Client
Medway Council
The unitary council for Medway, where Kent’s historic river towns meet the Thames estuary.
About the work
Medway Council is the unitary authority for Medway in north Kent, covering Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, Strood and Rainham, along with the villages of the Hoo Peninsula. It runs the full range of local services, from schools and social care to planning, regeneration, culture and events, for one of the largest urban areas in the South East outside London.
Heritage sits at the heart of Medway’s identity, from Rochester’s cathedral and castle to the Historic Dockyard at Chatham. In 2023, The National Lottery Heritage Fund named Medway as one of nine Heritage Places in the UK, part of a £200 million, ten-year commitment to help places use heritage to build pride, power regeneration and grow the local economy. Medway Council leads the programme locally.
Rochester’s big events are a central part of that story. The Rochester Christmas Market draws well over 200,000 visitors in a typical year, and the Dickensian Christmas Festival and the Rochester Sweeps Festival have been fixtures of the town’s calendar for decades.
In 2026, Medway Council appointed Always Possible to carry out an economic impact study of all three events, funded through the Heritage Place programme. The Council’s events team wants to understand the full value these events bring to Medway, not just footfall and on-site spend, but the money visitors spend in shops, restaurants and hotels across the area, and what that supports in local jobs and businesses.
Alongside visitor surveys and conversations with traders and local businesses, we’re drawing on the Council’s own data and following HM Treasury Green Book principles. The result will give Medway robust evidence for future investment, funding bids and planning for its events programme.
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