20130420 SSP Spring Day Celebration

Today we had the annual Surrey Square Park Spring Day Celebration

As it turned out it was a fine spring day, maybe the first we have had this year, with full sunshine and temperatures in the 20C°.

We started earlier with all the preparations that one has to do in order to produce a good day. It is part of the fun but thanks to all the people that helped.

We had much to celebrate as the (near) completion of the Open Space (part of the Community Space/ Groundwork) Funded improvement works in our park. Julian was at the centre of the organisation, funding and execution of the celebration day.

The Bicycle Smoothie guy, that run a bicycle power smoothie liquidiser, providing for the willingly power generators a chance to sample the fruity fruits of their endeavour and the tent from Comminity Spaces.

And our tent with the Friends of Surrey Square Park and the project from Pembroke College Mission (they have an courtyard Community Garden and run several programs) plus the Kinglake Tenants and Resident Association.

At the end, mostly thanks to Julian and Daniel, the Friends corner did not look too bad at all!

They started earlier on with Salsa lessons and other South American rhythms and it remained a favourite well beyond the scheduled time.

From then on the crowd built up and lots of familiar neighbourhood faces arrived, taking advantage of the warm and sunshine. The police from the East Walworth Safer Neighbourhoods team was at hand, and Community Wardens put in their appearance making a point that they should to be regarded as members of the community.

All tree Walworth East Councillors also came around and was nice to see them caring a little for our nick of the world.

Face painting was a favourite amongst the very young but also the Community Spaces pot painting and practical gardening in the newly built planters in the Memorial Garden.

Frank, the Friends most enthusiastic and tenacious advocate of the latest improvements in the park, showed the mobile football pitch on the purposely levelled grounds on the front of the park.

The trainer enrolled some of the youths and at least an avid Scots football fun, was enthralled.

At the end the Celebration Spring Day it was still going strong, and lots of families were still enjoying themselves.

Even in the Friends of Surrey Square Park tent visitors were still coming (some people here from the Pembroke Mission) and all the available new produced posters were gratefully dished out.

At the end however the last it was Daniel, that has filmed the event throughout, that had the vest view: