Redbridge Family Fun Day 2015

3 September 2015 | Fundraising and events

Three girls in school uniform holding hands and laughing in a playground

On Monday 31 August 2015, Quest for Education (now Quest for Education Foundation) held a family fun day at Oakfield Parkonians Cricket Club, on Oakfield Playing Fields in Forest Road, Ilford. The bank holiday event was organised to raise funds for the schools in rural Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) that we support with our partner, the Kashmir Education Foundation (KEF).

What was on offer

The afternoon ran from 12pm to 6pm and was for the whole family. The programme included:

a cricket match featuring international cricketers, among them Abdul Razzaq;
live music on an outdoor stage, with two presenters hosting the afternoon;
a magician, a mehndi artist and face painting;
bouncy castles, food and other stalls;
raffles and auctions of donated items.

Tickets were advertised at £8 for adults and £3 for children. Local businesses were listed as sponsors, and we are grateful for their support.

Cricket here and there

Cricket brings people together in Redbridge, and a fun day built around a match was a natural way to welcome families in east London and introduce them to the schools we support, thousands of miles away.

On the day

Music ran through the afternoon on an outdoor stage. Dancers performed bhangra, and at one point the children were invited up to dance with the singer Mumzy Stranger.

Two dancers in bright orange and green costumes dance on a covered outdoor stage beside a presenter holding a microphone

Bhangra dancers and the compere on the main stage, Redbridge Family Fun Day, 31 August 2015.

A group of children dance on a covered stage around a singer holding a microphone, with presenters clapping behind them

Children join the singer Mumzy Stranger on stage.

Cricket, medals and a presentation

Former Pakistan cricketer Abdul Razzaq was among the guests. Cricketers signed bats for young fans in the clubhouse, and the day’s young players received medals at a presentation, with speeches from the guests.

Three men stand in front of a notice board: Mobeen Anwar on the left and the former Pakistan cricketer Abdul Razzaq in the centre

Former Pakistan cricketer Abdul Razzaq (centre) with our Chair, Mobeen Anwar (left), and a supporter at the fun day.

A seated cricketer signs a cricket bat while two boys and several adults look on

A cricketer signs bats for young fans in the clubhouse.

A group of boys wearing gold medals stand with adults in front of the clubhouse doors

Young cricketers wearing their medals at the presentation.

A row of men stand in the clubhouse doorway while one speaks into a microphone to a seated crowd

Guests and speakers at the presentation, with the stage visible behind.

Behind the scenes

Volunteers set up games, including a play parachute, and kept the children fed. Thank you to everyone who helped.

Two people hold up a large multicoloured play parachute in the clubhouse

A volunteer helps to spread out the play parachute before the children arrive.

A girl with face paint holds a sandwich at a table while a volunteer in plastic gloves prepares food

A volunteer makes sandwiches for a young visitor with a painted face.

What the funds support

KEF has run schools in the region since 1996, and we have supported its work since 2011. In KEF’s schools, places do not depend on a family’s ability to pay, and girls and boys learn side by side. KEF also trains women as primary teachers at its college in Bassali, so that good teaching reaches class after class of children.

Community events like this one help to keep that work going, and they introduce new friends to the schools we support.

Thank you to everyone who took part and donated.

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