Southsea neighbours enjoy a right royal knees up during Platinum Jubilee street party
A RIGHT royal knees up was the order of the day for residents in a Southsea street as they came together to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Neighbours living in Herbert Road poured out of their homes to tuck into a stunning lunch in the middle of the street.
The road was adorned with 288ft bunting, Union flags and even a blow-up model of the Queen’s crown.
Cara Tweedy-Smith, 49, who helped organise jubilee bonanza and was delighted with the turnout.
She added: ‘We organised to do the VE Day but it got cancelled so then we just carried on but two years later.
‘It is good to have the street to ourselves as if it was a long time ago.’
Residents from the Alton Manor Care Home were welcomed to its shindig, which featured a bake off-style cake competition, live music and family activities.
Edith Barwick, 10, won the junior cake competition. Edith’s mum, Craly Barwick, 35, was thrilled with her daughter’s success – and the welcoming atmosphere of the party.
She said: ‘It is really lovely for the community to come together and celebrate.
‘I am really pleased that the care home has come out and there are people here that we wouldn’t have usually met.’
As well as getting people together from the road, the street also welcomed other members of the community.
Nathan Gunton, from Two Saints, an accommodation for homeless people, was at the party and said it was a way for him to connect with people as he can ‘can feel a bit cut off.’
He said: ‘This country has given me everything and it does not owe me anything, I owe it everything.’
The 23-year-old, who struggles with mental health issues, said he was delighted to venture somewhere new and said it was a big step for his recovery journey.
He added: ‘We are all different but we all live under the same flag and to me that is beautiful.’