A group of passionate young parents and more senior residents from the village are keen to provide a space for their families to enjoy playing and to mixing socially. The proposed location is already a designated play area in the centre of the Stinchcombe where there was once a small village primary school. The nearby church offers disabled toilets and a kitchen. The space will comprise various exciting pieces of play equipment made from natural materials to encourage playing by toddlers and youngsters. There will also be facilities for adults and residents from the adjacent nursing home with a flower border, picnic tables and benches, as well as a bird-friendly perimeter hedge and three flowering ornamental trees. The team are raising funds by organising village events as well as applying for grants. Most of the work will be carried out by residents. Having received a grant from the Build Back Better fund, we know there is still some way to go in sourcing funds before work can start.

What we'll deliver:

• Landscaping and providing playground safe surfaces
• Erecting a perimeter fence and planting a mixed indigenous hedge
• Providing pieces of play equipment including swings, climbing tower and seesaw
• Providing picnic tables
• Providing wooden benches
• creating a flower border
• Planting three ornamental flowering trees
• Modifying the existing entrance to the site to make it safer

Why it's a great idea:

The initiative will increase social cohesion and benefit people of all ages by bringing together those from the three geographically different areas of our village to meet socially in a safe and protected area. This will foster a greater community spirit by reducing isolation and improving mental well-being. Playing with other children of different ages will help promote social skills and encourage group interaction. Our aim is to provide a healthy alternative to the technological devices that children have become so attracted to. Further, the impact of this will be a happier younger generation, who will have improved mental and physical health outcomes. The planned space will encourage relationships for adults and children where individuals and families can meet as well as residents from the nearby care home, thus reducing isolation for elderly residents resulting in significant impact on their well-being. The facility will help develop physical, sensory, creative and social skills.

Steps to get it done:

• Clearing the site, landscaping and creating paths and safety surfaces
• Erecting fencing to form a boundary
• Installing three gates in the fencing
• Re locating the existing entrance into the field to make is safer for disabled and parents with pushchairs.
• Selecting, purchasing and planting hedging along the fence
• Purchasing and planting three small trees
• Selecting plants and creating a flower border and planting
• Purchasing and installing three picnic tables and benches
• Sourcing and erecting seven pieces of play equipment on the safety surface

The playground and community space is for the 480 residents, of which there are over 70 children of school age, plus friends of Stinchcombe and has been created and co-designed by them. Over the past two years we have used responses from Parish Council meetings and well attended Playground consultation open days to determine their wishes for the type of facilities and equipment preferred. Thanks to feedback from these sessions the plans have been revised and refined such that we now have a realistic proposal that has been accepted and very much welcomed by the village. Comments from villagers include: “So I can play in the village with my friends who do not go to my nursery. It should be made of wood because it looks nicer” Nelly Forsyth, Age 4 “According to the National Institute of Health exercise is linked to the reduction of depression and anxiety. Physical health is inherently linked to mental health also.” Village Resident “By giving the children a place to have some ownership."