Youngsters will be able to sail the seven seas aboard a new Pirate Play Ship all thanks to York based SJ Danby Playscheme who have come to the rescue of the children of Robin Hood's Bay and Fylingdales Parish Council.
Robin Hood's Bay is a small fishing village on the North Yorkshire coast which has thousands of years of heritage and history of fishing, pirates and smuggling and attracts thousands of tourists per year.
The existing play area on Bankside originally opened in memory of a local teenage girl, Tracey Hutchinson who tragically died, included a former Whitby Cobble Boat which was donated as a play boat for the children having previously seen many years' service in the North Sea. The Cobble Boat had begun to decay and then finally, following an annual inspection the Parish Council was advised to remove the boat.
The Council then approached Playscheme who came up with a fantastic bespoke design play ship and then set about working with the Parish Council via their funding consultant to help source funding which included a 10k Lottery Awards for All bid with further funding also coming via the North York Moors National Park Authority, the Normanby Trust plus a huge fund raising effort by locals.
Councillor Graham Irving, Chair of the Parish Council said "John Danby from Playscheme initially came down to look at the Cobble Boat and the playground to see what they could do for us and now the finished article is a credit to the designers, Playscheme and our village, the children are thrilled" Mr Irving also added "a target of £4,500 has almost been met to fund new swings and a wheelchair disabled ramp to access the ship."
