Friends of East Pines Park scoop £4,000 in Swallowdale's giveaway to put towards new playground games

Hundreds of applications for a share of our £10k childrens giveaway were whittled down to a list of seven winners.
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Hundreds of applications for a share of our £10k childrens giveaway were whittled down to a list of seven winners.

The Gazette once again teamed up with the Swallowdale Children’s Trust to help give the money to deserving groups and individuals – all with the aim of improving life for young people on the Fylde coast.

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It is the eighth year The Gazette has partnered with the trust and the prize pot this year has seen the total handed out since 2013 climb to more than £110,000.

Pete Smith, Michelle Backhouse and Anchorsholme councillor Paul Galley celebrate the Swallowdale win.Pete Smith, Michelle Backhouse and Anchorsholme councillor Paul Galley celebrate the Swallowdale win.
Pete Smith, Michelle Backhouse and Anchorsholme councillor Paul Galley celebrate the Swallowdale win.

The biggest winner this year was the Friends of East Pines Park in Anchorsholme, which has been awarded a £4,000 grant.

The community group, which campaigns and fundraises for the park, applied for the money so it could buy two or three painted games with educational themes.

They will be installed in the playground in bright colours.

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The group’s Michelle Backhouse sent in the application and said she was “delighted” to have found out the Friends had been successful.

More than £110,000 has been handed out by Swallowdale Children's Trust over the past eight years with the GazetteMore than £110,000 has been handed out by Swallowdale Children's Trust over the past eight years with the Gazette
More than £110,000 has been handed out by Swallowdale Children's Trust over the past eight years with the Gazette

She said: “It was fantastic to find out our project was one of the ones chosen by the trustees and The Gazette.

“I was so delighted, as everyone has put so much effort into East Pines Park recently and to find out that we are able to finish the children’s playground is fantastic.

“The playground is aimed at children between the ages of two and 11 and is next to Anchorsholme Academy and Happy Days Nursery, so it gets used a lot on a daily basis and on weekends.

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“The themes will be educational as well as fun and will be painted in bright and inviting colours.

Nigel Law, chairman of the trustNigel Law, chairman of the trust
Nigel Law, chairman of the trust

“We will be creating a snakes and ladders them as well as a fun maths educational theme, including the timetables.”

Michelle also said the project is the final piece to be completed to the playground and said it will make a “huge difference” to the park.

She said: “We have recently added a new junior slide and added new safety surfacing so the addition of the new painted themes will complete our playground and help encourage more children to play in the playground when all the play items are in use.

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“We have raised more than £65,000 to revamp the playground and this project is the final piece in our playground puzzle, so it’s fantastic that Swallowdale and The Gazette have been able to make a huge difference to not only the playground but the park itself.”

Nigel Law, chairman of the Swallowdale trust, said both he and the trustees were “delighted” to have joined up with The Gazette once again to hand out thousands of pounds to good causes across the Fylde coast.

He said: “The trustees of the Swallowdale Children’s Trust were delighted that The Gazette agreed again to join forces with us to give grants to the total value of £10,000.

“During the application process we wanted people to be able to show to us that the money we were potenitally awarding them would benefit them and benefit the local community because it’s a double-edged gift.

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“We always want to see some benefit to society in general from the money we donate to causes across Blackpool and the Fylde coast.

“All of the winners were chosen for showing how they were able to achieve this and as always the trustees will be keen to follow up and see what difference the outcome has made for the winners and how successful it has been.”

This year’s other winners include £1,500 to Riding for the Disabled, £1,200 to Streetlife, £1,090 to Blackpool Carers, £1,000 to Blackpool Childre’s Clothing Fund, £1,000 to Friends of Highfield Park, and £850 to Northfold Community Primary School.

The Gazette’s promotions manager Sue Bentley said: “Since Swallowdale first approached us about a giveaway in 2013 we have handed out more than £110,000 to dozens of worthy groups right across the Fylde coast.

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“It is great to see how the money is used to make a real difference to the lives of young people in our community. Congratulations to everyone who was successful.”

Missed out? There is still a chance to apply for a grant

If you were unlucky to be chosen this year or even missed the opportunity to apply for a grant there is still a chance to be allocated a grant by applying to the trust directly.

Swallowdale Children’s Trust has, for over 100 years, provided assistance to disadvantaged children and adults under the age of 25 years, living in the Blackpool Fylde and Wyre area.

Schools, community groups, sports clubs, charities, societies and individuals are eligible to apply directly to the Swallowdale Chldren’s Trust as they do allocate grants on a monthly basis during the year.

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The trust welcomes any application for funding all year round and meets regularly to consider them.

The Secretary to the Trust is Alexa Alderson and she can be contacted by email at [email protected], or by phone on 07925 549742 or via Facebook.