NEW playground equipment has been provided at a Clay Country primary school thanks, to a large degree, to funding from parish councillors.

St Stephen Churchtown Academy has installed a trim trail after being given £10,000 by St Stephen-in-Brannel Parish Council towards the project.

After forming last year, the Friends of St Stephen Churchtown Academy (FOSSCA) applied for a grant from the parish council’s community benefit fund towards the £14,000 cost of the equipment.

Parish council chair Julie Broad said: “We were delighted to be able to support this project and are happy to now see it come to fruition.

“The children seemed extremely excited to be able to go on the trim trail and it was lovely to see them enjoying this fantastic new equipment.”

Construction of the trim trail, which is a children’s obstacle course composed of different pieces of apparatus forming a series of fun physical challenges, was completed this month.

And pupils wasted no time in taking on the challenge of getting from the start to the finish in one go.

Thanking the parish council for the grant, teacher and FOSSCA secretary Amy Philp said: “We have a huge amount of grounds in our school but not the opportunity for the children to climb and we saw that other schools had something very similar to a trim trail.

“We started FOSSCA in January last year and one of the things we wanted was a trim trail and playground. We help towards the cost of trips and books for classrooms but we wanted that big ticket item.”

Meanwhile, a scheme in which emergency services personnel can obtain life-saving information about people quickly has been introduced in St Stephen.

Last year, the parish council became aware of the Lions’ Message In a Bottle scheme, which has been designed to encourage people to keep their personal and medical details on a standard form and in a common location – the fridge.

So far, more than six million people in Britain with conditions such as diabetes, allergies, disabilities and life-threatening illnesses provide their personal and medical details through Message in a Bottle.

The parish council is backing the scheme and has bought bottles for residents who can now pick them up for free.

A council spokesperson said: “This is a great initiative which ensures you and your loved ones are prepared – so please pick one up. Having this bottle ready can make all the difference when every second counts.”

The bottles come with two stickers, for the inside of the front or back door of a person’s home and for the fridge. These help the emergency services to find the bottle and the form inside as quickly as possible.

Residents should include their emergency contact details, important medical information and personal details inside the bottle.

Free bottles are available at the St Stephen-in-Brannel parish councillor drop-in surgery on Saturday, July 26, at Café Pause, Fore Street, St Stephen, between 10am and noon.

For more information, contact the council on 01726 823003 or email [email protected]