Editor's choice June 2012

June Heathan 2012

Royal Celebration

A special Jubilee lunch for local residents, hosted by the Kings Christian Centre, proved a huge success despite the weather. In spite of a deluge of rain and having to relocate the festivities indoors the celebrations resulted in smiling faces everywhere. Open to all of the local community the celebration aimed to encourage everyone to come together to share lunch with their neighbours, friends and family. Originally planned to be a street party on Woodfield Road the Jubilee event was held in the Kings Christian Centre and provided a range of activities as well as dishes from all over the world. A kind donation of food by the Lahores Buffet at 357-363 Ladypool Road was much appreciated.

Part of the Big Jubilee Lunch programme of events, the celebration was just one of many held all over the country and supported by Buckingham Palace to help celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Through encouraging people to start talking to their neighbours and to take a more active role on their doorstep, the Big Lunch initiative which is run by the Eden Project, a UK Social Enterprise and Charity, began in 2009. Aimed at creating stronger more sustainable communities, the programme had the best part of two million participants in 2011 and this year a record number of people across the country were expected to take part.

Royal Knees-Up

For those who attended the celebrations organised at the Balsall Heath Church Centre on June 5th, there was live entertainment in the form of musical comedy performed by Cassie and Kirby who sang Gabriela ‘the ukulele lady’. This was followed by music hall songs and lots of good food that the large crowd enjoyed immensely.

Special Party

Belgrave Middleway Sheltered Housing Scheme held a special Jubilee celebration for selected guests and residents at the Centre. Featuring live music by Owen Mayo who played a medley of the Shadows hits and music from the 60s, stalls, raffles and a celebratory lunch, visitors on the day were treated like royalty. As part of the event special guest speaker Linda Sharp gave a short talk on the last 60 years of the Queen’s reign.

On display

A special model of the Centre that was built from scratch by Brian Clever, resident and enthusiastic model maker caught the eye of everybody who attended. Special guest Councillor Victoria Quinn was so taken by the level of effort put in to creating the detailed scale model that she expressed an interest in helping find a way of funding a protective canopy so it could be put on permanent display.

Support Officer Howard Britton who helped organise the celebration stated, “I’d like to thank Eric Beeston, Norma O’regan, Thomas Leavey, Gwyneth Manison, Jenny Davis and David Innes for their help and everyone who participated in making this event possible. Everybody had a fantastic time”.