Alperton community spirit shines bright

By Skye (LS1)

On Saturday 13^th July, housing developers St. George held their third Alperton Summer Festival at Heather Park. The festival focused on the need for community spirit for the children of the borough. Each year the event also aims to create awareness for a local charity. This year money was raised for the Jason Roberts Foundation; a foundation that raises money in memory of Cyrille Regis, a former English international footballer who grew up in Stonebridge but sadly died in 2018. The foundation initially focused its support in Brent but now works to support young people across the UK, celebrating diversity and promoting respect. They provide “mentoring, life skills, education and training projects within its wider sports activities and work with young people at risk of offending, those excluded from school or struggling in the school curriculum, and young people with physical and learning difficulties.”

Entry was free and there was an array of live performances, music and food to give families a chance to make a day out of the event. Children were entertained with slime making and crafts, allowing them to play with friends, siblings and family but also offering an opportunity to befriend new people. It was clear that such events are important to the families who attended who wore huge smiles on their faces. Many students from Alperton Community School also enjoyed the event. When asked about their favourite part of the day, one student said “Alperton Community School’s performances… especially the drama group, the impressive steel performance…and the Dhol group, obviously, who never fail to surprise us with their performance.” 

Alperton Community School drama performance

Alperton Community School students Dhol performance

There were also performances by the soulful school choir. Other acts included a performance from a former Miss. Nepal. With her group, the women performed dance acts in traditional Nepalese dress and songs, displaying that they were proud of their culture and further highlighting diversity within our community.

The festival also featured fairground games, live music, slime Olympics, a wide variety of food stalls and an art exhibit where children could create their own crafts. Art pieces made by Alperton pupils were displayed. This presented true talent in which our school holds, giving students a chance to express themselves creatively.

A large fire truck escorted by firefighters from the local fire station also attended the festival. “We are here to let the public come and see the fire engine, give fire safety advice and just to let them know that we have an open service where people can come and talk to us.” On the importance of community, the firefighter said “It’s very important because community is who we work with, who we work for, who we serve and also live with. Because we are part of the fire brigade we also live in communities in London so it’s important to work alongside them and integrate with them.” The crew were happy to be interacting with local residents, displaying that being part of a community means a lot to them.

Another student was asked what their favourite part of being in a community was and she replied with how she likes the idea of people coming together. “Everyone is really busy with their lives, everyone’s doing their own thing and to finally come out and meet everyone and just be a part of something, feels quite special.”

A sense of community is important to many people. It is often described as a way to get close to others and to build relationships with those you never thought you would. This sense of community can be said to be particularly important in tight-knit places like the borough of Brent, an area of such diversity where everyone has to work together to make a change. We should all take on some sort of responsibility in a community like Alperton otherwise everything will stay the same. A summer festival is a great way to make this change and to break any divisions within the community.

Community means something different to everyone, but to everyone it means something.