The Colchester Roman Circus Appeal has declared February “Love Roman Colchester” month. We want everyone in the town to cherish the place where they live.

To celebrate the fact that we live in the first capital city of Roman Britain, we and many of our supporters are holding a range of music events, children’s activities, and other fundraising events during the month. Remember: the deadline for raising £200,000 is the end of February.

The Lemon Tree restaurant in St John’s Street has designed a “Love Roman Colchester” menu and for every diner choosing it, Patrick Minder, the owner, will make a donation to the Circus Appeal. We’ve got children’s events planned for half-term, plus events featuring at least two of our celebrity patrons.

Join us and artist Jevan Watkins Jones to discover the secrets of the Roman Circus by following a fascinating treasure trail through Colchester town centre, designed to enable families to interact with some of the unusual history and stories from the past.

There’s no charge for this event, but donations to the Roman Circus Appeal will be welcomed.

For further information on this event go to www.firstsite.uk.net. You can also download the treasure trail leaflet (PDF).

Already, The Lemon Tree in St John’s Street, Colchester, has announced that it will be offering a special menu throughout February for “Love Roman Colchester”, and it will donate to the appeal an amount from each set meal sold.

There is more to come of course, and we’ll share it with you here, on the email newsletter, and via the Facebook group. But you’re welcome to put on your own events to celebrate “Love Roman Colchester” month. Tell us about them and we’ll feature them here.

Also, we haven’t yet put together a logo for the theme of “Love Roman Colchester” month. If there are any talented designers out there who would like to submit an idea, we’ll gladly give them credit and kudos if we select their design. Sorry, we don’t plan to pay for the logo. But it could end up on a mug, t-shirt etc.

To submit, either upload your design to Flickr.com and send us the link or email it to us. We’d like to showcase them on our Flickr space, so include any blurb and web links you’d like us to include below your image.

We think it rather sums up the atmosphere that is building around the Roman Circus Appeal.

Funnily enough, it is similar to the theme we’ve been discussing for the second half of the campaign: Love Roman Colchester. Expect to hear more about that and events that we’ve got planned and those that other people are putting on to benefit the appeal.