Eastleigh Community Showcase Celebrates Community Spirit

The event, funded by Eastleigh Borough Council, saw groups, clubs and charities from all over the borough join together to share their opportunities and raise awareness at the event, while there was also entertainment throughout the day from local groups like Eastleigh Area Schools Orchestra and Sing Now Choir.

 

Joining Community First in the organisation of the event was Dream Empire Events, who assembled a great variety of activities and vendors for Leigh Road Recreation Ground. The taking over of the town centre facing greenery nearby The Point helped footfall greatly, so people could come along for some chips or the bouncy castle slide for their little ones and then find themselves strolling the charity stalls, signing up for volunteering opportunities or taking leaflets for vital support services for loved ones.

The day was officially opened by Community First Chief Exec, Tim Houghton and Mayor of Eastleigh, Councillor Janice Asman, who then opened the stage for the day’s entertainment by local groups, before beginning their tour of all the causes’ stalls.

Multi Sports Club

Community First’s Eastleigh Community Development Worker and Showcase Event Organiser, Jo Proctor, had this to say: “The Eastleigh Community Showcase is an opportunity for local charities and community organisations to show the residents of Eastleigh borough what they do, and how they can get involved.  It was great to have so many groups sign up to either host stalls, or perform on The Point’s Garden Stage, or in some cases, do both!

Thank you to all the amazing causes that joined us; you can find the full list here.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the day, we’ve already heard from brilliant feedback about volunteers already being placed and we look forward to hearing more of the impact of this community catalyst event.

Phil from Fledge – “It had a nice atmosphere to it and the preparation that went into it was brilliant. I was made to feel really welcome.”

Tina from Eastleigh Community Garden – “The whole event was incredibly well organised with a lot of information provided in advance. There was a very wide range of organisations represented, so good for networking. There were a lot of lovely community groups providing entertainment and showcasing what they do. The gazebo & table were all set up for me in advance. It was good to have things on the Rec to attract attention and to try and get people into The Point.”

Dan from Christians Against Poverty – “I felt the overall concept was very good, number and variety of exhibitors great and provided plenty of networking opportunities.“