After six weeks of arts, crafts, food, singing and dancing, over thirty of Shildon’s young people put on a fantastic show at Jubilee Fields Community Centre in front of dignitaries and proud parents last week, reports Fay Marie Turner.
With thanks to funding from Fun and Food County Durham, the community centre was able to host primary school children for two days every week throughout the six-week holidays, where the children worked hard with two members of staff from Nuvo Wellbeing from Billingham to learn musical theatre.
The showcase was officially opened by town mayor, Cllr Shirley Quinn, who was delighted with the show and said how wonderful the children performed.
Lesley Bowes enthused: “We were really pleased to work in partnership with Shildon Town Council, Shildon Alive and Teesdale WMCA this summer holiday.
“All our days were fully booked with local children who each received a hot meal and a fun packed schedule each day”.
Regarding the finale showcase, Lesley said: “I’m in absolute awe of our children, learning dances moves and new songs , overcoming stage nerves to deliver a really fantastic show to the crowd.
“We had so many parents who said afterwards how their children had enjoyed attending the summer activities and loved the food, especially the bags of healthy ingredients and recipes they were given to take home.”
Each child who attended was presented with a Golden Wonka certificate and a promise of more exciting things planned for October half term.
Meanwhile, the community centre was also the venue for a Fun Day on the August bank holiday.
Although the day started with rain, the clouds soon parted and the fun began, inside and out.
The outside fields hosted inflatables by Party Time Events UK that included a bouncy castle, a limbo wall, hoopla, a Sumo ring and a velcro target with inflatable axes that saw many a parent pitting against their children.
Inside the centre, families were serenaded by Erwams playing and singing well known songs from yesteryear while enjoying arts and crafts with the County Durham Wellbeing for Life Service.
Mr Windbags the magician enchanted the audience with an hour-long act that culminated in balloon animals being created for the eager crowd.
Face paints by Clare saw a line that went around the hall for a chance to have free intricate face paint and glitter tattoos.
Stalls included a Tombola and Hook a Duck and the hot food went down a treat.
David Franklin, Vice Chair of Trustees was delighted with the day. “We are so grateful to Livin for funding the event and helping to provide this day for free for the wonderful community that we have in Shildon,” he said.
“It’s great to see so many local families supporting Jubilee Fields,” he added, “having fun and making memories and that’s exactly why we are here.
“I personally want to thank our dedicated volunteers who worked tirelessly on the day behind the scenes.”
Caroline Dunn, Community Support Worker, told the Crier: “We have pictures and videos on our Facebook pages and all you can see are smiles and hear laughter.
“We have so much going on at Jubilee Fields from Children’s Club on Saturday to Luncheon Club on Fridays, it’s great to be able to showcase these groups on fun days like these.”
To find out more about clubs, events and how to contact Jubilee Fields Community Centre, find them on Facebook.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
