Culture Day at Jeanette Wallace House: Creating spaces for celebration
Over 70 people joined the Croydon North Locality Team for their annual culture day celebrations at Jeanette Wallace House. Everyone came dressed in clothes and brought food that represented their unique mix of cultures.
The day began with everyone introducing their cultures through performances, song and dance. The team also had a drummer in the office to help keep the energy up all day!
Across the day, we asked people what they loved the most about their culture. For some people, it was the food and customs but for others, it was the personal attributes of their people in their cultures.
LaFayne Bernard, Mental Health Social Worker and organiser of Culture Day said: “Our shared humanity makes us better at what we do - let’s keep walking this walk together! This was a brilliant opportunity to bring together our cultures and remember that we work better united than apart.”
The day was filled with energy and excitement. Multiple performances took place including dances, poem recitals and songs, everyone was able to share what was important to them, what makes them unique and what they are most proud of when it comes to their culture.
Everyone came together to enjoy dishes made by their colleagues with food including plantain, jollof rice, roti, jerk chicken, mac and cheese, scones and much more.
The teams in Jeanette Wallace House work incredibly hard to support the communities within Croydon with huge case loads in each department. Events like this allow everyone to gain respite and connect with the people they spend most of their weeks with – both learning new things about them and connection on past shared experiences.
We also asked people what they enjoyed most about the event – watch the video below to find out what they said!
