We are getting closer to the first Phase of the play park being installed. The contractors have been on-site, put the safety fence up and are hoping to start work the week commencing 16th October. This phase will deliver three amazing items aimed at 4-14 year-olds, including a six tower mega deck climbing frame, swing unit (including flat swing and inclusive basket swing), and multispinner carousel.

​How quickly we are able to open the park will depend on a few factors such as a dry weather window to pour the safety surface and availability of volunteers to lay topsoil, turf, and access paths. If you think you could help with the volunteer tasks (barrowing, shovelling, use of trailers, power-barrows etc), please get in touch. Exciting times!
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We have already started fundraising for Phase II of the play park. This will focus on toddler equipment, a shelter and more inclusive play items. We're busy writing grant applications at the moment and would welcome support from any experienced grant application writers out there. ​

Construction of the first phase of our Bike Zone is now complete! However, frequent and ongoing heavy rain means the surface isn't getting chance to dry and seal. The track will, therefore, have to remain closed till we've had a couple of weeks of dry weather, which might not be till the spring now. We know this will be dissapointing to the many people who have told us how excited they are to try it out (we're pretty impatient too!), but it's worth it to ensure the trail doesn't get damaged. Hang in there!

We had about 80 mm of rain over the weekend of 7th and 8th October. Blocked road drains were not able to cope with the volume of water so flowed over curbs and into the park. Large amount of surface water also ran off the school playing field. As a result we lost about three tonne of material from our lovely path network :( However, thanks to our amazing group of volunteers we have made a great start fixing the damage already. Please bear with us while we complete repairs at the upper end of the park near the bus-stop.

If you would like to join our volunteer WhatsApp group please send us your name and mobile number because we'd love to have you on the team :) Alternatively, if you would like to help towards these ongoing maintenance costs, please consider a one-off or regular donation via our JustGiving page.

​What an amazing afternoon and evening yesterday celebrating the end of the Highlands & Islands Climate Festival Everyone seemed to have fun!  Highlights included mini-beast adventures with the Highland Council ranger, traditional meadow management techniques to promote biodiversity, apple tasting from our community orchard, nature quiz and fire-pit social. It was a great opportunity to celebrate how our park is contributing to tackling the climate and nature emergencies.

We would like to thank the Highlands and Islands Climate Hub for funding and support.

We really enjoyed the Strathpeffer Science Festival this weekend! It was a wonderful opportunity to talk about the many things we're doing in the park to help nature and the climate alongside creating an exciting and accessible outdoor community resource.

After an amzaing response to our local fundraising campaign, and support from a number of local businesses, we are delighted to announce the Phase I equipment has been ordered and is due to be installed in October. This equipment has a focus on 4-14 year olds, but should have something for everyone.

We are still seeking funding for the landscaping element, which will need to be completed before we can open the play area, so any further donations would be extremely gratefully received. We have also started applying for funding to deliver Phase II, which will focus on equipment for 0-4 year olds and more inclusive play. 

Thank you to all the amazing people who have made this possible!

You may have heard the fantastic news that we have been awarded £100,000 from the Community Regeneration Fund and have another £32,000 from a combination of other funds and fundraising activities.  We are also waiting to hear the outcome of further application for £30,000 . This means we are now in a position to start planning Phase One of the Play Park build. We are very excited. BUT, we are also still missing around £50,000 to achieve the full park project.
 
Can you help?
We are seeking sponsorship from local businesses to help us achieve this and we need your help to introduce us to potential friendly contacts who might be interested.
 
We also want to make sure businesses get something back from their support. We have created a range of sponsorship categories with suggested benefits we can provide:
 
Gold  
A full item of equipment  (see PDF table below for illustrative costs) 

• Everything in Bronze and Silver; 
• Company name/Logo on equipment. 

 
Silver  
£301 +  

• Everything in Bronze; 
• Company acknowledged on park signage.  

 
Bronze 
£50-£300  

• Acknowledged across our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram); 
• Two business posts promoted on our Facebook page (676+ local followers); 
• Acknowledge on our website.  

 
Please can you let us know of any contacts who might be able to help. A warm introduction can make all the difference.
 
And if this kind of thing is what gets you out of bed in the morning then we would also really appreciate some help to meet with potential sponsors once an introduction has been made. 
 
The Strathpeffer Residents' Association are busy planning the build, so any help in approaching businesses would be much appreciated.
  
Best Regards,
The SRA team.