Over 4000 children and parents attended the annual Children’s Day event on Sunday 16th July at Headingley Carnegie Stadium, hosted by Leeds Rhinos Foundation and The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation.
The free day included over 35 child friendly activities from Yorkshire based organisations around the stadium including restaurants Nando's and Wagamama, museums such as Eureka and a host of other sports and games from organisations including GAME, Central Yorkshire Scouts, West Leeds Activity Centre and The Works Skatepark.
As part of the event Leeds Rhinos Foundation invited over 320 junior community players in the under 7s age group to compete in a Sky Try Rugby Festival and The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation ran a cricket festival for over 100 Brownie groups on the famous Headingley pitches.
Project Officer for The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation Beth Cook said: “Children’s Day is one of Leads’ biggest annual family events and this year was no exception. We had a vast range of activities going on throughout the day for both children and adults to get involved in. The day went really well, it’s a great opportunity for both foundations to collaborate and bring a family fun day to Leeds, with the focus being on community.”
The Mears stage also provided young performers from the city with a stage to show off their talents including members of the Spencer Properties and Rhinestones junior dance teams, local singing acts along with a chance for the crowds to hear from the Leeds Rhinos squad.
Leeds Rhinos Captain Danny McGuire said: “This is my ninth year at Children’s Day and it’s an event I always enjoy coming down to, for us players it’s a good opportunity to give a bit back and great to meet some of the fans.
“To see so many young players from all these teams getting to grace the Headingley Carnegie Stadium pitch is really nice to see and of course with everything going on around the rest of the ground it’s a special day, so credit to both the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation and Leeds Rhinos Foundation for putting this event on again this year, he added.”
Children’s Day in 2017 included a range of different organisations offering free activities on the day including several small businesses attending the event for the first time like Leeds-based Shake, Rattle and Boogie.
Shake, Rattle and Boogie owner Kimberley Raja said: “My company has only been going for a year, we do lots of smaller Children’s parties and children’s classes in Calverlely, Adel and Horsforth but it’s been great coming today, it’s my first time here and there’s lots of organisations here today, everyone is happy and having a great time, lots of people have been over asking for flyers and joining in so it’s been great day.”
Both foundations would like to say a massive thank you to all organisations involved, everyone who attended as well as all volunteers and staff who aided in making the day a great success.
Did you attend Children’s Day? Head over to The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation and Leeds Rhinos Foundation Facebook pages and try and spot yourself in our gallery! CLICK HERE to view the gallery