Fun day brings community together at Walsall centre to find out more about what it has to offer
Organisations from across Walsall were invited to take part in a community fun day which also served to find out more about the services a Walsall charity provides.
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The Thomas Project in Aldridge welcomed more than 30 organisations to Aldridge Community Centre on Saturday to showcase the work it does, as well as have some fun and allow people to engage with each other.
There were craft stalls featuring local crafters, food stalls which featured candy floss, popcorn and ice cream and a range of activities, including face painting, glitter, temporary tattoos and a 45ft inflatable assault course.
It was also an opportunity for the charity to meet people and engage with them, with charity manager Liz McKeekin talking about the objectives from the day.
She said: "We're engaging with the community to let them have their voice heard and we're asking them to do a little survey and tell us what they think the needs are for the community.
"Today is all about community engagement and working with local charities, organisations and groups, such as the Rotary club, and it's their opportunity at the same time to showcase to the public about what they do, who they are and how people can access them.
"We're doing the survey and then sharing it with other charities and other organisations to find out what the public say it needs, as it's very easy for us to say that we're going to do this and that, but it might not be what people want, so we'll have to analyse the results."
The charity has been working on a loneliness project in recent months, following a grant from the National Lottery, and Ms McMeekin said the survey would help dictate how the project and funding could be best utilised.
She said: "They have funded the engagement and questionnaires to find out what the needs are in the community and the way forward that they're developed.
"Part of that is what is actually needed and like I said, there's no point in us just saying what we're going to do and so we'll read the results and work from there.
"If there are organisations already doing that, then we can signpost people there, and this is all about really looking at the needs of the charity and being everything to everyone and letting people have their voices be heard."
