Playpark Open Day

From Jac Crosbie

The local community turned out in force for a special playpark open day on Friday 28th August. Kilchoan Fathers and Friends handed over a specially prepared cheque for a massive £25,465.55 raised from their sponsored walk of the West Highland Way and the fundraising dance and raffle. We are hugely grateful to the Cameron family for this incredibly generous donation and of course to all of you who have donated time and money to help reach such a staggering amount. It is fair to say that there there is no community quite like ours!

Following the cheque handover, the children helped release the balloons from the balloon race organised by Helen Ferguson, also in aid of the Playpark Fund. Luckily we were blessed with the weather and the balloons made a beautiful sight drifting off towards Ben Hiant. Helen also took the opportunity to draw the raffle for the winner of the Scott Grier original painting which he generously donated to the Playpark Fund. All in all, Helen and Co have raised well over £1,000 for the playpark this summer. Thank you so much for all your effort!!

After the excitement of the cheque and the balloons, we had a celebratory cup of tea (or glass of wine!) in the games room, giving everyone the chance to look at the new design for the play area. We have decided to take quite a unique approach to the design, creating an outdoor space for the whole community to enjoy that provides a safe but challenging and interesting place for children to play in. We’ve taken this approach, partly to increase our chances of getting the funding we need, but mainly because evidence shows that play areas that provide opportunities for children to create their own play environments are much more sustainable than more traditional playgrounds where the emphasis is on providing equipment for them to play on.

The design is based around the theme of stone and its massive importance to West Ardnamurchan, not only in terms of its unique geology but also as a building material over the years. The natural contours and features of the site will be retained, and key elements such as glacial boulder stepping stones, a dry stone ‘ring dyke’ sand and water feature, and a gabion spiral seating area complete with fire pit for barbeques will be included. A tribute to Caleb will be carefully incorporated, in close consultation with his family. Play equipment that will stand the test of time has been specially selected and includes an embankment slide, pendulum swings and hammocks.

In the meantime, fundraising efforts are still ongoing. May McNicol and her posse of helpers have raised over £600 from the baking stall at this year’s Regatta and the recent Fiddlers Rally (THANK YOU!) and Jon Haylett is kindly donating the proceeds from his new walk booklet to the playpark fund. We hope to have the full funding in place by the end of 2010 so that work on the site can take place early in 2011.

For further information on the project contact Rosie (01972 510754) or Jac (01972 510304). Donations can be made on the playpark website, here.