Children living on a Llanrwst estate have good reason to look forward to this summer’s school holidays as they will be able to enjoy a brand new playground.
The site, with its colourful modern equipment, will be a lasting tribute to the hard work and dedication of their mums as well as the support and generosity of owners Cartrefi Conwy.
Among the 80 tenants on the Glanrafon estate are several young families, but their only formal playground has long seen better days.
“The few items of equipment are not suitable for very young children and the black floor-covering leaves stains on their clothes,” said mother-of-two Jo Towns, who was one of the founders of the Glanrafon Restart Group.
They voiced their concern to Emyr Hughes, Neighbourhood Co-ordinator for Cartrefi Conwy, the housing association who took over responsibility for housing from Conwy County Borough Council in September 2008.
Emyr passed on his comments and Vicky Kelly, the community involvement co-ordinator, began working closely with the mothers’ group.
As a result, a new playground is expected to be available within the next few months.
The group secured the bulk of the cost of the project by submitting bids totalling £30,000 into Cartrefi Conwy’s Community Chest and Environmental funds which were set up to help the housing association’s tenants access funding for projects benefitting their communities.
Conwy County Borough Council is providing the additional £5,000 through a Rural Development Grant.
The group of about nine carried out their own survey on the estate and surrounding area, asking whether people agreed that improvements were needed and, if so, what suggestions they had.
“We had very good support from the community who agreed that something needed to be done,” said Jo, who is secretary of the group. “We’ve also had letters of support from the police, Llanrwst Town Council and local councillors.”
They then asked three manufacturers of play equipment to prepare plans, and chose the most attractive scheme.
“We wanted better flooring, more equipment, including a lower slide for small children and some items for older children,” said chairman Kirsty Sayer, who has four young children aged from eight months to six years.
“It’s been hard work and we have met about once a week over the last few months to progress the plans,” she said.
Cheryl Jones, who has two toddlers and has lived in the area all her life, said they were delighted with the plans as drawn up.
“But we wouldn’t have got where we are without the support from Vicky and Cartrefi Conwy,” she said.
The group asked pupils of Ysgol Bro Gwydir to come up with drawings for a possible logo and the winning submission was by six-year-old Alex Valentine.
Vicky said it was the first time Cartrefi Conwy had been involved in such a scheme since the association came into being, and praised the efforts of the group in seeing it through to fruition.
“We at Cartrefi Conwy have been pleased to be able to help them achieve their aims,” she said.
It is planned to have a public meeting in the next couple of weeks to explain the proposals.
“We hope the playground will be in use by the summer, and we’re planning a Fun Day to mark the opening,” said Jo.
