Students pitch in to repair playground

Students pitch in to repair playground

18 May 2016

THREE weeks after vandals destroyed a Strangford playgroup’s outdoor play facility, work is nearing completion on a major repair and refurbishment programme.

The repairs have been financed as a result of the generosity of local businesses and carried out by staff and students at the South Eastern Regional College who were determined to help after the attack made front page news.

JP Corry and Clarke Cunningham provided a range of materials including timber, paint and bark chipping which are being used to not only repair the damaged equipment, but give a new lease of life to other play facilities.

The generosity of spirit shown by the businesses, staff and students has also ensured a new outdoor mud kitchen will be provided to enhance the children’s fun when they are out enjoying the summer sun.

At the end of April, vandals caused damage estimated at £1,000 to the outdoor garden of the Playlinks playgroup and After Schools Club, breaking park equipment, smashing glassware and beheading dolls. Vandals decapitated dolls and burnt their bodies and cut through a canvas seat in the children’s outdoor chairs. They broke all the monkey bars on a climbing frame, damaged a see-saw and smashed all delph and glass, including the window of the toy house, setting fire to its roof.

Moved by the impact of the vandal attack, the further education college’s training organisation organised the refurbishment programme by persuading local suppliers and businesses to donate materials to help repair the damage and reinstate the damaged play equipment.

Playgroup leader, Wanda Smyth, said she is “overwhelmed” that something so positive has happened as a result of a really negative incident which shocked not only staff, but parents and the wider community.

“It was very much a case of doom and gloom in the wake of this attack because as a voluntary organisation, we did not have the money to carry out the repairs. We organise two major fundraising events at Christmas and Easter and we could not go back to parents to ask for more money,” she explained.

“We are a cross-community group, with our children coming from Saul, Killyleagh, Kilclief and Dunsford and because Strangford is not deemed as an area in need, it is quite hard to secure grant aid so we were very worried about we could fix the broken play equipment.”

Wanda said the money the Strangford group generates is used to pay bills with any extra reinvested and also used to fund training programmes. She said she was “really concerned” about what would happen until she was approached by Fintan Lawlor from the South Eastern Regional College who explained what it intended to do to help.

“When Fintan contacted me I could not believe it. The College has been amazing and we cannot thank them enough and the local suppliers who have weighed in with their support. They are real lifesavers,” Wanda continued.

“We are all so delighted and thrilled something so positive has come out of this. Fintan saw the story about the damage in the Down Recorder and that’s what prompted him to help. It was teenagers who targeted the playgroup and now we have teenagers who are helping put everything back together. We simply could not have raised the money to finance the repairs that are required ourselves.”

Wanda said playgroup staff are still pinching themselves as they watch the repair work progress and said parents are also delighted at what’s happening. She also thanked staff at St Joseph’s Primary School for their help in the wake of the vandal attack.

She added: “People were disgusted at what had happened last month as nearly every child in the village has been a member of the playgroup at some stage. What happened was heart-wrenching as the children play outside every day. Having this area restored is tremendous as outdoor play is a crucial part of what we do here. For it not to be in use is terrible. We are so pleased this story has a happy ending.”