Campaigning mums’ dreams become child’s play thanks to Wicksteed Playscapes
Children from Crook, in County Durham, celebrated this week
after parent power – and a helping hand from Wicksteed
Playscapes – brought them a brand new play area.
Local kids from the Thistleflat Road estate can now enjoy trendy
new swings, slides in varying shapes and widths, colourful climbing
frames and state of the art see-saws, all installed by Wicksteed
Leisure, after a group of mums and dads teamed up to fight for a
play area near their homes.
“When I come down here and look at what we’ve done I
still can’t quite believe it,” said local mum-of-two
Sharon Featherstone and chair of the Thistleflat Road Play Area
Committee. “It’s a great achievement and I’m
thrilled to bits it’s finally open. This is something which
will benefit our community and something for us and our children to
be proud of.”
Sharon took a year out from her job to campaign for the
playground, which officially opened on October 20. While the local
council was happy to put aside the money for the park, parents were
left to plan and source facilities themselves – something
Wicksteed was happy to help out with in terms of advice and
support. Sharon’s husband, Brent, also a committee member,
and children Ben and Ellie were behind her every step of the
way.
“I was the direct contact for councillors, contractors,
builders, surveyors and suppliers and my mobile phone bill went sky
high!” says Sharon. “We carried out our own public
consultation with the local school children to establish what they
would like, made sure the area was wheelchair –friendly, and
arranged a competition to design the park logo. At one point, it
even looked like we might have to take on the public liability
insurance ourselves!
She continues: “The support we’ve had along the way
from Wicksteed has been great. It has been tough going but staff at
the company were so friendly and there was always someone available
to talk through our queries. The proposal they put together was
bright and cheerful and we got a lot more equipment for our money.
On top of this, they helped with the consultation and paid for
goody bags, a bouncy castle and ice-creams for the grand opening
day. Wicksteed have helped us achieve something really
special.”
Stuart Wetherell, from Wicksteed, said: “We were delighted
to be involved with this dynamic group of mums in the design and
installation. They’ve worked really hard on the project and
we were only too pleased to help out with all the extras in order
to turn their dreams into reality. Interestingly, all the equipment
was chosen by the children, so we’re looking forward to
seeing them make use of this rather special play area on the grand
opening day and beyond.”
Further information about Wicksteed at www.wicksteed.co.uk