Today, Marco Longhi MP, his team, and local community activist Sajid Hanif, turned out to get stuck in creating a new play area at the Kates Hill Community Primary School. During a July inspection, the playground was deemed unsafe for use. These safety concerns led to the children's play area being reduced to only an area of tarmac. Marco was alerted to the issue by the school's headteacher, and a meeting was convened several weeks ago between Marco, the chief executive of Dudley Academies Trust, and specialist company, HandsOn.
Work began quickly on the emergency project, with funding help provided by Learning Technologies. Marco said that "the emergency project to refurbish and renew the children's play area was essential as the school had closed it. It was unsafe, and not somewhere I would have been happy leaving my child to play in". New shelters, classrooms, stages, garden walls, mud kitchens, a pirate ship, and a planting area are now all in place in time for the beginning of the new school year in September.
Thanking all those who supported this project for local children, Marco said "I am immensely grateful to Hands On, who immediately said they could source £10k, and to the Trust who also immediately funded the remaining £25k needed for the project."
Marco encourages members of the community to go and see for themselves what has been achieved in only five weeks, and hopes that the children of Kates Hill Community Primary School enjoy their new playground!
