Salisbury 800 to bring city together in anniversary year

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An 800th anniversary celebration is set to bring a city together through a year-long programme of community-led events.

Salisbury 800 will mark eight centuries since the city was granted its charter in 1227, with a full calendar of activities planned for 2027.

The programme aims to involve residents, visitors, and organisations from across Salisbury and beyond.

Susi Mason, who chairs the Salisbury 800 project board, said: "We very much want it to be a programme of events that is decided by the community, for the community.

"All the big organisations in the city are playing their part and they're doing lots of wonderful things, but also some individuals and small groups are contributing to our programme, which is wonderful.

"It's just lovely that people want to get involved."

Collaboration sits at the heart of the project, with input from Salisbury City Council, Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire Creative, Salisbury Museum, and Salisbury BID.

The programme will cover five main areas: history and heritage, arts and creativity, community and wellbeing, environment and place, and learning and discovery.

Ms Mason said: "We want to make it as broad as possible and as accessible as possible.

"Luckily it seems to have worked out that we've got plenty of things for families, we've got plenty of things for older people and we're hoping that there'll be a good proportion of events for young adults as well because I know that quite often they get forgotten.

"Hopefully everybody will find something that they want to go to."

One highlight of Salisbury 800 will be the Changemakers scheme, which will recognise and celebrate the city’s volunteers.

Ms Mason said: "What we want to do, we're working with Wessex Community Action and Salisbury Radio, we want to give a shout out to those people and those charities and organisations and talk about their stories, why they've started volunteering and what they get out of it, why they enjoy it.

"By next year we're going to have little pin badges that all these volunteers will wear so people will begin to see those on the streets and then they can start up a conversation about what that person does and why they do it.

"Hopefully it will encourage more people to volunteer."

A dedicated page for Salisbury 800 is now live on the Experience Salisbury website, where people can find information about events and how to get involved.

Organisers hope at least half of the activities will be free to attend, ensuring that the anniversary is a celebration for the whole city.

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