The community came out in force and mingled with dignitaries for the Pollards Hill Community Fun day, held over the Bank Holiday weekend, Saturday 28 August. The event, organised by Pollards Hill Baptist Church in conjunction with Moat Foundation and East Merton Primary Care Network, and supported by local stakeholders, was hailed as a resounding success.
The free event attracted over fifteen hundred residents from Pollards Hill and the surrounding areas. Participants enjoyed a variety of activities aimed at the entire family, including bouncy castles and face painting for the children, all designed for not only giving the community a chance to forget challenges caused by the pandemic, but at improving the welfare and health of the community. To this end, volunteers at the wellbeing area and vaccination clinic had a very busy day.
Staff of the East Merton Primary Care Network had the audience moving with their periodic dance sessions throughout the day, an initiative which was well received:
- “The health and wellbeing area, and vaccination clinic were a great addition to the event, and it was good to see GPs in a relaxed environment.”
- “I loved being able to dance outside with my friends.”
Patrons particularly enjoyed the food and drink, with long queues at each food stands throughout the day, and feedback from the community was overwhelmingly positive with many exclaiming shock at the scale of the event, and thrilled that everything was available for free.
- “Amazing that everything was free, including the food.”
- “There was such a positive community vibe.”
- “I am hoping it will be an annual event.”
- “There were lots of different ages and cultures. A nice mix of the community all together.”
Pastor Deji Ayorinde, Lead Pastor at Pollards Hill Baptist Church has had a long-held vision of creating a community fun day. He said: “The pandemic, and subsequent lockdowns have taken a toll on virtually all in our communities where the impact of loss has been keenly felt. The purpose of the Community Funday, which we originally intended to host at the end of August 2020, was a means of galvanising the community through the shared experience of wellbeing and I think we achieved this.”