Fun Day

Our Annual Exhibition & Fun Day took place at the Bridgend Recreation Centre on Thursday 21st April. In the middle of the exciting build up to the Royal Wedding we chose a ‘Royal’ theme for this year’s event. Organisers and stand holders along with many of the children dressed up as kings, queens, princes and princesses or sported a Royal Wedding t-shirt to add to the fun.

We were very pleased that Les Jones, the Children and Young People’s Partnership and Commissioning Manager in his role as ‘Town

Crier’ got the day off to a good start by opening the event. He welcomed the children and their families to what looked like a very big street party with all the bunting and the red white and blue table clothes decorating the many stands supporting the Fun Day.

The Mayor, Cllr Colin Teesdale attended the event along with other dignitaries. I believe they were very impressed by the variety of activities available, the amount of children and the information available for the parents provided by the different agencies and services available in the Bridgend Borough.

Craig Fox, the centre manager, agreed that the event was well attended and seems to grow bigger and better every year. Many families took advantage of the sun and visited the park outside then returned throughout the day to the many activities on offer. It is estimated that 2000 plus visited the event.

The children took part in art and craft activities making crowns, tiaras and swords. Had their faces painted, practiced their driving skills with the Krazy Karts or had fun on the bouncy castles. Every year we build on the success of the previous event and introduce some different aspects to the day. New for

this year the children could take part in music and dance workshops along with an old favourite the drumming workshop and much much more….

We were very pleased to welcome back BridgeFM who broadcasted a live show from the Fun Day. Lee Jukes who took time out of his weeks leave to support the event was brilliant, introducing the Mayor and our very own ‘Town Crier’ playing requests and interviewing some of the stand holders. Feedback indicates that the broadcast was a big hit.

The feedback from our evaluation forms and games that engaged the young children to get their views show that the day was a great success. The free water bottles were once again a big hit with the children. I feel the parents appreciated the free water as the children soon needed refreshments, having fun is thirsty work.

Here are more photos of some of the many staff from the various departments and agencies that support the Fun Day, a big thank you to them from the Family Information Service.

The Family Information Service Stand

The Childcare Team, with Gaynor (the Family Information Officer)

The Flying Start team

The Home Start team