What a Day! H&F Active Wellbeing Festival 2026 Brings the Community Together
- Pauline Zepherin
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
Hammersmith & Fulham Residents Come Together for Fun, Laughter, Health & Wellbeing
Sunshine, laughter, music, movement, delicious food and a wonderful sense of community filled Sands End Arts & Community Centre and South Park on Saturday 11 July 2026, as residents came together for the H&F Active Wellbeing Festival 2026.
Active Successful Engagement (ASÉ) CIC, working in partnership with Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Sands End Arts & Community Centre (SEACC), was proud to help bring the free festival to life, welcoming more than 550 residents for a fantastic day celebrating health, wellbeing and community togetherness.
And what a day it was!
From the moment the festival got underway, there was an incredible buzz. Families, children, young people and residents of all ages filled Walnut Grove and the surrounding outdoor spaces - dancing, laughing, getting active, meeting new people and discovering some of the fantastic health, wellbeing and community services available locally.
There really was something for everyone, with live music and singing, Steel Pans, Tai Chi, Boccia Hoops, Double Dutch skipping, circus skills, football, cricket and basketball tournaments, children's games and activities, face painting, henna, free fresh fruits, aromatherapy oils, massage workshops, health information, free health checks and much more.
It was exactly what community wellbeing should feel like: welcoming, inclusive, informative and, most importantly, FUN!
One Borough - Bringing Our Communities Together
For ASÉ, one of the achievements we are most proud of was bringing together residents from different parts of Hammersmith & Fulham.
69 residents travelled from W12 North of the borough to join residents and families in SW6 South of the borough - a fantastic achievement and an important part of what we wanted the festival to accomplish.
Community events can sometimes remain very local to the neighbourhood in which they take place. We wanted this festival to reach further - breaking down barriers to participation and creating opportunities for residents from across the borough to come together, connect and share the experience.
And that's exactly what happened.
Residents from the north, central and southern parts of the borough shared food, danced, joined activities, accessed health services, exchanged information, made new connections and, most importantly, had BIG fun together.
The festival also gave ASÉ a valuable opportunity to reach new residents, raise awareness of our work and recruit people interested in becoming Advocates for Change and Parent/Carer Champions (PCCs) - helping us build on the connections made on the day and strengthen community-led support beyond the festival itself.
For ASÉ, that's what strengthening communities is all about.
One borough, Different neighbourhoods. One community.
Fun With a serious Purpose - Taking Health Into the Community
Amongst all the music, laughter and entertainment was a really important purpose - creating opportunities for residents to connect with local health services and take positive, proactive steps towards improving their health and wellbeing.
The festival enabled us to bring health professionals and preventative healthcare directly into a relaxed and familiar community setting, making it easy for people to stop, have a conversation, ask questions and access a health check while enjoying their day.
And residents responded!
Our NHS colleagues delivered 92 health checks, including:
12 BMI assessments
39 blood glucose checks
41 blood pressure checks
Our Imperial College colleagues delivered a further 75 screenings:
40 FibroScan - liver checks
35 Hepatitis B & C tests
That's 167 NHS and Imperial College health checks and screenings delivered in just one day.
For us, this is community health engagement in action - taking opportunities directly into the community and making health and wellbeing accessible to everyone.
A Little Time to Relax...
Wellbeing isn't only about health checks or getting active. Sometimes it's simply about having the chance to stop, unwind and be looked after.
Our wonderful Community Massage team provided 32 massages, creating a little oasis of calm amongst all the festival excitement.
From high-energy activities to quieter moments of relaxation, residents were able to experience wellbeing in lots of different ways.
406 FREE Meals - Food, Friendship & Conversation
Of course, what would a great community celebration be without delicious food?
An incredible 406 residents enjoyed FREE Caribbean meals during the festival.
The food brought another lovely dimension to the day. Families sat together, conversations started between people who had never met before and residents had the chance to eat, relax and enjoy each other's company.
Providing the meals free of charge was also an important factor. We wanted everyone to be able to enjoy the whole festival without costs becoming a barrier.
Great food. Great conversations. Great company.
Music, Movement and INCREDIBLE Energy!
There certainly wasn't much chance of sitting still for long!
A massive thank you to SpeakerBox Street Party, Simon and the crew, who brought incredible energy and kept Walnut Grove moving and dancing - a truly intergenerational experience.
And to the fabulous KXMII - thank you for a wonderful performance and singalongs that had everyone joining in and added something really special to the atmosphere.
Alongside them were our brilliant performers, activity leaders and community providers, giving residents plenty of opportunities to dance, move, play, learn, relax and simply enjoy being together.
What Did Our Residents Think?
The people best placed to describe the festival are, of course, the people who experienced it.
And their feedback said it all! Residents described the day as:
“Magical” • “Phenomenal” • “FUN” • “Exciting” • “Calm” • “Restorative” • “Fantastic” • “Excellent” • “Entertaining”
Those words mean a great deal to us because they capture exactly what we hoped to achieve.
H&F Active Wellbeing Festival 2026 - The Day in Pictures
Here are some of our favourite moments from a fantastic day of community, health and wellbeing.
Health and wellbeing can begin in so many ways - with music, movement, conversation, good food, laughter, friendship and simply feeling that you belong.
A Huge Thank You - We Did It Together!
An event like the H&F Active Wellbeing Festival doesn't happen without a huge team effort and there are so many people who helped make this day possible.
A massive thank you to our incredible ASÉ Team and Parent/Carer Champions (PCCs), and a special acknowledgement to our newly recruited Advocates for Change volunteers, who joined us in supporting the day.
Whether you were welcoming residents, supporting families, helping with the site setup and activities, gathering evaluations, directing people to health checks or solving the countless things that happen behind the scenes - we appreciate you!
Our heartfelt thanks to colleagues Debbie Peter-Mills (H&F Council), Nina von der Werth (SEACC) and their wonderful team - Cheryl Oteng, Paul Smith and Peggy Coles (Dementia Cafe) - as well as the amazing Maintenance/Setup and Removal Team, the Walnut Café team, and all our wonderful stallholder partners who worked alongside us to make the day possible.
A very special thank you to Hammersmith United Charities; June Farquharson, Transition Programme Director, NHS North West London ICB; and Fiona Hill, CEO of 3ST, whose generous support helped make it possible for us to provide free, delicious meals to everyone attending the festival, ensuring all members of our community could enjoy the day together.
A huge thank you to our amazing health and wellbeing teams and community partners: Ross Lambdon, Sophie Chishimba and Tembi Chinaire from South Fulham PCN and CLCH NHS Trust; Arlind Margjeka; Lorna Harrison, Richard Zabala, Lesten Capulso and Isabel Montgomery from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; Teresa Meekings; Roz and the wonderful therapists from Community Massage; Max Wallace from Health Defence CIC; Maxine and Crew from New Kensington Catering, MC Tania, Simon and the Dance Crew from SpeakerBox Street Party; and talented artist KXMII (Kamiylah).
Our sincere thanks also go to ALL the health and wellbeing services, Community Networkers, community organisations, performers, therapists, activity providers, stallholders and volunteers who generously contributed their time, expertise and energy to help make the day such a fantastic success.
You all helped make the magic happen - Thank you!
And Finally... Thank YOU, Our Community!
To the 550+ residents, friends, families, children and young people who joined us from across Hammersmith & Fulham - thank you.
Thank you for coming along, bringing your families and friends, travelling across the borough, trying something new, accessing health checks, connecting with our services, sharing your feedback, dancing, laughing and bringing such fantastic energy to the day. Without you, there is no festival.
Together, we created a day that brought people together, opened up access to important health and wellbeing support, created new connections and celebrated the strength and spirit of our community.
One borough. One community. One fantastic day.
WELL DONE EVERYONE - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
And after a day like that, there's only one thing left to say...
H&F Active Wellbeing Festival 2027...
We're already looking forward to doing it all again next year!
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