Party & Produce

On 7th May we hosted picnic in the park, the local Coronation Party.

The idea was to keep it as cost free as possible for local families. The only chargeable item on the day was an ice cream, provided by the local ice cream seller, with a good community discount.

The day was organised by a group of local people, mainly from the Thursday social space, but with invitations for input too from the online facebook group.

We invited people to bring a picnic, some chairs and blankets, with some provided for people who might struggle to carry them.

There was a bouncy castle slide, a singer for an hour & a PA system playing music for the rest of the time, Ebulio hosted a two hour bubble workshop, arts & crafts tables & a local face painter. All local suppliers. In fact the face painter had recently pitched for £250 investment at Pies and £££s to set up her business & this was her 2nd paid gig. We had a wet weather back up plan at a local community centre. 

At the height there was probably a good 200-250 people there. The event in total cost £650, so price per head was really sustainable. There was no PR or self promotion, just an opportunity for neighbours to get together & have a good time in each others company.

It was great to see new people come along, community members who’d heard about it through the community newsletter-Ey Up.

It was also great to hear the buzz about using the park too. ‘We should do this more’. More people were interested in the bid that one of the group members had been working on to the Green Spaces Fund. It was unsuccessful, but we aren’t going to give up until we get it!  It was also interesting to hear people say, ‘we should get the Council to do this, do that, build picnic benches. We need picnic benches in here.’ It’s always a challenge to bring people back to the primary resources & the power we hold & talk about which bits we can do ourselves.  

‘Let’s have a burger van next time’ said one group of party goers. When we explained that we’re trying to keep the events as cheap as possible so that people don’t stay home because they feel shamed about living in poverty & wondering what the charge is for face painting & the bouncy slide. 

“Let’s build a community BBQ. We could do it ourselves.” I love how ideas just start to pop & expand when people are given the space & collective thinking time & you keep the focus on the things we have in our power to do together. It’s much easier to keep the focus on whats strong too when you’re having a party. You just see the sense of ownership & contribution grow before your eyes. The shedding of the consumer & the walk into the land of production. I really wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t have a community BBQ next year!

We’re slowly but surely building a strong case for why resource should be shifted into this local community. It costs less, the money stays local & it grows & builds community connection – it’s good for our health & our safety.