­The official opening of the Heeley Millennium Park BMX pump track and mountain bike trail in Sheffield was a great success, with novice and expert cyclists keen to try out the new facility.

The event celebrated the completion of the 1st phase of work on the Community Spaces Flagship project by Heeley Development Trust.

The changes to the park have received overwhelmingly positive responses. Local people had the opportunity to mark the park with their own planted trees and instructors from Recycle Bikes helped cyclists to exploit their skills and gain knowledge on the new trail.

As part as of the revamp, new play facilities have been constructed and extensive tree and shrub planting has been implemented with help from local schools, volunteers, Sheffield City Councils Tree Officer and Tinsley Tree Project.

Andy Jackson, Heeley Development Trust Manager, said at the launch: “‘Parks are vital to the way that cities work, they are the lungs of our cities, offering moments of calm, a chance to see wildlife on your doorstep. They define the character and landscape of our neighbourhoods, contributing to health, wellbeing and the economy.

“Given how important they are, it amazes me how difficult it is to fund their maintenance and how quickly their budgets are reduced. This funding from Community Spaces has transformed our park, rekindling local people’s interest and getting people excited and involved again.”

The Heeley Millennium Park is the largest community owned and managed park in Sheffield and has undergone major transformation over the last few months.

The next phase of work on the park will include the installation of new climbing boulders, a multi use games area, an art trail and further shrub and herbaceous planting.  Once the full programme of work is completed, the park will be one of a kind, reflecting the countryside on the outskirts of Sheffield, giving users a ‘peek into the Peaks.’

For more information and pictures from the event, visit the Heeley Development Trust website or see our Flickr page.

Ben, half of the Armstrong and Miller comedy duo, accepted an invitation from the Stapeley Parish Action Group to open phase 2 of the development, which was funded by Community Spaces.

The £100,000-plus Stapeley Children’s Play Area is on a landscaped corner site next the Pear Tree Primary School in Stapeley on the outskirts of Nantwich.

“We carried out a survey in the parish asking local people what they felt was most needed and the results showed that a recreational facility for the children was a top priority,” said Val Ingram, Chair of Stapeley Parish Action Group.

“It has taken some three years of very hard work by all concerned to bring it to fruition and we are delighted that Ben Miller agreed to come back to Nantwich and officially open this wonderful new facility for children of all ages throughout the area.”

The architect-designed playground  incorporates see-saws and swings, an overhead zip wire and numerous novelty features as well as a bicycle park and bench seating alongside the pathways.

Phase one was opened in July 2011, funded by the Government’s Playbuilder scheme and Landfill Communities Funds of Waste Recycling Group Ltd, administered by WREN. The second and final phase, which has cost nearly £50,000, has been funded by Community Spaces, managed by Groundwork Cheshire and installed by County Landscape Development. Match funding was also provided by Stapeley & District Parish Council.

Despite a very cold, windy winter’s afternoon a large number of local families turned out to see the ribbon-cutting opening ceremony. Children were given commemorative wrist bands and modelled balloons and enjoyed designing their own tiles in the craft area. Pear Tree Primary School PTA members helped to run the refreshments stalls.

More pictures on the group’s Flickr feed

Built as part of the major revamp for the Millennium Park by BikeTrack.org  and Heeley Development Trust staff the new track is just the first part of a Community Spaces Flagship Project. The new path weaves in and out of the trees across the whole of the bottom of the park.

Andy Jackson, manager of Heeley Development Trust, which owns and manages the Millennium Park, said: “Mountain bike riding is becoming more and more popular but not everyone can get out to the Peak District or the Pennines. This track gives people a chance to practise here in the city.

”There’s something there for everyone – from beginners to the most experienced – and folk can work their way up from getting round the corners up to some very technical ‘skinnies’ “ (that’s balancing beams to the rest of us). The Trust will have bikes for people to borrow on the day, experts on hand to give advice on riding the course and there’ll be a load of free-standing obstacles for people to try out.”

There have been big changes elsewhere in the park and in the playground a new giant birdsnest swing has sprung up. Park manager Thom White says: “Swings are one of those things that people have been asking for for years. I’m just glad that the Community Spaces funding came along and let us do it.”

Things will be kicking off from noon in the Heeley Millennium Park on Well Road, just off Chesterfield Road. Local councillors Tim Rippon and Cate McDonald will be cutting the ribbon at 12.30pm.

For more information go to http://www.heeleydevtrust.com/

The Community Association secured a Community Spaces Sustainability Grant following on from their original funding for the development of the rec, which has helped to fund further activities and events.

The family fun day followed an activities programme that saw youngsters from the community engaged in football, basketball, tennis and dance mats.

The Family Fun Day was a huge success, with over 150 people attending throughout the day. With activities to choose from such as basketball and football, a bouncy castle, soft play, and the popular 4 in 1 bungee trampoline, the day went down as treat (as did the home baked refreshments).

The project, which was developed by Toronto Community Association and Groundwork North East, included the replacement of the existing play area with a new improved facility along with the installation of a multi use games area and access improvements.

The scheme, which cost over £130,000, was part funded through Community Spaces. Other money came from Durham County Council Urban Rural Renaissance Initiative, Section 106 funds and Bishop Auckland Town Council.

He cut the ribbon to mark the opening of a new boules/petanque piste, a basket swing, wooden shelter, grassed mound with tunnel and slide and a seating and picnic area, all joined up with a metre-wide path.

The latest phase of the project was made possible through a £49,999 Community Spaces grant.

For more on what’s happening at Stratton-on-the-Fosse see the village website

The multi-use games area was officially opened by international athlete and 2011 Corby Sports Personality of the Year Karen Harewood.

The games area has been funded principally through a £99,984 grant from Community Spaces following a successful application by the Friends of Gretton Recreation Ground.

The project was one of a number of ideas suggested as part of a Parish Plan produced by the Parish Council in 2004 and which highlighted that villagers would like to see a MUGA in the village along with better play and sports facilities.

The Friends of Gretton Recreation Ground was subsequently formed, including members of many organisations in the village, to bring these ideas to fruition. The group has already built a new Jurassic Adventure Playground and BMX track and is working on other projects, including a young children’s play area and improvements to the Changing Pavilion.

The group invited athlete Karen Harewood, the 2011 Corby Sports Personality of the Year to open the MUGA. Karen holds the English National 800m title and has represented Great Britain in the World and European athletics championships.

Tim Fox, chair of the Friends Group, said: “I hope that both young and old will enjoy this new facility.”

The afternoon included netball, basketball, football and tennis competitions, traditional games, complimentary hot food and refreshments and all serenaded by Gretton Silver Band.

The MUGA has a fencing surround with carpet surface and floodlights and Tim added: “It is a superb facility for many activities and we want to encourage as many people as possible to use it. The football and cricket clubs will be holding coaching sessions for junior players and I have been contacted by a group of ladies who would like to rekindle their netball skills.

“There is interest in forming a junior tennis group and both the Primary School and Chirpy Chicks pre-school will use the area regularly. The facility is open for all and there will be times which groups can pre-book.”

As well as finding great places to play outside, families can nominate their own natural places to play. Once they’ve played there, they can go back and rate the areas, post comments and upload photos to show why they are good places to play – or why they need improving.
So, if you know a great natural space to play, don’t keep it to yourself.

And if you are still stuck for ideas, don’t forget the Community Spaces map of our completed projects and the Groundwork UK Urban Oasis map. There really is no excuse…

Felix Wilson, aged 10, won the fancy dress prize with his home-made Blue Knight costume

The Friends of Stationers Park in north London have launched their new playground after a whirlwind couple of weeks.
Anyone who has organised a launch event will know the effort required, so when the Friends were given just two weeks’ notice that their project would be ready, they swung into action.

The playground – which benefited from a £49,940 Community Spaces grant – features a fort at its heart, so the Friends organised a medieval-themed event, with a fancy dress competition, stilt walker, face-painter, musicians and other attractions.

Kle Savidge, chair of the Friends group, says: “Our event was turned around in less than two weeks as that was the most notice the council could provide on exactly when the fence around the building work would come down. I think I speak for everyone when I say it looked like it had been months in the planning.

“We are now fundraising for stage two of the playground build.  If anyone has time to get involved, please do get in touch by emailing friendsofstationerspark@yahoo.co.uk 

Good luck with the next phase…

Tracey Knight of Stapeley Parish Action Group (SPAG) says: “After three years of planning we are delighted to see our project nearing completion. Phase 2 has been funded by our Community Spaces grant of almost £50,000 and is currently being project managed by Groundwork Cheshire and constructed by County Landscape Development.”

The Stapeley Parish Plan, published in 2008, highlighted a lack of children’s play facilities in the community, so Stapeley Recreation Group, a sub-group of Stapeley Parish Action Group was given the task of setting up a new play area.

Tracey adds: “We were so delighted to receive this huge amount of money because it’s enabled us to enhance the play site further with a multiplay unit for the older children, a springy see saw for the young ones, extra seating, cycle racks, a tarmac pathway and landscaping with trees and shrubs.

“We are now busy organising our launch event, which will take place in November. The local children are so excited and can’t wait to try out the new equipment. They’ve watched it being built bit by bit every day on their way to school for the past couple of weeks. It’s been so rewarding to see the site being used by so many and I echo the comment repeated by so many parents – it’s been long overdue!”

Phase One of the site was opened in July by local MP Edward Timpson. It includes a zip wire, supernova, pendulum tyre swing, toddler swings, a spinning dish and a multi play unit for younger children. Since the opening the play area has been extremely busy with local children of all ages, especially throughout the summer holiday.

There are more photos on our Flickr page.

Good luck with the launch.

Group chair Sorrel Gordon-Foxwell (right) welcomed district councilor Julie Redfern, who cut the ribbon to launch the project, which was funded through a £42,608 Community Spaces grant.

Sorrel says: “We are all delighted with our new games area and we hope the residents of Great and Little Chesterford will enjoy these new courts for many years to come.”

More photos on our Flickr page.