In 2012 Rastrick, West Yorkshire, was awarded £1m from the Big Local Programme to improve the quality of life in the area. After community consultation it was clear that the Rastrick’s parks and play areas were in great need of improvement. We put in a bid for funding to improve these areas in Rastrick and were awarded £40,000 to deliver our project.

We established a group of resident stakeholders ‘Rastrick Plays Better’, consulted with schools and their pupils in the areas and undertook a survey of park users and residents to inform our plan for the project. 4 sites: Oaklands, Thornton Road, Carr Green and Burnsall Road emerged as priorities. 

New play equipment like swings, a zipline, cycleways, picnic tables and football goals were installed throughout the parks based on the priorities from our consultation. 

Student volunteers visited the sites and completed nearly 100 surveys to gauge how satisfaction and park usage changed after the completion of our work. In terms of sustainability, the landowners have committed to take on maintenance and inspection of the parks of the next 10 years. Since completion, ‘Rastrick Plays Better’ has been operational, managing to secure funding bids to continue to improve parks in their area.

Read the full case study here: https://www.yourbackyard.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Rastrick-Case-Study-final-version-Feb-28.pdf

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