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| Ben in the stocks |
With the continued success of the second Annual Mansfield Park Fun Day on Hamp, we caught up with key organiser Ben Harvey to find out how it went.
Q;- Ben - so how did it go then? What happened, who turned up and what was the response?
BEN;- on the day we had 15 of the 16 teams turn up, but got over it and the 5 aside football was great and every one had a good time watching. There was some very entertaning football played. We also had Sue from Pitmans doing some slush puppies and sweets. Pitmans helped sponsor the event by paying for the charity shield which was very kind of them. We also had Jason Kirk there with his burger van, and Carla Richards from Hope inn did the bar. We had Antonella whippy with her ice cream van, we had the YMCA bouncy assault course which looked so much fun and I did not get round to having a go lol!! There was also one more bouncy castle, my partner Sam did the brick a brak, we had Kerry Taylor from Fancy Faces, and Claire Woodward doing balloon modeling , a lucky dip and lots of other fun things and stalls. I was in the stocks for about an hour. 99% of the feed back was positive and everyone said they had a great day and will definetly come to next years 5 aside/funday and would come to anything else we do . on the whole the day was a great success
Q;- How did you come up with the original idea for the Fundays ?
BEN;- We just want to do something for the community, mostly the kids to c their faces having fun, and raise money when doing it so we can keep on doing events for the Hamp community,
Q;- What were the highpoints of the day and what else would you like to see in the future?
BEN;- the highpoints of the day has got be walking round the event and wherever u looked there were kids with big smiles on their faces, and the final as we had a team for Hamp in the final they lost - but one of the winning team lives on the park which was nice.
Q;- You've been a key mover in the campaign to improve Mansfield park which both Hamp Community Association and Hamp Action Group are pushing forward with - what is your personal vision for the future of Mansfield Park?
BEN;-Mansfield Park is not a park. It is an empty playing field. My vision for the future would be to have a play area for the little ones with equipment, seating area for all, teens and dog walkers. To keep the football pitch and even to add a smaller pitch.. Some trees and planting would also be nice.
Q;- What support have you had from local businesses, the council and the wider community?
BEN;-the local businesses helped a lot. The main ones were Pitmans, and Bridgwater Car and Van Hire donated a van to use for the day . Pitmans saved us money by paying for the winners shield which can be use every year for 11 years.The council gave minimal help really for the day although they did provide bins and line markers, we did have to pay for the line paint which we hardly used any of.
Q;- Were there any areas you weren't happy with and is there more input from the community that you need?
BEN;- We always underestimate the size of the park. There was lots of space left which could have been filled with stalls, advertisers etc... We do need lots of voluntary help to organise and set up. A few lads did help with the packing down but most was left to me and Sam. We have learnt from the 2 days we have done so far and will probably learn more with each one that we do.
Q;-Whens your next one?
BEN;- The next footy tournament will take place in July/begining of Aug 2011. We are having a rest now lol but would like to organise something just for the children for christmas, maybe a santas grotto .
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