Another brilliant year over for Sugar & Spice and what a fab year for Pontypridd! Let’s take a look back at what happened at our shop, all the great community collaboration with our friends and partners, and what made 2025 a year to remember.

January

January is when we celebrate Saint Dwynwen’s Day; a Welsh holiday sometimes called ‘a Welsh Valentine’s Day’ that is growing in popularity year on year. We sell Saint Dwynwen’s Day cards in both Cymraeg and English, along with many Welsh romantic gifts. Keep an eye out for Dydd Santes Dwynwen posts on our socials over the next few weeks.

February

In February, Pontypridd Market Quarter had a special visit from the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate. There was lots of excitement and many people came out to see them.

But the Royal Highnesses were not the only special guest to visit the market in February. We had our own VIP guest in the Toy Emporium during half-term week. Bluey came to our afternoon tea joint hosted with the Salad Bar.

March

In early March, we loved receiving your Saint David’s day photos, which you kindly send to us every year after buying the children’s traditional costumes and rugby shirts from us.

The end of March brought Mother’s Day. We are so grateful to our regulars of all ages who buy their Mother’s Day gifts and cards with us every year.

April

April brought another special guest. The wonderful Peter Rabbit came for tea. Our Easter event was super popular and we can’t wait to tell you about this year’s event.

We were also incredibly pleased and proud as punch when the boss lady at Sugar and Spice was recognised for all her effort in the community with a ‘Community Star Award’ from our local MP Alex Davies-Jones.

May

May was packed with surprises and celebrations. The Love Your Local Market campaign was in full force all month with lots of initiatives from our wonderful Pontypridd Market Community. As part of the campaign we helped run a postcard competition, which saw amazing entries in all the age categories. You can still purchase the winner’s postcards from our shop and others in the market with all the money going towards future community events in the market.

This month also brought Pontypridd’s first brass brand festival and as part of this event we were honoured to host a brass band flash mob in the middle of our shop.

As part of Dementia Action Week, market traders joined in with turning Ponty Blue. Our staff wore blue and sold handmade cards to raise money for dementia charities. Many others in Ponty Market also supported the cause.

June

In June, Pontypridd Market Quarter was announced as one of the champions by the Love Your Local Market campaign.

Fairtrade Pontypridd had it’s official launch on the 21st June. We’ve proudly stocked fair trade and other ethically minded toys for a while but this campaign has encouraged us to explore fair trade initiatives further.

July

July was a massive month for Pokemon fans with the Black Bolt and White Flare collection flying off the shelves within hours of being revealed on socials.

We were saddened to hear that Pontypridd Food Bank was struggling for supplies but once again we couldn’t be more prouder of our community. Many stalls in the market rallied round to make a difference. July was only the beginning of our initiatives to support the food bank.

August

In August, we gave out lucky dips in order to raise donations for Pontypridd Food Bank and raised awareness with Tim the Tin, thanks to the wonderful imagination and determination of Hayley at Tucker’s Bakery.

The 27th of August was Summer Fun Day in Pontypridd. As part of this free celebration at the end of the Summer, we had our giant games outside on Market Street and chess tuition on our giant board inside.

On the same day, we went ga ga for the 1980s with tickets for RCT’s 80s Summer Party up for grabs. This Pontypridd Market Community event saw lots of traders dressed up honouring the 1980s. We invited members of the public to complete our 80s themed quiz trail around the market.

September

Fairtrade fortnight ran from the 22nd September to the 5th October, so we showcased toys and gifts from our expanding Fair Trade range on social media and in store. At the end of Fairtrade fortnight we teamed up with Fairtrade Pontypridd and other businesses in Ponty to put on a special day of activities and crafts.

October

The Gwyl Morfydd festival brought lots of fun to Pontypridd in October and we were thrilled to be asked to be part of the rather unusual ‘lampshade trail’.

Of course October was also halloween and you know how we love all the spookiness. Our Plus-Plus ‘make and take’ play day in half-term had a halloween edge and was thoroughly enjoyed by all attending.

But it’s not halloween without some crafty pumpkin decorating and once again we teamed up with the Salad bar to put on a spooktacular halloween event.

November

By November we were feeling really Christmassy and excited for the lights switch on in Pontypridd town. When the great folks at Pontypridd Neigbourhood Watch proposed using our grotto for children to visit Santa on the night, we were overjoyed and we were so happy that so many families came to see us during the light switch on event.

December

Santa Claus or Father Christmas may have been our favourite guest this year, but the Grinch was surely a close second. He popped by on two weekends during our Christmassy afternoon tea and all the children were so glad to see him.

We were also a big part of the festive town takeover, which took place on the 13th December. Our advent calendar of prizes was set up for the second year running in the market’s food hall, giving out prizes from stalls in the market. Our shop was used as the starting point where children played games to win their prizes.

It’s been a fantastically busy year and we were thrilled to serve so many of you right up to Christmas Eve.

We can’t wait to see what next year will bring.