Shropshire village celebrates opening of new play park
Children in a north Shropshire village will soon have a new place to play after a three-year-long community park project nears completion.
Residents young and old from all corners of Childs Ercall and further afield have been involved in raising vital funds for the new £69,000 play park, which will be officially opened next month.
Chairman of Childs Ercall Parish Council, Councillor Anne Cadden, said the play park project was a collaborative effort between the council, community, local authority officials and businesses.
“This project has only been possible with the support of residents, businesses and key organisations and we would like to thank everyone for their hard work,” she said.
“We’ve seen some fantastic community-led initiatives from weekly car washes and quizzes to local farm walks, Christmas parties and Easter trails to help us raise vital funds needed for the project and we have received some generous support from local businesses.
“We cannot thank everyone enough and we are all absolutely delighted that the new playground will soon be open for families to spend time outdoors.”
Villagers set up the Childs Ercall Playground Committee in 2017 after Shropshire Council officials deemed the park unsafe and closed it down.
Mrs Cadden said: “It was a real loss to the community at the time but we have come such a long way and we hope everyone will enjoy the new park facilities.
“There are lots of exciting bits of equipment which we are sure the children will find challenging and fun to use and we’re hoping to provide seating so that parents can relax whilst keeping an eye on the safety of their children at the same time.”
The new park has been made possible with a £40,000 grant from Shropshire Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy Local Fund, a £15,000 National Lottery grant and more than £14,000 raised from community events.
