Rye & District Chamber of Commerce

01/04/2026

Tickets are now live for our Summer Social Rye Harbour Sailing Club - see our latest newsletter for more details 🤩
https://www.ryechamber.org/post/march-newsletter-2026?utm_campaign=45f45601-1804-47c3-ab37-1050f6974055&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail

24/12/2025

A very Merry Christmas from us all at Rye Chamber!🎄

Thank you to our ever growing community of members and partners for your support this year and we wish you every success in 2026 🌟

19/12/2025

Last day of free parking in Rye’s Rother car parks tomorrow. 🎄🎁🚘🅿️ 👏

Write your shopping lists and mark your calendars - it's that time of year again! 🎄

Here are the parking concessions we’ve organised with Rother District Council on the run up to Christmas 2025: Saturday the 6th, 13th and 20th December 🚗🅿️

Concessions apply to: Cinque Ports Street, The Strand, Bedford Place, Lucknow Place and Gibbet Marsh car parks (not on-street parking) and only on the dates outlined in this post.

RDC will advertise the concessions on their website and through My Alerts. There will be signage within the car parks and on/at the machines; and RingGo will be notified so they will suspend the parking charges on their app and telephone payment system.

12/12/2025

Congratulations all! 🎄🥂

06/12/2025

Last weekend to vote for the Rye News “People’s Choice Award!”

04/12/2025

We are hugely grateful to Rother District Council for all their support with this exciting project!

We’re delighted to have supported Chamber with their new tourism project, that uses animated pirate hero, Captain Pugwash to help visitors with their questions about the historic town.

We helped facilitate the project, that uses AI technology, with Levelling Up Partnership funding from the UK Government.

British animator John Ryan created Captain Pugwash and now his pirate character is being used to promote the town where John lived for over 20 years.

Visitors to Rye can scan a QR code and then chat with Pugwash on WhatsApp, or ask questions on the Visit Rye website (see link in the comments below 👇).

28/11/2025

Don’t miss out on our festive social this evening! 🌟 Join us in St Mary’s Church from 7pm, free entry.

Our festive social is just around the corner, and what a jolly evening we have in store! 🌟

We invite you to air out those Christmas jumpers and join us at St. Mary's Church for some laid-back networking over a few drinks, nibbles and mince pies!

The Christmas Tree Festival will make the perfect festive background for the evening, with drinks kicking off at 7pm (no need to be a member - everyone welcome!), and the winner of our Christmas Window Competition will be announced by Andy Stuart, The Right Worshipful Mayor of Rye, at 8pm, with a glass of english fizz to toast the occasion, kindly sponsored by !🥂

Then, we'll have a jolly festive sing-a-long led by Rye's favourite songstress, Sally Bayly, with Michele Elliot accompanying on piano! 🎹

Admission is FREE - we just ask that you register via our website so we have numbers for catering. Register: https://www.ryechamber.org/event-details/chamber-christmas-drinks-25 🔗

26/11/2025

Meet the judging panel! Here’s your reminder to have your festive window displays ready in time for our walk around town on Thursday, where we’ll be carefully selecting a Judge’s Favourite winner to be announced on Friday at our social! 🌟 The lucky winner of the Judge’s Favourite category will win a professional promotional photo + video package, as well as a feature in Rye News! 📰 To be in with a chance to win, make sure you have the competition flyer in your shop window. Note: Submissions to the Rye News People Choice Award have been extended until the 8th Dec, so if you haven’t entered already - you’ve still got time! Check out our previous posts for more info.

21/11/2025

Pugwash is officially the face of Rye’s new tourist information service thanks to an AI driven tool that visitors can access via WhatsApp📣-Launched today, new signage is now around town featuring our town’s favourite pirate! Visitors simply scan the QR code and begin chatting to the Captain to ask for advice and recommendations, available in 45 different languages 📲We’re especially grateful to Isabel Ryan for her support and enthusiasm throughout this process. Thanks to the Deputy Mayor for his kind words today and to everyone who came along to try out the new service.The technology is a first for the UK and is powered by GuideGeek from US company Matador Networks. It’s a sustainable solution to a problem that many tourist towns face in the absence of funding for staffed info points. Captain Pugwash will be here 24/7, 365 days a year to guide visitors around our beautiful town ⚓️Check out the QR codes next time you’re in town and give it a try! Don’t forget, you can read all about it in next week’s November newsletter 📰 Rye NewsVisit 1066 CountryBBC SussexMatador NetworkRye Town CouncilRother District Council

20/11/2025

Just ONE WEEK to go for the festive window display competition!🎄⏰

Voting is OPEN, but closes this time next week, so if you haven’t entered already, hurry - there’s still time! Details on how to enter, what’s up for grabs, and indeed how to vote, are included in this post.

WIN! ✨ A festive feature in Rye News, as well as professional content for your business to use on socials - just in time for the Christmas rush!

The judging panel will be led by the Mayor, Cllr. Andy Stuart, and winners will be announced NEXT FRIDAY at our Chamber festive social! 🏆 (If you haven't already, register here: https://www.ryechamber.org/event-details/chamber-christmas-drinks-25 )

Get involved! We look forward to seeing your sparkling efforts soon…

Rye News

10/11/2025

Our festive social is just around the corner, and what a jolly evening we have in store! 🌟

We invite you to air out those Christmas jumpers and join us at St. Mary's Church for some laid-back networking over a few drinks, nibbles and mince pies!

The Christmas Tree Festival will make the perfect festive background for the evening, with drinks kicking off at 7pm (no need to be a member - everyone welcome!), and the winner of our Christmas Window Competition will be announced by Andy Stuart, The Right Worshipful Mayor of Rye, at 8pm, with a glass of english fizz to toast the occasion, kindly sponsored by !🥂

Then, we'll have a jolly festive sing-a-long led by Rye's favourite songstress, Sally Bayly, with Michele Elliot accompanying on piano! 🎹

Admission is FREE - we just ask that you register via our website so we have numbers for catering. Register: https://www.ryechamber.org/event-details/chamber-christmas-drinks-25 🔗

03/11/2025

Write your shopping lists and mark your calendars - it's that time of year again! 🎄

Here are the parking concessions we’ve organised with Rother District Council on the run up to Christmas 2025: Saturday the 6th, 13th and 20th December 🚗🅿️

Concessions apply to: Cinque Ports Street, The Strand, Bedford Place, Lucknow Place and Gibbet Marsh car parks (not on-street parking) and only on the dates outlined in this post.

RDC will advertise the concessions on their website and through My Alerts. There will be signage within the car parks and on/at the machines; and RingGo will be notified so they will suspend the parking charges on their app and telephone payment system.