There’s lots to love about life in Camberley, with all the luxuries and diversities of a large town but the togetherness and feel of a small community it’s a real thriving location.
One woman who knows of the joys of Camberley is Jodie MacAndrew who ever since 2018 has been working for Love Camberley. Jodie loves what she does “working on a very personal level with many of the businesses in town, listening to their suggestions and supporting them however I can. I also love how my role allows me to engage with a variety of partners and agencies, sharing best practice and ideas on how we can all work together”.
Love Camberley is the face brand of Collectively Camberley Business Improvement District (BID) whose mission is “to make Camberley a destination of choice for shoppers and visitors, as well as a thriving location for residents and businesses alike”. I think it’s easy to state they are doing a ruddy fine job of it.
Last year, despite pandemic fears, social distancing and the forever changing guidelines Love Camberley ran a really successful events programme, “where footfall almost got back to our 2019 figures which was really positive for our businesses and gave our community some really fun days out”. The Christmas event was bigger and better than ever, and with the New Year upon us the organisation, who have the town’s best interest at heart, is looking forward to bettering the belting one just past.
CommunityAd had the pleasure of a chat with Jodie about Love Camberley.
The community events you organise are consistently brilliant and enjoyed by the full spectrum of the community, aren’t they? In short, Love Camberley much like Camberley itself is very inclusive, isn’t it?
I am so pleased to hear your comments about our events, we do pride ourselves on putting on a good day for everyone! All of the large-scale events are run by our team and have become quite well known within the town centre. The events are all fully funded by the BID and therefore the businesses, and this means that we can make most of our activities and entertainment free of charge to our community. At the events, the community will experience anything from live, close-up magic to getting their face painted or requesting a balloon model. We usually have live music or dance acts and often include local schools and community groups in our events which adds a real sense of ownership and pride of the town.
We run the Armed Forces Day (Celebrate Camberley in 2021,) the Rooftop Film Festival (the only one with a small fee for a ticket), the Car Show and of course the Christmas Light Switch On, as well as running smaller, seasonal events throughout the year.
At our Christmas event 2021, we invited a special Elf onto the stage at the moment of switch on. As Father Christmas and the Mayor were speaking before they turned the lights on, the Elf was interpreting what they were saying into British Sign Language. This gesture was a small step for us to be inclusive and support our deaf community at this magical moment.
Prior to this event, we had run free Sign Language training for over 50 of our businesses and also ran a campaign to hand out clear face coverings to all public facing businesses, again to support our deaf community. We have run free First Aid courses for businesses and will be bringing both of these, plus Dementia Awareness training back to our businesses early this year. Our wish is to make Camberley as accessible and inclusive as possible so that everyone can enjoy what it has to offer.
Finally, Jodie why do you love Camberley?
I love Camberley for many reasons! I love how the town flows and everything you need is in a tight and convenient space. I have enjoyed seeing the changes and improvements that myself and my team have been able to make and how people have reacted so positively to them. I love the people that I work with and in turn the people of Camberley. I do not live locally and have felt so welcomed over the years… Camberley to me really does feel like home.