Articles
£100,000 children’s play area in Woodthorpe to open this week
Date Posted: 3:27 PM on Fri, 26 February 2021
A children’s play area has reopened following a £100,000 revamp. Breck Hill Park in Woodthorpe has been improved thanks to funding from FCC Communities Foundation, a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community, conservation and heritage projects from funds donated by waste and resource management company FCC Environment through the Landfill Communities Fund. FCC Communities Foundation will be providing a grant total of £98,000.
The park reopened this Friday 26 February at 2pm after £100,000 worth of new play equipment has been installed. Works started at the park in January and were originally expected to be completed by mid-March, however contractors have been able to finish ahead of schedule.
The park features more than 20 new pieces of equipment including balance beams, Olympic basket swings, a wheelchair accessible roundabout, climbing net, multi play unit and more. As well as the play facilities themselves, picnic tables and chairs, cycle stands and a wildflower area will be installed at the park.
The funding bid was made jointly by Gedling Borough Council and the Friends of Breck Hill Park, a local residents’ community group who undertook community consultation and identified a strong community need for the project.
Portfolio Holder for Environment, Councillor Peter Barnes said;
“I’m really pleased to see that this park can reopen, I’m amazed at how fast the work has been completed and I’m sure the local community will be delighted with the news too.
I’d like to thank FCC Communities Foundation for supporting us with the funding for the park, The Friends of Breck Hill Park Group for working with us on the application, and the contractors HAGS-SMP Ltd who have done an incredible job of getting the park refurbished so quickly.
We know just how important facilities like this are to our local communities and we want residents to be able to get out and enjoy some of the fantastic parks and open spaces we have across the borough.”
Catherine Honey, Chair of the Friends of Breck Hill Park said:
“We are absolutely delighted that the park will be opening tomorrow and ahead of schedule. We have all worked really hard on the funding bid and to see it open so soon is great news. On behalf of the Friends of Breck Hill I would like to thank Gedling Borough Council for their help with the bid and also to FCC Communities for providing this grant, it will be something that local children can enjoy for years to come.”
Cheryl Raynor FCC Community Foundations local grant manager said:
“It’s great to see the play area once again looking great and ready to be used by the local community, the enhancements are fantastic and I’m sure will be appreciated over the summer months and for many years to come. FCC Communities Foundation is always happy to consider grant applications for projects that make a difference to local communities and this is a great example of what can be achieved.”