Summer fun planned for Seagry and Startley kids (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Summer fun planned for Seagry and Startley kids

9:00am Saturday 23rd March 2013 in North Wilts news

SEAGRY and Startley children are set to have even more fun this summer thanks to a long-running fundraising effort by villagers.

New play equipment is set to be installed after the Chippenham Area Board agreed a £5,000 grant to match the £5,000 already raised by residents.

Adele Carnegie one of the playing field trustees, said the improvements came about after a questionnaire circulated around homes in both villages revealed there was not enough equipment on the field for younger children.

“There is nothing in Startley at all and the closest playground to us is probably in Great Somerford,” she said. “It is the only thing locally for the children unless you go to Malmesbury or Chippenham.”

A succession of fundraisers including car washes, a summer fayre and Jubilee teas followed and treasurer Mike Barber put together an application for a community grant from Wiltshire Council to fund the climbing frame dubbed Captain Mainwaring Towers.

The aim is to have the kit installed and ready for action in time for the summer holidays. In the meantime the field, which is next to Seagry Primary School, is also going to be planted this weekend with 150 trees to create a wild orchard.

Among the Hawthorns, Crab Apple and Elder bushes donated by the Woodland Trust will be an Oak to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.