A great success: the Beaumont Road PlayStreet‏

Last weekend myself and Councillor Gary Busuttil were able to attend a lively street party in Beaumont Road.

The event, where resident have their street closed off from traffic for a few hours, usually on a Sunday, was organised by Jill Ward and Vanessa Folley.

Photo taken by Jill Ward

It gave people a chance to meet each other, many of whom did not either know or commonly speak to their neighbours. There was a great atmosphere with lots of children playing games whilst the adults tucked into the homemade cupcakes!


PlayStreet joint organiser, Jill Ward, said: "We were thrilled to have over 40 people come to our first PlayStreet. We met neighbours we had never even seen! It gave our road a real sense of community & people have been thanking me all week.

The work to set it up was minimal with the letters & survey were all prepared by the Council. We can now run a PlayStreet once a month & following its successful start several neighbouring streets are planning to start their own!"

Three top tips the Beaumont Road PlayStreet organisers gave were:

• Talk to a couple of neighbours before you start to see if there is interest
• Agree a time for a PlayStreet with them so you have support
• Ask a couple of people to help with stewarding in advance

Last year the Southfield ward Liberal Democrat Councillors persuaded Ealing Council to not charge residents for these types of events as they bring people together.

If you would like to start up a street party then please check out Playing Out, Ealing Council's website or let us know and we can help you out!