Family Fun Day

Held in the Library and grounds at Ashley Gardens

It was 4 years since we last held a Summer Fun Day for our community at our home in Carlton Avenue East. With only a few short weeks to plan, arrange and publicise the event, there was some concern, as to whether we had done enough to persuade anyone to turn up! All doubts were swept away as the day turned out to be another triumph for our volunteers and supporters. The day was sunny and warm, as our stalwart early birds opened up in the morning and began preparing the Library and grounds – cleaning, moving tables and chairs, putting up signs and preparing refreshments to ensure everything was ready for the 12:00pm start. There were raffle prizes to display and the ‘Guess how many sweets in the jar’ competition, with the secret answer in a carefully sealed envelope, to set up. The Children’s entertainer and the Face Painter arrived. Mats were laid out under the Old Oak Tree (estimated to be around 200 years old!) for Storytime and Rhyme. The ‘BookAway’ table and the ‘Plant sale’ stall, beautifully arranged with some lovely healthy specimens, were set up. Volunteers from The Jason Roberts Foundation came along to provide Putting practice and Football activities. Our Yoga instructor interrupted her work schedule to give a taster session. Papa Gee’s Crazy Ice Cream Tank was parked by the gate. Our Brent North MP, Barry Gardiner, and Councillors Orleen Hylton, Sunita Hirani and Ryan Hack arrived to support the event. Barry graciously agreed to draw our raffle and announce the winner of the sweetie competition. When the gate was opened, there was already a small crowd gathered, and within a few minutes more families arrived and the grounds began to fill up. The next three hours flew by as more and more people came – it was great to see so many happy faces (some beautifully painted) having fun and enjoying all the activities. There was an unexpected twist in the tale of the sweetie competition: the result was two entries with the same number, each guessing 500. There were 493 in the jar, so we had to split the contents between the two winners, with a large consolation bag of sweets, for each of the two runners-up. At the end of the day, we started the clear-up, getting the Library ready for normal opening the following Saturday. A resounding ‘three cheers’ are owed to all our volunteers, sponsors and supporters who worked so hard to make the day a success. The event raised almost £300 for the Library funds.