Sutherland Quarters summer barbecue draws 30 Crawley families
14th August 2026
New government figures show 177,530 children living in temporary accommodation in England, the thirteenth consecutive quarter to set a record. Crawley sits among the highest-rate areas outside London. Behind those numbers are six weeks of summer holidays spent in a flat with no garden, no budget for days out, and very little to fill the day.
That is the context our on-the-ground team works in every week, and it is why the annual summer barbecue at Sutherland Quarters was planned around what families in temporary accommodation actually need in August rather than around a photograph.
Thursday turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year. The team put up gazebos so residents had somewhere shaded to sit and eat, filled buckets with iced water, and kept cold drinks going all afternoon so nobody spent the day in direct sun. That planning is what allowed around 30 families to stay out for hours rather than retreating indoors after twenty minutes.
James Evans, Group Housing Director, spent the afternoon on the barbecue. His Southern-style wings and American burgers were the first thing to go, alongside salads and sides prepared by the Crawley team.
The afternoon belonged to the balloon man. Children queued around him for balloon swords, balloon poodles and balloon flowers, and several of them promptly took their balloons over to the ice buckets to give them a bath. When the bubble machine came on, the reaction was immediate. Skipping ropes ran on the grass for older children, and a quieter corner with colouring gave younger ones and their parents somewhere calmer to sit between activities.
Vasudev Guigan, Community Engagement Officer at Sutherland Quarters, planned and coordinated the event. On the day he was supported by Jack Vora, Regional Manager, John Kobby Blankson, Housing Officer, and Shanna Marie Johns, who has recently joined the Crawley team as a Housing Officer and was on site helping throughout.
One resident told the team afterwards:
"Just wanted to say a massive thank you for everyone today. The BBQ went down a treat, and everyone loved it. The Ballon man was a big hit all the kids loved him. A massive thank you to THE BBQ BOSS MR EVANS !!! Your food was lovely"
Afternoons like this one give families in temporary accommodation a reason to come outside, meet the people living in their block, and put names to the team on site. Those relationships are what make it easier for a resident to knock on the office door when something goes wrong.
Vasudev and the team are already working on the next date at Sutherland Quarters, with the aim of getting something in place before the schools go back.