Superhero Dash and Community Fun Day
At FOBOS we are going from strength to strength. We have an unfaltering determination that our park will be regenerated for all the children in the area to enjoy, that our fields will become a place for the community to come together and have fun and most importantly that as a community we will all come together and love where we live.
Gemma Ramsden and I decided we’d like to host this community event over a year ago. We kept putting it off as it was just the two of us and there was a lot to be done to pull something like this off. We learnt from our “Have a Field Day” back in 2018 that a successful event needs a lot of careful planning and preparation. We couldn’t possibly pull this off? Or could we?!
Andrew joined us earlier this year and then along came Hilary, Nicola, Julia and Sean. Not to mention Angie from The Studio and Satu from Mummas and Beans showing their support and getting involved whenever they could. The team are fantastic; Gemma and I cannot thank them enough for getting involved. Not only do we now have the manpower but we also have a fantastic, enthusiastic team filled with as much passion as we have! So thank you to you all, and to all our families and friends who stepped up to help us pull off our Superhero Dash and fun day! We couldn’t have done this without you.
I guess until you have hosted something like this you don’t realise how much goes into it. From designing and delivering leaflets, finding stall holders, planning the route (and the ladies going along one evening to cut the weeds back), securing raffle prizes and even ordering a toilet, there was a lot to do and we have limited funds. Most things at the event were donated by the members i.e. the bear for “guess the bears name”, the rocks and paints on Nicola’s “arts and crafts” stall and even the cakes, masks and medals were donated by the group. The gazebos were borrowed from family, friends and IdVerde and we all got up earlier than we do for work to ensure everything was set up ready for the community to come along and have fun!
The Chislehurst Rec ladies were great of course; offering guidance when they could based on their own experience and Barbara (one of the volunteers) even popped along to show her support. Visit Chislehurst were very supportive too sharing all of our posts and our event, as well as other local facebook pages The only way is Chislehurst and Edgebury who let us post on their pages almost every day in the run up to the event.
Leaflets delivered, social media posts up, all we had to do now was wait for the 20th July!
The Superhero Dash was fantastic! We had a wonderful turn out and the costumes were amazing! We were so impressed with the effort people had put into dressing up. The team had marked and marshalled the route and Angie warmed the crowd up before announcing the run. The kids, erm, I mean superheroes, shot off at super speed and completed the course in an amazing time.
So far we have raised £60 from 5 of our Superheroes; William “Power Ranger” Noble, Libby “Power Ranger” Noble, Betsy, Harrison “Brrrrm Brrrm” Mould and Dylan “Food Monster” Mould. A massive thank you to them for all of their hard work and fundraising. Some other superheroes have said they will be collecting their sponsorship and donating later this week. You can donate directly to our account (message us for the details) or you can add the donations via our just giving page: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/fobosparkproject
We had some great stalls for people to enjoy shopping and a spot of lunch after the dash as well as the rock painting stall run by volunteer Nicola (which proved a massive hit).
Just as the race came to an end some real life Superheroes arrived at the event; the Fire-fighters of Sidcup Fire station! The excitement when they arrived was amazing, we cannot thank them enough for making it extra special for FOBOS. They kindly let all of our young Superheroes experience what it was like to be a Fire-fighter before leaving the event with a siren salute.
Alas, it would seem that Thor didn’t get my SOS to bash away the rain clouds with his hammer and the heavens decided to open, somewhat ironically just as the ice-cream man turned up! Not that a bit of rain stopped people from braving the weather to get their ice-cream, pancakes or venison burgers.
If it wasn’t for the rain I think we would have had a lot more footfall but for those that did brave the rain, the torrential down pour didn’t dampen spirits! People laughed and joked as they huddled together under the gazebos and stories were shared of why Belmont Open Space meant so much to so many.
We then held our Super Raffle which had superb prizes donated by some Super Local Businesses! So we’d like to say a massive thank you to the following businesses:
- 2 tickets to Marvel Universe from FLR Spectron Ltd
- Voucher for cream tea for two from Annabel’s
- £15 voucher from Cook and Matthews Sport
- A course of fitness classes from The Studio
- 3 Hardback cookery books from Hachette UK
- Gel Manicure from The Beauty Rooms
- A travel voucher from Go Travel
- A voucher for 6 sessions from Deva Yoga
- £20 voucher from Belmont Dry Cleaners
- A weekly gym pass from Virgin Active (Bromley)
- A bottle of red wine from our very own volunteer, Nicola Roberts
- Luxury baby goods from the Panda Bear Baby Company
- £20 voucher from Pizza Express in Chislehurst
- £25 voucher from Due Amici
- £25 voucher from Mammas and Beans Bromley and Chislehurst
- Photo voucher from Paula Turner Photography
And for the best dressed and the winner of the Superhero Dash, The Image Studio donated two Superhero Portrait sessions!
We are so grateful to these businesses for supporting us at FOBOS so we urge all our followers to please shop local and give them your support!
Overall it was a fantastic day and hopefully the first of many! As we grow we hope to bring you more FOBOS events to celebrate the wonderful community we have here in Chislehurst.
Article by Gemma Sargeant
Photo’s taken and contributed by:
Gemma Sargeant, Andrew Mould, Gemma Ramsden, Satu Francis and Jade Louise
