Donations are starting to come in for our £4,000 appeal to reopen the children’s play area closed on safety grounds at Glen Park, Surfleet.
Bosses at the park shut the play area on July 4 because they believed the Everest Tower and zip wire were no longer safe for children.
The Lincolnshire Free Press Children’s Fund has donated £500 to kick-start funding and, so far, we’ve had £125 in anonymous donations from our generous readers.
Spalding pub The Black Swan is also throwing its weight behind the campaign and will hold a series of fundraising events on Saturday, July 27, including a car wash and table top sale, both starting at midday, and live music from the duo, Skullduggery, at 3pm.
Landlady and mum-of-two Terri Mason says her boys Liam (10) and Shane (9) often play at Glen Park with pals and “absolutely love” it there.
A Glen Park spokesman said they were trying to persuade Lincolnshire County Council to release its promised £7,980 early – rather than wait for the total to be reached – so the park can open during the summer holidays.
The county council’s executive member for libraries, heritage and culture, Nick Worth, said there shouldn’t be a problem with getting the cash released if Glen Park supply documents, including the safety report.
He said: “If they supply the documents we want, they can have the money straight away, it really shouldn’t be that difficult.”
The Glen Park spokesman said the last safety report was done in February, but since then the zip wire and Everest Tower have deteriorated.
“Because the company is very busy, we cannot get another safety report done in time,” he said. “The position quite simply is we are not prepared to compromise safety and, until the repairs are done, the park won’t reopen and that’s what our bottom line is.”