Devauden Playground Appeal
Our playground has brought so much pleasure to hundreds of children over the years but much of the equipment needed replacing so we launched a campaign in September 2023 to transform the playground into an exciting new play space for children up to 16.
DEVAUDEN SCOOPS NATIONAL LOTTERY GRANT FOR PLAYGROUND
Yes, that’s right. We did it!
We’ve been awarded a National Lottery grant for a thumping £55,000 towards our playground makeover.
We’re beyond excited at this news which, when added to the £25,000 contribution from Hood Memorial Hall trustees, will mean new swings and slides, a trampoline, two multiplay towers, one for younger and one for older children, and sensory equipment. We’ll be keeping the zipwire, grassy mound, tunnel and basket swing by popular request. We’ll also be retaining some of the stepping pods and the springer and repositioning them.
Installation of the new playground will take about three weeks and will happen in late Spring.
The Playground Action Group would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the success of our makeover campaign from the children and parents who took part in our consultation exercises over the past 16 months to all those who have supported our fundraising events and donated through our Just Giving page and donation buckets.
Because it was the involvement of our local community that so impressed the National Lottery Community Fund award which “supports activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK.”
Richard May, Chair of the Devauden Hall charity that manages Hood Memorial Hall, said: “This really is the most wonderful news for all those who use the playground and a terrific boost for our village.
“Our new playground will enable all children including younger ones and those with disabilities to have fun and enjoy healthy, stimulating outdoor play with friends and siblings.”
Did you know?
National Lottery players raise more than £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, The National Lottery Community Fund last year (2023/24) awarded more than half a billion pounds (£686.3 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK, supporting more than 13,700 projects to turn their great ideas into reality.
Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £49 billion has been raised and more than 690,000 individual grants have been awarded across the UK - the equivalent of around 240 National Lottery grants in every UK postcode district.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
LET US KNOW YOUR VIEWS ON DEVAUDEN’S PLAYGROUND MAKEOVER
October 2024
We’re delighted to tell you that after months of research, site visits with possible suppliers of playground equipment, meetings and many discussions, we’ve reached a decision on the redevelopment of the playground. We’ve chosen HAGS, a highly respected, international manufacturer and installer of playground equipment to provide us with the makeover scheme you can see on the poster on the right.
Note - this is a reduced size version of a large A1 poster, so some of the detail in the top right may not be readable on your screen. If you wish you can download that area of the poster as a separate jpeg, by clicking here.
We think it’s a very exciting plan. It features the top four items of equipment that children and their parents/care givers told us they’d like to have during our two consultations with them last year. Those items are swings for toddlers and older children, a sunken trampoline, slides and a multiplay tower. You’ll also see on the plan that we’re keeping old favourites such as the mound and tunnel, basket swing and zipwire and we’re reusing and repositioning things like the stepping pods, clock and springer.
We’ve chosen wooden play equipment because we think it fits best in our rural setting. The wood is from sustainable sources and guaranteed by the manufacturers to last.
We’d now like your views on the plan before we finalise our order with HAGS. So please, tell us what you think. Have we got it right? Or not? Tell us by emailing us at playground@devaudenhall.org or simply drop us a note in the post box by the hall gate.
Our next challenge is to raise the money to pay for the makeover. Devauden Hall trustees have promised us a very generous £25,000 but we still need to find another £75,000. We’re applying for grants and will be organising fund raisers like the Beetle Drive on Saturday, October 26 at the hall.
Please, please support your local playground and give what you can by coming to our events and/or donating through our JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Devaudenplayground
The sooner we can raise the money the sooner the new playground can be installed – hopefully by next Spring.
Huge thanks in advance from the Playground Action Group.
Launching a major fundraising appeal to make your children's wishes come true
July 2024
It's almost a year since we first consulted children at the village fete about redeveloping their playground at Devauden Hall. Now at last we're poised to launch a major fundraising appeal at this year's fete on Saturday, July 13.
We haven't been idle in the months between fetes. We've been fact finding, holding site meetings with suppliers of playground equipment, selecting three companies to quote, carefully evaluating their proposals and finally, appointing a preferred supplier. We'll be working with that supplier in the coming weeks to fine tune our requirements but we do now know how much we will need to raise. And it's a whopping £75,000 over and above the wonderful £25,000 the village hall trustees have told us they will contribute to the playground makeover.
When we consulted local children of all ages about the playground they told us they loved the basket swing, grassy mound, tunnel and zip wire. We then asked them to tell us what was on their wish list. Most of them said swings, slides, play towers and a trampoline. Quite a shopping list but we know with your help, we can do it.
We'll be applying for grants and holding fund raising events including (drum roll) a Devauden's Got Talent competition for children in the autumn. In the meantime, if you're able to help us make your children's wishes come true please donate to our appeal. You can do that at the village fete or through our Just Giving page.
Huge thanks from the Playground Action Group
Children’s consultation event
Saturday, November 25, 2023
The recently formed playground action group (PAG) held its second consultation event on Saturday at the hall. (The first consultation was at the village fete on September 2, 2023).The aim of both events was to give children and their parents the opportunity to have their say in the redevelopment of the hall playground.
A bouncy castle, indoor games, nibbles and soft drinks proved a popular draw on Saturday but first the children had some ‘homework’ to do. They could either draw a picture of their favourite pieces of playground equipment or they could use play money to shop for items from a list of real equipment pictured in a consultation leaflet created especially for them. But there was a catch - they weren’t given enough money to buy everything on the list so (with their parents’ help where needed) they were forced to choose just three or four favourite pieces of equipment. This gentle introduction to the harsh realities of finite budgets will help PAG’s planning of the redevelopment when they get to that stage. Before they do, they’ll be fund raising and applying for grants in the new year so please do give them your support. You can join the group or offer your help by emailing: playground@devaudenhall.org
If you weren’t able to attend Saturday’s event you can download a consultation leaflet here (6Mb pdf) and once completed, just pop it into our postbox on the hall gate. There’s plenty of time left for PAG to gather views on what the new playground should look like so they’ll be delighted to hear from you and your little or not so little ones.
And if you’d like to donate to the fundraising appeal simply go to: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Devaudenplayground
Our plans
We will be publishing our plans for the playground layout and equipment choice, once we have given everyone the chance to contribute their ideas. If you have any suggestions, wish to show us examples of successful playgrounds, or have any ideas for equipment, please email us at
playground@devaudenhall.org
ASKING CHILDREN WHAT THEY WANT
In preparation for the launch of a major fundraising appeal, we asked visitors to our summer fête in September what new equipment they would like to see. We had a great response and you can read the feedback here.
Just four local volunteers make up the action group and they have a big task ahead of them in raising funds and applying for grants so they're going to need a lot of help. We're doing our bit by making a significant financial contribution from hall funds. This will be added to the £2,700 that's already in the coffers thanks to a levy on the builder of The Fallows, the new housing development on Well Lane.
