Christmas comes to Kidbrooke Village
On Sunday 3rd December, Kidbrooke Village was buzzing with activity when Berkeley hosted its Christmas Extravaganza. Over 500 people attended the event,
which provided a wonderful opportunity for the community to come together and get into the festive spirit.
In Pegler Square, a selection of traders were on hand to serve hot meals, sweet baked goods, traditional mulled wine and sustainable Christmas trees. There was also a free children’s hoopla stall, face painting and hook-a duck game for some fun and prizes .
The Kidbrooke Community Hub (managed by GCDA) got involved too and was transformed into a festive market featuring 20 craft and gift stalls. Clive Efford (MP for Eltham) and Rachel Taggart-Ryan (Councillor for Middle Park and Horn Park) popped in to provide their support and peruse the offerings.
A series of arts and crafts workshops allowed people to get creative and make shadow puppets, gilding, cards and decorations in the warm. For lasting memories of the day, there was a photographer who offered family portraits with a beautiful festive backdrop. The selfie photo booth, sponsored by L&Q was a hit too.
Santa Claus took a break from his workshop to meet children in his grotto, which was sponsored by B&C Properties. In between all of this, local dance group ‘Kidbrooke Kollective’ – who attend free dance classes every Wednesday as part of Berkeley’s Youth Development Programme (click here for more details),
performed their contemporary dance piece to a rapturous applause.
At 4pm, the Cinderella pantomime (sponsored by Moat Foundation) got underway to entertain over 70 children and their parents. As the event drew to a close, everyone gathered in Pegler Square at 6pm to witness the Christmas lights being switched on by (Sandra Bauer, Councillor for Kidbrooke Village and Sutcliffe Park, pictured bottom left) and Holy Family School’s choir performing Christmas carols.
Special thanks must go to Kidbrooke Village’s Social Value Manager Kay Oldroyd for organising the event as well as Berkeley, L&Q, GCDA, B&C Properties, Rendall and Rittner and Moat Foundation for sponsoring the Christmas Extravaganza.
For a video round-up of the day why not check out our Instagram page here.
