Fun Day success at St Paul’s Church

Published by Laura Beckett for Halton Housing Trust in Communities and also in Housing

People of all ages came together yesterday to enjoy a Fun Day at St Paul’s Church in Widnes.

Organised by St Paul’s Church with Halton Housing Trust’s Beyond the Garden Gate programme, the popular event saw hundreds of Central Widnes residents enjoy face-painting, a BBQ, cakes and a balloon race.

As well as playing badminton in the Church, children took part in outdoor games, a colouring competition and balloon race. Guests were also treated to dance and drama performances.

The Fun Day also saw visitors from further afield lending a hand. A thirty strong youth group from Sweden, Youth with a Mission, mingled with guests and threw themselves into the activities.

Halton Housing Trust’s Beyond the Garden Gate project is a neighbourhood investment programme that works with its communities throughout Halton to prioritise funding.

Michele Murphy, Neighbourhood Regeneration Assistant, helped organise the Fun Day and said: “The Beyond the Garden Gate project is all about bringing communities together to find out their views. An event such as this is great, because it raises awareness and hopefully encourages people to get involved.”

Jeremy Duff, Reverend of St Paul’s Church, was pleased with the high turn-out, he said: “The idea of the Fun Day is to open up the Church to local people, so they can come in, meet each other and have some fun. We wanted to bring everyone together because there aren’t any community centres around here. The Church, the hall and all its facilities are here for all people who live in Central Widnes to enjoy.”

Councillor Sue Edge also attended and took part in some of the activities, whilst local Police Community Support Officers gave tips to residents about how to keep safe.