JERICHO ECHO ARTICLE
September 2005
Jericho's Street Fair is put on by the Jericho Community Association, which is also responsible for: Running the Community Centre; The efforts to provide a new Centre on the canalside development site; The Jericho Echo. We are a voluntary organisation, which means that with the exception of the part-time administrator, cleaner and café manager, none of us is paid. We hold committee meetings on the second Monday of each month in the café. Membership of the Association is automatic to everyone who lives in Jericho so you are very welcome to come and join us. Whether you are a student living here for a short time, a couple with or without children, one of the area's many singles, or a senior citizen, we would like to invite you to get involved. You may already take a class at the centre, have children in the playgroup or at the youth club, or visit the café. Why not become part of the team that helps the Centre serve the community? Making a contribution need not take a lot of time. Our monthly meetings usually last less than two hours before adjourning to the pub. But you need not make even this regular commitment It would be just as valuable to give a few hours of your time once or twice a year to help with our main events: the distribution of the Jericho Echo and the Street Fair. The Jericho Echo is produced two or three times a year and is always on the look out for news items and stories about Jericho that you may like to contribute. Once produced, and printed courtesy of OUP, it is delivered by local residents. Could you help deliver? The Street Fair is a popular event but it needs planning and preparation and recently this has fallen to a very small group. We used to be able to run the Fair for a longer time but have had to shorten it because we did not have enough people on the day to help serve refreshments, clean up tables, sell tickets, organize stalls, and supervise the bouncy castle. With more people to help, everyone would only need to give a few hours and we could all also have time during the day to enjoy the event itself. If the Street Fair is to run again so successfully we need more volunteers to come forward now so they can work alongside those who have done it before. People like to work in the community because it is enjoyable and rewarding and gives a great feeling of belonging. Jericho is fortunate in retaining a sense of community. But as with most good things this spirit does not come from nowhere. It comes from people like you, who enjoy living here, and would like to help but perhaps do not know how to join in. If you are interested, contact Sue Pead at 557903.