Olivia Opara reports from an Easter event held at the ORA Brewery

A local father has hosted a community event to bring together residents of Tottenham Hale to mark the end of Easter.

Francis Danso, a father of two, decided to organise a free family event on Sunday for the local community. The idea for the ‘Shabba Family Get Together’ came about when he was planning his friend’s birthday party. Having lived in Tottenham for many years, Francis has seen a decline in free community events on the east side of Tottenham High Road.

Francis told HCP that the few community events on this side of the high road always tend to be at Living Under One Sun, a community hub at Downslane Park.

“There’s not a lot of events on this side of the high road – we always have to cross over to other areas and once you get to Hornsey and Muswell Hill, the disparity gets even worse,” said Francis.

“I wanted to run an event that makes those on that side come over to us and showcases lots of the good things going on in Tottenham Hale.”

Francis hosted the event at the ORA Brewery taproom, featuring family activities such as arts and crafts, retro computer games, a football corner and bouncy castles for the younger children. There was also face-painting and jewellery making with the Trove Market as well as DJs playing dub, funk, afrobeats, hip-hop and electronica.

One mother told HCP that the event was great and that more are needed.

“Ever since they shut down Tottenham Green Market, it has been bad. We miss stuff like this and we loved the local businesses there,” she said.

The ORA Brewery helped to fund the event which Francis threw voluntarily, hoping to encourage others to host similar events in the future.

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