THE Harvey Centre and the Harlow community have been working together for the last few months to create a Right Royal Knees-up in celebration of the Queen’s 90th Birthday and the birthdays of Harlow residents turning 90 in 2016. The event took place on Saturday 11th June and was a huge success from start to finish.

The event wouldn’t have been possible without the huge support provided by the local community including Harlow Council, The Phoenix Centre, Harlow Community Choir, The Lesley Whitaker School of Dance, The Playhouse, Sheltered Housing and Paradise Wildlife Park. A special thank you also needs to be given to all nineteen tenants at The Harvey Centre who supported the event.

The event was attended by nine 90 year-olds from the community who were able to celebrate their birthday with a traditional afternoon tea supplied by Tesco and Couzens Bakery. Special gifts were presented to the 90 year old guests by Cllr Edna Stevens, Chair of Harlow Council and were kindly provided by Tesco. Cllr Edna Stevens was also given the honour of cutting the fabulous four-tier cake supplied by Reksio, which all visitors were able to enjoy.

The Lesley Whitaker School of Dance showed everyone how to glide on the dance floor and Harlow Community Choir provided a beautiful atmospheric backdrop to the event. Free flags were also handed out to shoppers to show their patriotic spirit and the centre was decorated in the colours of the national flag. Harlow Council organised the ‘Queen of all Treasure Hunts’, with Her Majesty hiding in a variety of windows throughout the town centre – anyone who found them won a prize.

There was also plenty for the kids to enjoy with tiara and crown making, glitter tattoos and a ‘pin the nose on the corgi’ competition plus a treasure hunt around the centre, with prizes supplied by The Phoenix Centre. Paradise Wildlife Park brought ride-on-horse toys to the centre for the children to play on, and Harvey the Hippo, the centre’s newest mascot, was at the event all day to greet customers.

Bryan Young, Centre Manager at The Harvey Centre says, “This was an event for the people of Harlow and we wanted to ensure there was something for everyone – no matter their age. With the support from a number of organisations in Harlow and our tenants, we were able to put on an event that our Queen would’ve been proud to attend. The Harlow community certainly likes a party and there’s no doubt the 90 year-olds showed everyone how it’s done. ”

Melanie Green, a visitor of the event said, “My husband, daughter, baby grandson and I attended The Harvey Centre’s Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations and we had a great time watching the dancers and sitting with some of Harlow’s older generation. We were made so welcome by all the staff with regular beverages and snacks and cakes – it was a great event and we couldn’t have wished for a better afternoon.”