Harold Hill Festival coverage

Hello everyone

Great news; all the great things that happened at the Harold Hill Festival has been reported to two sources:

Havering Council website
Romford Recorder

Havering Council site

http://www.havering.gov.uk/Pages/Harold-Hill-Summer-Festival-2013.aspx

Romford Recorder

http://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/fun_in_the_sun_at_harold_hill_festival_1_2272207

A Special Thankyou To An Amazing Committee and a Wonderful Community

After just over year supporting the Harold Hill Festival Committee in paid role and then as a volunteer i'm going to take the liberty of writing a personal blog post.

Thanks to everyone for an amazing Harold Hill Festival 2013

Great weather, fantastic stallholders, fabulous activities, perfect weather, a lovely community vibe, volunteers who went the extra mile, classic cars, amazing performances, and many thousands of local people who attended. All in all it was a festival that almost entirely went to plan and is certainly one of the best so far.

If you want to see the photos visit our Facebook page.

Thanks to all who were a part of it and made it such a success!

Harold Hill Festival starts here!

The Harold Hill Festival 2013 is now starting. There is a good buzz about Central Park, loads of stalls now set-up and ready for business, the stage has a crowd gathered round it and we've got lovely warm sunshine.

Follow all the fun on Facebook at www.facebook.com/haroldhillfestival and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/haroldhillfesti using hashtag #haroldhillfestival

Photo of Classic Cars setting up is below:

Social Media Tags for Harold Hill Festival Today

If you're using social media to share information, photographs or comments on the Harold Hill Festival we will be using the following methods:

On Twitter our account is www.twitter.com/haroldhillfesti and we'll be using the #haroldhillfestival hash tag

On Facebook our account is www.facebook.com/haroldhillfestival and we'd love to have your news, views and photos shared on our page.

And you can leave comments on our blog at www.haroldhillfestival.blogspot.com at any time

Look forward to seeing you at 12 midday in Central Park, Harold Hill.

Choo Choo comes to Harold Hill!

Just one day to go...

At tomorrow's Harold Hill Festival starting at 12 midday you will have the chance to experience a miniature railway on Central Park. It's sure to be a winner with the kids so come along and take a ride.

Sun set to shine on Harold Hill Festival 2013

According to the latest forecasts from the BBC and Met Office the sun is set to shine for Harold Hill Festival 2013. To see the latest forecast for the Harold Hill area visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/rm3

Don't forget to to bring along some suntan lotion as the sun is strong at this time of year. Also please bring along or buy drinks to keep you from getting dehydrated on the day.

£3 wristband at this year's festival

£3 wristbands are available for unlimited use of selected activities. Come along to Harold Hill Festival 12-5pm on Saturday and enjoy the fun in the sun!

Who's into Classic Cars?

This year for the first time the Harold Hill Festival will have a Classic Car Display from Havering Classic Car Club. To find out more about the club see http://haveringclassiccarclub.co.uk/

Remember the festival is now just 2 days ago!

Harold Hill Festival list of confirmed stallholders

hello everyone,

The festival is a few days away, here are the list of confirmed stallholders for the festival:

AAYANI JEWELLERY                                    

ACADEMY OF AFRICAN ARTS                    

AGE CONCERN                                          

ALEXANDRA CRYSTAL JEWELLERY        

ANXIETY ACTION

ARVEYS CATERING                                

ASPIRE  SCHOOL OF DANCE

BEADING BEAUTIFUL

BEE MISTRY

BOUNCY CASTLES

CAFÉ 2 U

CANE 2 CANDY

CATS PROTECTION

CHRIS HOBBS

CHRISTIANS AGAINST POVERTY

CIRCUS SKILLS

CRYSTAL LIGHT HOLISTIC

COSTCO

DOGGIE DELIGHTS

DOGS  TRUST

DONNA BOWERS

ERIC J SANDELL

EVENTZ CATERING

EVERYONE ACTIVE

EVOLVING BEAUTY

FACE THE FUN

FESTIVAL TOMBOLA

FOREVER LIVING

FRIENDS OF DAGNAM PARK

FRIENDS OF RAINBOW TRUST

GLITZ & GLAM

GWEN AND SUE CRAFTS

HAVCO

HAVERING CYCLISTS

HAVERING FAMILY DIABETES

HAVERING SUB AQUA CLUB

HOMES AND HOUSING

INDULGENCE

KNITAHOLICS

KP CUPCAKES

LIONS INTERNATIONAL

LISAS

LITTLE MARKET DAY NURSERY

LOVELEIGH HANDBAGS

M&L GIFTS

MAGICAL WELLNESS

MELANIE VALLANCE

MARK BORRELL

MISTER SOFTEE

MYCA FALCONRY

MY CHOCOLATE EXPLOSION

MY PLACE

NINA SHIRINIAN

PAMELA MATHER

PINK PIGGY BALLOONS

PLAYDAYS

PURPLE PEACH CARDS

RAINBOWS END ANIMAL RESCUE

RGOA

RIFFHAMS DONKEYS

ROTTWEILER WELFARE ASSOCIATION

RSPB

RSPCA

SALLY MARKS

SENTIENCE JEWELLERY

SMALL MONSTERS

ST FRANCIS HOSPICE

ST GEORGES PRESCHOOL

ST JOHNS AMBULANCE

STUBBERS CLIMBING WALL

SUSIE COALS PRESERVES

TAKE CARE MEDICAL

THE ONLY BOW IS ESSEX

TKO GIFTS

TONY GILFORD

UTILITY WAREHOUSE

VIOLETS CUPCAKES

WENDY HARDING

1 week to go!

1 week to go to Harold Hill Festival! Harry has seen the schools, been to Broadford School Fete, and the sun is set to shine....

Highlights of the day include:

Climbing Wall
Circus Skills
Bouncy castles
Fun Runs
Rodeo Bull
Donkey Rides
Majorettes
Falconry Display
Family "Old Fashioned Sports Day" (including egg and spoon race, sack race, three legged race and space hopper race)
Live music and Acts on the Drapers Academy Stage!
Photos with Harry the Squirrel
Competitions and Prizes
Dozens of stalls

There will be free entry to the event and a £3 wristband for unlimited access to selected activities.

2 weeks to go!

The Harold Hill Festival is now just 2 weeks away. On this website there is the Event Flyer, details of the Stage Acts and lists of stallholders (see this post and this one).

Our online presence is buzzing with this blog having had over 4,000 views, the Facebook page at 188 Likes, the Twitter account now at 391 Followers and the website over 3000 views.

It's not too late to take part as a stallholder or a volunteer which you can do via our website

Any queries about anything then do email us on haroldhillfestival@gmail.com

Harold Hill Festival main flyer

Hello everyone

The festival is just round the corner - I can't wait as it sounds like it will be an eventful day; so roll on July 6th!!!!!!!!

Please find the below the flyer for the festival

20 days to go!

As of today there is 20 days to go to Harold Hill Festival 2013. You can keep up with all the latest information on:

This blog: www.haroldhillfestival.blogspot.com

The website (where you can book stalls or volunteer): www.haroldhillfestival.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/haroldhillfestival

Twitter: www.twitter.com/haroldhillfesti

We're really looking forward to the big day on Saturday 6 July 2013 in Central Park, Harold Hill.

Harold hill stage acts

Hello

Here are the confirmed stage acts for the Harold Hill Festival:

12pm - 12.15pm Broadford Choir

12.20pm - 12.45pm Starshine stage school

12.50 - 1.05pm New Vibe

1.10pm - 1.30pm Ransom

1.35pm - 2.00pm Amps

2.05pm -2.35pm Kyptic Fusion

2.40pm - 2.55pm Aspire Kids

3.00pm - 3.15pm Habbit Shed

3.20pm - 3.45pm Drapers' Academy Blues Brothers band

3.50pm - 4.10pm Stalight

4.15pm - 4.30pm Brookside school(TBC)

More Harold Hill Festival stalls confirmed

Hello, here are more confirmed bookings for the Harold Hill Festival 2013 on Saturday 6 July 12-5pm in Central Park, Harold Hill: -

Magical Wellness

RSPB

the Only Bow Is Essex

Costco

... British Sub Aqua Club

Aspire School of Dance

Lisa's

Little Market Day Nursery

Christians Against Poverty

Havering Family Diabetes Group

MyPlace

Take Care Medical

Sounds as if its going to be an active day; Harry the Squirrel can't wait to see everybody.

 

Find out details on how to get involved at www.haroldhillfestival.moonfruit.com

 

Volunteers urgently required

It's Volunteer week this week 1st June - 7th June; so why not do your bit and support the Harold Hill Festival on the 6th July.

Extra Extra ...Read all about it: Volunteers needed urgently for the Harold Hill Festival

I know that in some cases there are not enough hours in a day to do things; all we're asking is for people to help if they can.

Minimum time required is 3 hours, 11am -2pm

(this includes volunteer registration)

If you're not an early bird; no problem you can volunteer from 2pm - 5pm

Alternatively you can work from 11-5( with an hour break) – any volunteers that do more then 5 hours will get free Gym membership at the Harold Hill Leisure Centre.

All volunteers must attend a Volunteer briefing; the briefing is on 2nd July, there are two available time slots:

10-11 at Harold Hill library

6-7 at St George’s Church

The roles that are available: 

• Festival marshall

• Public information 

• Clean up & tidy

• Stall helpers

• Traffic control

Clean up volunteers 5pm-6pm

Confirmed Stall Holders

We can confirm that the following stall holders will be at the Harold Hill Festival 2013:

My Chocolate Explosion (chocolate sweet trees),

Eric Sandell (Paintings)

Doggie Delights (dog groomers in Harold Hill),

... Natalie Deacon (scarves, handbags),

Emma Hoffman (sweets),

Pamela Mather (jewellery),

Friends of the Rainbow Trust (promotion for the charity which offers support to families who have a child who has a life threatening or terminal illness),

Rainbows End Animal Rescue (promotion/fund raising), Small Monsters soft play centre,

Knitaholics (knitted items) and Susie Coals Preserves (preserves and jams)

This list is not an exclusive list. To book your stall make sure you contact us via our website www.haroldhillfestival.moonfruit.com and then return paperwork and booking fee to us. Any queries about bookings please email us on haroldhillfestival@gmail.com or call 07729 400722

Happy Hounds Show on Sun 9 June

Watch out for Harry the Squirrel and the Harold Hill Festival at this year's Happy Hounds Show.

The Havering Happy Hounds dog show is a free, fun day out for all the family taking place on Sunday 9 June in Central Park, Harold Hill.

Page Content

The event, which runs from 12noon till 5pm, has a variety of dog related stalls, demonstrations and you have the chance to enter you dog into our competition.

The Dog's Trust will be on hand to microchip dogs for free for Havering residents. Just bring along proof of your address.

The Staffordshire Bull Terrierists will be giving Flyball demonstrations and you will have the chance to have a go with your dog.

The dog competition, which runs throughout the day, has a variety of categories you can enter:

• Most handsome male
• Prettiest female
• Best puppy (under 1 year)
• Best child handler
• Best rescue - male
• Best rescue - female
• Waggiest tail
• Best veteran
• Dog most like it's handler
• Best Heinz 57
• Best in show

Entry into each competition category is £1.50 per dog. Registration opens from 11:30am.

If you are interested in booking a stall or would like more information about the event, please contact Lynne Locke 01708 432 941 or email licensing@havering.gov.uk

50 days to go to the Harold Hill Festival!

Now only 50 days to go to the Harold Hill Festival 2013 on Saturday 6 July. To keep up with all the latest news please keep following us on the Harold Hill Festival Blog, the Harold Hill Festival on Twitter and the Harold Hill Facebook Page

Got a feeling this is going to be the best ever festival. Which is a reminder to have a word with the sun and make sure it knows to shine for us on that day and to bribe the clouds to have a day off.

Harold hill festival activities

The festival is nearly upon us yay!!! The day will be an action packed, fun day - lets hope that the weather will be good.

Here is a list of the activities that we've got in store for you:- 

Climbing Wall

Circus Skills

Bouncy castles

Fun Runs

Rodeo Bull

Donkey Rides

Majorettes

Falconry Display

Family "Old Fashioned Sports Day" (including egg and spoon race, sack race, three legged race and space hopper race)

All this plus a fantastic line up of acts performing on the Drapers' Academy stage, lots of craft stalls, food stalls and much much more.

Sounds fun, - can't wait to see you guys having fun

Harold hill festival Festival - youth services

The Harold Hill Festival is keen to see you take part in an event next Thursday in Romford Market. Youth Services are coming along to the Festival in July and can tell you more about the EPICC project"

If you want to find out more about Youth Services, please click here:

youth services

Meet the Partners: Drapers' Academy

Drapers’ Academy are one of the Harold Hill Festival main sponsors. Recently, they kindly sponsored the Harold Hill Festival bookmarks which Harry the Squirrel has been distributing at local schools.

Drapers’ Academy brought improved school facilities to Harold Hill and the school have seen improved academic results in recent times.

Last year the Queen visited Drapers’ Academy and we were so proud to see Her Majesty in Harold Hill. And great that she was keen to visit too The main change that Drapers’ Academy has brought to the area though is a sense of increased optimism about what students from Harold Hill can achieve. And we certainly hope that will be maintained and increased in the years to come.

To find out more about Drapers’ Academy see http://www.drapersacademy.com/

If you want to find out more our Partners have a look at the previous posts in the series on St Georges Church and Community Centre and London Borough of Havering

Photograph: Paines Brook as it runs thorugh Central Park, Harold Hill

Photograph of Paines Brook as it runs through Central Park, Harold Hill.

This photograph is copyright of Don Tait and must not be reproduced without his explicit permission.

Harold Hill Festival Partners Meeting - Tuesday 9 April 4pm

The Harold Hill Festival is now less than 3 months away and we are keen to encourage all local organisations in Harold Hill and the surrounding area to take part in the event. The event will include local stallholders, local stage acts, local activities and be made possible by local volunteers and sponsors.

If you want to find out more about how to take part in the festival or how local plans are developing then the next Festival Partners Meeting will be held on Tuesday 9 April starting at 4pm at St Georges Community Centre, Chippenham Road. It should last around an hour or so.

To keep up to date with all the Festival developments please keep reading the Harold Hill Festival Blog

To make bookings for the events please visit the Harold Hill Festival Wesbite

You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook

Any queries then please email us on haroldhillfestival@gmail.com

Activity Booked: Donkey Rides

As at last year's Harold Hill Festival we will be having donkey rides again this year. The donkeys will be provided by Riffhams Donkeys and will be incorporated into the price of a wristband. To find out more about Riffhams Donkeys see their website at http://www.riffhamsdonkeys.co.uk/ where you can find information about their donkeys and some photographs.

Remember to keep reading the Harold Hill Festival Blog to keep up-to-date with all the latest news.

100 days to go to the Harold Hill Festival!

As the big day gets nearer we're getting both excited and busier with lots of things to do. Harry the Squirrel is looking forward to his biggest day of the year and starting to make sure he's ready for it. So it's time to start counting down with only 100 days to go...

In the run up to the day we will be blogging on the acts, stalls and activities that are booked for the Harold Hill Festival 2013. Keep in touch with us on www.haroldhillfestival.blogspot.com

If you are on Twitter you can follow us @haroldhillfesti or if on Facebook we would like to see you to 'Like' us at www.facebook.com/haroldhillfesti

Activity Booked: Circus Skills

The Harold Hill Festival can now announce that the Circus Skills will be returning for another year. There will be the chance for residents to try a variety of circus activities including juggling, tricks with hoops and all sorts of other amazing stuff. The Circus Skills will be provided by the Roger Arnay and Circus Company and you can find their website with photos of the kind of things they do at http://www.rogerarnaycc.co.uk

To keep up with all the activities, stalls and entertainment being booked for the Harold Hill Festival then follow us on our blog at www.haroldhillfestival.blogspot.com

recruitment poster

Hello

Just to inform everyone that there is a community poster, it is currently being distributed around Harold Hill, it looks like:

Poster: Volunteers Wanted for Harold Hill Festival

Poster to recruit volunteers for the Harold Hill Festival. Please share.

Remember you can keep up with all the latest news on the Harold Hill Festival at Harold Hill Festival Blog and sign-up to volunteer at Harold Hill Festival Website

Harold Hill man Dave Butler’s 500-mile challenge for Richard House Children’s Hospice

A heart-warming story that isn't directly festival-related. However as part of a festival that celebrates Harold Hill and its local people we think it's something we want to share with you on our blog. To find out more click on the blue link below.

Story as seen in Romford Recorder

"It’s not a Proclaimers joke – Dave Butler really would walk 500 miles

Or, at least, he’d run and cycle them. Starting with the Brighton Marathon on April 14, the big-hearted Harold Hill cabbie is taking on five races in five weeks – all in aid of a kids’ hospice.

Of course, whether he’ll still be singing as he crosses the finish line of the 200-mile Mitie London Revolution race remains to be seen.

Briar Road resident Dave, 50, hopes to raise £1,500 for the Newham-based Richard House Children’s Hospice. Although he doesn’t have any personal ties to the charity, it’s a cause he feels very strongly about."

To sponsor Dave, visit http://www.justgiving.com/Dave-Butlers-Challenge

Harold Hill Festival - Featured in Havering Life Magazine

The Havering Life magazine have done a lovely piece on the Harold Hill Festival for their latest edition. It is an online only magazine and can be found at http://issuu.com/haveringlife/docs/haveringlife_march13

Note: the link is now working.

Photograph: Central Park, Harold Hill 1 (Thames Water Flood Defence)

Photo of the Thames Water Flood Defence being installed. This is under Central Park, Harold Hill where the Harold Hill Festival is held.

Photograph is copyright of Don Tait, please don't reproduce without permission.

New Social Media Coordinator

We have a new Social Media Coordinator volunteer who has started in his role today. Dermid will be coordinating our online presence on this blog, our Facebook and Twitter. Please give him a warm welcome and keep reading as the Harold Hill Festival gets closer.

Meet the Partners: London Borough of Havering

One of the most important partners for the Harold Hill Festival is the London Borough of Havering. A number of their services help make the festival possible. These include:

Parks - by allowing us to use Central Park, Harold Hill.

Homes and Housing - storage of equipment, logistical support and staff support on the day

Regeneration - promotion on website and newsletter, provision of funding and staff time from the Harold Hill Ambitions programme to support the festival

Community Engagement - support for the committee, networking advice and support with marketing

Events and Communications - advice on event organisation, health and safety, licencing as well as promotion support

myplace - help with recording event and due to put on activities at this year's event

There will in additional be a range of other council staff who support the Harold Hill Festival. We are grateful for the support we receive as a committee from them and look forward to working with the council in future.

To find out more about the council see London Borough of Havering

Meet the Partners: St Georges Church

St Georges Church's Community Centre hosts most of the committee meetings of the Harold Hill Festival and is also the postal address for our correspondence.

As well as religious activities the Centre hosts St John's Ambulance, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, a Fellowship lunch for the over 50s, the Neave Club for disabled people, a pre-school and much, much, more.

To find out full details on the Church and Community Centre see http://stgeorgesharoldhill.org.uk/

St Georges Church are also on Facebook and the vicar has a Twitter account @revramblings

If you are interested in our Meet the Partners posts then check out previous ones on:

Volunteer Centre Havering
Friends of Dagnam Park
myplace
Harold Hill Ambitions

HAVCO Newsletter Features Harold Hill Festival

The HAVCO (Havering Association of Voluntary and Community Organisations) newsletter has recently featured the Harold Hill Festival Committee in its newsletter. It features us in an article that highlights our social media usage as an example for others to follow. To find out more see the HAVCO Website and click on newsletters tab

As well the Harold Hill Festival blog you can follow all our latest news on the Harold Hill Festival Twitter Feed or our Harold Hill Festival Facebook Page

And if you want to volunteer or have a stall you can book one online on the Harold Hill Festival Website

Another Harold Hill?

Since we started this blog we have noticed that a lot of visitors come from the United States of America. I have a hunch that this is because of the Harold Hill in the Broadway hit musical from the 1950s. The Music Man became a film in the 1960s and a US television version in 2003. This Harold Hill rather than being a place is a person and a con man at that. In fact looking at what is said on Twitter it appears that as well as being part of popular culture it is also an insult to suggest someone is Harold Hill-like and untrustworthy.

If you want to find out more then look on the internet. And in case anyone has come looking for film references this website is definitely one for the Harold Hill Festival in Harold Hill, Essex.

Poster: Local Talent Wanted (Please share link)

Poster to recruit local talent for Harold Hill Festival 2013 stage. Please share this link with people who might be interested.

Remember you can keep up with all the latest news on the festival at www.haroldhillfestival.blogspot.com and submit your interest in playing at www.haroldhillfestival.moonfruit.com

Could your organisation donate a raffle prize to the Harold Hill Festival?

The Harold Hill Festival Committee are looking for companies and local organisations to donate raffle prizes for the big raffle on the day of the Harold Hill Festival. If you can do that or know a business that can then please let us know. All types of prizes are welcome whether food, drink, free entry to or hire of something, vouchers, services or anything else you can think of. Everyone that donates a raffle prize will be given the opportunity for an acknowledgement on the blog and/or website.

If you are interested then please send us an email on haroldhillfestival@gmail.com

Why is Harold Hill called Harold Hill?

The Friends of Dagnam Park who are a partner in the Harold Hill Festival have a page dedicated to a history written about the Harold Hill area. It contains the following section on why Harold Hill is called Harold Hill:

'It became a favourite retreat for Edward the Confessor and, on his death, passed with the kingdom to King Harold, the place names Harold Hill and Harold Wood are derived from this connection, although there is no evidence that King Harold ever visited Havering-atte-Bower.'

To find out more about the History of Harold Hill and surrounding areas see http://www.friendsofdagnampark.org.uk/lingham-intro.htm

Why does the Harold Hill Festival have a blog?

The Harold Hill Festival has a blog because the Festival Committee think it is important for them to keep local people informed about what is happening with the Harold Hill Festival and get involved.

Meet the Stallholders: Harold Hill Foodbank

In this first of a series of blogposts on some of our stallholders we are proud to introduce Harold Hill Foodbank.

FREE Love Food Hate Waste Cookery Workshops on Harold Hill

Learn how to save money and reduce the amount of food you throw away with professional chefs!

 

Booking essential.

Date

 

Thursday 14 March 2013

 

Time

 

14:00 until 16:30 and 17:00 until 19:30

 

Contact

 

Alex Moore da Luz

 

Location

 

Harold Hill Library, Hilldene Avenue, RM3 8DJ

 

Admission

Free

Website

 

http://www.havering.gov.uk/lovefood

Looking for Harold Hill Talent

The Harold Hill Festival is on the look out for local stage performers whether bands, dancers, singers or entertainers. We want as many local acts on stage as possible so if you are interested or know of someone we should approach then please do let us know. The festival is a showcase of all that great about Harold Hill and will be held in Central Park on Saturday 6 July 12-5pm.

The best way to let us know is by emailing us on haroldhillfestival@gmail.com or leaving a comment below.

Please do share this message through your social networks on Facebook or Twitter. We are on both on Facebook and Twitter

Harold Hill Small Grants Programme Now Open

The sixth round of the Harold Hill Small Grants Programme is now open for applications.

Grants are available from £20 to £1000 for community groups who want to make a difference in Harold Hill.

For more information at http://www.havering.gov.uk/Pages/ServiceChild/HaroldHillAmbitionsCommunityProgramme-LGSL-823.aspx

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 27th February at 5pm.

This scheme is run by Harold Hill Ambitions which is a partner in the festival. Remember if you are taking part in the Harold Hill Festival then this might be able  to help to fund your activity.

150 days to the Harold Hill Festival!

There are now 150 days to go until the Harold Hill Festival 2013 on Saturday 6 July 12-5pm in Central Park, Harold Hill. The Committee are all systems go after our latest meeting last night with activities, stalls, food vans and stage acts in the process of being booked up for the day. If you want to be a part of it then visit our website www.haroldhillfestival.moonfruit.com or email us on haroldhillfestival@gmail.com

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @haroldhillfesti or on Facebook by giving the 'Harold Hill Festival' a 'Like'

Remember all the latest festival news can be found here at www.haroldhillfestival.blogspot.com

News from Harold Hill Ambitions: Update on New Library and Broxhill Sports Park

The Harold Hill Ambitions programme is one of the partners of the Harold Hill Festival.

On Friday there was an announcement from them on a new sports park at Broxhill and plans for a new library which are expected to be built this year.

For information the press release can be read at http://www.havering.gov.uk/Pages/News/Green-light-for-Very-Special-Sports-Park-and-Library.aspx

Call to get Harold Hill Groups Online

Harold Hill Festival has recently signed up to go on to the Havering Community in Action Portal. This is an online directory that enables people to find local groups in the area. This can be a boost to groups in terms of raising their profile and getting more hits for their websites. In Harold Hill particularly there has been a push to get more groups listed on there recently and we support anything that promotes local community activities.

To find out more visit http://www.haveringcommunityinaction.org.uk/

You can download a form from the website which you can use to sign up. Or alternatively you can call HAVCO on 01708 742881

This is a joint initiative between London Borough of Havering and HAVCO who are both Festival partners.

Meet the Partners: Volunteer Centre Havering

Volunteer Centre Havering (run by HAVCO) is a Harold Hill Festival partner. Their role is to help the festival recruit volunteers, help manage them on the day and work with us to ensure proper guidance is in place.

So what does the Volunteer Centre Havering do?

Harold Hill Festival Online

The Harold Hill Festival currently has the following online presence:

Website www.haroldhillfestival.moonfruit.com

Blog www.haroldhillfestival.blogspot.com

Twitter www.twitter.com/haroldhillfesti

Facebook www.facebook.com/haroldhillfestival

Email haroldhillfestival@gmail.com

As the 2013 Harold Hill Festival gets closer more of you are now following us on Twitter (almost 200 followers) and Facebook (over 125 'Likes'). The blog is getting an increasing number of people reading it too. And the recently redesigned webpage has over 1000 views.

Meet the Partners: Friends of Dagnam Park

Friends of Dagnam Park support the Harold Hill Festival through being part of the committee organising the event, volunteering on the day, taking photographs of the event and this year will be exhibiting images of Harold Hill through the years.

Good news from Harold Hill Festival partner Drapers Academy

The Romford Recorder reports that:

'Drapers’ Academy saw the borough’s biggest increase in good GCSE grades last year, and was among the country’s 20 fastest improving schools, figures released today show.'

For the full article see http://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/gcse_league_tables_tears_for_some_but_drapers_academy_harold_hill_is_uk_s_18th_fastest_improver_1_1806067

Congratulations to the school who is a Harold Hill Festival Partner and the pupils on their hard work.

Be a part of it!

The Harold Hill Festival are always open to new people joining the Festival Committee. In

addition we always welcome people who want to do a stall or activity along to our monthly

meetings. The dates, times and venue for our meetings is below. We do ask that you email

us first if you can so that we know numbers and can set up the meeting area appropriately.

Our email address is haroldhillfestival@gmail.com

Dates of Next meetings :

Tuesday’s  6.30pm to 8.30pm St Georges Community Centre ( Partners meetings are same

location but from 4 to 6pm)

5^th Feb 2013 – Committee

5^th Mar 2013 – Committee

9^th Apr 2013 - Committee and Partners

7^th May 2013 – Committee  (TBC)

4^th June 2013 – Committee

18^th June 2013 - Committee and Partners

2^th July 2013 – Committee

6^th July 2013 -  Saturday Festival day at Central Park

Central Park, Harold Hill, Essex in the Snow 2

Photo of Central Park where the Harold Hill Festival is held.

Another photo can also be seen of Central Park, Harold Hill, Essex in the Snow

Central Park, Harold Hill, Essex in the Snow

Photo of Central Park where the Harold Hill Festival is held.

Another photograph can be seen at Central Park, Harold Hill, Essex in the Snow

Photo: Police Cadets Helping Out at our 2012 Festival

We had ten police cadets helping us at the Harold Hill Festival 2012. Here are a couple of them with Harry our Festival mascot.

Meet the Partners - myplace

The myplace youth team are one of the Festival Partners so we look at their centre as the first of a series of blogposts featuring the organisations working with us.

The new myplace centre is a development that Harold Hill can be proud of. The building focusses on providing an environment that promotes inclusion and help young people achieve a brighter future as being a great community and culture facility in Harold Hill.

Harold Hill Festival Needs You! - Volunteers Wanted

The Harold Hill Festival is appealing for volunteers to help with planning and support for the Harold Hill Festival 2013.

We are looking for enthusiastic and self-motivated people from the local area to help us fulfil the following roles at the next festival:

Event stewards

Flyer distributors

Car park marshalls

Food stall volunteers

Wristband/programme sales

Festival committee members

Volunteering is a great way to make new friends, learn new skills, and support new projects within your local community.

If you are interested you can sign-up via our website at www.haroldhillfestival.moonfruit.com

To find out more about how many volunteers it takes to put the festival on see our previous blog post

Partners Meeting progress update

Last night the Festival Committee held the quarterly partners meeting. We had a good turnout including representatives from the Council's Parks Service, the myplace Youth team, Drapers Academy and our provider for our inflatables.

The meeting managed to make progress on how we can ensure the park is in the best condition possible, how we can best link in what happens in the myplace centre to the event, how we can more closely with Drapers Academy who sponsor the stage at the event and ensuring the inflatables are well managed on the day.

The event bookings are starting to be made now with the toilets now booked, enquiries coming in for stall bookings and local talent asking about performing on the stage. We're also really pleased to see a number of enquiries from people asking to volunteer on the day.

From now onwards we'll be starting to increase our marketing with posters going up, Harry the Squirrel (our mascot) visiting schools and we'll begin to make more announcements about what will happen on the day.

If you want to get involved in the Harold Hill Festival you can now let us know on haroldhillfestival@gmail.com

How many people and volunteer hours to run the festival ?

The number of volunteers involved on the day was 43.

On the day of the festival Committee members were on site from 6am to 8.30pm. The peak time for volunteers was during the festival itself from 12 midday to 5pm.

The total recorded volunteering hours from the community based volunteers supporting the festival is 541 hours.

Every volunteer who takes part and supports the event receives training prior to the day, is acknowledged by a certificate and many return to take part in subsequent festivals.

If you would like to sign-up to become an event volunteer you can do so at www.haroldhillfestival.moonfruit.com

We would like to acknowledge to support we have received from HAVCO's Volunteer Centre Havering who have helped us to recruit and support our volunteers.

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone has enjoyed 2012 and is now looking forward to 2013. The Harold Hill Festival Committee would like to wish you all a Happy New Year.

If you're making a New Years resolution why not consider getting involved in the Harold Hill Festival as a partner, stallholder or volunteer. See www.haroldhillfestival.moonfruit.com for more information.