Local councillors were present as a leading housebuilder Persimmon Homes donated £1,000 to the upcoming Wantage Literary Festival.
District Councillors Kiera Bentley and Ron Batstone joined festival trustees and Persimmon Homes Wessex for the cheque presentation at The Beacon in Wantage. The Wantage Literary Festival runs from 21 October until 04 November.
As part of the donation, Persimmon will be sponsoring ‘Kings and Queens: 1100 Years of English and British Monarchs’ event with Iain Dale, Alex Burghart MP, Kate Mansey, and Jane Ridley. The panel will be held at The Beacon at 2.00pm on Saturday, 21 October, and tickets can be bought on the Festival website.
The festival is generously supported each year by local businesses, organisations, authors, and volunteers. It is dedicated to promoting the love of literature in all its forms to everyone in Wantage, Oxfordshire, and beyond.
Persimmon is currently developing at Wellington Gate, a multi-phase site that will bring 2,500 new homes on the old airfield site in Grove. Two, three, and four-bed homes from £254,995 are currently available to purchase.
The five-star builder will also be delivering two primary schools, a secondary school, community hub, sports facilities, play pitches, play areas, an ecological park, a community park, allotments, and orchards as part of the new sustainable community.
The Masterplan for Wellington Gate is based on a Green Infrastructure Strategy developed to create a connected, multi-functional network of green spaces and corridors.
The donation comes from Persimmon Wessex’s Community Champions fund, which supports good causes in the area with £24,000 each year. Recent recipients include Sustainable Wantage and Oxford Food Hub.
Persimmon Homes Wessex Sales Director Pauline Fletcher said: “We’re delighted to be supporting a local institution in the Wantage Literary Festival, which has brought so much joy to people from Oxfordshire and beyond for several years.
“Persimmon’s Wellington Gate site will deliver a significant number of homes to nearby Grove and I’m certain they’ll be loyal festival-goers for generations to come.”
Ben Dreyer, Chair of Wantage Literary Festival, added: “We’re very grateful to Persimmon for their support for our festival. We are a volunteer-led charity that relies on local businesses and organisations to put on these events, so to add another name to the roster is much valued.
“We’ve got a really exciting programme for this year’s festival and we look forward to welcoming faces old and new to Wantage next month.”
Councillor Kiera Bentley, Vale of the White Horse District Councillor for Grove North, commented: “I want to thank Persimmon for their donation to this much loved festival, which I know people across Grove and Wantage flock to every year.
“It was also fantastic to meet with the volunteers who give up so much of their time to put on these brilliant events and work hard to win sponsorship.”
Councillor Ron Batstone, fellow councillor for Grove North, added: “As a local councillor, it is brilliant to see our community working together to put on an entertaining and educational festival like this.
“I really enjoyed speaking with the Festival organisers about their work and am grateful to all those sponsors like Persimmon whose donation will help the Festival’s reach to grow even further.”
