Gwyn and Tracey lent a hand at the Derby Caribbean Carnival organised by DWICA. We were gathering an index of data about the attendees, which is essential for them to obtain external funding for the event. Our aim was to survey a good cross-section of people to span the full range that were attracted to Osmaston Park.

Having arrived and picked up our wristbands before the main event got going, we walked around the joint a few times to nail the best places to muscle in on people with our questionnaires, picking up a couple of fruit juices as we went.

We quickly put our finger on the best place to approach people; right in the middle of the event field, where there was little background noise from the stage.

As the crowds built up, we knuckled down to work, asking people about their background and motivations for attending the carnival, as well as other questions in that vein, and some free text where they could add a personal touch to the response.

When we each had ten done we had a brief paws for another glass of fruit juice each. Only a few more surveys left.

We made a decent fist of our attempt to get the full cross section of attendees, but sadly, no young men seemed interested in our survey, preferring their digital devices to our pieces of paper. Gwyn deserved a round of applause for the way he handled a tipsy participant.

Once the surveys were completed, we had a wrist in the shade (the sun was pulseing down in the event ring), enjoying some mitten curry, and some water – we had five drinks in all!

Having handed in the finished surveys, we enjoyed seeing the colourful costumes from the carnival parade – what a handsome lot they all were, with some of their feathered head-dresses like palm trees.

On the way back to the car park, we detoured via the Henry Royce statue, to make our walking total up to five kilometres, so we could log it as a (not)parkrun.

Thumbs up for DWICA!