Ellen Habbershaw, part of Dover Town Carnival, has lived in Dover for 23 years and like most readers I’m sure believes it to be “a wonderful coastal town with its own quirks and character. The history of this town and surrounding area is fascinating and the scenery and views are amazing, especially the view of our Castle, which I see every day out of my window!”
In 2010 after seeing an advert in the local paper, Ellen entered Junior Miss Dover Selection, winning the Princess title which led her to tour the carnival scene of Kent; this ignited a love for the carnival which was only strengthened when in 2013 Ellen would become Miss Dover.
She’s not the only Habbershaw with a love of the carnival as she tells CommunityAd “later in that year my Nan, Valerie Habbershaw, joined the carnival’s committee and was voted Chairperson”.
For the last five years Ellen has been secretary and events manager at Dover Town Carnival and still thoroughly loves being a part of it. Her role involves a lot of community engagement, getting organisations and businesses on board the carnival, something she does because she loves “giving our girls a great year, watching them make friends and memories for life whilst representing their town makes me proud”.
Why is the Carnival such a great community event?
“I believe that Dover Town Carnival is a community event like no other here in Dover! Every year the Summer Carnival looks more and more promising with the help of the public and the donations from our sponsors, the event brings everyone together whether you’re decorating a float or watching, we love creating great memories for families.”
We can’t help but agree with Ellen, it is a great event and relies on countless hours of selfless volunteers, so if you’ve got a spare bit of time and fancy contributing towards this celebration of our town why not volunteer? As Ellen says it’s “a great way to meet new people and make friends, all while travelling to new places and learning new things.”