A new mother who thought she wouldn’t be able to afford a holiday will be heading to Greece this year, thanks to winning a festive treasure hunt.
Stacey Williams, from Clayton Heights, Bradford, entered the Sparkling Bradford bauble trail in November while she was on maternity leave with her first baby, Taylor.
The bauble trail competition was featured in the Sparkling Bradford Christmas brochure which was delivered to households across the district and encouraged people to visit landmarks and city centre locations such as Waterstones and City Park, taking in the sights and collecting festive stickers from each point on the map. Completed maps were entered into a prize draw and a winner randomly selected.
Stacey (37) said: “Money has been incredibly tight while I’ve been on maternity leave and we were disappointed at the thought of not having funds for our first family holiday in 2019. Taylor was born in September and my husband and I thought a holiday would be a wonderful rite of passage for the new year – the bauble trail came at the right time and I thought we had nothing to lose by entering!”
The competition was part of the inaugural Sparkling Bradford initiative, which incorporated all of the district’s winter season experiences. The festive campaign saw thousands of people gather at numerous events, including the Steampunk weekend in Haworth, living advent calendar in Saltaire and Illuminate Bradford.
Stacey spotted the competition in The Broadway shopping centre while Christmas shopping with her baby.
Stacey said: “The Sparkling Bradford campaign was a great reminder of everything we could do in the area over Christmas and the trail was a perfect activity to do with my daughter who loved visiting all the different locations and experiencing the bustle of Christmas.
“On Christmas Eve, my cousin called to say she’d seen my name announced as the winner on Twitter. My husband and I were just overcome – we couldn’t stop high fiving! We used our Thomas Cook vouchers to book a holiday for Sidari in Greece this summer and we couldn’t be more delighted.”
Ian Ward, general manager at The Broadway, said the partners behind Sparkling Bradford couldn’t be more delighted with Stacey and her family’s win: “Sparkling Bradford not only put the district on the map as the go-to place for events over the Christmas period but clearly brought real happiness into the lives of local people. Thousands headed to the area to see and experience our events but for Stacey in particular, visiting Bradford has taken her on a journey that’s taking her to Greece! We couldn’t be happier that they are getting the holiday they dreamed of this year.”
He added: “In the run-up to Christmas, The Broadway’s seasonal footfall was up 4.2% thanks to Sparkling Bradford. We saw an astounding increase in not only locals, but also tourists heading to the centre for a spot of Christmas shopping. Feedback from the district’s attractions and retailers suggest that the initiative was a success for everyone involved.”
Sparkling Bradford is a collaborative campaign created by partners Bradford Council, The Broadway Bradford, Visit Bradford, Made in Bradford and the University of Bradford.
