Staindrop play park mums celebrate as they near £35,000 target

A GROUP of parents are feeling “positive” about reaching the £35,000 fundraising target set for phase two of their refurbished playground.
Staindrop Playground Committee was formed to give children somewhere to play.
Phase one, which cost £20,000, was officially opened in September last year and is suitable for younger children.
A target of £35,000 was set to fund the second phase of the playground for older children, which is expected to be completed early next year.
Having secured £12,000 from supermarket chain Tesco for the new equipment, other funding for the area during the first phase came from the Big Lottery Fund, GlaxoSmithKline, WHSmith as well as county councillors George Richardson and James Rowlandson.
A coffee morning held last month in aid of the playground raised £423.62 through the sale of hot drinks and cakes as well as a tombola and a raffle.
Speaking during Staindrop Parish Council’s meeting, chairwoman of the committee and parent Amanda Astrop said: “We had a coffee morning in Scarth Hall and it was hugely successful on a number of fronts.
“The community came out in force across all ages. Another great thing that was a real positive for me was that a younger member of the community came to me and said ‘if you want anything doing in that playground me and my friends will come and do it for free and we will help to look after it’. That’s fantastic. They are role models for the youngsters coming through.
“There was a real sense of positivity. It was a really worthwhile event.”
Parent and committee member Emma Curran added: “It is really good to have that on our side. We came out of that coffee morning very positive.”
Staindrop Parish Council is responsible for the management and the maintenance of the play area behind Scarth Memorial Hall.
They were thanked by the committee for their financial support.
Ms Astrop said: “Thank you for agreeing to contribute £2,500. We really appreciate that.”
Ms Curran added: “We have got a tiny bit left to raise. We have got fingers in pies which should hopefully bring us in over.”
Work on the second phase is expected to be completed by the end of March 2017.