Events students up the ante with two-days of fun weekend

A trio of students are helping a local charity with extra cash and gaining valuable experience before graduation with a weekend-long fun day.

The Together for Hope (Northampton Hope Centre) event will be held at Rushden Lakes on Saturday 13 April (9am-6pm) and Sunday 14 April (10am-5pm).

The ‘fab three’ organising the event – all in the final year of their degrees in Events Management or International Tourism Management – are (from left to right in the photo) Hope Staines (Team Leader), Caitlyn Kemp-McKee (in charge of the volunteers and performers) and Denys Garcia (the event’s health and safety manager).

The trio has been working on this project since September and the event follows their handmade craft fair at Rushden Lakes last year; that event raised £2,500 for homelessness charity and food bank Northampton Hope Centre, celebrating its 50th birthday this year.

Hope introduces their latest event for Hope Centre, two days of fun and games this weekend in Rushden Lakes: “This year, we wanted to increase the size of our event and improve on the previous one. Our event this year is a Family Fun Day with over 50 stall holders across two days on the Central Boulevard.”

On both days, there will be face painting, a Tombola with prizes such as Cobblers or Saints tickets and vouchers donated by Rushden Lake stores, a ‘hook a duck’ game in which you can win an Easter egg or chocolate bar if you catch a winning duck and a ‘spin the wheel’ with a small prize on offer with every spin.

Local performers showcasing their talents on the Boardwalk (between Bills and Jamaica Blue) will be:

• Saturday – Leah Parris and her Theatrical Arts group (from 12:30-2pm) and disco and street dance company Step N Grooves (3:30-4pm).
• Sunday – Nene Valley Community Band (11am-12pm), Northampton Ukele Group (12:30-1:30pm), and KOS Musical Theatre Company (2-4pm).

Hope adds: “At the heart of the event is the community; hosting a Family Fun Day is the perfect event to reflect on this by bringing everyone together. Our event is being held locally at Rushden Lakes, the Hope Centre is also based locally in Northampton, and we are students at University of Northampton, so the event will truly bring the community together to support an amazing cause and their work helping with hardship, homelessness, and hunger.”

For more, email Eventforhope24@gmail.com