Music rang out over the Francis Patton School field this afternoon as community groups came together for the Bermuda Saving Lives Festival.

The event was intended to highlight community-focused organisations from across the island with live entertainment, games, food and more.

Desmond Crockwell, of organiser YouthVision Promotions, said he was happy to see the sun shining and children playing at the event.

He said: “We would like to see more spectators, but those who have come here, we want to make sure they feel empowered. That is the main thing.

“The people that are here are enjoying themselves and the people working at the booths are interacting with one another, which is strengthening their bonds.

“If we can all come together and go to the schools, it would be powerful.

“We could get to the rudest child because we have wraparound services. If we can get people to stick together instead of going back into their silos, that is where the impact is going to be.”

Nicole Fox, of Mothers on a Mission, an organisation that supports people who have lost loved ones to violence, said the group was happy to support the goal of the event to bring community groups together.

She added: “It takes a village to raise a child. It takes all of us. One entity cannot do it by themself.

“If adults like us cannot come together as one community, then how can our children do it? If we as adults cannot love as a community, respect as a community and respect each other, how can we expect our kids to?”

Ms Fox said it was important that children know they are not alone, and that they often can bring their own perspective to the challenges that face the island.

“We are here for them,” she said. “So they know we are here to support them, to guide them, and they are here to help teach us what is going on in their lives.

“We can both learn from each other.”

Maya Williams-Johnson, a junior team leader and emerging team leader with the Mirrors Programme, said the organisation wanted to be involved in the event to reach out to the community and introduce attendees to volunteer opportunities.

She noted: “An event like this brings so many people together. It builds strength, community and connections with everyone.

“Bermuda is such a tight-knit place that events like this are really what makes us what we are, and that is a strong island of people who cherish each other’s presence.

“We have music playing, there’s food, there are fun castles, people riding their bikes.

“It’s fun, its joyful, it’s everything you could like.”

Denae Burchall, the executive director of Raleigh International Bermuda, said in many cases organisations find themselves working in silos.

She added: “A lot of times you hear people saying ‘do this, do that’, but we can’t all do it all. We all need to take a piece of the puzzle, a piece of the continuum, work together.

“Events like these also show what is out there for young people, so while the six and seven-year-olds may not know what we do, they see us, they recognise our logo as they grow up, and as they get older they see it as an option.”

Kalaeb Tannock, an alumni of the experiential learning programme, said that Raleigh International had given him an amazing experience, including an expedition to Tanzania.

He added that he would do the programme again if he had the chance.

Of the Saving Lives event, Ms Burchall said: “It’s a very safe environment.

“My son is over there playing, finding his friends and people he went to school with when he was younger or who he knows from football.

“It’s really building on that sense of community.”

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