A PARK has been awarded £10,000 of lottery funding to help it become a hub for healthy activities over summer.

The Friends of Wibsey Park (FOWP) group has been working with social enterprise Your Back Yard, which specialises in improving green spaces and health, to raise funding for the park since the beginning of the year.

Now that funding will make the dream a reality, transforming the park into a ‘healthy living park’.

Free activities from zumba to rugby will be provided throughout the summer holidays, as well as some into the autumn. All age groups are invited to get involved.

Sofia Lanovy Walsh, chair of the revived Friends of Wibsey Park group, said 20 plus people now regularly attend group meetings and said it was a “real testimony” of how much people cherish the park and want to improve it.

She added: “We’ve also got the full support of the council and a number of local groups and organisations, and what looks like a really exciting summer ahead.”

Tony Mullin, from ‘Your Back Yard’ added: “We all know ongoing cuts to local government spending are putting massive pressure on park budgets, at the same time the country is facing an obesity crisis.

“This is a way of tackling both issues with one idea, getting more people into parks, and more health into people.”

“We are really looking forward to working with the FOWP over the next few months to deliver a ‘healthy living park, and we all be working hard to ensure this is just the start of something really special for Wibsey Park.”

To celebrate, there will be a family fun day on Saturday, May 27, to launch the programme.

Football, rugby, zumba and model boating are already signed up.

The day will also mark the launch of the new measured mile, installed by Bradford Council’s Parks and Green Spaces department.

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Councillor Ralph Berry (Lab, Wibsey) said: “The park now has a vibrant group of volunteers from the local community, a new committee and an exciting plan for the future that has the support of local residents.

“Ward councillors brought in Your Back Yard to carry out some research to see how things could be improved, and to find some new members.

“The results have been fantastic, a completely rejuvenated Friends of Group, a two-year action plan for small scale improvements and lottery funding to run an exciting summer programme of activities.”

Your Back Yard is a community regeneration social enterprise which aims to support people across the north to make a difference to their neighbourhood.