The Friends of Aireville Park are celebrating after being awarded £48,700 by Yorventure to build a new children’s play area.

Craven District Council and the Friends of Aireville Park have now raised a total of £140,000 towards the new play area, and it is hoped the first phase of work will begin on site in August, to be completed by the end of 2018.

The Yorventure grant will pay for a number of exciting pieces of equipment including climbing towers, a willow dome, tunnels, a welly walk, a slack-line and a turntable roundabout.

Fiona Protheroe, chairperson of Friends of Aireville Park, said: “We’re thrilled that we’ve been given this grant, which should allow work to start on the new play area this summer.

“We’re hugely grateful to Yorventure and to all the other businesses and individuals that have contributed to our fundraising. People have been incredibly generous. We can’t wait for the new play area to be open – it’s going to be such a fantastic place for children from all over the district and beyond.”

Sharon Hudson, Communications and Partnerships manager at Craven District Council, said: “We’re delighted that Yorventure have given this grant to the play area. We’re really excited about these plans and we know residents are too. We’ve been working hard with Friends of Aireville Park to get the funding in place and we’re now carrying out the work needed to get started on site.

“Together with the Friends of Aireville Park we have already made significant improvements to the park over the last few years, with a new skate park, pump track and zip wire which are all extremely popular. This new play area will transform the park into a real destination for families.”

Angela Pease, Yorventure Community Projects Manager, said: “Yorventure and Yorwaste Ltd are delighted to be involved in bringing this exciting new initiative in the Park to fruition.”

The council has contributed capital funding of £15,810 to the project, along with £48,316 of planning gain with a further £62,500 of planning gain which will go towards Phase Two of the project.

A report will go to the council’s Policy committee on April 17, seeking formal approval from councillors to move the children’s play area to the new site at the top end of the park. The report also asks councillors to recognise the invaluable contribution Friends of Aireville Park have made to deliver the park Masterplan and secure funding for the Masterplan projects.

A zip wire has already been installed at the top end of the park, paid for with £12,000 from Tesco Bags of Help. The Tesco scheme has also given another £4,000 grant to provide a wooden tractor in the play area.

The new play area will eventually cover 4,500 square metres, including a climbing net, ropes and beams, sand play and natural play spaces. There will be a combination of traditional equipment such as climbing towers, swings, seesaws and roundabouts, alongside wild garden and nature areas.

Skipton Castle will be used as an inspiration for stone walls to form an entrance to the area, while other features will be designed around historic trees and the landscape of the park.

Several local businesses and members of the community have also been sponsoring or making donations towards the new play area, including local companies Holt Doctors Ltd, J N Bentley, Mewies Solicitors, Peter Watson Ltd and Skipton Self Drive Hire, Keelham Farm Shop and Walker Foster Solicitors.

Skipton Ukulele Club have also been fundraising for the Friends of Aireville Park and have raised almost £1,000 for the scheme.

Businesses and residents can sponsor a bench, donate a tree for a loved one, or fund a piece of play equipment.

Businesses can also choose to have a plaque or memorial tree charm and business logos on the sponsors’ board as a permanent recognition of the support. 

Full details are on the Council’s dedicated webpage for the park playground project: http://www.cravendc.gov.uk/airevilleparkplay and on the Friends of Aireville Park website https://friendsofairevillepark.wordpress.com 

Please contact bdinsmore@cravendc.gov.uk to enquire about either donating or sponsoring the scheme.