JOIN the party this Saturday (April 1) as Tilford gets ready for the grand opening of the revamped Jubilee play area in Shepherds Way.

The play area was put into the recreation area on Shepherds Way in 2000, sadly it had reached the end of its life.

Tilford Parish Council is responsible for the upkeep of the playground, so councillors made the decision to replace it in its entirety so that a valuable village resource, to provide safe outdoor play to our children, was not lost.

“As a small rural village with no public transport and no other formal play area, the playground offers a great deal for the village”, said Debra Lee of Tilford Parish Council.

“Tilford houses two schools with a total of almost 600 students, numbers of young people aged zero to 15 years in the village is growing and now make up 28 per cent of the population - we know it will be well played in.

“It has taken 18 months but finally our target of £35,000 has been attained with donations from generous villagers, proceeds from various village events and funding applications for which we are so very grateful.

“The final design was chosen after running focus groups with the village children, and we think it will be an exciting place for our children to play.”

It includes a vintage tractor rescued from underneath a holly bush on a farm in Staffordshire. Much of the preparation work has been done by a working party of villagers giving up their time for their community.

On Saturday between 3pm to 5pm, there will a party in the playground, celebrating the culmination of the project and the village working together with the parish council.

Debra added: “We hope the opening event will be a chance for the community to meet up. So while the children test out the new equipment I hope we can enjoy a true community event.

“There will be refreshments, The Barley Mow is selling drinks and there will be a coffee van and cakes from the WI. We are planning a small ribbon-cutting moment to open the playground for the first time at 3.15pm.”