17/08/2026
It’s taken me the whole weekend to even get my head around the Party in the Pitch!
I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been as proud of an event or, our community, as I was on Friday night!
Standing on the pitch looking around at hundreds of families, kids running about, people dancing and laughing, people from different backgrounds and different communities, all sharing the same space and just enjoying being together was something special.
This is our community. Most of us were raised here, these streets and these people made us who we are, and we remember a time when the old centre didn’t always feel like it belonged to us.
We wanted that to change. We wanted our kids and families to know that this place IS YOURS!!!
We want you to feel connected to it, connected to each other and proud of where you come from... and on Friday night I looked around and thought, f**k me, this is actually what we imagined.
The difference is unreal!
You can see it and you can feel it. Community isn’t a building or a programme; it’s people, it's relationships, connection, it's looking after each other and knowing that you belong somewhere.
I am so proud of the Party in the Pitch, proud of every volunteer who made it possible, proud of every family who came along and trusted us to create something for them, proud of what our centre has become and, most importantly, proud of Shantallow and our people.
We never want to lose what Friday was about... local, welcoming, accessible, safe, full of love and fun for everyone.
Thank you again and again to everyone who made it what it was. These are our people, this is our home and we couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve built together💙