Sandbank Play Park Project
Sandbanks existing play park is located on a grassed seafront area on Shore Road over Looking the Holy Loch. The existing facility has been in use for a long time and is well overdue an upgrade. The current play equipment is of a round log style and is quite poor by modern standards.
The Development Trust decided a few years ago to embark on a community project to replace the existing timber play equipment and provide a modern facility the whole village can be proud of. The trust split the project into two phases. The first phase of the project was the installation of the multi use games area. The games area is enclosed with a safety fence to prevent kid’s balls etc. from going over the side. The games area accommodates football, basket ball, tennis and roller blading etc. Phase 2 which is the play area includes a central wooden pirate ship, swings, slides and all sorts of other play equipment. You can download the plans in PDF format here.
It was decided by Sandbank Community Development Trust that it was best to provide the ball court first as this would cater for the older kids in the village who had no sports or play facility. It has taken the trust a couple of years to come up with a design and consult with the community, raise the funds and get phase one from design and planning stages through to construction. The games area cost over £50,000 and was supplied by a company called The Play Practice who are based in Livingston. The Play Practice are a well established company with an extensive portfolio of completed play areas which speaks for itself. They have given the Development Trust a first class service from our initial contact with them. The trust contacted The Play Practice who designed a play park layout which maximised the area we have available at the village shore front. The site is operated by Argyll and Bute Council who will take ownership, insurance and maintenance costs of the park on completion.
The trust part funded the multi use court through our own fundraising activities such as the charity car wash, the annual gala, Bag packing at the local supermarket, and football cards. We also have a rental income from Arnadam car park (which is next to the play park) which we own and currently rent to a civil engineering contractor “GMJV” who are updating our sewage system for Scottish Water. Some of the rental will go towards the play park and some towards other community projects.
The trust applied to a number of organisations for financial support. These included Charities, Charitable Trusts, local companies, Local individuals and the local Sandbank Primary School. The organisations who have kindly supported our Play Park and to whom our deepest thanks go to include:
John Brown of Strone (Local Building Contractor)
EB Scotland Ltd (Score Environment.)
Awards for All
The Trust house Charitable Foundation
The Hedley Foundation
The Robertson Trust
People's Postcode Trust
Sandbank Primary
Sandbank Pre 5 Unit
Former Youth Club in Sandbank
Argyll Hillbillies
and not forgetting various local residents and Trust members.
Thank you each and every one of you!
Phase 2 – Play Park.
The final plan has been prepared for the complete play park, You can download a PDF to view here.
Now the ball court area is complete the Trust are now gearing up to start phase 2. The play area is costing over £220,000 and we have a lot of hard work ahead of us to meet this target. The Trust will be doing a lot of our own fundraising work along with sourcing and applying for grants. If you like the plans and want to get involved in the trust or fundraising activities please get in touch. You can find out how you can help here and get in touch here. Keep an eye out for events supporting the play park and bring your families and friends.
As time progresses we will keep you updated on how we are progressing via this page and site. So please check back regularly. Oh, and please spread the word!
With Thanks,
Sandbank Community Development trust on behalf of the Sandbank Community.
