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Celebrate the Platinum Jubilee With a Free Interactive Story-Trail in Hailsham

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Instagram Platimum Jubilee Beacon Trail banner advertisement image 

This spring, families in Hailsham and surrounding areas will be able to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and have a great day out with an augmented reality family story-trail.

As part of local plans to celebrate the Jubilee, from April 30th until June 12th, Hailsham Town Council and Hailsham News have teamed up with High Street Safari to run a free story-trail in the town centre. This innovative experience will enable families to choose what happens in the story and is completely contact-less, with anyone who has a smartphone being able to take part for free.

Players will not only discover characters along the route, but they also get to see them burst to life in augmented reality and take selfies and record videos with them.

The idea behind the event is to encourage families to come into the town centre with a safe and ambitious event, and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacon Trail will be located at seven stops around the town centre to visit (to be announced soon), positioned so that families can discover hidden parts of the town.

The trail takes about forty-five minutes to complete but can be completed in more than one visit. It’s completely free for families and groups to take part in and they win a free, digital fun pack at the end. Schools are also being sent colouring sheets to enter a competition to have their works displayed on the trail, with £20 gift voucher being awarded to ten lucky national winners, as well as their winning entry printed as a specially designed commemorative poster.

The trail works without the need for families to download or sign up to anything. With safety in mind, it has been designed so that there is no need to go inside the venues, but some participating businesses are offering discounts and vouchers to come in while you visit. Furthermore, not only is the trail an innovative and fun day out for players, but they can also choose to donate to Help for Heroes to support our veterans and their families.

To find out more about the trail, visit jubileebeacontrail.com.

“I encourage families to take part in the interactive Beacon Trail when it launches near the end of April and ‘choose their own adventure’ as they progress around the trail,” said the Mayor of Hailsham, Councillor Paul Holbrook.  “Summer 2022 will be an exciting time for Hailsham, and on behalf of the Town Council, I’m delighted that we have been able to finance the cost of organising the celebrations, so ably being carried out by Hailsham News with our staff and Council member support.”

“We are confident that the programme of events to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – including the Beacon Trail – will be well received by residents and visitors alike, bringing energy and atmosphere to the town centre.”

Melanie Waters, Chief Executive of the charity commented: “We’re thrilled to be the charity partner for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons Trail and really looking forward to taking part in this innovative, community-based activity, as part of our plans to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee this year.”

The Beacon Trail is just one of a range of events, activities and entertainment being organised to mark the Queen’s historic 70-year reign in June, which will involve thousands of residents, local community groups, charities and schools across Hailsham.

Further preparations are being made by event organiser Hailsham News in partnership with the Town Council, including the official lighting of a beacon taking place at the same time as thousands of other beacons are lit around the world, and an evening of entertainment, marching, drum bands, pipers and live music, both on 2nd June.

Additional plans involve a large traditional, street party-style fete at the Western Road Recreation Ground, hosting fun family games, music, live entertainment, food and drink, rides and much more.

Paul Gibson, Editor of Hailsham News said: “I’m absolutely honoured to be working alongside the Town Council in making sure this historic occasion is celebrated locally which will go down in history. We are now talking to local schools, charities and community groups to get as many involved with the event as possible. This is an excellent occasion to bring the community back together and mark the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.”

Local school PTA groups, choirs, dance groups, community groups and charities are encouraged to contact Hailsham News to see how they can get involved in the line-up of events: mail editor@hailsham.news

All the celebrations are not-for-profit and any money raised will be going directly to local charities and causes. More information about the events will be announced in the coming weeks.


Enquiries relating to this media release

Terry Hall, Communications Officer
Hailsham Town Council, Market Street, Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 2AE
Telephone: 01323 841702 | Email: terry.hall@hailsham-tc.gov.uk