Family fun on Armed Forces Day

Lots of fun was had at the Shrewsbury Sports Village on Armed Forces Day last week (Saturday 30 June 2018), when families, cadets, veterans, Armed Forces Covenant signees and local and military charities came to together to celebrate the Armed Forces community.

Celebrating Armed Forces Day at Shrewsbury Sports Village.

The event was the brain child of Shropshire Council, who wanted to do something special for the local armed forces community, alongside the major public event that took place this year at Llandudno.

The event started at 1pm with the arrival of the Councillor Phil Gillam, the Deputy Mayor of Shrewsbury, who toured the activities, accompanied by Shropshire Councillor Karen Calder and the RAF Shawbury Station Commander, Group Captain Chuck Norris and his family.

On offer at the event were varied and exciting activities such as a supervised climbing wall, inflata-play, bouncy castle, arts and crafts, roller disco, cycling, indoor bowls, football practice delivered by Shrewsbury Town in the Community, fitness classes and Tri Golf. It was clear from the smiles on the children’s faces that they were having a great time as they tried activities for the first time such as scaling the sheer face of the climbing wall.

Chuck Norris, Group Captain, said:

“Today has been a fantastic event and I would like to thank Shropshire Council, the staff at the Sports Village and the RAF Shawbury Youth Workers for their hard work in hosting such a fun and rewarding event. It was especially nice to see the support from military charities as well as those local businesses who have signed the Armed Forces Covenant, all coming together to make today such an enjoyable day.”

Councillor Phil Gillam, Deputy Mayor of Shrewsbury, said:

“This has been an excellent and enjoyable event. What surprised me is the diversity of the organisations here today which shows the support for our Armed Forces form both military charities and  local businesses, many of whom have signed the Armed Forces Covenant.”

Councillor Karen Calder, Chair of the Armed Forces Covenant Group, said:

“It was great that so many service charities and business came along to support the event. Special thanks go to the Royal British Legion, SSAFA, Shawbury Military Wives Choir, Wace Morgan Solicitors, Shrewsbury Armed Forces Breakfast Club, Trek Cycles, England Golf and Future Fit. Without the support of such organisations it would be very difficult to put on this type of event.

“I would also like to thanks Shropshire Community Leisure Trust for providing the facility free of charge as their commitment to supporting members of the Armed Forces.  We are planning to host a similar event next year which I’m sure will be bigger and better.”