Picnic in the Park

Around 900 Thamesmead residents recently attended two Picnic in the Park events (11 and 24 August 2011) held by Trust Thamesmead and Gallions Residents Group.

The engagement events were a chance for the two community organisations to talk to residents about their interests, their aspirations and how they would like to be involved in shaping Thamesmead.

Our Community Development Manager, Janice Jones said: “Trust Thamesmead's Community Development team succeed in four outputs, including engaging with hundreds of residents; 30% of which signed up to receive information from the Trust and 20% registered an interest in volunteering and training opportunities.”

Trust Thamesmead's capital projects team also engaged with attendees, informing them about The Link Thamesmead and Sporting Club Thamesmead, with hundreds of people signing up to keep in touch with regards to progress reports and news regarding both projects which open in 2012.

Several other community groups and organisations also attended the day in the form of a stall, engaging with residents about what is available to them, these included the Scout Association's Thamesmead branch, 6th Abbey Wood Rainbows, My Shepherd House, Thamesmead Food Bank, IMPACT Youth, CADZ Productions, Thamesmead School of Dance and outreach workers from Greenwich Children's Centre.

Engagement aside, various activities were on hand to make the day enjoyable for all the family, including football with Sporting Club Thamesmead, arts and crafts, face painting, story-telling and inflatables.
There was also a community performance space which featured performances by Thamesmead Youth Voice members Jerusha and Jecoliah Frimpong, Business Academy Bexley's school choir, My Shepherd House, IMPACT Youth and Zumba.

Feedback from residents include:

“I had a great day at the Trust Thamesmead/Gallions Residents Group's Picnic in the Park. The free ice cream from the ice cream van topped the day off nicely.” - Lindsay Morgan

“I had a lovely day thanks. I'm looking forward to next year's Picnic in the Park already.” - Jane Lynn Tomlinson