Enjoy face painting, Easter games and more at Northampton Spring Fair this week

Face painting, Easter egg hunts and games are just a few things residents can expect to enjoy at a Spring Fair in Northampton this week.

The fair will be held at the Doddridge Centre in St James on Saturday, April 9 from 10am to 2pm. This will mark the centre’s first event since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and it has high hopes to bring the community together as well as open a new office space locals can use for free.

Doddridge centre director, Rachel Bott, said: “We have received funding to host a community event once a month to try to bring people together and have a bit of fun and explore what the centre is all about.”

There will be around 15 stalls at the event selling refreshments and other goods as well as Easter activities, face painting and a vintage bus. The fire service and police will also be attending the event.

The Doddridge centre received funding from local councillors, Gareth and Terrie Eales, to transform two of the centre’s offices into community spaces. One room has a sofa along with a variety of books as well as desks to place laptops and use wi-fi free of charge.

The aim of this new space is to give locals somewhere to go to write a CV, do quiet reading or complete homework.

Rachel added that she is also looking to work with local organisations to provide CV writing and job interview classes to upskill the local community.

She is also looking to start up more community groups in addition to the tots group that runs every Thursday. There are currently plans for a drawing club to start at the centre in May.

Rachel said: “A lot of hard work and time and effort has gone into this. I am really looking forward to meeting people and seeing the centre back in full swing again.”

Spaces are available for hire at the Doddridge Community Centre and anyone interested in volunteering is asked to email Rachel at [email protected].