Things certainly progressed rapidly with the area moving from Tier 2 to full lockdown in the space of 11 days with a spell in Tier 4 thrown in.

Many of us had to change the plans we had for the Christmas holidays at short notice and now we must knuckle down and stick to the rules to give us the best outcome as the vaccines are rolled out.

As the saying goes; short-term pain, long term gain. That long-term gain will be a return to lives without severe restrictions, something I am sure we are all longing for.

In the meantime many of our local businesses have sought alternative ways of trading, click and collect, take-away and delivery in order to continue to offer their services to the local community.

Please visit Huntingdon First business directory to find details of businesses in Huntingdon town centre and support the Think Local, Shop Local initiative at: www.huntingdonfirst.co.uk/visit-huntingdon/find-a-business/businesses-a-to-z.html

On a brighter note during the lead up to Christmas, together with some festive entertainment we also ran three Christmas competitions and on December 21 all winners were announced.

Our Christmas hamper competition was won by Trevor Coombe who bagged himself the contents of the hamper totalling £318.73.

The Christmas Naughty Elf Trail saw a winner’s prize of £150 in vouchers for local stores won by Thomas, with runners-up, Isaac and Angelina each receiving vouchers of £50.

And finally The Best Dressed Christmas Window Competition was won by Patches Haberdashery & Handmade, they chose to donate their £300 prize to Diamond Hampers, with Huntingdon Volunteer Centre coming second with a £200 donation to their own charity and in third place, James Cox donated their £100 prize to Cancer Research UK.

Well done to all the businesses that participated and helped to bring some much needed cheer to the town over the festive period.

From all the team at Huntingdon First we wish everyone a safe and healthy 2021.

INFO: For further information, visit www.huntingdonfirst.co.uk and Facebook/HuntingdonFirst Tel: 01480 450250 or email: info@bidhuntingdon.co.uk.