A CHARITY is launching a family fun festival which will raise funds to help save the nineteenth-century rope mill in Kidderminster.

Jelleyman’s Heritage Arts Charity (JHAC) will be hosting JelleyFest 2024 on Saturday, August 10 at Jelleyman’s Mill, Puxton Lane.

This will be the first in a series of fundraising events for the charity, with all proceeds going to towards developing the charity’s aims of saving and restoring the Victorian rope mill itself and developing the site into a community hub of small businesses, creatives, and community interest groups, preserving one of the last vestiges of Kidderminster’s internationally acclaimed carpet industry.

On the day, which is free to attend, there will be a craft market with indoor and outdoor pitches, an all-day open mic stage, heritage tours of the site, food and drink including a bar, a vintage yarn kilo sale, and more.

The charity recently appointed a new voluntary CEO, Samuel Davies, who has been busy attracting new tenants into the office block, organising the clearing and maintenance of the extensive grounds, and developing plans for events, outreach projects, and of course restoring the mill.

There are several small businesses based at the mill – therapists, health and safety training, environmental landscaping company – as well as regular groups and classes meeting there, including an international women’s group, art classes and drama groups.

There is also a cafeteria on site which is about to be re-launched.

Samuel Davies, CEO of JHAC, said: “We are incredibly excited about JelleyFest. What began as an idea to host a small craft market and offer some refreshments has grown into a multifaceted event, including heritage tours of the site, an all-day open mic stage for anyone to come along and perform anything (within reason), and even a vintage yarn kilo sale... having salvaged thousands of spools of wool from the old carpet factory warehouses there are incredible bargains to be had. Every penny raised will go into developing the charity and its aims – bringing Jelleyman’s Mill back into use as a community hub.”

The event will be held between 10am and 5pm.