Big success at our Big Commonwealth Lunch!

By Taz Virdee

Sunshine's Sharnjeet Bhalla, Heston West's Yasmin Lukka & Maria Pedro, Her Majesty's Deputy Lieutenant for London Borough of Hounslow at our Big Local Big Lunch Commonwealth Event.

On Saturday 21st April 2018 we held our Big Local Big Lunch Commonwealth Community Event organised by our Big Local Youth Action Team and Heston West Committee. The glorious weather inspired the community to come out and get involved with the host of fun activities on offer. We had Flower Arranging, Food Art, Jewellery Making, Multi-Sports, Creative Club, Face Painting, Indian Classical Dancing, Army Cadets, Police Car and Fire Engine Show. Around 350 local residents attended the function and we also raised around £450 for our Natural Disasters Campaign and the FamilyForever JP Campaign. We were joined by special guests Maria Pedro, Her Majesty’s Representative Deputy Lieutenant and Deputy Mayor for Hounslow Borough Mukesh Malhotra. 

Jon White, Family Learning Coordinator for Hounslow Council said: "It was an excellent event!  I loved the way your (Heston West) volunteers (Callum and Wole in particular) helped out and kept the event on track and relaxed.  The variety of activities on offer was really impressive too.  We were delighted by the way our sessions went down."

Caroline Baxter, Heston West Police Constable added: "We enjoyed the down time chatting and playing football with the young people. The event did appear to be a success and I should think there were many happy residents from the local communities."

​Anita Sangha, Community Connector from disability organisation Certitude was really impressed with our event, she said: “It was an absolute amazing day, so well organized, great turnover, lovely food and yes great weather as well. The kids did a lot of drawing and colouring at our stall and I got to hand out some leaflets to families regarding our Thursday's Community Drop-In Arts Session with the Big Local.”

Maria Pedro, Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of Hounslow added:
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“I was honoured to be part of such a memorable occasion in which everyone felt valued and welcomed.
 
The volunteers and residents I met provide impressive examples of how they can make a difference to their community.  Their energy and commitment clearly brings a new focus to the lives of the residents of Heston West.”

We would like to thank our partners and supporters: Maria Pedro DL, Deputy Mayor Mukesh Malhotra, Michelle Hutchinson, London Fire Brigade, Metropolitan Police, Army Cadets, Certitude, Bounce Theatre, Zero Culture, QPR Community Trust, Habitat for Humanity, Sunshine of Hounslow, Feltham Arts, Cranford Community College and Hounslow Council. ​

Photos Credit: Big Local Youth Action Team Member Haroon Lukka