THE community came together in Newquay to enjoy food, friendship and fun.

Crantock Street Community Garden held its 7th annual Big Lunch event.

People brought along food to share and paella was on offer from Fore Street Café. 

Entertainment was provided by local band Bow River and there were performances from Marley, Lacey and Summer, who are students at The Studios in Bank Street. There was also a raffle as well as face painting.

Anna Jay, who helped to organise the event, said: “The Big Lunch was without a doubt the best so far.

“We have seen so many wonderful friendships form at these events.

“Our community and neighbours came together for a day of fun and friendship, and we have the support of some amazing local businesses and performers who donated raffle prizes, or their time and talent to make the event so much fun.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to Bow River who play for us every year and they also brought some brilliant students from The Studios who wowed us with their performances. 

“Simon Thompson from Fore Street Café cooked up an amazing paella for us at the garden people brought dishes for us to share. 

“Thank you to Olly Monk, Cornwall Councillor for Newquay Trenance who is a huge supporter of the garden and has awarded funding for various projects and events over the year for this event.

“He funded Little Rainbow Arts face painting from the community chest through the generosity of our community, and amazing prizes that were donated, face painting and food donations and we raised over £500 towards the upkeep of the garden and future events.

“I’d would like to say a personal thank you to the small group of six volunteers who run the garden, do lots in the background and help make our annual Big Lunch a wonderful community event. 

“Try holding a big lunch in your community. A few hours of friendship, food and fun can lead to long term connections and happier, safer communities.”

Plans are underway to give Crantock Street Community Garden a makeover.

Kim Parish from Landscapes of Distinction aims to create a new vision for the space.

A meeting will be held at the garden to discuss the plans on Wednesday, July 10 at 8am.

Anna said: “We are currently planning the redevelopment of the garden and have put the new plans up on our noticeboard.

“We have invited landscape contractors to join us and our designer Kim Parish at the meeting to hear more before they submit tenders for the project. 

“We will be applying for funding for this project and would love to hear from any funders who would be interested in supporting our project.”