The unprecedented heatwave brought out the crowds at various local events including the annual Town Mayors Funday and the first ever Banbury Pride event.
As always our volunteers have been busy meeting people across the Banbury and District patch. In May to promote Mental Health Awareness Week we attended Banbury and Bicester College along with other organisations getting students talking about the importance of looking after their own mental health and recognising others that might be struggling. Later in the week we pulled up our banners in Castle Quay and met shoppers and staff who were interested to find out more about the work of Samaritans, how they could volunteer and also spread the word about spotting those who may be going through a tough time.
On 30th May Banbury held its first Pride event and which was a great success. Our outreach team spent the day chatting to some of those who attended including local councillor Chris Aramini-Brant, they enjoyed great music (and food) and soaked up the atmosphere.
One of our annual favourites is the Town Mayors Funday in Peoples Park where we caught up with Cllrs Mark Cherry and his deputy Henry Ulugwu. The sunshine brought out the crowds and our famous crushed car competition returned leading to long conversations, the sharing of knowledge and expertise and numerous guesses being made - only one person managed to identify it as seaside blue Hyundai Getz.
And finally - we're so grateful to Brackley Waitrose and their customers for selecting Banbury and District Samaritans as one of three charities taking part in their Community Matters Green Tokens initiative and we came second securing a rather amazing cheque for £1,000. Thank you all.
