14th March 2008, 08/67
Cash bonanza for playtime
Children who are missing out on play activities will soon be
able to access some fun playtime - thanks to a cash bonanza.
The Big Lottery Fund has awarded West Lancashire District
Council £267,509 to improve access to play in West Lancashire for
those harder to reach groups.
It will be spent on improving opportunities for children in
three key identified categories: those who live in rural
communities; older age groups between 11 and 17 years; and for
young people with disabilities.
Some of the money will be used to build a multi-use games area
within the rural community and also to build a play area at the
award-winning Beacon Country Park in Up Holland, which will be
specifically designed for disabled access.
In addition, three new posts have been funded within the
Council’s Sports Development Team who will be working across the
district to provide informal play opportunities, which will start
during the summertime.
They will cover both rural areas and Skelmersdale and will use a
mixture of Council facilities, parish halls, schools and other
venues to provide the activities.
The idea is that the children can come along and just enjoy
themselves in a safe environment to meet with friends and take part
in friendly leisure sessions, which could be anything from street
games to sports. The difference is that it’s a relaxed setting
without the children having to sign up to become members of clubs,
but at the same time they will get a flavour of the kind of new
hobbies they could enjoy.
Cllr Rob Bailey, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, said: "We want to
ensure that there are as many opportunities as possible for
children to take part in playtime and this cash windfall is a
really good boost to us. Already we have drawn up an exciting list
of ideas and schemes that will benefit harder to reach groups to
ensure that they can take part in lots of fun, informal
recreational activities."
More details about the project will be publicised in the near
future.
To find out more about what’s available in your area, please
visit our parks and playgrounds pages.
Related information
> Sports
development