Kilnwood Vale Community Fun Day goes down a treat!

Autumn event welcomes 200 residents to explore everything on offer in and around Kilnwood Vale

Over 200 residents arrived at the green off Illet Way for Kilnwood Vale’s very first Autumn community event on Saturday 30 September.

 The afternoon brought together residents, friends and family and showcased some of the wonderful traditional industries that have found their home in the local area over many years. With everything from face painting to parkour, beer to ice creams, there really was something to interest everyone.

 Brewing, for example, is a thriving local industry in the areas neighbouring Kilnwood Vale and Faygate – so we of course had to welcome Hepworth Brewery for residents to taste-test some of their beers! (The feedback was resoundingly positive!) Tilgate Bakery also joined us, offering delicious hot food for all to enjoy; the local area has been a longstanding hub for the traditional baking industry.

 Even though we’ve said farewell to the summer months, and despite a downpour mid-afternoon, ice creams were a huge hit with adults and children alike, thanks to the wonderful choice provided by Tony of T&M Ices. If anyone needed to warm-up, there was a delicious selection of hot drinks on offer by local business The Four Fillies and their horsebox café.

The event also welcomed craft stalls with a selection of local art from decorated glassware to decorated horseshoes and local wood products (the area is renowned for its blacksmiths and woodwork).

 The face-painting tent had a queue halfway across the field and children loved getting involved with Crawley FC and K2 – with even a few brave souls trying out parkour and lots getting involved with the cricket.

 With £80 raised for Macmillan Cancer Support from our cake sale too, the event really was an all-round success – we’re already looking forward to the next community get together for Christmas! We are busy recruiting a new community mobiliser to help organise future events just like this, so if you, or someone you know, would like to get more involved with the Kilnwood Vale community and is interested in finding out more about the role, please send us an email.

Similarly, if you would like the details of any of the companies who so generously helped us for the Autumn event, simply send me an email (Sarah.New@Preim.co.uk) and I’ll be delighted to put you in touch.

 For now, here are a few of the best shots from Saturday’s event: