The Gladiators

 Wow! What a brilliant day! For the third year in a row, the inflatable day at Southgate playing fields was a massive success. There was so much to do, it took us about 3 hours to get round and speak to everyone.  First we were greeted by Sam Murray, Project Officer and Barbie Hartin, Manager of Waterlea Playground, where we purchased the bands for the children at an affordable £3 each.  This included access to all of the inflatables and the Laser Storm.

The painted face

Then, as the children excitedly worked out what bit of fun to have first, we made our way to the face-painting tent where we found Michelle Matthews, Leanne Hussey, Denise Lyons and Gemma Brooks; all Play Workers, busy painting tiny, happy faces. The children were quickly transformed into tigers, butterflies, spider people and various other amazing creations. They were doing a great job considering the humidity of the day, which as any woman can confirm, can play havoc with the make-up.

This little butterfly was a bit shy

 Great fun for the kids 

Further along we encountered the under-6 play area. There were so many tubes, ball pits and various other toys to keep the toddlers busy, it was a great break for the parents to safely let the children go and play without any worry of harm, while they sat around the edge, relaxing. The colours in the play area were bright and vibrant, enticing the young ones and keeping them amused for hours. Of course, the area was capably supervised by Jane Bond and Lacey Wayman, also Play Workers.  A great idea for those parents or child carers with children of various ages.  Right next door to this fantastic set up they had a mini inflatable castle for the toddlers to enjoy and, take our word for it, they enjoyed it immensely! In the knowledge that the children were under the watchful eyes of Play Worker Robyn Walder, parents and carers could relax and enjoy the sunshine.Toddlers thoroughly enjoying the wonderful under 6 play area.  

Toddlers enjoying the under 6 play area

Refreshments Required

It had become quite hot by this time, so we made our way over to the refreshment tent where we were greeted by Chris Morgan, Play Leader at Waterlea, and has done fantastic work with children of all ages for many years.  Chris was ably by his staff, Ruby Baverstock and Kayleigh Ambrose. We had a lovely cup of coffee, made by Chris, which went down a treat. Thank you Chris.

Ruby assisting with the refreshments

Piroutte Performers

Pirouette Performers, a dance school in Crawley built soley by Michaela Dodgson, put on some brilliant free workshops and also offered free dance class vouchers, which enticed many of the young children to participate.  We’re sure you would like to hear more about Michaela and her climb to success, so watch this space!

Connexions

Our friends from Connexions were the next on the visit schedule.  Dedicated Youth Worker, Jo Bell, was present, but in her Mobile Co-Ordinator role this time.  So many ‘hats’, and such a hard worker!  Alongside Jo, we were introduced to Pat Wickes, Key Advisor & Guidance Worker who also manages the Connexions drop-in centre in the town.  We didn’t dare ask either of these ladies what they did in their spare time, as we can’t imagine they have any! Both Jo and Pat were positioned in front of the Connexions bus; it was extremely impressive with its desk-like set-up and a little sofa seat to the rear.  Jo told me the bus serves Crawley by travelling around and helping youths in the community with work, life and drug advice and support.  It is a brilliant concept and we at Crawley Happy Times are very interested in speaking to Jo and Pat further about how Connexions assists our community.  Again, watch this space.

Jo and Pat from Connexions

 Revitalising Water

Relief was forthcoming from the humid weather we were experiencing (not that we’re complaining), as we encountered Anne Corbett handing out free water and apples, care of ASDA.   Anne is a fresh face for Asda, having recently taken the position of Events Co-ordinator.  Anne was made for this role as her friendly and happy approach made it easy to speak to her and accept one of her delicious bottles of water.  Thank you Anne.

Newly appointed Anne from ASDA

 I scream for ice-cream!

Even more relief was forthcoming when we bumped into Danny Ibrahim of Izzysices.  Danny has been an ice-cream vendor for many years and was brilliant with the young ones, offering various sauces and competitive prices.  The ice-cream cones were very generous and we enjoyed them immensely.  Not only was Danny doing a wonderful job with the children, but was he also chose to donate a percentage of his takings to Crawley Borough Council, the holder of the event.  It must have been extremely hot in his van too.  Well done, Danny!

Danny serving delicious ice-cream

Happy but tired

Are you feeling slightly tired yet?  We were, and we were only halfway around this amazing, entertaining event.  For the duration of the event, there were children everywhere and not once did we hear any moans, groans or crying.  Bliss!

Then we came across various bouncy inflatable objects including a huge bouncy slide mindfully watched by Mandy Martin, Play Worker, a bouncy inflatable basketball arena, supervised by young Tom Francis and then the inflatable gladiator arena, refereed by Ryan Ripley, another Play Worker.

Arty Work

Along the way, we once again had the pleasure of bumping into the Worshipful the Mayor Brenda Burgess who was getting her hands dirty, painting with the children. Mayor Burgess looked like she thoroughly enjoyed herself.  We also met Nigel Sheehan, Head of Community Services for Crawley Borough Council and were chuffed when Nigel complimented us on the write-up we did for the opening of the new parkour and play area in Bewbush recently.

Mayor Brenda Burgess being artistic

Restriction the key to the next Beckham?

Later that day, we discoverd a strange-looking, round cage-like contraption which enclosed some young children running around inside with a football.  We were intrigued by this, so approached a young lady leaning against the nearby van. Sarah Davis explained that the curious cage-contraption was in fact used for 2-on-2 football games. It has been invented to help children with control and discipline. Sarah and Paul Norcross, development officers for Nomad, a Christian organisation aiming to introduce Christianity to the young, were very passionate about what they did and explained how the various programs and activities they provide, including the football games, help children to learn.  “Nomad is here to show youngsters there are people who really care about them if they need support” Said Sarah.

Good food fast, not fast food

Another generous contribution to the day came from a very clean and tidy mobile catering unit called The Healthy Appetite whose motto, in our eyes, is ingenious: “good food fast, not fast food”.   David Lyons, owner of the catering unit, told us they were donating food to all the workers at the event, free of charge.  This is a great way of showing thanks for their presence and earnings from the day.  David and his assistant, Lee Gibbs, were non-stop as the food was lovely (so we are told: ‘we’ are on a diet).  Thank you for all your hard work.

Great food served up fast

Making music

Amongst the laughter, joy and thrills from the youngsters enjoying the day, we were entertained by various local young bands.  Unfortunately we did not get the names of all of them (although we recognised one of the bands from a charity event in Copthorne a couple of weeks ago; nice to see you guys again) but we did manage to pin down a band called Small Print.

Rick, Martyn and Tariq

Small Print consisted of Rich Franklin, (guitar and backing vocals), Martyn Wilson, (guitar and vocals), Keiran Giffen, (drums), Josh Franklin, (bass guitar), and, standing in for an absent member, Tariq Kajwaja, (guitar).  Great sound guys – keep up the good work!

Mischief and Mayhem

You may not want to know which tent we visited next.  Let’s just say you entered at your own risk.  Mayhem comes to mind.  Denise Lyons, who we met earlier in the face painting tent, stood in front of us, surrounded by young children with what can only be described as ‘yukky stuff’ all over them.  We enquired as to the nature and name of this particular tent before entering, as it looked dangerous.  Denise and her colleague, Kate Nulty, told me it was the ‘Messy Play’ tent.  Well it certainly lived up to its name!  We took a picture to prove we are not exaggerating and then swifly left before we got covered ourselves!


Getting active

Last, but not least, we had the climbing wall and ‘laser storm’ enclosure.  Both pieces of equipment were brought to the event by a company called Altitude.  Ben Williams and Jemma Askew told us that both the climbing wall and the laser storm (a huge, inflatable, enclosed arena on the hill)  had been a great hit with all ages and that they had provided the equipment at a discount, to help the Council with costs.  The Laser storm was being looked after by Zara Smith and Andy Green on the outside but we were not adventurous enough to go inside to meet anyone else (far too hot).

While we wondered around the mass of children, inflatables and contented looking parents we asked some what they thought of the day.  This what they had to say:

Natasha Williams from Tilgate said “the kids are having a wonderful time.  My youngest has had her face painted and the boys are having fun”

Janine Hicklin from Langley Green said “there is alot to do for the kids. It is great entertainment and I fell really confident letting the kids go off and play. We even bought a picnic”

Carla Lethbridge from Gossops Green said “it is a fantastic day and great value for money. There is no excuse not to bring the kids down”

Thank you

Mark and Tony looked after our safety

Our thanks goes to Beverly Gibbons for inviting us down to such a brilliant and well organised safe fun day and to all the Council workers who put so much time and effort into the event making it one of the best days out so far.  We are sure everyone who attended this fabulous event are grateful to Mark Paffett and Tony Hawkins who work for Crawley Borough Council and were responsible for the maintenance and inspection on the day. Their presence did not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Also a big thank you to everyone who contributed to this write up and especially to Danny from Izzyices for the icecream and rasberry sauce. It was delicious!

Below you can watch the interview with the main organiser Kathryn Ripley, Community Development Officer for Crawley Borough.  It comes in 2 parts due to technical difficulties