Launch event at Fairland Park

The Fairland Park project in Hornsey, London held their official opening ceremony on Sunday (18th July). The group, which received just under £50k from the Community Spaces programme, used funding to create a new play area in the park. Working with local partners and Groundwork London, the group has transformed the park with new landscaping, seating and play equipment.

Some fantastic photographs from the launch can be seen here: http://theladderopenspace.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/photos-of-fairland-park-summer-party

PLAY project (Playground for Litton's Active Youth) in Buxton, opens its doors.

Julie Nash, local mum involved in the P.L.A.Y project, has written in to share how their launch event went over the weekend. Julie’s becoming a bit of a regular blogger for us as she wrote to us to give us a progress update back in February – it’s so exciting to see the finished product!

Julie writes:
“After three years of hard work and labour it was fantastic to see the first child go down that slide at the grand opening of the Litton Playground & Sensory Garden. The project, which was primarily funded through Community Spaces, has seen a group of local mum’s come together to create a universal space for play, relaxation, stimulation and interaction.

We groaned with frustration on the morning of the launch when we opened our doors to rain, rain and more rain forecast.  We had organised a hog roast, bbq, champagne launch and drinks - we were not about to be put off by getting a bit damp!  Our hog-roast guys (Trotters Independent Caterers from Eyam!) were there at 5am, setting up their roasting equipment, closely followed at 7am by us, with cups of tea and toast for them, and a quick re-think by us of just how we were going to keep everyone dry! 

We desperately needed more shelter up at the playground itself and also on the village green, so it was all hands on deck to source some gazebos.

Crisis sorted, we made sure our bar staff were prepped and ready, balloons were installed in the Playground and Village Hall, kids word-search printed, buns baked, and then it was off home for a quick change in time for our opening ceremony at 2pm.

We had a tremendous turn-out, even though the weather was lousy.  The ceremony was opened by our fantastic speaker Ian, who gave an account of the ‘story so far…’ and thanked everyone who had helped in seeing the project to it’s fruition. Gifts were presented to those who had gone ‘above and beyond’ the call of duty. 

The ribbon was cut by our Village children and the opening toasted with glasses of champagne, as the children (& adults) rushed into the playground to try out each and every piece of new equipment and sit and admire the sensory garden. This was followed by a hog-roast & bbq on the Village Green – the rain truly didn’t stop P.L.A.Y. on our special day!

We would like to thank everyone who has helped in this project, from all at Groundwork UK, to Janice our Facilitator, Phil our unofficial ‘Project Manager’, Jackie our Landscape Architect, Pam & Sue our garden ladies and many more.  I personally, would like to thank, with all my heart, Bridget, Karen, Jane and Trish, who have really made a difference to the future of Litton Village – it’s been a pleasure working with you ladies - we got there in the end!”

Julie Nash

Hilly Fields natural play area opens in Lewisham, London.

The Friends of Hilly Fields, in Lewisham, London have successfully opened their brand new natural play area. The group secured just under £50k from Community Spaces for this project.

The site includes rocks, boulders, sand and even a water pump for local children to really get back in touch with nature.

Some great photographs of the children enjoying the new play area can be found here: http://www.hilly.org.uk/2010/05/and-finally/

The group are planning an official opening of the play area this weekend and will be entertaining visitors with a story teller and will have craft workshops in the afternoon.

New play area in Fairland Park, Hornsey, London

A long awaited play area has finally opened in the London Borough of Haringey. The Friends of Fairland Park have spent over a year planning and developing the project and finally the fruits of their labour are ready for harvest!

The new play area, which secured almost £50k from Community Spaces, and officially opened its doors on Sunday 18th July.

The Friends of Fairland Park have been fantastic at keeping us and everyone in their local community well-informed about developments through their blog, which can be found at: http://theladderopenspace.wordpress.com - some fantastic pictures of the site before and after can also be found here.

Well done guys…

The Friends of Hilly Fields group has been posting stories on their website about the hard work taking place to re-vamp their local play area – which is funded through the Community Spaces programme.

Some lovely before and after photographs, as well as a progress update can be found here: http://www.hilly.org.uk/2010/05/nearly-there/

You’re doing really well guys – the transformation is already looking great!

If you’d like to learn more about blogging or other social media tools that can help you share your project messages, stories and pictures – just like the Friends of Hilly Fields - please visit our Social Media Help page.

Above: New play equipment for Litton in Derbyshire

P.L.A.Y (Playground for Littons’ Active Youth) have been awarded £49,839 from the Community Spaces programme. Here’s Julie Nash’s story so far on the group’s progress with creating a new play facility…

P.L.A.Y is a small committee of mums, who, in response to the Litton Parish Plan, joined together in July 2007 to raise funds for a new playground.

Two old swings were all the play facilities Litton had, so in addition to a new playground, we also hoped to create a small sensory garden to make it usable by all.

We began by getting together quotes from playground companies, to ascertain how much the project was going to cost. Once we knew our target amount, we started local fundraising and held a Race Night (made £1,351) and a Safari Supper (£425) just to name a few.

We have raised over £10,000 locally to date, and gained grants from the Bingham Trust and D.D.D.C. With advice from Derbyshire Dales CVS, we applied to the Changing Spaces/Community Spaces programme.

We were thrilled to get through the first Stage of the application, and grateful to meet with Janice Burley, our Facilitator, whose help, guidance and moral support has been a lifeline through the whole of the second stage application.

It took us the best part of 6 months to complete the form correctly and, to our delight, we were notified in October ‘09 that we had been awarded the full amount.

Groundworks started in Dec ‘09, and the top junior level is almost complete with the toddler area due to be completed in January. The horrendous weather we have had recently hasn’t helped and we have constantly had to review the work and time-schedules we had in place.

Work is progressing on the sensory garden, which is being installed by a local landscaper, with our launch event scheduled for the end of March.

On a personal note, I am proud to have been actively involved in this project. It hasn’t been easy, but each active member of the team has their own individual skills, which have all helped us to achieve our goal.

Julie Nash
P.L.A.Y

The group have used the funds to develop a natural play area for children to explore.

Click on the links below to find out more:

News article – Coventry Telegraph

warwickshire.gov.uk

Tom braves the zipwire at Furzeham playground

It’s often hard for Grants Officers to find the time to visit projects, so when I was invited to the launch of Friends of Furzeham Green’s Playground Improvement Project in Torbay, I set myself the challenge of visiting some of the other Community Spaces projects in the area.  

My journey began at 5am, I was aiming to visit six project sites in the South West. Martin Fine, Community Spaces Facilitator, was my hospitable guide for the day and, first, we met with the Roundham and Hyde Ward Partnership in Paignton to find out how they were coping with their stage 2 flagship application. It was interesting to hear their feedback on the process and how they felt about the competition with other possible flagship applicants in the South West region.

Next we were due to see two project sites that only recently secured funding from the programme. There was already a notice up at Shiphay Park acknowledging their success, and the sparse equipment currently on site demonstrated the visual impact Community Spaces funding will have. The rain meant the trip to Chelston Park had to be cut from the hectic schedule, but it was great to find out that the contractors were due to start work on the site soon.

It was still raining for the launch at Furzeham Green, the group had very cleverly created a ‘Plan B’ and the opening ceremony took place at the local school hall. Over 70 children showed their appreciation of the new additions to their play area by cheering and shouting ‘thank you!’ A little break from the rain meant that Friends of Furzeham Green’s Chairman, David Lilley, could show me around the completed project. It was a good example of how adding additional equipment to existing play areas can expand the range of ages catered for – and to prove this I braved the zip-wire!

Finally, as it continued to rain, I had a view of Hookhills Park from the car window, before meeting group member Henri Treece. It was good to know that Henri was thinking about the launch of the project even before the work on site had begun.

On the train journey home, I reflected that it would be nice to return in a year’s time to see the difference Community Spaces funding has made to all this sites. Note to self: Probably best to plan future visits in the summer…

More photos from the day can be seen on Flickr – please follow this link.

New play area for Nether Heyford

The Friends of Nether Heyford Play Area, in Daventry, Northampton, successfully launched their play area to the local community over the weekend.

The group secured just under £50k from Community Spaces to re-vamp their existing play area with new equipment. The group worked closely with their Parish Council and local parents and children to identify their needs.

Attendance at the launch day was really good and local radio station, Heart 96.6, also sent out two Heart Angels to take part in the celebrations. Pictures taken of the launch by the Angels can be found here: http://www.heartnorthants.co.uk/Photowallphoto.asp?wallid=58218

If you were at the launch in Nether Heyford let us know how the day went. What will the new play area mean for you?