'Fantastic' community day in south Shropshire town pulls in the crowds

More than 40 organisations took stands at the town's SpArC Leisure Centre and Theatre with the intention of letting residents and people from further afield know the kind of things they can get involved in.

Keith Whiddon, of Bishop’s Castle Community Partnership, said: "We even had people coming from Birmingham who are thinking of moving to Bishop's Castle who wanted to find out what goes on here.

"There were also people from the town and surrounding areas who wanted to find out what is going on here."

The event was a joint effort between the community partnership and the town council and involved the organisers trying to find contact details for everything happening in the town.

Mr Whiddon said some information they had was out of date, making it a useful starting point for future events. They are hoping to be able to produce an updated directory.

"We gave organisations a stand free for the day to showcase what they do and tried to get the community along to join in," he said. "A lot of people did not realise all the amazing things that are going on. We had a really lovely mix of clubs and agencies working across Shropshre."

Attractions also included a bouncy castle in the squash court and an inflatable assault course in the swimming pool.

Dignitaries also turned out, including town mayor Josh Dicken, Shropshire High Sheriff Selina Graham and Deputy Lieutenant for Shropshire Nicky Kershaw.

"We are asking groups to fill in evaluation forms to tell us what they thought of the event but anecdotally they are all saying it was fantastic," said Mr Whiddon.

Town resident Jennifer Hepke said she is “Very impressed by the huge efforts to show that Bishop’s Castle is still alive and growing after lockdown – it turned the light on again!”

Mr Whiddon added that they would be definitely repeating the community day but were not sure when and how yet.