Sunnyside Community Fete 30th June 2024

We are pleased to report that the Community Fete in George Street Park on the afternoon of Sunday 30th June 2024 was a resounding success! The rain had cleared up in advance of the team setting up and it remained dry throughout the 2-5pm event. As hoped, it was a great opportunity to engage with the local community (there was a steady stream of folks attending) and develop connections.

There was a great variety of free activities on offer – making grassheads, biscuit decorating, face painting, giant games, eco quiz (and lots of people winning a prize of a litter picker to take home!). Lesley was on hand to talk about the ‘Fit for the Future’ project, fliers were given out about church activities, and a few locals signed up to receive more information about November’s Tearfund Quiz!

Local charity/mission action partners were in attendance – DENS, Open Door and Royal British Legion all had great stalls; Liz H was selling pretty cards to raise funds for LOVED, and the plant stall was busy with sales of plants, with proceeds going to the charities/mission partners that Sunnyside supports annually! Alan, the local beekeeper, was very popular with people studying his observation hive and tasting and then buying his local honey. The vast array of tasty treats on offer at the refreshments table was splendid and very well received by attendees. Unfortunately the ice-cream lady was unable to attend as the vintage van’s brakes had failed the night before but there was plenty of cake to tuck into, so no one went home hungry! There were no charges for refreshments and craft activities although donations were accepted, should people wish to give, with monies going to Sunnyside’s local charities/mission partners. The event amazingly ended up raising approximately £300!

Penny H, Katie, Sarah, Millie, Charis and Paul C (the fete planning team) wish to say a big thank you to all who contributed in any way – whether that was praying, baking a cake, helping to set up, hosting a stall, helping to pack away, or coming to be part of the fete and having good conversations. It was a huge amount of work to plan the event; however, we hope that if we were to do similar events in the future it would be easier/quicker as we now have all the planning documents to hand and can also take any lessons learned into account. On that note, we are seeking feedback please from everyone (including those unable to attend) via this link which will be used to draft our wash-up notes, to be held on file! Many thanks in advance of completing… feedback link.