Dedicated volunters bring playtime success
A run down playpark in the Stoneygate area of Gateshead has been brought back to life thanks to many hours of work from a group of local residents.
Transform
The Stoneygate Community Association managed to secure £185,000 of funding from the council, the Big Lottery Fund, Sita and The Gateshead Housing Company to transform the park.
Chair of the association, Audrey Brown, was one of the volunteers who worked hard to get the funding. She said, "I spend a lot of time making phone calls and asking for help now I'm retired - but I love it. I'm all for Stoneygate, I've lived here for 37 years, my children have been brought up here and now my grandchildren are being brought up here.
"We're a bit of an island really, a residential area in amongst a lot of industry and busy Metro and railway lines and roads. So it's important that we have somewhere safe for the children here to play."
Stoneygate Community Association was set up in 1986, with local people coming together to transform a vacant house on the Stoneygate estate into a play house for local children.
Contribution
One of its most prolific early members was Peggy Beeston who led the campaign in the early '90s to obtain the land for a playpark. Her contribution to the association and volunteering work led to her being awarded the MBE by the Queen.
Cabinet member for safer, stronger communities, Councillor David Napier, acknowledged the work of the volunteers. He said, "As part of The Year of the Volunteer, we are working hard to redress that, and recognise the vital role volunteers play in making Gateshead the great place that it is."
The Year of the Volunteer is a partnership led by Gateshead Council working with the Gateshead Strategic Partnership and Gateshead Voluntary Organisations Council (GVOC).
For more information phone: 0191 433 3000.
You can also find out more about volunteering from Gateshead Voluntary Organisations Council (GVOC) phone: 0191 478 4103 email: enquiries@gvoc.org.uk