The Great Brentford Picnic on August 1st
Becomes Brentford Community Sports Day for this Olympic year
This year marks the sixth anniversary of The Great Brentford Picnic - a fixture on the local events calendar and a great day out for all the family that drew a crowd of over 3,000 local people last year. Traditionally, this event takes place to mark National Play Day.
This year, to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games, the event will adopt a ‘community sports day’ theme; offering free, fun, sport-related activities for everyone to enjoy. The Brentford Community Sports Day takes place at St Paul’s Recreation Ground, Brentford, from 12pm – 4pm on Wednesday 1st August 2012.
Local children’s community groups Brentford Toy Library and Westplay along with Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, Equippers Church, Open House Cafe, The Bridge and Global Xchange will be coming together to host an unforgettable day of activities, games and events.
The day will commence with a grand opening ceremony lead by the Mayor of the London Borough of Hounslow, Councillor Pritnam Grewal.
Activities on offer during the event include: flag designing, face painting, field sports, welling flipping, tug of war, football assault course, an inflatable football pitch and much more. In keeping with the global theme of the day, every child who attends will be given an ‘activity passport’ - a way to collect achievement stamps from each activity station they visit. Children who collect 5 or more stamps will receive a medal and certificate on the day. They will also be entered into a special prize draw for a chance to win tickets to a Brentford FC home match for the upcoming 2012/13 season, with the winners announced at 3.30pm.
Families are invited to bring a picnic and enjoy the atmosphere. Alternatively, a selection of delicious foods and refreshments will be on offer from Open House Cafe as well as local training organisation The Bridge - the operational partner of The Bees Café on Brentford High Street.
The day will be wrapped up with live Zambian music and dance performed by volunteers from the Hounslow-based international project, Global Xchange.
Sally Malit, Manager of Brentford Toy Library said:
“The idea behind the event is to promote community cohesion and social participation. The London 2012 Olympic Games provides an ideal platform for the community to come together and have some fun! Look out for the flyers coming through your door soon as the ‘activity passport’ will be printed on the back of these!
There will be something for everyone and all the events will be free of charge which means in these hard times everyone can get involved. If last year is anything to go by this event really draws in the numbers, so make sure you arrive early!”
Olympian and former 5000 metre World Record holder, David Moorcroft OBE said:
“The Brentford Community Sports Day is a great way of bring the whole community together for a fun day out. I wish everyone involved every success, and I’m sure the event will continue to be a permanent fixture in the calendar.”
Community Games are inspired by London 2012 and are funded by a £2 million Big Society Fund. The programme was the brainchild of Legacy Trust UK; an independent charity set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and is delivered by the County Sports Partnership Network and the YMCA.
July 23, 2012