South Gloucestershire Council, working with the Friends of Kingswood Park, have been awarded more than £27,000 to create a new picnic area in the centre of Kingswood Park.
The money has come from the Big Lottery Fund and is the result of over a year of partnership working between the council and the Friends.
Bristol artist Rodney Harris has been commissioned by the Friends to produce three sets of eye-catching picnic tables and seats in the centre of the park, beside the children’s play area.
Diane Block, Secretary of the Friends of Kingswood Park, said: “We are very excited about the grant awarded by the Big Lottery Fund. The beautiful and unique picnic area will benefit Kingswood residents for generations and will be a focal point for our lovely park. We couldn’t have done this without the terrific support we received from South Gloucestershire Council, and especially from Katherine Kearns from the council’s Community Spaces department.”
Over the past year the Friends and Rod have been working closely with children from Park Primary School to come up with design ideas for the furniture.
Rod works in hardwearing glazed brick and the new picnic area will be particularly durable, serving the residents of Kingswood for many years to come.
Cllr Heather Goddard, executive member for communities said: “Thanks to the hard work of the friends group and council officers, this will be more than a picnic area, it will be a work of art and a fantastic focus for people of all ages to come and enjoy being outside and best of all, it will be free to use.”
Katherine Kearns of the council’s Community Spaces department, added: “The Friends work so hard to make the park a great place for everyone in Kingswood and I’m proud to be working with such dedicated people.”
The picnic area should be installed by summer 2010 when the Friends plan to celebrate with a big community event which will take the form of a teddy bear’s picnic.
Source: South Gloucestershire Council
