Ice rink at Bury St Edmunds’ arc Shopping Centre now available for group bookings

The arc Shopping Centre in Bury St Edmunds will host a Family Christmas Ice Rink over the festive season – and has announced it is taking group bookings.

The rink opens on December 14, and runs through to January 3.

Use of the facility – including skate hire – will be completely free on most days.

However, it is being made available for bookings by groups, including schools, community groups and businesses.

Odin Events will be installing the rink, and Our Bury St Edmunds, the town’s business improvement district (BID), is working with a number of partners to deliver it.

Mark Cordell, the chief executive of Our Bury St Edmunds, said: “This is going to be a fantastic festive treat for families in the town centre – and, most importantly, there’ll be no charge, because Christmas can be a costly time of year, anyway.

“It’ll be a great activity in itself, or an option to take a break from shopping or before heading to a Christmas meal, with some evenings offering skating until 8pm.

“We are very mindful of the environmental effect as our winters get warmer, which is why we have opted for this extremely realistic synthetic rink and not real ice.”

The mayor of Bury St Edmunds, Diane Hind, will be opening the rink on December 14.

It will be able to cater for up to 25 skaters per session.

Anybody interested in arranging a group booking should email Mark Cordell.