Festive party first for SPATEX venue
Andy Slater- 1 day ago
SPATEX host venue Coventry Building Society Arena has provided a festive celebration first to more than 200 people who may be alone, vulnerable, or isolated during Christmas.
It was the first year the One Day at Christmas event has been held at the CBS Arena, which welcomed guests engaged in community groups and support across Coventry as part of an initiative hosted at eight venues across the country catering for over 2,000 guests. There are now plans to expand the nationwide event to help host more than 10,000 people in future.
One Day at Christmas at the CBS Arena was supported by more than 40 volunteers who made the day possible alongside event organisers BtoB Events. Guests attended from organisations including Coventry Building Society’s friendship groups, Sky Blues in the Community, Saheli Group, Age UK Coventry & Warwickshire, Grapevine and Voluntary Action Coventry.
Producer Paul, from Hits Radio West Midlands’ breakfast show, supported the festive party as host for the day, which saw guests enjoy a three-course Christmas lunch, games, live entertainment, and dancing, while Father Christmas also made a special guest appearance at the inaugural CBS Arena event.
Coventry and Warwickshire Gospel Choir kicked off the entertainment with Charlie Healy, who was a finalist of ‘X Factor’ in 2011, closing the party with a live performance in the late afternoon. Among the guests, pictured, were Peter Alexander, who lives just outside Coventry, Bero Bhandal, pictured right, from Binley, and Chris Roddis, pictured left, from Earlsdon.
“This was a chance to celebrate Christmas at what is not an easy time of year for everyone,” explained Chris; “It has been lovely to get together. It’s amazing what they have done to put the event on. It’s absolutely fantastic.”
Bero revealed: “My favourite part of the day was joining in with the games, especially the bingo, and having a good laugh. If you’re at home and lonely, events like this give you the chance to meet other people – and they cheer everybody up too! Thank you to the Arena for inviting us.”
Peter added: “I came to the event to meet with my friends and have a good time. Events like this mean a lot. Everyone has got a story to tell; some happy and some not so happy. The spread of food and drink was great, and it’s good there was some dancing at the end to get the weight off!”
CBS Arena Managing Director Paul Michael reported that the intention of hosting the event was to bring people together from communities all across Coventry.
“We took part in One Day at Christmas because we believed it was the right thing to do and, in collaboration with our event partners, we pulled out all the stops to make the day as special as possible,” divulged Paul.
“We hope everyone enjoyed the day. It was a joy to see so many smiling and happy faces, and we would like to wish all of the guests a Happy Christmas.”
To support One Day at Christmas and find out more about the annual event,
The CBS Arena will be hosting SPATEX 2025 from February 4 to 6, with over 100 exhibitors showcasing their wet leisure products and services, in conjunction with a bumper schedule of seminars and workshops throughout the three days.
Among the expert speakers will be Dr Ant Shepherd from University of Portsmouth’s School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences, who has revealed new findings from a recent University study that highlight how hot tub use can help to improve insulin effectiveness, heart health, and assist with lowering blood pressure in people with type 2 diabetes.
“We have been proud to host SPATEX for the last decade,” declared CBS Arena Director of Sales and Marketing Jenni Ford; “It’s an event that demonstrates our flexibility as a venue.
“The show has continued to expand and will this year be taking up space in the atrium as well as the exhibition halls. It is fantastic to see the event continue to go from strength to strength and grow here at Coventry Building Society Arena.”
www.coventrybuildingsocietyarena.co.uk
www.onedayatchristmas.com/make-donation
