Group relaunches fundraising campaign for Blyth park entrance

A campaign to create a stunning new entrance to a Blyth park is being relaunched.
A fundraising campaign has been relaunched to create a new look entrance to Ridley Park, Blyth.A fundraising campaign has been relaunched to create a new look entrance to Ridley Park, Blyth.
A fundraising campaign has been relaunched to create a new look entrance to Ridley Park, Blyth.

The Friends of Ridley Park had launched a campaign to raise £50,000 to create the new entrance.

But the plans were put on hold last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Now campaigners are relaunching the fundraising drive to raise the remaining money.

The entrance will be made by renowned blacksmith artists Stephen Lunn who will interpret the ideas of students from Blyth Academy who designed the entrance. Among Stephen's well-known projects is the Singing Gate at Alnwick Gardens.

Chair of Friends of Ridley Park Fiona Gibson said: “We think, once in place, this entrance will be stunning and a fantastic asset to both the park and town.

“We have raised nearly £17,000 so far and we're looking for people and organisations who would want to be associated with the park and town help us reach our target.

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“People love and value the park and, as Friends of Ridley Park, our volunteers complement the work done by Northumberland County Council, who own and run the park.

“We very much want to be part of Blyth's recovery from Covid and part of its exciting future providing a stunning entrance, designed by local students and interpreted by one of the county's leading blacksmith artists, for people of all ages to enjoy.”

Planning permission for the new entrance was granted in 2019, followed by a grant of £15,000 from Blyth Town Council which will be returned to the council if the park entrance project does not happen.

Although The Friends' activities were curtailed last year, members continued to meet on Zoom and work on fundraising ideas for the park entrance.

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This year, The Friends are asking supporters to sign up to EasyFundraising and Amazon Smile and look for Friends of Ridley Park. Both organisations donate money every time supporters shop and it does not cost them a penny.

Friends of Ridley Park has also signed up with One Lottery where people can buy £1 lottery tickets, 50p of which comes straight back to the fundraising cause.

To buy One Lottery tickets go to https://www.onelottery.co.uk/support/friends-of-ridley-park

Sign up with EasyFundraising at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/dashboard/#Sign up with Amazon Smile at https://smile.amazon.co.uk

People can also make a donation to Friends of Ridley Park by emailing [email protected] for details.

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