Gingerbread garden decorations to go on sale after 'enormous' response from Market Drayton public
Dozens of small smiling gingerbread men have been given out for free as garden decorations in a town, and after a huge positive response the statues will go on sale.
Steelworking firm IN Fabrications of Market Drayton, run by the Noden family, created some gingerbread statues for the town earlier this year. It came from an idea by Margaret Smith (the wife of former mayor Roger Smith) to capitalise on the town's historic links with gingerbread and use the statues to advertise to drivers passing by.
Soon afterwards, the company began making pint-sized versions of the statues to hide around the town for people to take home. Heather Noden and her 15-year-old daughter Molly were behind the new project.
Heather said: "I mentioned that it would be nice to do some little ones. My daughter suggested setting them around the town for people to find and take home.
"My husband Ian made quite a few smaller ones, my daughter and I went to various locations around the town – we welded some spikes into them all so they can go into the ground.
"We've put them in the town centre, in grass spaces, down at the canal. We just left them there and we were amazed how much people liked them.
"I think we've done about 50 now. They have been located and taken sometimes within minutes.
"The response has been enormous on the Drayton Crier [Facebook group]. People have loved going out with their children searching for them, I've had photos sent to me with lots of smiling faces.
"Now people have been asking if we're going to sell them."
The statues will go on sale this Friday from IN Fabrications' unit on the Adderley Road Industrial Estate. They are to cost £19.99 and 10 per cent of each sale will go to fund the Woodcroft nursing home's Christmas meal this year.
More than 60 people have already put their names down for one of the statues.
Heather said: "It's been lovely seeing how people have enjoyed it. We've enjoyed being part of it.
"We've had a terrible six months, things haven't been quite the same but it's been bringing some cheer to the town."
Learn more by contacting IN Fabrications on 01630 653654.
