Family Fun Day seen as even more vital amid a cost of living crisis

A late Summer Family Fun Day being staged in Long Eaton is being seen as vital, as local families struggle to make ends meet.

The Rotary Club is staging the FREE event on West Park on Wednesday with the expectation that it will attract more visitors this year.  In 2024, more than 1000 people attended.

Breaston mother of four Barbara James has run the event since 2015. 

She said: “Many local families, especially those with young children, are finding it hard to make ends meet,” says Barbara.  “Keeping children occupied in the long holidays is hard work, and expensive.  That’s why we decided to put on an event which is totally free to attend and for which all the rides, activities and attractions, are free too.  Since we started it’s been a real success and this year it looks set to be more popular than ever. Everyone is welcome.”

Running from 12 noon until 4pm on Wednesday 27th August, the afternoon features a host of activities for kids of all ages.  “We have the usual bouncy castle, mini ferris wheel, Steel pans, professional face painter, Cool Science.  But there is so much more, and everything is genuinely absolutely free,” explains Barbara.

There is a climbing wall, and interactive craft and gardening stalls where children can pick and plant their own vegetable seeds.  Tesco have donated fresh fruit for kids to mix their own smoothies on a special ‘smoothie bike’.  

Stuart Magic is there to craft all kinds of wonderful things from balloons and, like so many of the event’s supporters; he is giving his time free.

Visitors are invited to bring along their pooches for a Fun Dog Show competition.  There is also a new attraction this year - a pedal powered scalextric.

“We even have a free raffle for which everyone who attends gets a ticket and a chance to win one of several fabulous hampers,” says Barbara. 

The event, organised by Long Eaton Rotary Club’s Eco-Interactors, is the brainchild of former local schoolgirl Katie Breakwell.  Many decades ago, her grandfather had organised a similar event and when she was President of Interact, the young Rotarians Group at The Long Eaton School, in 2015, she was inspired to do the same.  Since then, the event has grown and grown.

“It is a real team effort to stage an event on this scale.  Rotary Club volunteers work alongside Pushbike Paul and Pauline and the local RAF cadets to ensure everything is set up properly and runs smoothly on the day.  The support we receive from local businesses and organisations is vital.  But we all share the same warm glow when it’s over, knowing that for once, parents struggling to make ends meet have not had to say no to their kids when they ask for a go on a ride, or a delicious fruit smoothie!”

It takes place on Wednesday 27th August 2025 between 12pm and 4pm, at West Park Events Field, Wilsthorpe Road, Long Eaton, NG10 4AA