Cowley Road came together in true community spirit last month to mark 80 years since VE Day with a joyful street party full of reflection, fun and fundraising. Resident Jennie O’ Beirne reports
After being invited by Redbridge Council to apply to hold a street party to commemorate 80 years since VE Day in 1945, Cowley Road decided to go for it! We held our celebration on 4 May.
But before the festivities could begin, a small group of volunteers set about making the arrangements, starting with agreeing with the council to have the road closed for the event. Each house in the street contributed the same nominal amount towards the day and the council supplied commemorative bunting and flags, which we used to decorate the street to great effect.
Finally, the day came and happened to coincide with the monthly market on Wanstead High Street, so keeping the traffic away became extra important!
The party began with a broadcast of Winston Churchill’s speech from that time and the street took a moment to reflect on the awfulness of war and how lucky we are not to have such terrible atrocities in our country today, even though wars still rage around the world.
Two of the street’s children set up a scavenger hunt, which had us looking for clues up and down the length of the road. The street sat down to a lunch at tables kindly loaned by The Duke and other neighbours. There was also a sharing table, laden with soft drinks, cakes and crisps for everyone to help themselves. Lunch was followed by a cake competition so the cakes could then be eaten! We had a very successful auction of mainly donated items and everyone was given a raffle ticket with a host of prizes being given out, the star prize being a large hamper of goodies. We had a London quiz and a guess-the-intro music quiz, which everyone enjoyed with more prizes won.
There was a children’s table with colouring activities and a parachute-style game. With the street closed, it was great to see children playing football in the road just like old times.
Despite the chilly northeasterly wind, a great time was had by everyone, with wonderful neighbourly friendliness and great community spirit. From the smallest babies to some of the oldest residents, it was fabulous to have so many people join in, despite it being a Bank Holiday and a lot of households away.
We had a collection point for Tin in a Bin, which was very generously supported. We were also delighted to raise over £500, which we chose to donate to CombatStress, a veterans’ mental health charity.
For more information on closing a road for a street party, visit wnstd.com/party
For more information about CombatStress and the work they do, visit wnstd.com/cs
