INSPIRING events to celebrate Colchester's iconic Jumbo water tower take place this Saturday.

Children aged eight and older can drop into a free Design Your Own Water Tower model making workshop between noon and 4pm at Firstsite.

It will be led by Colchester based architects HAT Projects and children should be accompanied by an adult.

And between 4pm and 5.30pm, also at Firstsite, experts will give a series of short talks about Jumbo.

The free talks, including by historians and writers Andrew Phillips and Patrick Denney, will cover the construction, operation and heritage of Jumbo.

North Essex Heritage (NEH), formally Colchester and North East Essex Building Preservation Trust, has organised the Jumbo Summer events programme and is working with partners, including the building’s owner, Paul Flatman, towards preserving Jumbo and bringing it back into sustainable use.

Supported through a grant award of £10,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Jumbo Summer is enabling people of all ages to learn about the heritage of Colchester’s historic water tower.

The activities have also received support from Colchester Council, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), history experts and Signals arts and education charity.

Jumbo Week will take place on the run-up to the final celebration event at Firstsite on July 21.

Town centre shops and traders will be encouraged to display posters and other decorations designed by children and to decorate windows with a Jumbo-themed displays.

The celebration event will be open to everyone and will provide a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to learn about Jumbo and see material gathered as part of Jumbo Summer.

Work is continuing to secure funding for a project to conserve the crumbling Grade ll* listed landmark which is recognised as the most important municipal water tower in the country.

Standing 34-metres tall and dominating the Colchester skyline for 136 years, Jumbo has fallen into disrepair after being vacant for 30 years and the giant water tank is deteriorating.

For more information go to www.ColchesterBPT.co.uk.