On Sunday evening, a devastating fire destroyed The Nail Bar and Oxfam, on Friars Street, damaging nearby businesses on both Market Hill and Gainsborough Street. The fire caused 20 people to lose their homes and all their possessions. The aftermath of the event is absolutely heart-breaking. Witnessing the still smouldering timber framed business on Monday morning was awful.
However, as with so many tragic events, the community, both public and business, really rallies around and comes together to help those who have lost so much.
From the bravery of the firefighter who saved lives, modestly saying he was just doing his job, to those that have set up the fundraising page to help the victims, individuals who’ve donated their time to organise drop off donation points, to those that have offered office space for free, the response has been awe inspiring. Sudbury Secure Storage can look after the larger items donated and businesses throughout the town have said their storage space can be used to store smaller items. Creative Couture, in North Street Parage, have offered their upstairs space to Celebrity Nails for free, as one of the businesses lost in the fire. Individuals and businesses have gone out of their way to help.
The generosity of people in our small but mighty town makes my heart swell. And if you’d like to help, you can donate small items, such as adult clothing and non-perishable food, to Sudbury Library, this Saturday from 9.30am. Better still, please come and help us sort through the donations. (We’re also organising the donations for Syrian Refugees) Information is included as a pdf to the right of this piece.
One of the most important things you can continue doing is support the businesses and shops in our town; owned, managed and employing local people. There will be some challenging times ahead for some of these shops. Please use them. Spend £10 in a locally owned business economically benefits our community considerably more than £10 spent in an online shop.
So, thank you Sudbury. Thank you for your strong sense of community, your thoughtfulness and your generosity. It makes me proud to be part of what you do.
