Plaque honours Jack after play area’s £60k revamp
A plaque dedicated to a young boy who died after a battle with cancer has been unveiled at a refurbished play area.
The park in Love Lane, Cleobury Mortimer, has been revamped and improved.
The changes were made possible with the help of grants from the Rural Development Programme for England’s LEADER funding and the National Lottery Community Fund.
Yesterday, the play area was reopened.
A plaque was also unveiled and dedicated to Jack Edwards.
Jack, from Cleobury Mortimer, passed away aged seven in 2016 after a four-year fight with leukaemia.
The tribute to Jack was created in conjunction with his mother, Chrissie Woodhouse.
She worked with Cleobury Mortimer Town Council on the design.
Town clerk Matt Sheehan said: “Chrissie and myself worked on the design of the plaque together.
“We had Jack in mind when the play area was refurbished and thought it would be nice to have a tribute to him.
“The plaque is made of black marble and has a gold inscription.
“It is positioned next to the play area’s new parent and child swing, which Chrissie contributed towards.”
He added: “Her son would be very proud.”
Chrissie and Matt cut the ribbon together at the reopening of the park.
Children were welcomed in to play on the new equipment.
In renovating the play area, the town council consulted with parents of children at the nearby Cleobury Mortimer Primary School, to ensure the revamp would meet the needs of the park’s users.
“School parent James Payton and youth worker Mark Greaves were part of a parent group that went to the school to find out what the children wanted,” added Mr Sheehan.
“They then brought the ideas back to us and we tried to pick those that most people wanted and those that were the most practical.
“The improvements have included the parent and child swing and a surf rider.
“We also wanted to make the play area as disabled-friendly as possible.
“And as part of this there is now a roundabout at the site that can be used by wheelchair users.” Thanks to the combined £60,000 worth of grants, as well as funding from the town council, 90 per cent of the equipment at the play area has been replaced.
Money from the grants was also used to install adult gym equipment, which now sits in Cleobury Mortimer’s Queen Elizabeth II field.
Mr Sheehan added that Cleobury Mortimer Town Council was pleased to have been able to work with the community to improve the Love Lane play area, as well as paying tribute to little Jack at the same time.
“We involved the community because it is for them,
“And we are always pleased to work with all of the community groups in Cleobury Mortimer,” he said.
“We’ve been able to add extra things to the play area for the younger children, who we hope are all excited to get in there and use the equipment.
“Being able to also feature a tribute to Jack makes it even more special.”
