My name is Ashton, I am 30 years old and I am a Mum to a lively, energetic (nearly) seven year old. I used to walk past this park on my way to work and always thought it was such a waste; the space has so much potential and I couldn't believe that I was the only person to think this!
I work for a local McDonald's franchisee, Gen Isikgun, who likes to engage with the local community and when I presented her with my idea for a new community project she encouraged me to see whether we could get the support that we would need from Basildon Council to get the idea off the ground.
As it turned out, I really wasn't the only person that wanted to bring the park back to life, and with the support from the Parks and Open Spaces Manager from the Council, we quickly established a small group of like-minded individuals and gained the support of the adjacent school, Whitmore Primary School.