A FINAL push has been launched to raise funds for a village primary school’s new playground in time for Christmas.

The Friends of Bridestowe School (FoBS) has so far raised £13,000 towards a state-of-the-art playground to replace equipment which has rotted away.

The group is now pulling out all the stops to find the final £3,250 so building can start by Christmas.

It hopes to have the playground complete early in the New Year, so the oldest children can enjoy it before they leave next summer.

‘The old play equipment was condemned due to it rotting and had to be removed, leaving the children with nothing to play on,’ said Friends chairperson Jo Pritchard.

‘Over the past two years and more the Friends of Bridestowe, the school, children and local supporters have raised an amazing £13,000 towards a play area that will be inclusive, accessible and will help promote imaginative play and learning.’

‘We are now only £3,250 away from the total required and would love to make one final push for funds so that the current Year 6 pupils, who have been actively involved in fundraising for this from the beginning, can get a chance to benefit from it, and to enjoy something they have so desperately wanted for the last few years, before leaving next year.’

Jo said a number of fundraising events were planned in the run up to Christmas.

‘We are so close,’ she said. ‘We are going to hold a family Christmas party at the end of term, and we have written to local businesses asking for help with the last bit.

‘The kids are very keen on doing bake sales so we are talking about doing one of those when we come back from half term.

‘We have had some amazing donations from local businesses and people which have got us close to the total. We just need to make that final push.’

She said the children had been involved in designing the playground, which will be built in wood on an all terrain floor by a local contractor. It will feature a monkey ladder, a den and a clatter bridge.

The hope is that it will last longer than the previous one, which had to be taken down after seven years, because it had rotted away.

‘The kids are very keen themselves that it should last a long time,’ said Jo. ‘We designed it so it has an all weather floor with the idea that the kids can use it all year around.

‘There will be 30 square metres of safety floor, with various bits of equipment set into that. It includes part of a ship for the younger kids with a slide.

‘We have got a couple of kids with disabilities at the school, so we are including things which are easy for them to get underneath to explore. Most of it is relatively low. We have tried to ensure that all the kids and all ages are catered for.’

She said the contractors were poised ready to spring into action and build the playground once all the money is in.

‘We are hoping to start building it before Christmas, so the Year 6s have a good few months to enjoy it before they leave.’

Anyone who can help is invited to contact Jo by email on [email protected]