A playpark to call our own
Youngsters‘ oversee’ entire construction project
Budding builders at a Whitlawburn nursery have helped redevelop a play park in the area.
Parents and children at the Little Rascals nursery identified the site at the Whitlawburn Resource Centre as a priority for the youngsters as it would give them somewhere to play.
Now the new park is ready to go, after a £69,542 revamp that was overseen by the youngsters. And the kids gave the park a big thumbs up when they tried out some of the rides there last week.
The grant came from the Big Lottery Fund and the Whitlawburn and Springhall Our Place initiative, with the work developed alongside the Healthy and Happy Community Development Trust. Rebecca Haack, operations director of the trust, explained: “Our Fund is a community led initiative and the play park is a good example of that.
“The parents and children wanted to do something and they really had the vision for what they were looking for.
“They developed and submitted an Our Place bid, and once it was approved they could hire a contractor, who worked with them and the whole community to develop the park.”
The children at Little Rascals were involved throughout, including carrying out site visits as the construction got underway.
Rebecca added: “Once the plans were finalised and signed off by the community, construction started.
“This was tightly managed by a crew of toddler inspectors, local children who visited the site every week, undertaking a thorough investigation. They were running around, climbing the stairs and sliding down the chute, giving a big thumbs up each time.
“There were a total of five community site visits, attended by 15 children and 12 adults.”
Further projects in the Whitlawburn and Springhall area are still under development.
Rebecca said: “We have just concluded year three of Our Place, and this is just one of many projects. “It’s great to see it come to fruition.” Our Place is a place-based initiative from the Big Lottery Fund that is aimed at empowering local people and organisations to bring about long lasting positive changes to their neighbourhood.
The park will officially open to the public next Tuesday, November 7.
This was managed by a crew of toddler inspectors who visited