BLOG: How working together made for a great family fun day in Bentley

Andy Cunningham, Well Doncaster Officer (for Askern, Askern outlying hamlets and Bentley), shares how partnership working led to a fantastic fun day for residents of Bentley over the Easter holiday.

The spring season is finally here and so brings with it the fabulous sun to provide us with that serotonin boost to get outside and enjoy the amazing green spaces we have in Doncaster. Residents of Bentley in early April took full advantage of the glorious sunshine and flocked to Bentley Park for the Easter Spring event.

My name is Andy and I am the Well Doncaster officer for the Bentley ward. I come from a sport and physical activity background through studying sport at school, college and even at university through a Sport Development with coaching degree. I also coach women's football as the manager of Rossington Main ladies FC which is a new project but something I am very proud of. My role as a Well Doncaster Officer looks into the health and wealth of the residents within Bentley and how we can improve where they live, work and play. A major part of my role is to discuss with residents what they would like to see happening where they live and through conversations with residents we as a team found that cycling was high on people's priorities for the park and so we set about planning an event with partners such as Ward members and community organisations like Manna CIC.

Through many meetings and discussions between Cllr Church, myself and Amelia from Boston & Co Cafe we felt we had planned a fantastic family fun day for the residents of the Greater Bentley area. The day was to include, bouncy castles and other inflatable fun, cycling provision from Clancy Briggs cycling academy, bike maintenance by Bicycle Buddy, a live saxophone player and Easter treats handed out by the Easter Bunny. We must say a huge thank you to Amelia from Boston & Co café for organising many of the activities allowing for residents to access fun filled activities for free.

Clancy Briggs were funded by Well Doncaster to provide the event with cycling provision, which allowed children of all ages to use bikes to ride over obstacles like bumps and ramps whilst also weaving in and out of an obstacle course. Allowing children to access such provision is something Well Doncaster and Get Doncaster Moving are always looking to achieve and we hope these children and more in the area will now begin to actively take part in cycling as part of their daily/weekly routine. When speaking to residents I found that they were all supportive of the day and were even asking when the next event is! Residents went on to say:

• "This event is just what we needed in Bentley, we have such a great park and it is so nice to see it being used for physical activity!"
• "The amount of children in the park and pavilion today is nothing short of fantastic. I love the little track the cycling company have set up, my child went on it and now they've asked me for a bike at home"
• "I left my bike with the Bicycle Buddy people because my tyre was flat and my chain was broken and an hour later they fixed it for me. I was so happy and it didn't cost me anything!"
• "I just love bouncy castles, I can jump all day log on them they're so fun!"

In all the day was a huge success and brought the residents of the Greater Bentley area together for some Easter fun in the sun. Please keep your eyes peeled on Your Life Doncaster and the Well Bentley Facebook page for more events in and around Bentley that are planned.