Friends of Aireville Park and Craven District Council have secured a windfall grant of £51,900 from Yorventure and Yorwaste LTD to complete the new children’s playground in Skipton.

A large forest climber and a play tower, designed to cater for older children, will now be installed in the playground, in the areas which are currently fenced off.

The Yorventure grant is in addition to a £48,700 grant given by the organisation last year, which funded a number of pieces of equipment including climbing towers, tunnels, a welly walk, and a turntable roundabout.

Angela Pease, Yorventure Community Projects Manager, said: “It’s really good that we can help complete this wonderful new play area with this additional grant. 

“The first grant mainly funded younger children’s play elements and this grant will provide two natural and exciting new play opportunities for older children, to finish off the whole project.”

Work is due to start on Phase 2 of the project on March 4, which means the playground will be closed for three to four weeks. 

Together with the large pieces of play equipment, four wooden play items will also be installed opposite the sand pit area, including two sit on animals and butterfly and dragonfly seats for children. Two picnic benches and a bin will also be installed here to form a picnic area.

The contractors will also be turfing the bare soil ready for the start of the spring growing season. The central jungle bridge and mounds are also likely to open. All the equipment and surfaces will also get a spring clean.

Fiona Protheroe, chairperson of the Friends of Aireville Park, said: “We’re delighted that Phase 2 of the playground project can now take place and we’re very grateful to Yorventure for this generous grant.

“We know children and families have really enjoyed exploring the new play area over the last few weeks – it now has to close for a short period while these new pieces are installed, but it will be well worth it in the end!”

Councillor Linda Brockbank, Craven District Council’s lead member for Resilient Communities, said: “I’m thrilled that Yorventure have given us this grant to complete the new playground. This is the culmination of a great deal of hard work with Friends of Aireville Park to see this project through. I can’t wait to see it fully open and being enjoyed by generations of Craven families.”

Raven Tree Top Adventure, who run the high ropes course behind the pool, are sponsoring the final bench to be installed. Business owners Helen and Jason Perkins said: “Raven are really pleased to be able to support the improvements in Aireville Park; our thanks go to the Friends of Aireville Park, whose continued hard work has pushed the project along and allowed us to be a part of it. We’re looking forward to working with the Friends and Craven District Council over the coming years to help make the park even better.”

The funds raised for the project now total over £200,000. The council has contributed capital funding of £15,810 to the project, along with £52,791 of planning gain.