Grant funding for Marsh ParkPlay scheme approved

Weymouth Town Council has agreed £2,000 of funding to Westham Community Group to help fund a ParkPlay scheme at the Marsh Sports Fields.

ParkPlay is a relatively new organisation which is aiming to run free family play sessions on the Marsh Sports Ground on Saturday mornings at 10am. The organised play sessions are intergenerational, catering for all ages and abilities without any requirements for fitness. The weekly games are led by a PlayLeader who will arrange activities such as dodgeball, frisbee, scavenger hunts, quick cricket and more. 

The grant will help create and facilitate weekly activities for residents local to Weymouth free of charge.

In order to establish these ParkPlay sessions, £5,000 needs to be secured to fund the role of PlayLeader for the first year. The PlayLeader will play a key role and be the driving force for engaging and ensuring the enjoyment and wellbeing of local people.

Gill Taylor, Chair of the Westham Community Group, said:

“On behalf of the Group we are very pleased to receive positive news on this grant application which is for the maximum allowed under this scheme. ParkPlay will help the residents of Weymouth enjoy their open space, have fun, gain fitness and extra confidence, improve social cohesion, and help the community recover from the effect of the covid pandemic. We have other grant applications pending for this project and as soon as we have the rest of the funding confirmed we will be able to take this project forward hopefully later this year.”

Weymouth Town Council’s grant scheme is open to local groups seeking funding for projects for the benefit of Weymouth and its residents. Information on how to apply can be found here.