Over 2,000 people attended an event to celebrate the first anniversary of the opening of the community pavilion at West Smethwick Park.

Attendees were joined by the Mayor of Sandwell, Councillor Bill Gavan, Council Leader, Councillor Kerrie Carmichael and Cabinet Members for Leisure and Tourism and for Public Health and Communities, Councillors Charn Singh Padda and Syeda Khatun.

Those attending were able to enjoy inflatables, wheelchair basketball, soft archery, bubble displays, stilt walkers, face painting, bhangra dancers, a steel pan workshop, a Bob Marley Tribute, performers from our HOME project, a belly dancer, boxing interactive demos and community stalls.

Since opening there have been over 32,000 visitors to the pavilion with over 5,000 people taking part in community engagement events and activities. Some highlights include:

• 12-week programmes for Yoga, Pilates, Zumba, Fitness Bootcamp & Kids boxing sessions
• a range of community events including a Christmas event, Mother’s Day Afternoon tea, National Play Day and a free theatre weekend • a mosaic art project with year 5 & 6 students from Rood End Primary school and Mango Mosaics.
• over 600 young people aged 13- 24 so far in 6 weeks of a 9-week programme providing career development opportunities, music industry workshops and business /event management workshops.

In addition, there are many exciting activities and events to come over the Autumn and Winter programme including installation of history interpretation panels, nature trail, sculpture trail, community garden and Rangoli art installation in the park. Sandwell Council’s Cabinet Member for Leisure and Tourism, Councillor Charn Singh Padda, said:

“The community pavilion has proved to be a fantastic attraction to bring people from Sandwell and further afield to numerous events.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the team at West Smethwick Park Pavilion for all of their hard work in bringing this wonderful facility to life for the people in the community and also a big thank you to the Friends of West Smethwick Park, who work tirelessly and volunteer their time within the community to help improve the park as well as now hosting a number of their own events and activities.”

The amazing restoration of the park, construction of our community pavilion and our continued activity programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund in conjunction with Sandwell Council.