Newmarket Community Development are delighted to announce that we have been awarded a second LEADER grant from IRD for the Town Park. This grant will partially fund an Outdoor Gym, 2 Picnic Tables, Poured Rubber Surfacing for the playground (work has already been completed), a new Lawn Mower for maintaining all the green areas in the town, Lights for the path in the park and a wildlife Board. This extra work means that the amount we need to raise ourselves has risen to almost €30,000. Donations would be greatly appreciated, we will be running many events to fund raise throughout the year so please support. You can donate directly to the town park fund: AIB a/c Sort Code 93-61-70 a/c no. 25218024 (Newmarket Community Development Association).

The outdoor gym will be provided by a company called Spraoi Linn. We have talked to a number of people around the country who have had these types of gyms installed and also to people involved in fitness to ensure that we get an outdoor gym of good quality, which will suit all levels of fitness. There will be two types of equipment – more advanced equipment that use your own body weight to provide resistance. These pieces are quite simple in design but can be used in multiple ways. We have also included a Health Walker and a Ski Stepper which can be used by the fit to the not so fit. We will be running a number of events next year with this equipment to demonstrate how to use it.

The picnic benches are being made by our locals Men’s Shed’s group and will be put beside the playground. We are also designing a wildlife board to include in the park – showing the many different birds and bats that can be seen in our local area.

We are currently putting together a planning application for the lighting but it is hoped that the new path with will be fully lit so the park will be more accessible and safer. The rubber surfacing in the playground has been completed and is now much safer than the tiles that were there before which were beginning to lift and separate. Finally the Lawn Mower was much needed for keeping the green areas in the town clean and tidy.

We would like to thank all those involved in submitting this grant application. Many people gave up their time and skills for free in order to get the application in on time. It was a real team effort. We hope these new amenities in the town will be used. Thank you!