THE Wilstock and Stockmoor community came together on Saturday for the new area’s fourth annual Big Lunch event.

There was a good turnout and positive atmosphere as the sun shone on proceedings in the park.

The event featured live music from the Bolly Bhangras, Steve and the Masqueraders and Allana Chloe, as well as lots of other entertainment, good food and activities throughout the day, with the event raising more than £1,000 for Wilstock Hub.

Lucinda Spelman-Ives, who has spearheaded the Wilstock Hub initiative. complemented the team of volunteers who put the event together.

“Wilstock Hub has a fantastic team of volunteers who work really well together to put on these events,” Mrs Spelman-Ives said.

However she also said while the event was a huge success, it also highlighted issues being felt in the Wilstock and Stockmoor Community.

“But we have thousands of people living here who have no facilities, and we are working to deliver the community hub to give people a healthier, happier and better way of life.

“Loneliness and isolation is on the rise here and it simply cannot continue - it is heartbreaking speaking to single mums, retired people, and people with mental health issues feeling so lonely down here because we have absolutely no facilities.”

Mrs Spelman-Ives added that the lack of facilities should ‘never have happened in the first place’ and that ‘Wilstock Hub is going to change all that’.

The Big Lunch is a UK-wide initiative organised by the Eden Projects initiative, made possible thanks to funding from the National Lottery, with the aim of bringing people together.

The Eden Projects team has been so impressed with the way the The Big Lunch event has grown in the past four years in Wilstock and Stockmoor that it has being used a case study example for how others should be run.

“The day was a great success and it is good to see so many people getting together, enjoying entertainment and activities and making new friends,” Mrs Spelman-Ives said.

For more information about Wilstock Hub visit wilstockhub.com.