On a glorious Sunday afternoon, 200 residents from Kingsgrove gathered at the new sports pavilion to enjoy a ‘Picnic on the Pitch’, hosted by Wantage Town Football Club.
Giant Garden Games
A great time was had by all, with children enjoying giant garden games from Oxfordshire Play Association and Soha, who also ran a very successful bead keychain crafting activity.
Neighbourly Labs & Neya
London-based Neighbourly Lab attended, along with one of the founders of the new ‘neighbourhood connection’ app, Neya. Neya is a new app, aimed at help residents discover what’s happening nearby, meet local people with shared interests, join community groups, find family activities, and benefit from useful local recommendations.
Facilities at Kingsgrove
Representatives from Wantage Town Football Club were on hand to show off the pavilion and the new multi-use games area (MUGA). The MUGA is a wonderful new asset and is bookable through the Football Club’s website. An easy-to-remember web address for the form is https://kingsgrove-residents.co.uk/muga .
Food & Drink
People certainly took the opportunity to enjoy a picnic with their neighbours with several large groups coming equipped with cool boxes of their own. For others they enjoyed the ice-cream, provided by Bretti’s; coffee from JP & ME’s van; and the odd tipple or two from Harry’s Tipsy Mare mobile bar.
Competition Time
About halfway through the event, giving people plenty of time to eat and drink, the competitions commenced and I think it fair to assume that these were the main highlights of the afternoon.
Perfect Pups
The dog show had three classes in total: ‘Cutest Puppy’, ‘Golden Oldies’ & ‘Gorgeous Gals & Fab Fellas’. The judge was none other than the Mayor of Wantage, Councillor Dr. Iain Cameron, and he had no easy task.
The ‘Cutest Puppy’ was between Bonnie, a corker of a Cocker Spaniel, and Nala, a fantastic Fox Red Labrador. Both pups are only four months old and were really playful whilst the Mayor got to know them and their proud owners. It was an extremely close call, but Bonnie prevailed taking home the winner’s rosette.
There were only two dogs in the ‘Golden Oldies’ grouping where Duke, a resplendent Red Setter, was up against Jeffrey, a serene Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier. Unsurprisingly, it was a tough choice between the two dogs and the Mayor eventually settled his gaze on Jeffrey as the winner.
The final category featured three dogs: Theo, a stunning Staffordshire Bull Terrier; Taki, a curly Cockerpoo; and Elvis, a classy Cocker Spaniel, who even dressed up for the occasion in a tux and bow-tie. Ultimately, it was Theo taking the winner’s rosette, though.
The winners of each class received a voucher for a free bag of dog food, generously donated by Pets Corner in Wantage but every dog received a £5 voucher from Pets Corner to demonstrate that they were all worthy of prizes.
Princesses, Superheroes and a Dragon
Fortunately, the children’s fancy dress competition was a little less frenetic than the dog show but there was still a clever dragon finger puppet, several princesses, an ‘Iron Man’ and an ‘Incredible Hulk’. Again, the Mayor had the unenviable task of judging the competition but couldn’t come to a firm conclusion, even after asking the children about their characters.
As a result of this highly unusual decision, all of the children received a prize, courtesy of Preim, Kingsgrove’s managing agent.
Raffle in aid of Sweatbox Wantage’s fabulous work
The event concluded with the drawing of the tickets for the raffle. The prizes had all been generously donated by local businesses and all proceeds went towards supporting the amazing work of Sweatbox Youth Services in Kingsgrove and the wider Wantage area.
Thanks are owed to all involved
On a personal note, I would like to thank everyone involved in making the event the success that it undoubtedly was: those involved in the initial event brainstorming sessions; the volunteers that delivered leaflets throughout the development, which ensured that everyone knew about the event; Wantage Town Football Club for hosting the event; the information & activity stands, Soha, Neighbourly Lab and Neya; and the volunteers that turned up on the day ready to help wherever they could. However, I want to pay special tribute to those on the organising team: Paul Gander, Zoe Norton, Tom Tracy & Mo Austin. Whilst it may look straightforward to organise an event like ‘Picnic on the Pitch’, it takes time and effort and their effort is greatly appreciated.
Most of all, though, thank you to everyone that turned up to the event, whether it was for 5 minutes or for the duration. Without you, there wouldn’t have been an event, merely a bunch of people standing behind tables. The feeling of community spirit across the site was almost palpable and was great to experience.
Can you help with the next event?
If you are interested in helping organise similar events in the future, then please get in touch. It doesn’t have to be a commitment to see the event through from start to finish – it could be helping to come up with the ideas, contributing useful contacts, ‘lifting & shifting’ on the day or delivering leaflets to your street. Whatever time and effort you are willing to give will be able to be put to good use.
More photos
Finally, please take this opportunity to enjoy some photos of the event, taken by RhoRho Photography.