You may remember Kimberley Town Council has been working on improving facilities for primary school age children at Knowle Park.
The great news is the work is now complete!
We’ve delivered a new zip line, pull-up rope, accessible swing seat, accessible benches, safety flooring under most of the equipment, and a new cycle track.
The project was a great collaboration between the local Kimberley Council team, Sutcliffe Play, RK Landscapes and the pupils at Kimberley Primary School.
Thank you to everyone who got involved and to FCC Communities Foundation for providing most of the funding!
We had a bit of a delay waiting for the accessible benches to come into stock but that’s now done.
There are a few bare patches on the grass to be tidied up but we’ll do that in the autumn when it might rain!
Read more about it below
See here for photos of the work in progress
New Play Equipment now open in Knowle park, Swingate
Children in Swingate are set to benefit from new play facilities in Knowle Park, together with a refurbishment of existing equipment and new safety flooring thanks to a £40,569.54 grant from FCC Communities Foundation together with £8,000 funding from Kimberley Town Council.
The grant was used to pay for new facilities, including a zip line, a cycle track, wheelchair-accessible tables and a swing seat that can be used children with special needs at Knowle Park in Swingate. The project also replaced worn bark flooring under existing equipment with a safer, hard-wearing rubberised surface, as well as the repainting of existing slide play equipment.
The project aimed to improve facilities for children of primary school age and make the park more family friendly, and the changes were based on feedback from surveys of children at nearby Kimberley Primary School as well as local residents.
The initiative was very enthusiastically supported by pupils at the nearby Kimberley Primary School, who, as well as coming up with the ideas, helped sow grass and wildflower seeds on the new cycle track.
Sam Boneham, local Swingate resident and member of Kimberley Town Council has been a driving force behind getting this initiative off the ground believes the changes to the park will make a big difference to people living int the area. He says: “It’s fantastic that this project, started by local residents and school children has come to fruition. The kids were using the new facilities from the first day the works were completed. It’s been a great collaboration of local tradespeople and volunteers to make this happen.”
Thanks to Neil Doherty, Sam Boneham, Trevor Rood, Ian Wilson and Neil Coy of Kimberley Town Council for managing this project, and for volunteering a lot of time for groundworks and painting.
Sutcliffe Play supplied and installed the new pull-up rope, zip-line, accessible swing seat, tables and safety flooring.
Thanks to Rick and Dave from RK Landscapes for the groundworks and laying of the cycle track.
Thanks to Bob and Marie at Evans Scaffolding and Netting for giving us scaffolding poles to make road signs for the cycle track.
Thanks to Dave Walker of VIA East Midlands for donating old road signs, which were repainted for the cycle track.
FCC Communities Foundation is a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community projects through the Landfill Communities Fund.
Richard Smith, FCC Communities Foundation senior grant manager, says: “It’s wonderful to see something we have funded finally open and ready to make such a difference to the play and recreation provision at Knowle Park. FCC Communities Foundation is always happy to consider grant applications for projects that benefit local communities and this is a great example of what can be achieved.”
Work on the park started in February 2023, completing in June 2023.
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www.fcccommunitiesfoundation.org.uk info@fcccommunitiesfoundation.org.uk
www.kimberley-tc.gov.uk
Media information:
For further press information please contact Neil Doherty, neil.doherty7@gmail.com, 07771 660868.
Notes to editors:
- Kimberley Town Council is the local parish council serving the residents of Kimberley, Swingate and Babbington.
- Sutcliffe Play Ltd are a leading supplier of playground equipment based in Pontefract.
- Evans Scaffolding and Netting is a local scaffolding hire company based at Common Lane, Watnall, NG16 1HD
- RK Landscapes is a local landscaping company based at Langley Mill. https://www.facebook.com/RkLanscapes
- FCC Communities Foundation is a not-for-profit business that awards grants for
community, conservation and heritage projects from funds donated by FCC
Environment through the Landfill Communities Fund and Scottish Landfill
Communities Fund. Since 1998, FCC Communities Foundation has granted over
£200m to more than 7,000 projects which benefit people living within 10 miles of a
FCC Environment landfill site. For more information please visit
www.fcccommunitiesfoundation.org.uk
- FCC Environment is the leading UK waste and resource management company and
is part of a global group with a strong heritage in providing services for communities
and business. Its vision is to be the environmental company of choice, delivering
change for a sustainable future. It employs 2,400 people and operates more than
200 facilities across England, Scotland and Wales. FCC Environment donates the
landfill tax credits that are generated by its operations to FCC Communities
Foundation, in order to add value to the environmental and social infrastructure of
the communities around landfill sites. www.fccenvironment.co.uk
- The Landfill Communities Fund and Scottish Landfill Communities Fund – any waste
that is discarded which cannot be reused, reprocessed or recycled may ultimately be
disposed of in a landfill site. To encourage the re-use, recycle and recovery of more
value from waste and use more environmentally friendly methods of waste disposal,
Landfill Tax is charged on each tonne of waste sent to landfill. Landfill Operators
(LOs) are able to redirect a small proportion of landfill tax liability to support a wide
range of community and environmental projects in the vicinity of landfill sites
through the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) and Scottish Landfill Communities
Fund (SLCF). The LCF is regulated by ENTRUST on behalf of HM Revenue & Customs,
and the projects are delivered by enrolled Environmental bodies (EBs). The SLCF is
regulated by SEPA on behalf of Revenue Scotland and projects are delivered by
Approved Bodies (ABs).