This week, we opened our doors for more than 130 guests from local care homes and neighbourhood care groups to join us for our annual Community Christmas Party. And what a party it was!
A huge thank you to everyone who made the event such a success, we were overwhelmed by the support of our school community, and it was appreciated by everyone who attended.
More than 150 JBugs and First Year students volunteered to look after our guests at each table, helping them with the games, fetching refreshments, and having a chat. A group of 25 Lower Sixth students were also on hand to help, and even managed to get a lot of the guests up and dancing.
Everyone enjoyed the renditions from The Wizard of Oz and the Big Band had people dancing in the aisles with classic tunes as well as a big Christmas medley to end.
Thank you to parents who donated food or prizes for the bingo and raffle, around half the guests went away with prizes. A special thanks to parents who gave up their time to collect and return guests or volunteered to help with the smooth running of the party itself. We couldn’t have done it without your support.
We received a lot of heartfelt thanks from guests throughout the evening, all of them praising the music, and the kindness and attentiveness of the students; we cannot commend them enough for the way they all conducted themselves.
“Thank you so much for the wonderfully organised party at Trinity. Attentive, polite students serving us with delicious and plentiful food and drink. Fantastic entertainment with a wealth of talent from students. We thoroughly enjoyed the clips from Wizard of Oz and could have listened to the Big Band all night! This was a fantastic start to the Christmas season for us, so thank you again to all who contributed.” Local residents Brian and Sonia
“I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for last night. I have had such wonderful feedback from all our residents about how much fun they had and how welcome they were made to feel.” Beckenham Park Care Home
Lower Sixth student Alex Molony’s dancing made one guest comment that ‘it was the best party she’d been to in ages’! Alex says, “I have had fond memories of the Community Christmas Parties over the years, having helped at multiple, especially by putting on Drama performances as entertainment. The reactions of joy and happiness from the people who wouldn’t normally get to see something like it, are truly worth it.
“This year, I started off the evening by presenting songs performed by the principals of ‘Wizard of Oz’, while dressed as my character, the Wizard. My favourite moment was getting to witness the crowd recognise the songs, singing and even dancing along! When we’d all finished performing, some of us went into the main party and mingled, clearing tables, taking drinks orders and making conversation.
“When Big Band started playing, and the mood elevated even more, we decided to see if any of the guests wanted a dance, something that they might not normally get to enjoy. One of the coordinators of the evening pointed out a lady who had come on her own, so I went over, and we started dancing! Neither of us had really danced before, but it was so much fun, and we had a great chat! It was such a joyous evening, and I’m so proud that we were all able to lift the spirits of people who might otherwise be a bit lonely this Christmas.”
Lower Sixth student Kristian Sarai says, “I can’t think of a single moment over the course of the evening when I wasn’t enjoying myself. The musical entertainment in particular was absolutely sublime – I was blown away by the technical ability of the cast of our upcoming drama production, The Wizard of Oz, whilst the Big Band got everyone into the groove with some renditions of Frank Sinatra and Michael Bublé (among a few Christmas classics).
“However, we mustn’t forget that the real purpose of the evening was to give the visiting elderly residents a night they’ll never forget and – seeing the constant smiles on their faces as they ate, talked and danced – I’d like to hope that we achieved just that.”
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