The village’s old play park next to the primary school, was condemned as unsafe and removed in winter 2020, leaving children digging holes and sliding down mud banks in the recreation ground, according to the Friends of Bidborough Play Park group, created in 2020 by Sarah and Katie Haylock.
Weekend
The group is trying to raise £35,000 for the new playground, and had been raising money with raffles, cake sales and two scarecrow trails, together with GoFundMe donations. However, the Jubilee weekend saw the group raise £18,182, taking the total to £25,536.
Sarah Carrick explained: “This is a great achievement for our little village and hopefully we will be able to reinstate the children’s play park sooner rather than later!”
“There are lots of community groups that would benefit from the play park. The school has a holiday club that is run during the holidays and there is also nursery in Bidborough,” said the Friends group.
“The main playground users are those that attend the local primary school who use it as somewhere to socialise after school but also those that live in the village as a place to meet other families. The families of the people playing cricket and stoolball on the Rec. also use it.
“We are lucky to live in beautiful surroundings with lots of places for the kids to play but it is so important to have a safe enclosed play park for them. Without exciting equipment to play children have begun digging holes and sliding down mud banks!”
The Friends are now looking at grant applications to raise the rest of the money, as there are some legal issues which need resolution, which mean a ‘phased’ installation of the play area, using some of the money, is not currently feasible. In the meantime, the Friends are considering running another scarecrow trail this October.
The fundraiser is at gofundme.com/f/Help-Refurbish-Bidboroughs-Play-Park
