On Saturday 22nd July we welcomed everyone to Party by the Park, a community and family driven day, hosted here at the Folk Hall by JRHT, New Lodge and the Folk Hall team. What a great day it was despite the slightly damp weather!
In Orchard Hall we had, Billy, the TrashBang! Man, who taught everyone how to make music out of your household rubbish! Everyone loved getting stuck in and making some noise! We also had the community choir singing well known hits! Rotary York ran a number of games with support from Baz and the team from New Lodge, we had face painting and some fantastic willow weaving arranged by the Tony from the JRHT gardening team.
Outside the Folk Hall we welcomed the local PCSOs representing Yorkshire Police and later in the day the Fire Service arrived with one of their fire engines!
On the green between the Folk Hall and New Lodge, we had the SpeedKix penalty shoot out and speed cage, Professor Dan roaming magician & balloon artist, inflatable obstacle course, hook a duck and another face painting stand!
There was a JRHT stall, which gave residents a chance to come and talk to JRHT staff. For many of the residents and tenants of JRHT properties this was a great opportunity to meet staff in a positive friendly environment and learn a bit more about JRHT or get introduced for the first time. It was also great to have JRHT staff connecting with the community throughout the day and building those bonds and links that are invaluable for everything we do.
Thank you so much to the many volunteers on the day for giving up their time to come and make the day a success. We had a number of JRHT staff and we also had members of the New Earswick community volunteering to support the different activities, stalls and generally support the running of the day.
Food is always important on a day like this and there was plenty of choice! There was fresh cooked pizzas available to buy from Roberts & Sons Pigs & Pizzas. They have supported the Folk Hall with a number of events over the last couple of years and we are always grateful for everything they do! If you fancied something a bit sweet then we were joined by Waffletastic serving gorgeous waffles as a special sweet treat! The Folk Hall Cafe worked incredibly hard all day, serving their usual brilliant food and a couple of specials for the day!
We were keen for the event to be as inclusive as possible and thus offered free refreshments through the New Lodge FREE pop up café run by Peter and the New Lodge team. Here you could get free Teas and Coffees and soft drinks throughout the day as well as ice pops!
Luckily we have such a great building in the Folk Hall so even though our original plan to have everything outside was scuppered, the wet weather plan was put into action!
We have had some amazing feedback since the event and there is clamour already that we do something similar next year! Events like this are a wonderful way to enrich and give back to the community, offering unique experiences right on peoples doorstep.
We love the events the Folk Hall and JRHT put on, particularly liked Trashbang! Although we did struggle to hear the choir. Face painter outside was amazing and the Obstacle course was great for the kids. Keep doing what the Folk Hall is doing, amazing for the community.
I just wanted to say thank you for all your support and letting us run the tombola at yesterdays event, it was hugely successful for us not only with the money raised but also with the support we received from the residents, they are all hugely invested in the development of the pool for the community. It was a super day, really well run and a pleasure to be involved so a massive thank you from all at FONESP.