Over the last two years, Almscliffe Villages Community Association has been working towards funding much-needed improvement to the community garden playpark at North Rigton, to the south west of Harrogate, which is owned by North Rigton Parish Council.
Planned enhancements included replacing old play equipment that was beginning to fall into disrepair and bringing in new items that could be used by older and disabled children.
The proceeds of a community fundraising campaign run by the Association and a grant from the Liz & Terry Bramhall Foundation covered around three-quarters of the project costs – and now, a £4,200 grant from the Banks Group’s Banks Community Fund has enabled the fundraising target to be reached and all the hoped-for work on the project completed.
New equipment includes an activity cube, a tyre activity trail and a basket swing, while the floor of the playground has also been fully overlain with a new rubberised surface which meets the latest safety standards.
Founded in 2009, Almscliffe Village Community Association works to provide facilities for recreation or other leisure time activities which improve the quality of life and experiences of residents in the Lower Washburn area, to the south west of Harrogate.
Chairman John Hopkins said:
The park has always been well used, but quite a lot of the equipment was beginning to show its age and was getting to the stage where it was going to have to be replaced, rather than simply just repaired.
Local parents were also asking whether they could get some new equipment that kids between six and ten years old would be able to use to go with the equipment we had for younger children, while we also wanted to make it accessible to every young visitor.
We didn’t have the money in the bank to simply get on with the job, but the fantastic response to our fundraising campaign from both the local community and our donors has enabled us to create something that we know will be extremely popular with generations of village children.
The support we’ve had from The Banks Group enabled us to finish everything properly that we wanted to do, rather than having to miss out on the final details. There’s been an absolutely brilliant response from both parents and kids to what we’ve done – we’ve seen a daily stream of kids coming out of school and into the park, and it’s fantastic to see their smiling faces and hear how much fun they’re having.
Banks Property is the developer behind the Castle Hill residential development at Pannel Ash in Harrogate and recently opened a new office near Harewood House as part of its plans to increase its presence across the county.
Lewis Stokes, community relations manager at The Banks Group, said:
The Community Association’s commitment to give local children access to the best possible play facilities has been fully rewarded.
We’re very pleased to have been able to support such a worthwhile project and hope there are many sunny summer days to come in which local families can enjoy themselves in the open air.
