Accessible play equipment enhances the park for all Widdrington Station children

Widdrington Station's playpark will have disabled access play equipment thanks to a £6,000 from Druridge ward councillor Scott Dickinson and partnership working with Widdrington Station and Stobswood Parish Council.

When Widdrington Station Parish Council had to prioritise activities to keep residents safe from Covid, plans for disabled access play equipment has to be put to one side.

On hearing the parish council's plans, Councillor Dickinson steeped in with a donation so the equipment could be installed.

Widdrington Station Parish Councillor Michelle Willougby said: "2020 has been a challenging time for everyone, the need for support between our Parishes has never been so important.

We all, as Parish Councils, had planned events for the year, which sadly had to be cancelled. The Covid Crisis called for us all to look long and hard at how best we could create a safe and supportive net around our residents, especially the elderly and vulnerable. Having a good working relationship with Scott, not to mention a brilliant rapport, has meant that we could work together in areas of need to keep our residents safe and well looked after.

"One of our planned projects was the installation of some specialist equipment in our beautiful park. As soon as Scott knew of our plans he offered his help financially immediately, understanding the need to look closely at the provision of equipment suitable for the disabled was an important project. Obviously after our consultations with the company that would be providing and installing the equipment, was put into Lock down, so our plans had to be put on hold for the time being.

Hopefully we will get the project underway in the coming New Year. !

Caring for our communities is always high on our list of priorities and this difficult year has been no different. There will be challenges ahead I am sure, which is why working together for the benefit of our communities is vital and I look forward to keeping our working relationship not to mention our support for each other, going from strength to strength."

Scott Dickinson said: "As soon as I heard about the Widdrington Station Parish Council's plans to install disabled access play equipment in their park, I was keen to offer some help.

"Play is vital for all children and should be accessible for every young person. I very much value the relationship I have with the parish council. We work together to benefit local people and make sure they are safe and well looked after."