St George Community Fair 2011
The St George Community Fair this year will take place on Saturday 28th March, running from 11.00am – 2.00pm. The Lord Mayor of Bristol has kindly agreed to formally open the event, and will then have the chance to tour the stands. He will also present the prizes in a Children’s Community Arts Competition organised and generously sponsored by the local ‘Booze and Food’ Shop at Nags Head Hill. The St George Neighbourhood Partnership has kindly provided a grant to cover the costs of producing Programmes for the Fair, and the cost of posters to publicise the event.
This year, there are more Groups and Agencies intending to be present, and the Fair will again be supporting Children’s Hospice South West (CHSP). Faith groups will be represented by the Sikh Resource Centre, Summerhill and Bethesda Methodists, and St Aidan with St George. There will be a really interesting ‘History Corner’, with the St George History Group and the Hanham History Group, teaming up with a display of the History of St Aidan’s Church and Parish. Groups involved with young people will be represented by the Allsorts Youth Group, the Brownies, Guides, the Scout Group and Kingsway Youth Centre, together with Air Balloon Primary School. Adult and Older member Groups will be represented by St George Townswomen’s Guild, the Mothers Union, and ‘Link Age’ run by the Guinness Trust. Fresh produce will be available through a series of stalls providing homemade produce, together with the East Bristol Allotments Association selling fresh fruit, vegetables and plants. Recreation and the Environment will be provided by Friends of Troopers Hill, Walking for Health St George, the Bristol City Council Cycling Team, and there will be a ‘Dr Bike Surgery’, for owners of bikes who want advice, with small repairs being available by trained mechanics. Local City Councillors are expected to be available on the day, and the wider City Council displays will involve the St George Neighbourhood Partnership and Safer Community Teams, as well as St George Library. The Neighbourhood Police Team will be on hand, as will the Avon Fire Brigade Home Safety Group. There are also likely to be one or two other Groups present, and details will be updated nearer the day. Refreshments will be available in the Hall, most kindly donated by local Traders, and all proceeds of this will go to CHSP.
We are looking forward to a really busy day, where lots of the community get to know a bit more about each other, and what is going on locally.
Anyone requiring more details can contact Jim Donaldson on tel 9600213 or email bycl@blueyonder.co.uk
St George Community Fair - Background
The idea of a Community Fair was a combination of two issues. The first was how as a Church, we at St Aidan with St George could help the wider Community to operate more effectively. The second was when I became involved with the St George Neighbourhood Partnership, set up by the City Council for St George, and it was very apparent that few people had any idea what it was, what it did or more importantly, what it could do. Both aspects therefore involved the wider public not really knowing what was going on, so I thought, let’s do something that can help them to find out.
The idea was then born of a Fair which allowed local Voluntary Groups and Agencies working in the Community, to get together, publicise what they do, invite others to join, and to fundraise if they wished to do that.
The first (pilot) Community Fair took place in March 2010, and was opened by Kerry McCarthy, MP for East Bristol. We had no real idea of how many Groups would be interested, and in the event, the demand was such that we had to expand the Fair to use the Church as well as the Hall. It was well attended, and there was a real feeling that it was a good event for the wider community, and should be repeated. As a bi-product, the Fair raised around £350 for Children’s Hospice South West.