Picnic will celebrate community getting through lockdown
Ferguslie Park event planned this month
A watershed moment has been reached in Ferguslie Park – with the first planned event since being freed by lockdown shackles.
A public picnic open to the entire area will take place at the Village Green on May 31.
Organisers say the Bank Holiday Monday event is symbolic of the way the scheme has come through the pandemic.
Terry McTernan, secretary of the Darkwood Crew, said: “This picnic feels like a real landmark and a celebration of how Ferguslie Park has come through this.
“We were told at the beginning of all this we were going to have two and a half times the death rate.
“It was typical of all the weird and wonderful things we are often beaten with a stick down here.
“But the reality is we navigated it a lot more comfortably than expected.
“And I would say it is because of our collective community - which has always existed - that has helped us get through it.
“This picnic is all about everybody coming together, outside and as safely as we can.
“It is certainly a great reminder to everyone that we are a community.”
He added: “This picnic is basically an outdoors celebration of how we can come together again.”
Normally Ferguslie is a hive of community engagement, but that has taken a nosedive over the past 15 months.
Events were cancelled and the bingo bus was pulled up.
But community activists believe the virus has actually helped “raise the bar” on what is available to the area.
The event is being run in conjuction with Bridge of Weir Leather and the Tannahill Centre Big Ideas Fund.
The picnic had been planned for April 7 as an Easter celebration but covid restrictions postponed it.
The event begins and noon and is free.
Picnic bags including sandwiches and goodies will be handed out to everyone.
Outdoor activities will be available for all ages including inflatables, an outdoor soft play area, sumo wrestling and bingo provided from the community bus.
This picnic feels like a real landmark and celebration of how Ferguslie Park has come through this