Legacy WM hosted a phita mela and family fun day with a group of volunteers for the local community. The word ‘phita’ in Bengali means a variety of snacks; these could be sweet or savoury. The idea to host a ‘phita’ mela came about when a group of volunteers approached us and wanted us at Legacy to support them in organising it.
The volunteers had the vision of having various stalls that provided a wide range of handmade sweet and savoury ‘phitas’. We at Legacy wanted it to be a day enjoyed by everyone hence we changed it into ‘Phita Mela & Family Fun Day’, with a Mendhi artist and bouncy castle for the children to enjoy.
On the day we had nearly 20 stalls selling different types of ‘phita’ as well as sarees, Asian suits and jewellery. Though the event was a cultural food festival, we could not get away from our much loved British food. One of our colleagues from Legacy capitalised on the good weather and got his BBQ kit out selling handmade burgers and chicken wings – which were very popular! The local community came along with family members even elder members of the community attended to see what ‘phitas’ were selling on the day.
The weather was excellent and the gardens of Soho House were enjoyed by the families. The local people loved the surrounding of Soho House and felt safe and secure whilst the children played in the gardens. The day had a lovely ‘buzz’ to it with a steady flow of people attending throughout the day and enjoying the food, company and atmosphere.
The staff at Legacy were overwhelmed with the response from the people; everyone enjoyed it and wanted to know when the next one is! Needless to add with such awesome feedback and demand we are hoping to host another one next year…..so watch this space.
