Tring leads in street parties

Tring Living Magazine ongfield Rd, Tring, sets the Street Play standard

Tring GP Dr Rob Schafer with the support of Oakman Inns has launched www.ourstreetparty.org, to help people organise parties on their own streets.

The Queen’s 90th birthday will provide a focus for party planners this summer. In Tring the 11 June will see a party starting at the Tring Farmers Market and finishing with a BBQ and party in the churchyard in the evening. On the following day, Tring Town Council is encouraging people to organise street parties in their neighbourhoods.

Rob is a veteran of the Longfield Road Street Play scheme, which dates back to the closure of Longfield Road for a Jubilee party in 2012. Oakman Inns owns the Akeman, the Kings Arms in Berkhamsted and the Red Lion in Water End as well as bars and inns around the country.

Oakman Inns wants to help by offering free facilities on their premises for street party organisers to hold meetings. www.ourstreetparty.org aims to help people not just to celebrate the Queen’s birthday but also, perhaps, to allow neighbours to meet and children to play outside, free from traffic fears.

According to Rob, street parties are a fantastic way for neighbours and friends to kick-start the sense of local community: ‘It’s also a great first step to getting kids playing outside again in the way that most of us took for granted 30 years ago.’ Longfield Road has an annual street party and 2hr ‘street play’ sessions once a month.

Vivianne Child from Tring Together said: ‘The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations provide a great excuse for a street party and applying for official permission is not at all onerous.’

Peter Borg-Neal, Oakman Inns’ CEO, has lived and worked locally for much of his life and was keen to support the initiative. “Ourstreetparty.org is the result of a collaboration between Rob and Oakman Inns as we have always believed in working with our local communities. To support initiatives like this that help nurture developing youngsters is a no-brainer. We want the website and free information packs to inspire people to organise a street party and to provide useful guidance and help, making the application process clearer and simpler.’

If you are interested in organising your own Street Party or getting involved with one, visit www.ourstreetparty.org where you can sign up to receive the free information pack, join a meeting or call 01442 332 603.