Cranford Review 2020

Donating
and
Delivering
Christmas
Joy
to
Local
Families
We would like to give an indebted thank you to the Metropolitan Police for
generously donating Christmas gifts to our community, especially to the
families who have benefited from the Heston West area. On Sunday 22nd
December 2019, our team of enthusiastic and dedicated young and adult
volunteers delivered the gifts to the Redwood, Brabazon and Harlech Gardens
Estates. All the families really appreciated the gesture and the gifts. Our Big
Local volunteers also enjoyed the experience and felt really proud delivering
the gifts and seeing the reaction from the families.
“A massive thank you to the
police officers who have gone
above and beyond their duties to
provide for our community and
enhance the relationships in our
tight-knit family. We appreciate
your commitment to create the
best backdrop for our youth to
prosper in safety and access
opportunities”.
Twinkle Sood, age 16
Big success at our Ugandan inspired Community Theatre performance of
“Together We Are Stars” with Bantu Arts
On Friday 29th November 2019 an incredible
community intergenerational play was performed by
our fantastic volunteers and participants in partnership
with Bantu Arts. In our Ugandan inspired performance
‘Together We Are Stars’, we highlighted social
concerns and issues surrounding online bullying,
body image, Brexit and climate change. The play was
written and directed by Big Local youth volunteer
Sharanjit Kaur, 16, and this was the first time she
ventured into the dramatic arts and what a wonderful
job she did!
In our first story, Juhi Kumra (long-standing
volunteer for the Big Local and now a university
student studying Theatre and English Literature)
was brilliant in her role as the shy but stubborn Tina
Rajput. Tina is struggling with social anxiety, online
bullying and with her body image, and suddenly
finds herself involved in the dark world of knife
crime. The story focuses on how a combination
of low self-esteem, the pressures of looking good
online and peer to peer bullying can lead someone to
take the wrong path with devastating consequences.
​
​Our second story told a tale of the impact of Brexit
and how the referendum result had divided our society
rather than uniting it. Our final story highlighted the
real concerns of climate change and what we can do
to help. We heard from giant Tortoises explaining
how plastic waste is destroying their habitats, killing
innocent animals in the process. The audience were
given tips on how to reduce waste, save energy and
tools to protect their local environment.
Despite the heavy social topics, the performance was
inspiring, captivating, colourful and entertaining.
Through the art of Ugandan music and dance, our
performers were able to bring the topics to life,
wowing the audience during the evening. Overall, all
performers and crew did an exceptional job bringing
joy and laughter to the audience. Big congratulations
to all at Bantu Arts, our talented performers,
volunteers and their families for their involvement
and also to our excellent audience for showing their
community support. We look forward to starting a
new intergenerational theatre project with Bantu
Arts in the New Year, so watch this space.
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