The 31st August this year was a special day in our calendar as we celebrated this amazing milestone anniversary for our housing charity with a Summer party.
For the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we were finally able to meet in person which made the day extra special. Tenants and their care providers travelled from all over South London and the South East to meet Zetetick staff and board members in the very accessible and attractive, Lloyd Park in Croydon for a day of fun and festivities.
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Birthday fun and festivities
Our Street Kitchen food van was ready to serve up freshly made burgers, baguettes, and fries for everyone to enjoy, as well as a full range of hot and cold drinks throughout the day. We were also lucky enough to have ‘Mable’ the ice cream van (inspired by ice cream vans of days-gone-by) serving deliciously creamy soft whipped ice cream with the very best Cadbury 99 flakes, as well as a selection of traditional lollies.
Another highlight of the day was seeing everyone loving the entertainment provided. In one direction you could see tenants enjoying the bouncy castle (we also spotted Anne-Mari, Finance Director, and Karen, Finance Officer, having a bounce!) and more tenants and their care providers working their way through the inflatable assault course, complete with slide at the end. Over on the other side of the party was Gary, Founder, and Jonathan, CEO, along with our tenants, and their care providers taking it in turns on our very own spinning teacups!
A surprise raffle was also planned for our tenants, by Judith, Director of Housing. Everyone eagerly gathered around as Judith called out the winning numbers. There were plenty of happy winners, who went away clutching their prizes, be it a box of chocolates, crafting kits or activity sets.
Reflecting on a wonderful day
It was so lovely to spend time together with everyone in person and reflect on the achievements from the last 15 years with tenants old and new. As well as seeing the incredibly strong bonds between tenants and their care providers and hearing about upcoming plans for holidays and spending some quality time together. It is so important to acknowledge social care workers and managers, whose tireless work enables so many of our tenants’ social mobility.
Having the party in Lloyd Park – a recommendation made by Judith – worked so well. A lovely family park in central Croydon, staff were able to tell some of the wider community who stopped by to enquire, a bit about ZHC, our tenants and why we do what we do. A huge thank you to Croydon Council for their support in allowing us to hire the site.
If you’ve never been to Lloyd Park before, we couldn’t recommend it more highly! Beautiful, peaceful open spaces bordered with lovely trees and foliage; you wouldn’t believe that we were in the centre of a South London Borough. The sun even shone brightly for us on the day with just a few clouds here and there whilst we enjoyed our lunch and entertainment – it couldn’t have been better.
Thank you to our tenants
We were thrilled to hear some lovely feedback from the day, with tenants and care providers sharing with us:
“Food was lovely, activities were fantastic, everyone was friendly. We really enjoyed it, fantastic.”
“We really enjoyed it – clients were really happy.”
“It was lovely, everyone was really sociable, had a lovely time. ZHC staff interacted well with tenants, can’t fault it. Food servers were great, really patient with everyone, would love to have them back.”
“Enjoyed the birthday party very much – LOVED the food.”
“We both enjoyed it, decent presentation.”
“Lovely and fun.”
To hear these wonderful comments and to see everyone enjoying the occasion, makes our work even more rewarding.
An enormous thank you to those that came. You made it a truly great day. We are already busy planning future events, and look forward to getting everyone together again soon, for at least another 15 years!
Housing charity – what is supported housing?
Take a look at some of our other articles to find out a bit more about who we are and what we do: