to decorate our town alongside the Pickering WI, Next Steps Mental Health Resource and the ladies at the ‘knit and natter’ in Pickering library. Last year, our theme was bees. This year, our theme is the ‘Blue Heart Campaign’ which celebrates and promotes ‘rewilding’ and will culminate in a Wildlife Fair and related activities for children at the Beck Isle Museum, Memorial Hall and Hungate Centre on the 20th of April”.

“Over the Easter weekend, Pickering hosts its very first artisan market ‘This Little Piggie’ working in collaboration with already-established Bramble Berry Markets, again organised and promoted by volunteers with the intention to increase footfall through Pickering. The outdoor artisan market will take place on Saturday the 30th of March and will be situated at the bottom of the Market Place and on the Beckside out front of the Museum with Bramble Berry Markets hosting over 20 stalls inside the Memorial Hall. We really hope the town will come out and support this venture. Scarborough and District Mountain Rescue will be out first guest ‘charity’ stall.”

“The Easter weekend will also see the culmination of a fund-raising collaboration between PTCIC and Birdgate Chocolatiers to raise money for Ryedale Special Families with the raffle of a giant Easter Egg. The egg containing over 150 bars of chocolate, stands at over 80 cm tall and took Ian Peacock three days to make. Tickets can be bought from Birdgate Chocolatiers, Television House, The Sun Inn, The Black Swan, Aquarian Hair Design, Beauty by Shelaugh and Anna Hemmigfield’s Boutique in Thornton Dale.”

“It’s been said so many times that Pickering is built on its strong community and willing supply of dedicated volunteers and never was this more evident than the support that the CIC have been shown by the community. We have been so lucky to harness the energy of the volunteer movement born out of Covid and turn it into a positive; slowly but surely projects which we have been working on for the past two years are coming to fruition.”

Pickering Town CIC have several projects due to be unveiled in the next couple of months; these include the installation of eBike chargers at Big Bear Bikes and Dalby Forest Cycle Hub, a heritage street sign project and the installation of a pump-track up at Pickering Community Park in collaboration with Pickering town Council. Murals painted at the top of the Pickering Market Place depicting the castle and the church were another recent PTCIC initiative. The CIC have also been successful in obtaining a grant from NYC to collaborate with Ceraphi on a feasibility study to investigate Geothermal Community Heating. PTCIC have also worked alongside Pickering Town Council on two successful ‘Town Tidys’ which have seen residents of Pickering come out to help give the town a face-lift.

Chairman of PTCIC, Mike Potter said: “We are so grateful for the passion and dedication of our volunteers. From the kids at the school who folded and delivered the leaflets to promote Next Steps and the Market, to the bunting-makers, yarn-bombers, painters, weeders, litter-pickers and those that gave up their time to marshal at Pickering Rocks, Remembrance Day and the Pickering Town Council Christmas Lights Switch-on. We can not thank you enough – it’s going to be a very exciting year for Pickering!”

PTCIC have a Facebook page where you can follow their news. If you are interested in volunteering, please email carrie@pickeringtowncic.org.uk