Stray FM’s “How Big Is Your Bauble?” has returned to the station bringing together local people and businesses to raise money for the town’s Christmas lights.
Local hotelier, Simon Cotton and chair of the Harrogate Business Improvement District, John Fox, joined Nick Hancock at Breakfast on Friday 6th September to kick off the campaign with the borough council matching the first £10,500 of donations.
Despite it being early September listeners were requesting festive tunes on the radio, although some local business owners pledged to donate to stop Mariah Carey from airing.
The campaign continued throughout the day with Tom Harland on daytime fielding calls from individuals and businesses who wanted to pledge small amounts to ensure that Harrogate will look its best this festive season.
Simultaneously, Nick and Hometime presenter Will Smith, headed into the town centre itself to meet businesses that wanted to pledge, decked out in their best Christmas jumpers.
The day culminated with the big reveal, that the campaign had raised £27,000 in just one day.
Sarah Barry, Stray FM’s Managing Director told RadioToday: “Stray FM is at the heart of the local community and our How Big Is Your Bauble fundraising day is just one of the many things we do as part of our commitment to Proper Local Radio.
“This year Harrogate is gearing up to welcome the World as we host the UCI Road World Championships, the crown jewel of cycling events. Harrogate will be beamed to televisions across the globe over the next two weeks and we’re sure that there’ll be a tourism boom for the town and surrounding area when they see this wonderful part of the World.
“It’s therefore even more important than ever that Harrogate sparkles this Christmas, and we’re proud to be able to help the local business community make this happen in our record-breaking 25th year of operation.”
The money raised from How Big Is Your Bauble? will be used by the Harrogate at Christmas group to fund the purchase, maintenance, installation and administration costs of the annual festive illuminations.
Pictured from left to right: Simon Cotton – Group Managing Director HRH Hotels, Will Smith – Stray FM Hometime Presenter, Stuart Martin – Mayor of Harrogate, April Martin – Mayoress, John Fox – Chair of Harrogate BID
Posted on Wednesday, September 11th, 2019 at 9:35 pm by Roy Martin