Organisations from across Yorkshire came together on Sunday to provide an unforgettable day of fun-filled activity for children and families as Leeds Rhinos Foundation and Yorkshire Cricket Foundation hosted Heart Yorkshire Children’s Day 2016 at Headingley Carnegie Stadium
The annual event, supported for the first year by Heart Yorkshire, involved over 40 organisations all providing a day to remember for children and families from the Leeds community, who once again turned out in good numbers to enjoy the event.
Heart Presenter Rich Williams, who compared the event on the Mears stage commented on his first Children’s Day experience:
“It’s great to be a part of it and a privilege to be asked to do it.
“At Heart we play great music and that is what we are about and entertaining and the Rhinos are about playing rugby and entertaining as as well, but at the heart of both them is the community and family and getting people together, so it’s great to be here.
“When you look at it you’ve got everything from Lightwater Valley to Jack Rabbit’s Pottery, to the climbing wall and the football and everyone wants to be a part of it that’s the thing, as you guys do and we at Heart do and that’s why there are so many people here as well, it’s a great event and great to be involved with.
“There’s loads of stuff to do but you look at some of the faces of the little kids who have been meeting some of the players, from the established faces like Danny McGuire and Rob Burrow to the newer generation, the one’s that they love to watch on the pitch but actually be able to be face to face with them and get their rugby ball signed or give them a high five and stuff, so it brings the players and the community together it’s great and you can see that everyone has loved it.”
Museums from across Yorkshire including Eureka, The Deep, Tropical Butterfly World and Lightwater Valley supported the event bringing activities and animal stations for the public to interact with throughout the day.
A number of sporting organisations who work with young people in the region were also in high demand on the day including The Works Skatepark, Mini Mermaids Running Club, Gym Magic, Catalans Soccer School, Leeds Force Basketball, England Handball, Warrior Factory Martial Arts, Enjoy a Ball, Laserzone, Team Activ, Xercise4Less and TSC Sports and Dance coaching.
A steady stream of queues throughout the day also highlighted the popularity of the eye-catching inflatables provided by Breeze Leeds, who were located around the ground along with a popular climbing wall manned by staff from West Leeds Activity Centre.
For the creative minded, the Heart FM zone hosted Jack Rabbit’s Pottery, Hollybush Conservation Centre, Rainbow Factory, Magnificent Attractions and Breeze Arts and Crafts stations alongside a Code Playground provided by Barclays.
Community Manager and Heart Children’s Day Co-Organiser Gareth Cook commented on the success of the day:
“Overall we are really happy with how it’s gone, plenty of people have turned up, we’ve had loads of activities and we’ve got a really good group of staff here helping out, so I think it’s been a really successful day.
“This is the first year we’ve had so many different attractions, Breeze Leeds have come and brought lots of different inflatables, the Deep have come over from Hull, Tropical World and Eureka, so we’ve had loads of things for the kids to get involved in, so it’s been a really interactive day.
Foundation Key Partner Mears supported the event, providing a main staging area with Saville Audio Visual, which included performances from the Spencer Properties Dance Team and the Rhinestones Dance Academy along with acts from Breeze Leeds.
The day also provided children and their parents with a chance to meet the Leeds Rhinos first team squad, who turned out in their numbers to support the event and engage with fans
Leeds Rhinos star Rob Burrow commented:
“It’s great, every year the Foundation put a great day on for the family and obviously the kids love it, there is lots to do and the lads love getting out here to appreciate what it’s like for the kids on a day like this, they get to meet the players as well as, loads of activities, so it’s a really good day.”
“As a kid I know how much this would have meant to me, to be at my favourite club’s ground but to meet the players and have so many things to do with the family, and obviously the weather has been nice as well which always helps, it’s a great day and the players always love coming down, so I’m sure everyone coming down today will have a really good time.”
The event was also supported by West Yorkshire Police and for the first time, the Real Junk Food project, who provided a farmer’s market of food recovered as part of their pay-as-you-feel food project.
Gareth Cook added:
“It’s great to have the support of our partners like Mears for this event, they support a lot of the things we do, our major partners such as Heart, who have come on board for this event and our partnership with Yorkshire Cricket, which we want to explore and do even more with, but all organisations who has been involved with the event, we appreciate all support for the charity and it makes the charity what it is.”