On the 7th July 2016, to wrap up our public engagement around their priorities for public realm improvements, we held a well publicised community celebration event. This was designed to draw in as many local people as possible for a fun day with food, music and activities alongside the opportunity to give feedback on the proposals. We felt it was very important to involve local people in the running of the event and all of the elements for the day were provided by local professionals.
The intention of this event was to reach residents of Loughborough Estate and the wider community. We worked with the following local organisation and providers to put together a free event and invite feedback on the proposals.
Sade Adedotun (Neighbourhood Services Director from Loughborough Estate Management Board) provided drinks, tables and chairs and connections to other providers
We hired Gazebos from Andrea Brown who runs ‘it’s your local market.’
We had hot food provided by 5 different caterers – three of whom: Rowyan Brown, Helen Nwoye and Maxine Dawson, lived on the neighbouring estate also provided food, and Pastor Mimi who owns a restaurant in Loughborough square, and we purchased cakes from Adrian at the Blue Turtle Oasis cafe.
Kenya Smart who works at The Platform put us in touch with several local creatives. Music was provided by Terry Humphry. Djina Jones provided a drumming workshop. Tania Degale did face painting and local artist Barry Simpson ran an art workshop producing more patterns for the bridge lettering.
Marcia Reynolds Community Support Officer attended in plain clothes to provide additional security.
By putting local people at the heart of what we were doing it demonstrated that we were involving the community in hosting these conversations which encourage more people to get involved. We provided a free food token to people who provided feedback which also helped!
We are looking forward to hosting another celebration event in the new year so watch this space!
Loughborough junction 