A PICNIC was held to promote community spirit at Higher Folds Community Centre.

Residents from the Higher Folds estate were invited to come along and enjoy a picnic as well as entertainment such as a bouncy castle and a climbing wall.

There was also several agencies present who came along to hand out information to people about the estate.

John Latham, community engagement officer at the centre, said: “We held the event to build community spirit and get people together to enjoy a picnic and activities.

"We also wanted to hand out some information about the estate so the Environment Agency and Transport for Greater Manchester came along to provide information. The EA handed out leaflets about flood plains, as Higher Folds is on one while TfGM were there to answer questions about the busway that will be running nearby.

“We also wanted to promote our nursery which is only for two-year-olds and we got a few sign-ups for that.”

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The event, on Friday, was made possible by funding from the Better Neighbourhood Fund courtesy of Wigan and Leigh Housing which was matched by the community centre.

“More than 300 people came along and the feedback has been excellent,” said John.

“We held it now because we thought school holidays can be so expensive for people trying to keep the kids entertained.

"There is not very much money around here and a lot of those that came praised the fact that it was free.

“Lots of people have asked us to do it again which we are definitely looking into but it all depends on the weather.

“We only had a little shower during the event but it did start to rain as the event drew to a close.”

To find out more about the community centre and the nursery for two-year-olds, call 01942 674548.