05 Feb 2024
A community-led fundraising campaign to redevelop the playground at Bernards Heath reached fruition on Saturday, with the reopening of the new facility by St Albans MP Daisy Cooper.
Let’s Play at Bernards Heath was set up four years ago with the aim of raising £100,000 to renovate the tired old playground in the local park.
Most recently the charity launched a Buy-a-Brick campaign to offer the opportunity for families, individuals and organisations to donate in return for a professionally engraved paving brick, the results of which can now be seen at the playground.
MP Daisy Cooper and chairman of Let’s Play at Bernards Heath David Pearce gave speeches ahead of the official opening ceremony.
David joked: “There’s not been many times in my life as an MP when I’ve felt scared, but standing between this number of children and a play area I feel I’m totally in the line of fire and going to get absolutely knocked over in a minute!
“What an amazing community achievement. An enormous well done to everyone involved in Let’s Play at Bernards Heath and of course to the indefatigable, indomitable David, who has championed this for years and years and years and never given up. It’s been a long old time coming – I was here in 2020 just before lockdown to launch the fundraising appeal, it’s taken a lot of time but thank you so much to all of you who have been involved in organising it, who have donated, and all of you who are going to enjoy it as well.”
David thanked the community supporters, the people who donated to the Buy-a-Brick campaign and all of the sponsors who together made it happen.
