The long wait is almost over for younsters in Selkirk, with the opening of the new Pringle Park playpark set for Sunday, June 22 – just in time for the school summer holidays.
Souters are being invited to celebrate the fantastic community effort at a Big Picnic on the day, from noon, with Selkirk Silver Band providing music on the day.
More than £330,000 has been raised since a group was formed in 2008 to encourage the community effort needed to raise the cash for the improvements to the play facilities.
Margaret Sweetnam, a member of the fundraising group said: “We hope that as many of these supporters as possible will bring a picnic along to the park on Sunday 22 June from 12 noon, and try out all the fantastic new equipment, or just admire the setting. One of our aspirations from the start was to enhance the natural beauty of the Pringle Park, which I think everyone will agree has been achieved in spades.
“Catherine Andrews, SBC Landscape Architect, has worked with us from the beginning to take our ideas and the ideas we generated through community consultation and translate them into this fantastic design. We particularly want to thank her, also Anthony Morris of SBC, who has worked tirelessly on site to make sure the work is completed to the highest standards. We also would like to thanks the residents in the streets adjacent to the Pringle Park for their patience as the work has continued.”
Ms Sweetnam added that the improvements would not have been possible without (£250K) from the Big Lottery Fund’s Community Spaces Scotland Fund, The Robertson Trust (£10K), Scottish Borders Council’s Community Grants Scheme (£5K) and Landfill Communities Fund (£35K). The group also received countless donations of money and precious time over the years from businesess, groups and individuals, helping to raise over £15,500.
Ms Sweetnam continued: “The work doesn’t stop here though. There’s more to be done, including planting and more fundraising for ongoing costs such as insurance and maintenance.
“We’re holding our AGM in the County Hotel at 7pm on June, 24, so we’d encourage anyone who’s interested in getting involved to come along and join us.”