The Health and Well-being Extravaganza 2022 sponsored by the South England Conference brought together on Sunday 1st May, many of residents in and around Hertfordshire including children, families, and our senior generation to create a beautiful community event with a friendly stress-free environment full of joy and positivity.
Families and local residents came together as part of the South England Conference strategy for promoting Health and Well-being in an age of intense mental health challenges to individuals and families due to the Pandemic. The aim of the South England Conference is to seek the well-being of our communities by meeting their felt needs. The strategy is to follow the counsel of EG White who wrote: “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with people as one who desired their good. He showed sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He invited them, “Follow Me”. The Health and Well-being Extravaganza is one day of achieving this goal.
The event, which was organised by Barbara Lawrence and her team renowned for community inclusivity had a wide range of interactive activities using visual performance, live music on the giant stage, the big exercise and much more. There were 50 stalls ranging from national charities including Cancer Research, Oral Dentist Hygiene, Beauty Organics, Handmade Greeting Cards, Chiropractor support, Smoothie for health, alternative cooking demonstration, Pathfinders showcasing their expertise in drilling and drumming, Cancer Well-being care, and the list goes on.
The “Children’s Zone” included an Animal Mobile Farm with a feeding baby calf, a goat, a pony and more – parents had a challenge leading their children onto the other creative activities including Birds for Prey where the children were able to take photographs as a memento. Face painting and several bouncy castles, arts and crafts were also enjoyed by all children.
The Health Checks Room was a well visited place where many adults were involved in taking their various health checks including diabetes checks, BMI, height and weight, cholesterol and more.
Our special guests of the day were Mayor Elect of Watford Peter Taylor who met the residents and even attended the Prayer stall for Prayer. We also had Elliot Howard-Jones, CEO of Hertfordshire Community Trust of the NHS who invited residents to come along to the NHS stall to sign up for the numerous positions available. Our final guest was former High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, Eric Masih who greeted the audience.
Despite the early wet weather, the event witnessed an amazing turnout, with crowds of people passing through getting involved in the praise and worship, the exercise classes and taking photographs with evident and genuine enjoyment – the hallmark of a very successful day.
We do appreciate the South England Conference president Dr. Emmanuel Osei and his team of directors for the vision to hold this event which saw many community families and children that did attend so that we were able to “mix and mingle” as prescribed by our Master.
